The Foundry On Melrose

I’d give this place zero stars if possible. I came here with my fiancé, my sister and her fiancé for a birthday dinner and the night was so unspectacular. We came in on a groupon and we didnt tell her until the end that we had one because unfortunately I know of businesses who treat Groupon customers horribly (so why put your biz on groupon? i dont know). So having a Groupon was not the reason she treated us so horribly. It was definitely something else.
Our server was detestable and clearly had customer favorites and we were not one of them. She basically ignored us and left us waiting between drinks, ordering, food and our check-​about 15 minutes in between… craziness. We started to assume what we should and shouldn’t not be doing.
The food was alright but it was over-​shone by our service.
After our dinner we gave her the Groupon and after 15 minutes of waiting we assumed because our check was significantly lower than our Groupon, we didnt have anything else to do except leave her a measly undeserved tip. Instead she chased us out as if we were stealing from her (apparently there is groupon protocol at restaurants-​but she never spoke to us clarified anything or discussed anything worth noting) acting as if we were stealing from her/​from the restaurant with some man with her. Neither one of them thoroghly explained anything, didnt make us feel alright for unknowingly not paying the tax. I was thoroughly repulsed by the both of them. We werent running out we were standing outside waiting for the valet. You cant get away waiting out front of the establishment you just stole from… *annoying*
Ive never been treated like this. I should have spoken to the manager i regret this.

— CLOSED —
I love Chef Greenspan — I’ll continue to be a green groupie and follow him around LA.
—. -
I came here on a date. After perusing Unilocal reviews, I was sure of two things. Wine was happening. No corkage fee on the first two bottles. Two. Grilled cheese with pulled pork. Sorry self esteem and thighs.
Server was really nice, open and poured our wine and made it easy to order, we basically followed his lead.
Grilled cheese with pulled pork
Green Bean Salad
Steak, gnocchi, tempura cherry tomatoes with celery purée

I came for the burger.
I left with a fully belly and a thoroughly pleasant experience. Not only did we try the burger, but we also noshed on the mussels, green bean & burrata salad, and another dish that I can’t recall (it was a while ago, apologies). Everything was really delicious and I look forward to returning once the remodeling is done. I can’t recall any complaints about service and we were able to find parking on the street without too much trouble.

Wanted to come here for so long, now wish I hadn’t.
No entrees tickled our fancy so we ordered several small plates. Sat on the patio which was actually really nice. Way better than inside, which seemed sort of empty and depressing at 8pm on a Saturday night.
— latke bites — fun, small and crispy. served luke warm though. i enjoyed them. Cheap at $ 5.
— short rib sandwich — my piece de resistance. i thought this was a good sandwich but did not blow me away. not sure its one of the best sandwiches in LA or the country as lots of people claim.
— beets — wife ordered and seemed to think they were arrite. No comment from me, not a beet fan.
— pork belly — over cooked. chewy. hard to cut. some type of koreanish sauce or glaze. disappointing.
— gnocchi gratin — new item according to the server. mush in a skillet is how i would describe it.
— mussels — did not taste fresh. very little broth.
Service kind of lacked but there was a giant party on the patio that she was tending to. We were also served a drink that came in a chipped glass.
Let down. =/

Hmm, I’m a bit confused in reading some of the previous reviews. Came here on a Sunday night, and no live music, as was reviewed. Other reviews cited terrible service, but this time around we got great service. Also, it seems like GroupOn deals are offered here quite often, so keep an eye out for them.
Anyway, on with the food.
The grilled cheese was pretty good, but I’m not sure if it was just the hype, but it seemed like an ordinary grilled cheese to me. The only difference was the bread used was raisin sliced bread.
I had the Dover Sole «Meuniere» which has lemon, swiss chard and a hash brown. The plate presentation was simple at best, large white plate with the entrée in the middle. The flavor itself was pretty simple as well. It was creative, the taste might be a bit on the bland side, and I did not fancy the hash brown that came with it.
The girlfriend had the Crispy Skin Branzino. That dish came with kumquats, radish, and Parisian gnocchi. The fish tasted quite well, it was cooked through nicely, and I liked the flavor of the skin.
For dessert, we had a peanut butter crème brûlée and a banana cake. The banana cake came with mocha and a pecan crunch. The PB crème brûlée came with malt cookies and strawberry jam. Both were actually quite good and found the crème brûlée to be the best thing I tasted that night.
Overall Experience:
I’d say that this place has a lot of promise. It tries to be creative on how the food is prepared and delivered. Their menu often changes which is good and keeps the restaurant interesting. The service we received pretty good as well. But walking out of here I’m just left with a feeling that something is just lacking. The dishes were good, but wasn’t enough. It seems like this place is «trying too hard» to be fancy and we just walked out not feeling completely satisfied considering the main dishes were priced in the mid-​upper 20s.

I just returned with my boyfriend from The Foundry after a lovely date.
We were concerned that the dishes were going to be too small and laughed when the «Pork Belly Scallion Pancakes» came out. they were tiny! But I suppose that’s what amuse-​bouche plates are. These were delicious and probably good that they were small since they are fatty and fried… mmm.
The potato soup was yum! The bacon, leek bread pudding, gruyère and egg all worked together to form one tasty thick soup. Definitely enough to share for two.
The Boo stated that the Grilled Cheese With Short Ribs was probably one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches he’s ever had. The short rib worked well and I definitely enjoyed it
The Foundry Burger was actually the dish that we came for. Though very good, it wasn’t worth $ 15. Probably because I enjoy my burgers JUICY. This burger was not juicy, but was still satisfying. This is available at any time.
The meal took surprisingly long, but the staff made sure we were comfortable by frequently checking up on us, providing an explanation and treating us to some dishes on the house! «We hope you give us another shot.» They were so humble and apologetic and it was obvious that they appreciate their customers. A certain brunch place in Atwater Village could take a few notes from them.
We still have our Groupon, so we will be returning soon to try the other dishes on the menu. This place also has some good people watching.

The Foundry was not a disappointment. It was just the right mix of fancy and tasty, sometimes they’re mutually exclusive. I particularly recommend the latke bites, the cheapest and tastiest thing on the menu. Also good were the potato gnocchi and grilled cheese sandwich. The watercress salad (starring quinoa) was tasty but kind of a rip off for the portion size. The main dishes of dover sole and braised beef were both quite good. The desserts weren’t really appealing to us chocolate lovers.
Service was good with small plates brought out strategically one by one. Music was good once it started but way too overpowering to be able to hold a conversation. Luckily, the music came on once conversation was winding down. Parking can be found on the street if you’re willing to walk a few blocks.

I was not satisfied here. The portions are real small and the food is nothing special.
I had a Bloomspot deal. $ 25 for $ 50 worth of food– I don’t like being shortchanged on portions when I ended up spending $ 65 – 75 for such a lackluster meal.
Dinner entrees are limited and when I want to spend money I certainly don’t want to order Turkey. I can get that at a deli. Dover Sole on the menu that night is an inexpensive fish and so light I can imagine how starving you would be if you ordered that with their small sample size portions.
Portions are appetizer portions, you will starve. I am not a tapas bar so don’t treat me like I am.
Asked for bread and got 4 pieces of spat. for two people 2 pieces tasted like Pillsbury dough crescent rolls and some other concoction not worth mentioning.
We ordered the trout. While the trout itself was very good, it was two small cut pieces literally 2“X 2“The disappointing dry accompaniments did not match for a pairing of trout. The website does not update the menu as this was not on the website. They say they change menu daily– Well it takes 5 minutes to update a website it and it was not updated. Black cod was on the website and it was not on the menu when we arrived. I was planning to order that.
Crawfish Chicken Tart $ 14 fennel /​swiss chard /​cornbread small plate was ordered. This was super small and tasteless with dry chicken and no fennel taste as well as dried out cornbread.
I ordered a Martini with dinner and the olives were super small and not quality bar olives. Really now, don’t be so cheap! The glass was not a big martini glass but a smaller glass with a thick stem. Sorry I like my Martini’s the way they serve them at Chaya Venice– too the rim and in a nice big traditional Martini glass.
When you walk in the bar is pretty, but the rest of the place has not too much atmosphere. They do music and night after 10 which can be a nice option, but we left as they were setting up.
We sat on the outside patio at a corner booth in a ripped up booth. See pics as this was pretty «ghetto» We put up with it because it was one of the best location and not close to other diners. Luckily we were wearing jeans as if I had a dress on my tush sure would of gotten snagged. Other tables for two are small and super close to other tables.
Desert was not even a consideration as we felt we would get ripped off again.
The waitress was sweet and service was okay, but they never came to ask if I wanted another drink?
How places survive like this I don’t know. I will never go back and do not recommend the place.

Amazing restaurant. 4 of us were here for a birthday dinner, ordered 1 appetizer, 1 entrée and drinks each. Highly recommended items on the menu include the pork belly, chicken jambalaya, rib eye, shrimp and grits and tuna tartare.
the ambience is intimate, the outdoor seating is a little cold in february, but the service was amazing. our waiter made sure the heaters were on full blast, we were warm, and our drinks were always topped off.
reservations highly recommended.

«I love your dress. You are really rocking’ it!»
Why, thank you, Mr.-Random-Guy-Outside-the-Bathroom. :) That was very nice of you!
Friday was a bust. I was going to make reservations, but when I looked online, there were reservations open for every fifteen minutes, so I didn’t even bother. When we showed up, the place was packed, and the hostess looked at us like we were crazy to think we would ever get seated. She wouldn’t even give us a time-​frame, but was like, «yeah, I guess you can wait, but I have NO IDEA…» Nice lady. NOT!
We decided to wait at the bar, and I made a reservation online for the exact same time it was. We went back to the front pretending to «forget» that we had a reservation. Suddenly she was all smiles and accommodating. Until… she couldn’t find our reservation. I found out I made it for Saturday instead of Friday, so we gave up and left. I could have made it for the right day, had I been paying attention, and the girl gave me the impression that we could have been seated if we had. Lame. Oh well. We had an amazing dinner at Genwa instead.
Fast forward to Monday night. The Foundry, take two.
I’ve been looking to try this place for quite some time. Well, since I met Greenspan during the taping of a Gordon Ramsey «Kitchen Nightmares» episode a year ago. Thanks, Unilocal,that was fun! He didn’t recognize me, but I wasn’t so vain as to expect that he would. Lol.
I made a reservation even though there was plenty of room. I didn’t want to go through the same things as last time.
Getting seated and ordering was easy enough. Greenspan was chatting up the guys next to us, and he apparently knew the family on the other side of us when they came (he bought them some wine or something as a wedding gift — how nice. He came by and asked us how we were doing once, and he offered to take our check for processing. That was interesting. He was shmoozing, running the kitchen, sometimes serving, and even taking payments. I didn’t expect that.
The bread could have come out sooner. We were sitting for quite some time (I was starving), so it was sad that the bread came out just before the food. Instead of being a filler and an appetite killer, it could have been a nice place holder had it come earlier.
Next was the beet salad. I love beets, so you can’t really do wrong in my book. Well, that’s not true, because wrong has happened a couple of times, but I really liked this salad. What stood out as different, to me, was the beet purée. I loved everything about it.
The short rib pancakes were next. Being Asian, I wanted to reach for some chopsticks, but there weren’t any. This dish is really small. I guess it’s only $ 5, so what did I really expect, but it’s only two little pieces. It was fried nice and crispy on the outside, but I thought the meat was slightly dry, even when the whole thing was dipped in sauce. I’ve had better onion pancake elsewhere, short ribs or not.
My favorite dish of the evening came next — the potato soup. We almost didn’t order this. It wasn’t on our agreed list, but when the boyfriend went to the bathroom, I added it on. Thank goodness I did! It was a great blend of flavors. I loved the thick, sticky, and grainy potato soup. The bacon was a nice touch, as were the leeks, the bread pieces at the bottom, and the egg. It was like breakfast in a bowl, but better. I could eat this every day and probably never get tired of it.
The grilled cheese was surprisingly on raisin bread. Something about the cheese reminded me of my dog — the stinky one — so that threw me off quite a bit. I felt like I was eating my dogs face. I didn’t like that, but the sandwich itself was good. I was waiting for hell to freeze over and the lights of heaven to appear, but neither happened. I think my expectations were too high.
The pork belly was really fatty and sweet. It wasn’t either of our favorites. Our server mistakenly ordered two for us. Greenspan was upset at him, and then he said something about it being better to make friends and sent the dish, complimentary, to another table. We were wondering why he didn’t try to make us friends by giving us back the dish. Oh well.
The boyfriend liked the risotto, but I wasn’t in love with the texture. I thought it was more of a rice pudding consistency than a risotto. I still ate it, so whatever.
We were too full for dessert.
Even though our server knew we had a Groupon, he neglected to take it off our bill, and he charged us for both pork bellies, even though we only ate one. We had to get our bill adjusted, which wasn’t the biggest issue, but I felt like it shouldn’t have happened. Also, the bus bot kept taking one of our empty dishes away but leaving another. Very odd. Seeing as we had ordered quite a bit of items, it would have been nice to have had more room on the table.
Small complaints, food was overall good, a few dishes superb.

Pretty damn good! Intimate little restaurant setting on Melrose with good food and great service.
Walked in on a Wednesday night with no reservation around 8pm… it was pretty empty.
My bf and I ordered:
* butternut squash risotto
* short rib grilled cheese sandwich
* monte cristo sandwich
* mustard glazed pork belly
* turkey and cranberry terrine (seasonal plate)
I really liked the risotto and the grilled cheese sandwich — those were def my standout favs. The monte cristo is basically a heart attack on a plate — it’s a fried turkey sandwich dusted with powdered sugar that you dip into raspberry jam. It was definitely tasty but I couldn’t handle more than two bites.
The turkey terrine was definitely interesting, but the accompanying toast pieces were a little dry. The pork belly was also not that exciting.
The dishes are hit and miss, but I’d definitely come back sometime. I can’t wait for Eric Greenspan to open his little grilled cheese restaurant next door!

not bad, not bad at all.
I was a little concern when they almost killed us with smoke inhalation by setting the outdoor patio on fire due to some newly purchased heat lamps. Not sure exactly what happened but white clouds of smoke started forming as they were trying to keep us warm.
I checked in on four square and they offered a free wine pairing if you get a tasting menu but we were completely let down when the waiter said that EVERYone at the table must get the tasting menu to get this deal. My sisters and I wanted to share all the food so that was a bummer but i digress,
I dont know if our waiter just knows exactly what we liked or all the food there are just that delicious. we ordered :
Aside from the warm bread lacking taste even with butter smeared all over it .the rest of the food we ordered were all pretty bomb diggity!
potato soup– egg on top with potato chips and a nice warm stew… everything combine together was just like heaven in your mouth!
a small side of ravioli– pretty good with a nice zest of lime juice.
grilled cheese sandwich with arugula and bits of tomato — my sisters and i throughly enjoyed this dish, youd be surprised on such a simple dish can sometimes not be made that great. ie grilled cheese truck.
and the final entrée — make your own pasta — the big pieces of pasta with its soft texture was tasty but we all felt it was slightly too sour.
than finally the dessert!
my sisters and i were all looking at the grey earl crème brûlée or the bread pudding
but the server suggested the apple vignette. so we went with it. usually when servers suggest something 3 out of 5x its never as wonderful as they describe it.
but thisss… wow …these baby sugar donut balls and the side of apple sauces (sounds funny but trust me delicious) were just PERFECT!
I had called in about the reservations, and mentioned that it was my baby sisters bday– and i thought they would bring out a candle or something and they never did. so that was a kind of a let down too.
aside from a couple of minor mishaps. the food was actually impeccable!

Came here on a Sunday night for a friend’s birthday and had an amazing experience.
Shrimp Toasts: We alright. They need to hold off on the pepper and I had a feeling it was overly done.
Mustard Spaetzle: I’m not familiar with this dish so I can’t really compare it with anything else. It’s like eating a bowl of pasta with really great sauce on the bottom. I really liked it.
Grilled Cheese w/​short ribs sandwich: I’m coming back for this and I’m going to eat a whole plate on my own this time.
Chicken Peach Terrine: Chicken pâté… my favorite!
Service was top notch as well. Very attentive servers and manager sent over a couple of free appetizers for my friend’s birthday. Sunday is the best night to come
with no reservations since it’s not busy at all.

Chef Greenspan seems like a pretty cool dude. The kinda dude you’d like to have a cold beer with and just chill out in the backyard while you grill up some steaks. Y’know, just two bros hangin’ out… what’s the harm?
Oh, so this is actually a super belated Valentine’s day review… yup. brought the wife here 7 months ago. Yup. my lazy ass decided to review it in September, so what. it’s the thought that counts… you bastards.
So, as we all know. Vday is all about the ladies, so I insisted the wife drink up and let me be the sober hubby.
BACK IN THYME
Almost as fruity as me. Gawdamn.
SPAETZLE
Artichoke purée, wild mushrooms and a deliciously adorable little fried egg on top. Tasty.
TOTS
Unique dipping sauces (Blue Cheese fondue and violet mustard). Hot and crispy deliciousness, Napoleon Dynamite approved.
PORK BELLY
Loved this. Crispy, fatty belly of my favorite beast lovingly wrapped in a scallion pancake with a black vinegar dipping sauce. Oh, happy day.
GRILLED CHEESE
OK. So i understand this is a popular dish… and it was pretty good. But they ran out of short ribs at 8pm on a saturday night?! i was heartbroken. Anguish. I’m a drama queen. So what. But still… that raisin walnut bread, the apricot caper purée and that ooozzy talleggio cheese here’s an oozy closeup…
now I gotta go back to get my gawdamn short rib addition!
CHICKEN N WAFFLE
It was a pretty sad little piece of waffle and it was just ok. The chicken was fried up just right and was tender and juicy. Did I mention the bourbon maple syrup? Um. yes please.
SKIRT STEAK
A very nice medium rare skirt steak with a semi spicy/​tangy chimichurri sauce on top. Nothing amazing but pretty damn good.
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Now, it wouldn’t be Valentine’s day without dessert… so, even though we could barely stand up because we ate so gawdamn much… I insisted we get dessert. It was a croissant bread pudding with banana and peanut butter sauce. so, yeah, it was well worth the extra slow food coma crawl/​walk back to the car.
All in all, what better way to celebrate cupid’s arrow in my heart than with pork belly grease clogging it up.

I came here on a Sunday night and we were sat right away. I expected my mind to be blown because I’d heard so much about this place, but I can’t say that it was. Maybe I just didn’t order the best things on the menu. Here are some notes on what we had:
— Shrimp toast — not as juicy as I’d hoped, nor very flavorful. Overly breaded.
— Green bean salad with figs, burrata & duck belly — the best thing we had that night!
— Grilled cheese with short ribs on raisin nut bread — This was ok. The sweetness of the bread made it different, but I couldn’t really taste the short ribs inside.
— Crispy branzino — the server said this was his favorite item on the menu but it didn’t really impress me
— Sour cherry beignets for dessert — the dough wasn’t as soft as I would’ve liked. Instead it was sort of hard.
They didn’t bring us the complimentary bread like the other tables, but other than that the service was decent. All in all, an «okay» place. I hope to come back again and discover that my first experience here was just an off night.

***The Foundry On Melrose offers a reasonably priced tasting menu; there were a few misses on the menu, but several of the dishes were at the very lesst decent and the duck breast was good***
The Foundry On Melrose is a restaurant /​live music bar in a busy part of Melrose. The restaurant has a small, cozy and lively feel. I tried Foundry a long time ago and I found a lot of the food was underwhelming even if the prices were very reasonable given the fine dining dishes being served. The prices have remained reasonable – maybe even more so given that they are even offering more casual dishes like sandwiches.
We decided to go with the tasting menu because it sounded pretty good and the price was relatively low compared to other similar LA spots. The portion sizes were pretty good too though I felt the dessert was too small.
The first course was tuna tartare. The tuna was not incredibly fresh, but it was still fresh, moist and good. The seasoning was good too. It was not too spicy, but there was enough heat. There was also nice chips as well as creamy squash purée.
The second course was an onion risotto. This was easily the weakest dish of the night. The rice was complete mush. It was very overcooked and kind of oatmeal like. The flavor was not great either. The dish was quite bland except for the parmesan and whole pearl onions, which were nicely cooked.
The next course (duck breast) was surprisingly good. If the other dishes were as good as the duck, the tasting menu here could have been quite good. The duck breast was good. The meat had a good flavor and it was juicy and tender. The outside skin was lightly crispy.
The sides all worked well with the duck. I liked the freshness of the greens as well as the good mushrooms and chestnuts. The apples were not too strong, which was a good thing.
The main meat dish was braised beef short ribs. The beef short rib had a decent flavor and it was tender, but it was on the dry side (it might have been due to the lack of fat or the way they prepared the meat).
In terms of sides, I really liked the creamy and sweet carrot purée, which provided needed moisture to the dish. There was also good greens, blistered carrots and radishes.
The final course was dessert and it was a small cup of Earl Grey crime brûlée. The crime brûlée was small but good. The custard was creamy and smooth and had a good and distinct flavor. The crust was also good.
Garnishes for the crime brûlée included candied lemon peel and a honey scone. I’ve never been a big fan of scones. I’ve always found them dry and that was the case here.
In terms of service, the server was pleasant and helpful, but the food came out at an inconsistent pace. A few of the courses took a very long time to come out.
The prices were good. Their tasting menu was very reasonably priced compared to other tasting menus out there. The food was not as good as those tasting menus I’ve had, but Foundry still puts out a respectable tasting menu in terms of quality and variety.
I thought Foundry was better on this second visit even though there was a mix of good dishes (duck) with very below average ones (onion risotto). Because of this inconsistency, I wouldn’t recommend Foundry If you are looking for a nice, solid fine dining meal. That being said, their balance of quality on some dishes and reasonable prices may make Foundry worth considering if you are looking for a fine dining meal that is not too expensive.
Parking is available on the street by meter. Melrose can get busy, but you should be able to find a space if you don’t mind walking a little.

What a lovely restaurant on Melrose Ave. We had dinner reservations and walked through the restaurant to the back patio where the moon and candlelight made the perfect nighttime setting. It’s intimate, which isn’t typical for anywhere outdoor in LA, however they pulled it off with a back patio nestled in between two building and completely closed off with nothing to see but the sky.
As we glanced over the menu, we figured out that it might just be easier to share everything. My friend decided to try their Chef’s Tasting Menu ($ 45), which was about 5 different dishes along with dessert. He wanted the wine pairing to go with it though which was another $ 20 on top. We also ordered the Skirt Steak and the Grilled Cheese. We had so many items that everything just kept popping up all over our table. My friend’s wine pairing didn’t seem to come at the same time as our food so when we informed our server, he said he didn’t know he wanted the wine pairing. Sure, maybe a little mistake made on the server’s part, but this messed up the wine pairing for the whole night. After all, the point of a wine pairing is to enhance your meal when paired with the dish.
We were first given poppy-​seed muffin-​type bread to start. This was okay, I took a bite and decided to skip it over all. Our other food came out rather quickly one after the other.
Grilled Cheese — Not your typical grilled cheese that you’re used to. I’m not sure what kind of cheese they used, but it was delicious. It was on a sweeter kind of bread with raisins in it, and the cheese was oozing out from between the bread. It was crisp & warm, and divinely melted in your mouth.
Onion Risotto — Risotto was cooked to perfection with the sweetness of the onion baked right into it. It was rich in flavor, and had the consistency of porridge, but I still enjoyed it.
Skirt Steak — Wow! To be honest, every skirt steak I’ve ever had has been good. This one is no different. It was served over a bed of mashed plantains which gave the dish its’ sweeter taste. I preferred the eat the steak by itself though.
Tuna Tartare — I love tuna prepared this way. It’s so light and magnificent, and I want to eat it all the time. In my opinion, this is probably one of the healthiest things to eat, it’s essentially pure protein!
As for the duck breast, it was completely lacking in flavor and sadly there was nothing special about it. The braised short rib was another disappointment. In fact, I enjoyed eating the vegetables around it than that dry chunk of meat. Stay clear of those two and you’ll enjoy your meal. I got a taste of the Earl Grey Crème Brulee and I liked it a lot. Crème brûlée is my favorite dessert and the Earl Grey added a nice flavor to it.
The service was a little sucky. We had the same server as the table next to us and he seemed to be much nicer and more prompt at their table as opposed to ours. While it wasn’t so much a problem for me, my friend who had the wine pairing was much more affected by it. Everything was thrown off with mispairings and I think he even said that there was no point to him getting the wine pairings after all. After all this, I’ll just say that it was a cool experience to try once, and I’m good with that.

If you’ve never been here before… It’s about time you go! The atmosphere is this modern, hip, fun, hot spot that looks like it’s just as good or even better than most trendy and crowded spots.
Basically any drink they make you won’t disappoint.
This place is like a tapas style menu. It separates between «earth», «land», etc… Think of sharing when you come here so you can try these original creations. There is no other place you can try the same exact dish. Order the grilled cheese. It is amazing! Their fried chicken and waffle… Oh dear, rarely have I had fried chicken cooked to this perfection: So juicy, nice and great skin texture crispy… The meat falls off the bone so it’s very very easy to indulge. I also must mention their potato soup. There is nothing else like it when it comes to potato and soup. You get an egg on top of the chowder which surrounds a «meatloafy» style pancakey concoction filled with herbs and … bacon? Kinda. Maybe. But yes.
Service is great. They are attentive and very helpful.
Don’t forget dessert. I usually love dessert but it was NOT my favorite here. Chocolate croissant bread pudding with some peanut butter… That was my biggest let down, but I still enjoyed it.

Food was average, service was good, drinks were delicious!
Probably would only come back if I was in the area and meeting people up for drinks. Had the Bardstown Breakfast and it was yummy & strong!
Don’t really have much to comment on, in regards to the food, because it really was just that average. The only negative thing was that my friend ordered the Grill Cheese, which is what they are supposed to be known for and what was shown on Food Network’s «Best Thing I Ever Ate», but it was pretty burnt! And nothing amazing.

I so want to like this place and jump on the bandwagon and give this place a 5 star rating, but in the end I just wasn’t enamored enough to do it. What with all the star power sexiness that this place exudes, what more can a foodie ask for?
The Foundry is celebrity chef Eric Greenspan’s new restaurant after being Executive Chef at Patina and Opening Chef at Meson G. You may also recognize him as a finalist on season two of the Food Network’s Next Iron Chef. And if that wasn’t enough, he has also studied under chef Ferran Adria of the very exclusive El Bulli fame. But for all of this fame, the food at The Foundry seems to be a poor imitation of Adria’s obsessive mastery of the art of food; from what we experienced, it is a diluted version at best…
The interior of The Foundry is trendy and industrial chic, but when the weather permits, the rear patio is where you should seek to be seated. With our 630pm reservations for 3 we arrived 10 minutes early and scored a nice white linen lined booth just outside on the patio. The maitre d’hotel who led us to our table was ever the gentleman but this would not be the last time that we would see him as is typically the case, more of this later…
There is an underlying bread theme here at the restaurant as the busboy brings out a bread basket consisting of fresh biscuits and focaccia bites, along with some honey butter and a sort of balsamic dipping sauce for the focaccia. The bread theme continues with an amuse bouche of bite sized toast rounds topped with some sort of tomato cheese compote on top, sort of like the tiny frozen pizza appetizers in frozen freezer section of the supermarket, only much more elegantly done and definitely not the frozen variety…
For appetizers, we elected to try the famous Foundry Tots which were fried, fluffy mashed potato balls; I thought they were great if you thought of them like tater tots and at least as good as Stefan’s at LA Farm, but they are nowhere nearly as good as Porto’s potato balls though. Speaking of Porto’s, this leads me to the Open Faced Cuban Reuben is another bread concoction that is rather large to be called an appetizer. It’s a kicked up open faced Cuban sandwich that has pork belly, Gruyère, pickled cabbage, and mustard. The acrid sourness of the pickled cabbage goes well with the fattiness of the pork belly. The Chopped Salad w/​pistachios, currants, and mixed vegetables was a necessary balance to offset the otherwise meal of proteins and carbs…
As an unexpected treat for the month of June, Chef Greenspan was preparing a Hawaiian themed appetizer as part of Los Angeles Magazines contest for LA foodie readers, the winner of which gets to go to Hawaii’s Food and Wine Festival. Foodies were encouraged to order and sample the appetizer and vote for the winner. Although we didn’t bother to participate in the contest, we had the Chili Glazed Spam with Saffron Pineapple Risotto and Coconut Crusted Shrimp. I love spam, risotto, and coconut shrimp anyway, so to combine them into an appetizer is just awesome. The spam looked purposely funny — you could tell that it was half of a can of spam just from the shape of the rounded corners…
I usually love Giada’s recipes and taste in the «Best I’ve ever Had» series such as Angelini Osteria, but when it came to the Grilled Cheese sandwich here at The Foundry, I think that she must have had a brain fart. I refuse to believe that this grilled cheese sandwich is good enough to be the best, although there was technically nothing wrong with it, it just wasn’t mind blowing. Not even the addition of the extra Short Ribs could do it justice or live up to all of the hype…
The Patio Season Burger with Cheddar cheese, Hawaiian Bread, and summer condiments was disappointing, mostly because it was supposed to be some sort of hyped up cheeseburger. The Hawaiian bread was supposed to be a novelty, but I’ve tasted The Dog Haus’ burgers, and they’re served on King Hawaiian bread too…
My son rarely misses out on a opportunity to have lobster, especially on Mom and Dad’s dime. This is what the famed Big «45» is; a large 2 lb lobster, cracked and served with your choice of six sides. He chose the Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes, and the meat of the lobster was skillfully placed on top of a swirl pattern of mashed potatoes. So what does the «45» mean? It’s the price of the dish: $ 45 bucks…
For dessert, we had some sort of candied Green Apple Beignets that were shaped weird like chicken nuggets. At least the accompanying apple cider sorbet was refreshing…
There was a provision on the menu where you could complement the chef and/​or the kitchen staff by essentially buying them a beer, sort of the same thing you do at sushi bars; I thought it was ballsy of them to put it on the menu. We even saw the maitre d’ going into the corner liquor store after we left the restaurant (lol!)…
Kinda trendy, kinda pricey, over-​hyped to be sure…