Next Door by Josie

EPIC FAIL. i love, love, LOVE the food here but boo on next door by josie for not updating their website to reflect that they are closed… supposedly for renovations. i woke up with a craving for their grilled salmon with crushed hazelnuts and instead was crushed by their unexpected closure after we drove all the way from mid city. we crossed the 405 for you guys josie! damn you!

I LOVE this place. Does anyone know if it will be reopening? Makes me like it less since there is very little communication from the owners!

CLOSED — Next Door & Josie are both closed for remodel but the owner has NOT updated their Unilocal page.

Arrived with 10 people tonight. Closed down. No sign on door or website or on phone.

Next Door is currently closed for renovations. This Unilocal page, and their website do not reflect this. The answering machine is also a little confusing.
When it re-​opens, I’ll be sure to go back. The food is a little on the pricey side, but it is good.

Tuesday night… date night! Checked the Jose site… closed for reno, but Next Door By Josie was still open. Check Next Door By Josie site… good to go… open on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 PM. Called for reservation at 6:05 PM on Tuesday evening. Message – odd, but we figured that they were busy… the message gave the hours and days of operation. No reservations allowed… cool, we made the drive. We noticed that it looked pretty quiet as we drove by at 6:30 PM, but we parked and made our way to the LOCKED front door. Not a soul was to be seen inside. Such lameness.
No note on the door… no message on the website. no warning on the phone message. Waste of time and effort. We did our homework, and there were multiple steps where the restaurant had the opportunity to inform us that they would not be open during their stated day/​hours.
WEAK!

First the good: food is tasty, our waiter was awesome, we had our choice of seating, and the place is updated and well decorated.
The bad: The portions are excruciatingly small and the prices are excruciatingly high. If you’re going to charge the same prices as some of your competitors, at least make sure your clients don’t leave hungry, we sincerely felt so ripped off this time we will not be returning. Not only that, but there were maybe 5 other people in the restaurant total and our food took 45 MINUTES to come out… It was a bit embarrassing as even our waiter kept apologizing to his TWO tables for the wait.
But alas, not all hope is lost as a decent happy hour menu and decent happy hour block of time could save this place. Good luck, Next Door By Josie’s, we will never spend $ 100 on a Monday night here again.

If I could give 0 starts I would.
For the third time now, I experienced bad service at the bar. This last time, a few weeks ago, with my friend and I, it took a long time for the bartender to see us, as she was busy chatting with some customers at the end of the bar, although they already food/​drinks. When she finally turned to us, she hurried mentioned about the happy hour, nice but not necessary. She gave us menus but never came back to get drink orders, so we asked another person walking by (not sure he was the manager) for wine, our choice which he mentioned was a «nice red». He then asked the bartender for the wine, which she served us but it was white! She changed for another choice of red and placed the glasses in the fridge. Another 10 mins went by, we were starving, and finally another passing by person took our order. All the while the bartender was talking to the same people from before, and checking her cell phone. One time she even did some squats behind the bar! Then we see our order at the bar, but she continues checking her phone and then went to talk to the people again… we called her and told her that it was our order. Great food, as usual, but bartender made us feel like she was doing us a big favor to serve us. We will never return to this place while they have this bartender there and/​or improve service. Two people next to us said the same thing…

Love this place! The cocktails are stiff and food is delicious! Been here many times, and to me nothing makes a dining experience more enjoyable than good staff.
After a very long and stressful evening hunting down two different restaurants that were closed, my boyfriend and I remembered how good the food was here and rushed over. I was getting HANGRY like you wouldn’t believe and about to have a melt down of epic proportions. As we walked in the door the host told us the kitchen had just closed 5 minutes ago. She saw me about to burst in to tears as I cried out «that just can’t be my luck tonight!» — she was so friendly and sweet and ran back to the kitchen to see if the guys had shut everything down and they agreed to take pity on my poor soul and kept the kitchen open for a few more minutes.
Can’t beat customer service like that!

Stopped into Josie’s for a quick bite before seeing a play across the street. Major props to the staff for getting us our food and bill quickly (we were going to be late!). Can’t wait to come back to enjoy the modern décor and casual cool bar ambiance.
For sake of speed, I ordered the burger, not expecting much. Nothing fancy, but totally delicious! My dining companions also ordered some delectable looking salads and hot plates. Very pretty drinks as well.
Ample street parking at 7pm on a Friday night. Can’t wait to come back!

Nice little lunch spot. Not too much lighting and reminded me of those bar/​restaurants in downtown Santa Ana. Here’s what I ordered:
Beer bacon caramel popcorn: yum! Tasty addicting snack! Great to bring home since the portion is pretty big.
Truffle fries: very good and crispy!!! Sprinkled with parsley and Parmesan cheese. Reminded me of eat chow’s truffle fries so good!!!
Sloppy pork sandwich: bread was soft even though it didn’t look like it. The garlic aioli that came with it was delish!!! Meat super soft and the fried pieces of kale (?) was fun to munch on! Came with BBQ chips meh — save your stomach for the fries!
Fried chicken sandwich: brioche bread was really good. Chicken breast was quite dry so I wasn’t a fan of this item.

Pretty disappointing — tiny, tiny portions of salty food at unreasonable prices, and the service was just weird.
First, WAY overpriced for what you get. An old-​fashioned w/​Blanton’s ran me $ 15! And even though it was happy hour, I’d asked to sit at a table instead of the bar, so I got charged full price for the deviled eggs. Otherwise it didn’t really matter, because I got a bunch of other stuff that wasn’t on the HH menu, but I thought that was sort of not cool. The egg filling was a little bit too salty, considering the bacon in them also added a lot of saltiness. I really enjoyed the special appetizer that was crispy squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta, but it was SUCH a tiny portion — two little bite-​sized pieces! I also tried the grits with shrimp, which was also too salty — even more salty than spicy — and a very small portion as well. Even the famous beer bacon caramel corn was a bit of a letdown, and was soggy rather than crunchy, giving it a bit of a stale feel.
The guy who seated me appeared to be pulling both host and waiter duties, and wasn’t doing a great job with either… first, I held onto my silverware through the appetizer courses, but then placed them across my appetizer plate before the bigger portion grits which I was eating as a sort of entrée came along. When he removed the plate, he took my dirty silverware off of the plate and laid it back onto the table! With food and stuff all over them. So strange.
And then two people showed up and sat at the table one over from mine — it was one of those setups with a bunch of 2-​person tables lined up along a bench on one side and chairs on the other, so they could be pushed together to make different configurations. Rather than leave the single table in between us where it was, where I could get in and out, he shoved it up against my table so that I suddenly had a 4 person table but was sort of «trapped» on the inside. When I got up to leave, I had to squeeze through the only space left, which was of course right up against the other peoples’ table. Not sure what the point of that was. Very strange.

Me and a friend stopped out for «Bitter Singles Night» (also known as Valentine’s Day) and thought the place was pretty charming. Our bartender, Colleen, was slow due to her being the only bartender on, but she was apologetic and friendly, so I’m not gonna get my panties all twisted about it.
We started with the focaccia with garlic and oil. It was pretty much just bread with a teeny tiny side of oil and garlic paste so I don’t recommend it. The sloppy pork sandwich was pretty tasty though (I almost wish we hadn’t agreed to split it) and they do a fine job with the sweet potato fries.
I would not mind going back for a second try.

The bartender with the pink hair knows her stuff. She’s a veritable grape guru.
We grabbed a drink here prior to our reservation at the sister Josie restaurant. Torn between several white wine options, our pink-​haired savior made her predictions and then brought a couple of glasses so that we could taste what we were up against.
Her predictions were spot on, based on what we had discussed prior to the tasting.
Love the pinot blanc, and they have a spectacular sauv blanc as well. The entire drink menu was just eclectic enough, and the interior was cozy enough for a date but casual enough for an after work tipple with the girlfriends.

I am absolutely in love with the décor. Urban chic with a romantic touch? Next Door is a small and cozy place with a soft ambiance.
The menu is unique; the pairing of ingredients and flavors are genius. The beer & bacon caramel popcorn is a MUST have. I ordered the chicken pot pie– a comfort food for me. The crust was thick, and crumble/​cake like. The consistency was watery and not creamy like you’d want a pot pie to be. But the chicken and veggies were delicious.
They have a stellar wine/​beverage menu as well. I chose a non alcohol honey lemonade. Refreshing with a hint of ginger.
The service was fantastic. Checked in on us just enough but let us converse and enjoy our time there.
I definitely will be back! Great place to go with a date, to catch up with an old friend, or even gno!

IN SHORT: An odd location on Pico is the only thing working against this cute, fairly priced Santa Monica tapas restaurant. With a sizable list of drinks and a fun menu for sharing plates, this is a great spot for generations alike.
THE STORY: I most recently visited Next Door by Josie with some family, and was really pleased with our very sweet waitress, who surprised us by knowing the ingredients of each dish when we asked purely out of curiosity (the almond romesco that comes with the stunning Farmers’ Market Vegetable Board is a hearty purée of almonds, red bell peppers, and garlic olive oil).
The menu itself offers something for everyone, from the spectacularly sweet and decadent Beer and Bacon Caramel Corn to the plentiful, obviously fresh Charcuterie Bar, and all dishes are seasoned expertly. The desserts, too, are portioned to perfection, and options like the Chocolate Chip Walnut Ice Cream Sandwich become the perfect finish to the meal. With its balance of classic favorites and clever, adventuresome fare, Next Door is a much needed tapas bar for this quiet and young Santa Monica neighborhood (and not to worry, parking is abundant in the lot off of 25^th Street).

I like this place. It took a real effort to leave the house Saturday night, but Next Door by Josie was a good excuse for a light dinner. I wasn’t really in the mood for dinner portions of food and found the light items intriguing. We used to live nearby so it was a trip down memory late toon.
I liked that we got seated in the back area to ourselves where it was a little quieter and just had fun order wine with some food.
I liked that they serve ½ glasses of wine so we could make our way down the wine list without getting smashed too.
We started with some white wine and Beer Bacon Popcorn and Deviled eggs with duck cracklings, pickled beets. Could’ve ordered seconds of either.
Then we moved on to reds and some cheese and pork. They had some cowgirl creamery which we always get when visit SF, and some nice smoked pork.
We called it night after that so we could get some tito tacos afterwards.

It’s nice having a neighborhood spot which combines local produce and international culinary skills to make food that delights the eyes and the palate.
The lunch menu has a sloppy roast pork, fried rapini, aged provolone, garlic mayo for $ 14 that may be a too rich for some people, but if you love roast pork, the added crunch of the fried rapini and the creamy melted provolone, make this a very hearty sandwich. The freshly fried chips were dusted with spice and were addictive…
I would reorder the Steak Frites any day I wanted this classic French meal. At only $ 19, this was such a wonderful piece of hanger steak that I could have cut it with a butter knife. It came exactly as rare as I ordered it (cold in the middle), although the plate was so hot it partially cooked the bottom slices! The truffle fries were perfectly crisp, salted, and delightful.

I’ve been excited to come here for weeks! Even though I didn’t have any certain expectations, I somehow knew it was going to be fantastic and it most definitely was!
We came in for happy hour and were greeted by Colleen, who may possibly be one of the coolest bartenders — EVER! Scoring a coveted corner at the bar, we camped out for what was well beyond happy hour.
The cocktails, created by Colleen were just what we all needed on a Friday afternoon. It also just so happened to be this Unilocalers birthday, so I think she added some extra special flare.
I had the cucumber collins (gin, cucumber, lemon, soda) and was happy to watch her muddle away for the rest of the night. Crisp, balanced and refreshing as only cucumbers and gin can be. I loved it!
A pal had the the queen of the desert (tequila, grapefruit, lime, jalapeño, tonic) — this is a specialty created by Miss Awesome Bartender herself and it was a hard choice not to leave the gin and move to tequila. Another friend had her make a special french 75 and she was pretty happy with that, but it was a bit tame for me.
We ate pretty much the whole time we were here and it was wonderful.
marinated olives with preserved meyer lemon and herbs — I love Meyers in anything!
‘remi’ goat cheese and tomato brûlée — wonderful cheese in sauce. What’s not to like?
beer & bacon caramel corn — didn’t get the bacon flavor, but it was good.
sweet potato fries — YUM!
an assortment of meats and cheeses from our charcuterie bar — Never met a meat & cheese board I didn’t like. This was no exception.
pork belly rillettes — OMG — perfect combo of textures and flavors! Salty, fatty, creamy goodness on a slice of toast.
baby kale salad, crispy parmigiano tuiles — we HAD to have a veggie!
farmers’ market vegetable pot pie, white cheddar crust — the crust on this is the best I’ve ever had — this is a must try.
I am a big fan of Next Door! I love the décor, the ease and comfort of camping on a stool for hours on end. The staff here is awesome, the price point is a good value, and they have a parking lot so parking isn’t an issue. Try finding that in Santa Monica! It DOESN’T happen! All with the excellent company of dear friends, it was a perfect experience here.

***Josie La Balch’s Next Door by Josie is the latest entry to the upscale casual and gastropub scene; they have some good food here (that is reasonably priced) and it is probably worth trying if you are a fan of places like Waterloo & City, MB Post, A-​Frame, Father’s Office, or Westside Tavern***
One of my best ever LA dining experiences was my first visit to Josie Le Balch’s Josie. Since then, LA’s appetite for fine dining has decreased and my following visits to Josie have not been nearly as good. Le Balch decided to open a more casual spot next door called Next Door by Josie and it follows the trend of restaurants like Manhattan Beach Post – upscale casual spots from respected fine dining chefs.
Next Door by Josie’s dining room is nice with a contemporary upscale casual feel. Like a Father’s Office or a Houston’s, the room is mostly dark with the use of lacquered dark brown chairs and tables. I like the nice touch of wine throughout the room (wine bottles fill one wall while another wall is a subtle collection of many, many corks); the subtle touch separates it from many of the other gastropubs out there, where the focus tends to be on beer and mixed drinks; also, the décor element goes well with the food since there is a good variety of cheese, cured meats and olives on the menu.
I started with a selection of their cheeses and cured meats. I had the Cowgirl Creamery’s Red Hawk cow’s milk cheese (a triple cream), Bellwether Farms’ San Andreas sheep’s milk cheese (a firm but not hard cheese) and the Creminelli’s mocetta. The plate was garnished with a little bit of honey, sweetened figs, a date, a fig and hazelnut torte, and a collection of toasts.
The Red Hawk was creamy and had a good flavor, but it did not have the creaminess or flavor of some better double cream and triple cream cheeses I have had from more upscale spots like Lucques and Quince (SF). The San Andreas was decent though it was a little dry like many other sheep’s milk cheeses. The mocetta had a light flavor (not spicy and not the salty prosciutto flavor); it was not greasy like a lot of salami meats, but I could have used some more moisture.
I liked the figs though there was not enough of the honey. Two of the toasts were too thick and they did not have any chew so they were not the best choices for cheese. The thinner raisin toast worked much better, but it broke apart too easily.
I also had the spicy shrimp with molasses-​glazed bacon and Allen Brothers’ grits. The spicy shrimp was good; sweet and with a lightly spicy flavor. They were also moist, plump and not rubbery (cooked very nicely). The bacon was also good – crispy but also meaty (and a good flavor). I liked the grits, but they were a little underseasoned; they could have also been creamier.
None of their entrees jumped out at me so I settled for the bacon, lettuce, heirloom tomato, and avocado salad. The salad was very fresh. The greens were leafy and good while the avocado was very good. It is not the best time of year for heirloom tomatoes because they just do not have the sweetness they have in summer; still, these were juicy and good.
The salad was nicely dressed in a light vinaigrette. The only thing that could have been better was the crispy bacon (which was a generous portion). Unlike the bacon in the shrimp dish, this bacon was too thin and lacked meatiness (the thinness resulted in a more burnt flavor).
For dessert, I opted for their profiterole filled with meyer lemon gelato and whipped cream. It was garnished with candied lemon peel and a lemon sauce. Everything about this dessert was refreshing, but all of it was tart with nothing else to balance it out. I liked the candied lemon peel. The gelato was creamy but very tart (like a tart frozen yogurt).
The profiterole pastry was big and had a crisp outside (a little too crisp). I wish it would have been a little bit softer. While there was nothing really wrong with this dessert, I would have enjoyed something sweet in it (like a chocolate sauce).
Service was very good. The staff was friendly and welcoming and my waiter Justin was great – friendly, personable, polite, and attentive.
Prices were reasonable. Almost all of their items were $ 18 and below and the entrée portions seemed generous.
Next Door by Josie has potential. It is less expensive than some of the upscale gastropubs like Waterloo & City and Manhattan Beach Post (though I think Manhattan Beach Post is definitely a notch above when it comes to food). Next Door by Josie is more in the price range of a Father’s Office and they have many gourmet sandwiches (like their burger and duck banh mi), which make it a new option for fans of places like Houston’s and Westside Tavern. I will be curious to see how this place does and will likely come back again for dinner sometime.
Metered street parking is available. I also think you can park in the back for free.