Gjelina

I don’t understandddd. They were out of the dishes I wanted so I guess that means they order stuff FFresh. What came it was salty one note pizza and over priced burrata. the best thing was probably the burrata which had unique flavors that I wouldn’t think of mixing. But I expected much more for all the hype, a famous cook book, a 1.5 hour wait and what’s labeled as California cuisine at its best.
Also the acoustics were awful. The entire place I think is made out of cement and then wood accents. Every sound is reverberating. It’s so loud.

I first ate here in 2009 and some of the flavors changed my life. I learned to roast cauliflower because of Gjelina. Thank you Travis Lett.
The grilled peaches, burrata, prosciutto, and balsamic is the perfect encapsulation of why Gjelina is so special. Nothing in that dish is complicated, or particularly hard to execute. But at Gjelina, the ingredients are so perfect, and it’s done so beautifully in its simplicity. And everything is delicious. It’s the essence of Italian cooking with a uniquely Californian spirit.
In the rush to celebrate the food truck culture and fusion cuisine that is part of what makes LA distinct, and as trends like molecular gastronomy or using «off cuts» come and go, it’s easy to overlook that Gjelina is a local treasure.

Gjelina was recommended to my mother and I by her friend, and we decided to give it a try. They quoted us an hour wait which we expected. What we didn’t expect was that the THREE hosts would all fail to let us know that our wait was extended. We ended up waiting an hour and a half so beware, you truly need a reservation unless you don’t mind waiting.
Once we were finally seated, we waited another 15 minutes for our server Erin. We were at a communal table which normally I wouldn’t mind if there weren’t two drunk men shouting about strip club experiences right across from us. They were clearly already over served by the time we sat, and the server actually brought them MORE drinks. Her food recommendations were lovely, we had the cauliflower, meatballs and mushroom pizza, all of which had subtlety and depth of flavor. If only the front of the house had it together like the back of the house.
The menu was impossible to read, the print is really small and the restaurant is dark. They have Edison bulbs and uneven communal wood tables, which are trends from five years ago. They automatically charge a gratuity to EVERYONE (which they didn’t not inform us about beforehand) so I couldn’t even express my dissatisfaction with my experience. There’s a better pizza place down the street that will give you better service and equally good pizza.

Nice ambience, good enough food, great wine. But just hella expensive.
It’s not a place I’d dine often, or a place that comes to mind FIRST when I want to impress serious foodies. It’s more like, a primer and Foodie 101 restaurant that you must go to if you’re just starting to get into nice food and dining.
Overall I find this place HIGHLY overrated. Long wait lines, noisy and mediocre food. I dare you to go there anyway, and go back home and look the damage in your bank account.

Definitely a top end restaurant. The space is big, open, modern and there is a back garden. Service was friendly, not overbearing and knowledgable. My friends and I shared a bunch of vegetarian small plates and everything was made with care and to perfection, full of flavor. I had a great wine cocktail and was really impressed at the quality of the pizza being that I am a native New Yorker.

I only came here for breakfast so my opinion of the place is quite limited. I split the blueberry ricotta pancakes and the prosciutto sandwich with my sister while my parents opt for their scrambled eggs — I honestly can’t remember what kind they both got but they weren’t remarkably tasting which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. They were a nice little plate of eggs, however, considering their price it wasn’t anything special. The pancakes were scrumptious! I love ricotta and the added blueberries was a nice touch. The portion size would be my only gripe.
Service wise the female waitress and the bussers were great. Unfortunately, said female waitress only helped my table initially with drinks and seating us. The male waiter that took her place throughout our dining experience was a little less than adequate and needed to dial down on the hipster attitude he served with my pancakes.
Bottom line, I would love to come here for lunch and dinner to get more of a grip on the other foods they serve. That male waiter left a negative impression on me and my family. The bill hurt my wallet. You pay a mandatory service charge of 20% … Wish I could have made that go specifically to the waitress and the bussers and NOT the male waiter.

After hearing good things from fellow Unilocalers and locals alike, I HAD to try this place. Luckily for me, I have a close friend who lives nearby. Called and was able to get a reservation for the next day at a reasonable time, but I’m expecting the weekends are pretty much booked out for awhile, so proceed with caution.
The place is located on the famous Abbott Kinney Boulevard in Venice, and the space is deceptively big. There’s an outdoor patio area as well. The main dining hall has a bar, some booths and a couple large communal tables to accommodate larger parties. This place can be super noisy, we almost had to shout to hear each other above all the other patrons, since the tables are pretty close to each other and you can definitely bump into people from other parties.
The menu is fairly extensive and unique. There isn’t much of a beer selection, but good lord, there’s a TON of wines. The food menu’s broken down into several sections: charcuterie, salads, appetizers, vegetables, pizzas, small plates and plates (entrees). There’s also oysters sourced from Washington (Pacific and Kumamoto) and New Zealand (Coromandel). Keep in mind that they rotate the menu so certain items may come and go. We opted for an appetizer, pizza and 2 entrees and it was the perfect amount.
To start, we got 2 glasses of wine: a chardonnay and their pinot grigio ramato. Opted for some crisp tasting wines based on what we were going to order foodwise (extensive research and discussion of the menu was done prior to checking in for our reservation). The ramato is a pinkish copper color, vastly different than what you’d expect from a pinot grigio. This is because the grape skins are left in with the juices, and it helps the wine develop a fruitier aroma and tasting notes.
The grilled king oyster mushrooms with tarragon butter and lemon were absolutely amazing. Easily the best mushrooms I’ve had to date. I love the smokiness infused by the grilling process and the mushrooms themselves have this great meaty texture to them.
The gruyère, caramelized onion with fromage blanc and arugula pizza was super tasty as well. It’s a thin pizza with a thicker crust. The cheese was melted nicely and the peppery arugula balanced out the cheeses perfectly. The crust struck a fine balance between doughy and crispy.
The gnocchi and duck confit had some minor letdowns in their flavor profile, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. The gnocchi didn’t have that potato texture that defines a good gnocchi; it felt too mushy for me. The other items in the dish that it was paired with didn’t add much to it. The duck confit was cooked to perfection. It’s a leg of duck that’s still got the skin on it, but the skin is fried to make it crispy. They manage to do that while keeping the meat succulent and tender, cooking out the gaminess that’s generally associated with duck. The meat also fell off the bone as I gently took a knife to it. The veggies paired with it were overly acidic and it make the dish not enjoyable. I would’ve preferred less acidity in their attempt to cut through the fattiness of the duck.
Of course, there’s always room for dessert. Having seen so many delectable pictures of it, we went with the butterscotch pot de cremè. It’s a butterscotch base topped with crème fraîche and salted caramel and then garnished with sea salt. I absolutely love all the ingredients that I just listed separately, but when they paired them all together here, it just didn’t work. The result was a dessert that was cloyingly sweet and we were only able to take a few bites before we just had to throw in the towel.
I would definitely come back here because everything was delicious and there’s more on the menu that I need to explore. I just hope they can become more consistent with their flavor profiles of the dishes and maybe tone it down a bit so a certain element within a dish isn’t overwhelmingly present.

Went here for an early dinner on a Friday. We got there at about 4.30 pm, and because I hadn’t been able to make a reservation on OpenTable, I was planning to get take away from their counter next door. But we decided to try the main restaurant since it was such an odd time and were rewarded with a mainly empty restaurant. The host did advise us that we could have our table until 5.30 pm, which suited us fine. It did seem like the most polite way of kicking us out, however.
Regardless, we shared a very tasty mushroom pizza, the crust of which was deliciously charred and reminiscent of naan.
The space is beautiful and next time I definitely want to sit on the gorgeous back patio. Be advised that a 20% gratuity is already included on your bill.

My 800^th review!
I am a part of a dining group that has decided to branch out of the OC area for good food. Gjelina came highly recommended so I knew I’d be in for a treat when we chose this place. Reservations are hard to come by; we only scored a Friday evening reservation after multiple calls to the restaurant.
Parking is tricky in Venice, but we found really close street parking with no meter. Yay! After a quick pre-​dinner snack at Salt and Straw, we made our way to the restaurant. When we first arrived they told us to come closer to our reservation time (we were just 20 minutes early). When we returned, we were told we were already seated. Someone swiped our ressie! (Which was weird since our friend who made the reservation has an uncommon name) After we told the hostess that we were in fact, not seated, they kicked those table stealers to a communal table. You could tell they were from out of town as some were wearing bright trucker hats with VENICE BEACH written on the front.
We were finally able to sit down and start enjoying the deliciousness of Gjelina! We didn’t get drinks, just waters and soft drinks. For food, we chose the Mushroom Toast. It was very savory. I also chose the Japanese snapper crudo, which was very delightful and refreshing.
For our meals, some got pizzas and some didn’t. I was a pizza person, and had the Bottarga, which was smoked mozzarella, tomato, jalapeño and arugula. My Friend got the mushroom one. The others had the crispy duck and the mushroom pizza. Our waiter was very accommodating when one of the girls sent her food back as it tasted fishy. I skipped dessert but one of the girls got the butterscotch pot de crème. I tasted it and it was really rich.
It’s not an expensive joint, as I was expecting. I say try to get here and you will be in for a nice surprise!

We’ve been to Gjelina numerous times since my last review, all except one time with no reservation. We usually go right around 5:30, and last night was no exception. We walked into a virtually empty restaurant, and were able to sit at a table, rather than the communal table, as long as we could be done in an hour. Gjelina’s ambience continues to impress with its dark and mysterious, yet still somehow inviting vibe.
Best of all, the food, no matter what we order each time, is cooked to perfection and spot-​on. Last night we split the broccolini, Japanese eggplant, queen green beans and a pomodoro pizza. The broccolini came first and was a mix of heavy vinegar, garlic, olive oil and lemon. Such simple ingredients but done so well. The Japanese eggplant was our favorite part of the night. Eggplant can be hit or miss for me, but it was a medium sized and narrow eggplant split into two halves (boats). They were drizzled in jalapeño yogurt, olive oil and scallions. This tasted cooked in a pizza oven and all of the flavors sort of melted together. It was perfect. The beans were cooked in a gravy-​like broth and topped with mini pepper rings, cherry tomatoes and onion. Again, very well-​executed. All three vegetables had different sauces and flavors highlighted, but all were satisfying in their own ways.
The pomodoro pizza never lets us down: $ 13, maximum sundried tomato flavor and some basil and olive oil on top. Very simple and delicious. You get about 5 slices, ultra-​thin and crispy crust and lots of flavor — you don’t miss the cheese at all!
We left happily stuffed but not over-​full. Our server was very friendly and attentive too. I noticed they’ve started to add in service charge automatically of 20% now. Service tends to be spot-​on here (lots of water glass refills, cleaning of table, changing of plates), so I don’t mind, but something to note.
As usual, we’ll be back!

This place was really good. The chef obviously knows what he’s doing. There are absolutely no substitutions, which is both good and bad. Bad because I like to substitute. But good because that means the chef means business.
But everything is delicious, including the desert.

Came here for a Saturday brunch with a couple of friends, and the experience had its ups and downs. We were seated in a corner table out in the patio, which was excellent because this place is noisy enough with all the chattering from the customers, but to blast music on top of that? Yikes! Call me old, but I prefer to be able to have a conversation with my dining buddies without having to strain my ears to lear them and without having to yell in order for them to hear me. What is it with this trend?
My friends made the mistake of ordering the Sourdough Pancake for $ 12. And that’s what it was, just one lonely pancake with some butter and a 2 oz serving of maple syrup. They didn’t realized it said, «pancake.» They read it as pancakes since the Buckwheat Ricotta Pancakes listed below was for more than one pancake at the similar pricing.
I ordered the Mixed Mushrooms, Rosemary and Garlic Oil pizza, which was good, with the exception of a heavy handed drizzling of the oil.
Fennel, Orange, Fennel Pollen with Wine Sauce was quite tasty
3 glasses of fresh squeezed orange juices at $ 6 each. OK.
1 glass of iced coffee for $ 6. Oh, OK…
When asked if I wanted whole milk or half & half, I asked if they had soy or almond milk instead for the coffee. Almond milk served in a creamer (2 ozs?) for $ 2. Really? So my glass of iced coffee with a splash of almond milk is $ 8?
Service was good. Food was good. Pricing was a bit high, and some of the hosts and servers had a air of conceit about them.
May come back for dinner to try them out. Maybe.

I am not sure what I can add here, other than their Tuna Salad is a slam dunk.
Service is top notch. Their staff at the front entrance are really wonderful.
Ambiance is great, very ‘Abbot Kinney’. Great people watching out the window. Really well dressed, beautiful, diverse people here.
Their various veggie dishes, and pizza dishes, are really very good. Some standouts:
— The brocollini was well cookes
— The meatballs were really nice.
— The roasted Japanese sweet potato was INCREDIBLE.
— The grilled mushrooms (yum)…
— The anchovy burratta toast was ‘num num’ to the mouth.
— We shared the butternut squash pizza, which was very tasty.
Great for a date. I will be coming back, for sure.

It’s always fun to come to Gjelina, this is one of my favorite restaurants in Abbot Kinney. Last time that I came here, was during the Thanksgiving weekend last year, while I was looking for parking (always difficult in Abbot Kinney) there was a car explosion almost next to me, it was difficult to move my car since people were around watching and holding the traffic which made me panic.
Today I decided to overcome my fears and went to Gjelina again, this time my friend drove so i didn’t have the need to worry about parking!
Food was good as always, customer service excellent, people are always smiling and very helpful with the menu.
I highly recommend this restaurant, specially if you want to have a good time with friends.

I first heard about this place about six years ago and I finally got to try Gjelina for lunch today. We found street parking right in front and were seated right away in the back patio. There are about ten tables outside surrounded by vines growing up the walls. Very quaint. Our waitress gave us time to look over the menu and also provided us with suggestions. We ordered:
Hamachi (small plates): five small pieces of fish served on a dish. Hubby said it was good.
Grilled hanger steak sandwich: ⁵⁄₅ crunchy bread stuffed with sauce, arugula and tender flavorful pieces of steak. Very good!
Kabocha squash: ⁴⁄₅ good flavor orange stew like dish.
Pizza Pomodor with burrata: ⁴⁄₅ thin crust simple pizza. My kid loved the cheese.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch on a pretty patio. Friendly service (although they are a bit quick to clear the table).
Ps If you don’t have time to sit down and eat just go next door to their take away joint.

I haven’t eaten at Gjelina in years because its impossible to get a reservation at a decent time and the wait times are daunting but because we had guests visiting from out of town we braved the wait and man I’m so glad we did!
I’ve completely forgotten how incredibly good their food was. I absolutely loved the ambiance, the service was knowledgeable and efficient and the food was amazeballs!
Their pizza we kept saying are one of the bests in the world! For real! All I remember is the Mixed Mushrooms but there was one with sausage and one with buratta we ordered 4 total and all were wiped out!
I can’t wait to go back and try everything else on the menu!
Cheers Gjelina!

Located on Abbot Kinney in Venice — this place gets packed quickly so come early or make a resi.
Food: we came for breakfast and it was overall pretty decent! However, portion sizes are small!
We had the egg with herbs and it came with a single piece of bread and it looked like they used only ONE egg! Seriously it was so tiny and who makes an egg dish with only A SINGLE egg? It was a 9 dollar dish too… That’s the most expensive egg I’ve ever eaten. I mean it was good but cmon. Won’t order again.
Also had the sweet potato hash. Pretty Decent. But not a stand out and I wouldn’t order it again.
My favorite was the toast that came with smoked salmon, goat cheese, sprouts, an egg, and tomatoes. It was very nicely presented and the ingredients went really well together. THIS egg was expertly cooked, and there was enough on the plate to justify charging 15 dollars.
DONT ORDER THE FRESH OJ! 6 bucks and it looked like it came in a double shot glass, and the oranges though fresh did not taste ripe. Go to jump juice instead. It’s cheaper and you get more.
Overall the service was alright, place is trendy, but the food was lacking. Would probably not come back. It wasn’t a bad experience but it was not memorable either.

We came here for an early Sunday brunch (we successfully avoided the mob by coming around 10am), and it was outstanding. We got the salmon toast with goat cheese, roasted cauliflower, the soft scramble with zuchini/​squash blossoms/​ricotta, a scone, and the pomodoro pizza with burrata. I didn’t really love the soft scramble, but only because I’m not that into ricotta (my wife loved it). The rest was fantastic — I really loved the pizza in particular (pretty plain and simple, with excellent ingredients), but the salmon toast would be up there with many of the top places in NYC, which really took me by surprise.
If I have any complaint, it’s that we only got to go once — there was so much on the menu that we wanted to try, fitting it into one visit just didn’t seem like enough. I would highly recommend for brunch, and I look forward to coming back here for dinner next time we’re in LA.

My cuz came to town to visit and he’s all about staying fit and going non greasy so what better place to take him right? This place is the spot when it comes to healthy food and if you want to get a pizza that has more green than meat on it.
The menu is simple which I like and you get a decent choice of salads, starters and pizzas to choose from if you’re going for the lunch or dinner menu. We grabbed a couple of salads and pizzas and the food came out fast and furious. The salads were a bit bland, but what do you expect when you’re ordering a symphony of leaves on a plate. The pizza was great and it definitely tasted stone oven fresh so it was the highlight of the meal fo sho.
Service was ace and the waiters were pretty attentive when we needed them. All in all, it’s a bit pricey ($ 16 salad hot damn), but you gotta expect that when you’re in Santa Monica. I’d come here again, but not completely sure what all the hype is about as I’ve had better pizza in the area.

I really love this place, wish I could decorate my house the same way! The food is delicious too, the salmon salad was wonderful, the roasted
parsnips were delicious and the house sausage pizza was to die for! The servers are really busy so they get tied up but just enjoy your time there sitting in a table with strangers and enjoying the vibe!

Cadre vraiment sympa dans un patio baigné de lumière. Briques au sol et bois de chantier aux murs créent une belle ambiance. Dommage que le service et la «générosité» des plats né soient pas à la hauteur des tarifs pratiqués: accueil sympa mais pas d’eau à table avant de l’avoir demandée (un comble aux Etats-​Unis), une assiette de charcuterie (mixed cured meats) misérable pour son prix ($ 15.00 hors taxes), des salades peu généreuses,…
Il a fallu réclamer du pain pour accompagner l’assiette de charcuterie et la salade. Dommage car le pain aux olives proposé est excellent !
Bön point également pour les pizzas, délicieuses.
Le point le plus négatif est peut-​être celui-​ci: les 4 personnes de notre table ont toutes été servies à un moment différent ! Chacun a donc déguster son plat seul… Ou presque. L’un des plus beaux challenges du service en salle n’est-il pas de servir tous les clients d’une table au même moment ?
En guise de conclusion, parions qu’avec un peu moins de mesquinerie dans les plats et un petit effort sur le service, GJelina pourrait être une fantastique adresse de Venice Beach sans qu’il n’y ait quoi que ce soit à dire sur les prix.

Mon brunch favori sur Los Angeles ! Plein de petits plats a partager, une cuisine créative d’inspiration méditeranéene. Les œufs aux épices marocaines sont a tomber. Attention toutefois, les serveurs refuseront de retirer un ingrédient, de servir la sauce sur le côté ou d’altérer la recette d’une quelconque façon, et ce pour tous les plats