The Backyard

big thumbs up for brunch today!
Food was delicious, the outdoor patio is outstanding. We love this place!
Have to give a HUGE thank to the following g people for their superb attention to customer service today: Jason. thank you for your above & beyond efforts running all around. back & forth to find a patio heater tat worked; so grateful to you for that… especially since the restaurant was busy as well as short staffed today! Also want to thank our server, Arash. he took care of our group of guests as if we were the only people there! excellent service today which we shared with the manager on duty, Anastasia, who was also lovely!

Lately, I am obsessed with outdoor patio dining. The Backyard is in the W Hotel on the outskirts of Westwood Village, and I would absolutely add this to my list of great places to have food and drinks in a loungey outdoor setting.
Valet is convenient, but my friend easily found street parking too. Outdoor tables are cozied by heat lamps, but when it was super windy, we moved to one of the cabanas that border the pool, and had dinner in there.
My Backyard Burger was good, and served perfectly rare and protein style, but my friend’s Smoked Turkey & Avocado sammich made me jealous! The grilled country bread was thick and chewy-​soft, the turkey was stacked high, and the avocado and sprouts really made it. Both of our choices came with skinny fries, which were good too.
Service was attentive and friendly, and the Monday-​Friday 4pm-​7pm happy hour made me want to come back again. I hear brunch here is pretty good too :)

I really love this spot for weekend brunch. Nice backyard outdoor dining, great service, and food. Attached to the W hotel in Westwood. I would definitely come back!

Was not staying at the hotel but came here for a business meeting. Pretty easily accessible, and really great ambiance.
I had the tuna tartare and it was pretty delicious. It’s served with chips on top of a bed of avocado so it’s a perfect snack.

Totally enjoyed my lunch. Great setting outside for a meeting or casual lunch. Service great and attentive. I got the lobster BLT and it was not great but good enough. Great would mean big chunks of lobster vs mashed up lobster. Enjoyed it

The second I walked into the hotel, it was so pretty. We picked a great day to go sit in the Backyard near the pool. The food was okay, I really can’t remember the names of the dishes we got, but it was eggs on waffles and a strawberry french toast.

The customer service and food are both great. The venue/​atmosphere is great as well.
Love that it is pet friendly. Will add fifth star when doggy menu is back

Every time I have eaten here my experience has been top notch! For such incredible food and service you normally have to visit a really fancy place, but not here. You get the kind of high end cuisine in a beautiful and casual setting you’d expect from a black tie kind of place. The oysters are the best in the city!

We had an amazing breakfast today! The huevos rancheros were amazing! they did take a little long but it was such a nice day that we didn’t mind. Stay at this hotel once a month for business and I absolutely love it

Maybe not ‘hotel California’ but a true California feel without the touristy crowd, although it is a hotel place. But its proximity to residential area makes it a local destination as well.
Being part of the W hotel, the service is excellent and the food is very good.
A pool next to you, artificial water falls, a lot of trees and bushes makes it a fine place to relax.
Umbrellas and a see-​thru cover prevents the sun from bothering you.

During my recent stay at the W, I ate breakfast and lunch here and had a great experience. For breakfast we were seated by the peaceful waterfall… so relaxing and beautiful! I ordered an egg white omelet with veggies and a side of fruit — delicious. For lunch I ordered the hummus with pita and really enjoyed it as well… had a little kick to it! Great hotel restaurant to grab a bite to eat!

Unilocal, develop the half star rating PLEASE.
Ok, so I really liked this place… it’s more of a 3 ½
:DRINKS:
The drinks here are better than at the Bar located in the Hotel. So, came out and decided to have a drink before we went up to the room. Ordered a Bourbon and Lemonade and my own concoction of Patron, Club Soda and Mint. Sorta like a mojito… just not sweet.
The drinks were fabulous.
Now, on to the rest of the review…
:FOOD:
The next morning came down to have breakfast before I checked out.
On a Sunday morning they were crowded. I believe they have a morning yoga at the pool, cause everyone had yoga mats. Anywho…
Ordered the Smoked Salmon Bagel ($ 18) — Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, Bagel, Tomato, Capers and Pickled Red Onion. Thus dish was great… except those dang blasted onions. They were not «pickled» they were soaked In Vinegar. Like it was so sour my mouth puckered. Almost a flawless victory… almost.
:ATMOSPHERE:
NICE. Great outdoor venue to eat, drink and be merry by the pool. Some water features, and cool bar area… but, why did they have that elaborate stereo system and NEVER turned it on. What gives? We want tunes.

I live in the area and came to the W (The Back Yard) for a business meeting/​food/​drinks at the bar. The atmosphere is great, very relaxing, as we come into Summer it’s nice to dine outside.
I found the food good but not amazing, definitely overpriced for what you get. I had the Oysters, they were definitely on the small size, mushroom truffle pizza, the pizza was good but a little dry. I finished off by having their fish, it was good but completely submerged in a really creamy sauce. I had to wipe off the sauce in order to taste the fish.
We sat at the bar and ate, the service was very poor, not once did the staff ask if we needed anything.
Lastly, the menu on The Back Yard website is over a year old, there is a different menu at the restaurant.

Nice outdoor spot in the heart of Westwood to grab a drink and lunch. The patio is poolside with tables and lounge chairs. The food is simple: sandwiches, salads, and a few entrees. A bit more in the pricier side for what you get.

I’ve never been to a hotel where they purposely don’t give you umbrellas by the pool so that you’ll pay for a cabana. Also, they have servers around, but will somehow fail to offer you any drinks or menus for literally hours. I’ve been here an hour and 40 mins now. Nada. With the prior patrons’ empty cups still sitting on the table. And filthy disgusting cushions (see pictures). My husband flagged someone down 45 minutes ago to order a beer, and they completely forgot about it and it never came. So… Yeah, have fun with that, guys. I’ve had better service at Del Taco.

Good food and a good happy hour. Food is on the pricy side but the quality is there. Good ambiance. This place is busy during the spring and sunmer and you might want to make a reservation if you are going around dinner time. Not busy at all during the winter. Happy hour drink prices are great for LA– all of their beers are $ 4, however expect to pay more for food.

Loved their happy hour drinks. They also make fresh muddled drinks. The only thing I didn’t appreciate was that you couldn’t get the specialty drinks that were in the inside bar while outside. I don’t think it would be that hard to share the ingredients but who knows. The Shrimp Cocktail was pretty good however I found sauce under the Tuna Tartare too salty.

Great outdoor space in the middle of Westwood. This part of the W is super chill. There is a small lit pool in the back with some private cabanas. The front has some small tables, where they serve both drinks and food. To the left is a bar. It’s an open area where you can order drinks and take it to your corner to consume.
I came on a Thursday night, so it was relatively empty (except for a bar mitzvah). We had a great time. Drinks weren’t too bad. It does have a Vegas vibe, but very toned down.

Yummy blue mojito with fresh blueberries. The sweet potato waffle fries are good with BBQ chipotle sauce. The service is attentive and friendly. Nice spot to chill by the pool when at the W, but I probably wouldn’t come out of the way just for it though.

The ambiance would have been very nice, but the clear plastic tent was a bit gauche. It was a beautiful day out and we felt a little like we were in a greenhouse in the corner of it, with the sun focused on our table like a heatlamp.
The server was VERY pleasant but somewhat inattentive. I think there were no less than five occasions when we had to flag her down to order, to order more, to get refills on drinks, to get boxes for our leftovers, and to get the check. It was a lot of work. Again, from a personality standpoint, she really couldn’t have been any nicer… but wow. There were only seven tables seated, it wasn’t that busy, and we really weren’t attended to all that well.
The food was just okay. I mean, I can think of a LOT of places in LA that knock it out of the park. Only one of the three of us really enjoyed their meal fully. The other two were disappointed.
It was a pleasant-​enough experience overall. We weren’t in a huge hurry and the food was certainly acceptable if nothing special. Just don’t think I’d go back in a city with so many better options, even for the convenience of walking right out the back door.
Needs some enhancements to service and food quality.