One of the best restaurants I've been to.. The service was great, the food was great. But one of the things I hated was that u had to wait to get in. So I recommend u make reservations
Delicious pizzas and salads. Beautiful seating area and great people watching in back of restaurant. Reservations recommended, especially on weekend nights. Attempting to park nearby not recommended - be prepared to uber or walk a bit.
I loved Gjelina. I own the cook book, I recently gifted my dad the cookbook, I rave about it to friends. I usually come here for my birthday, but sadly, I need to cancel my upcoming birthday reservation because the last time I came here I had one of the worst dining experiences, ever. I never write online reviews but I am so annoyed that I don't know what else to do. I took my best friend here for her birthday and she had never been but had beed dying to go. I don't know that either of us will be back. Our sever, Mike B., literally couldn't even make a suggestion as to what the standout dishes on the menu were- he listed two items and made us so uncomfortable for even asking for some guidance. On top of that, the two vegetables he recommended were actually surprisingly sub-par compared to the outstanding food I usually have here. AND he never came around to refill our wine glasses, and at one point he even asked "do you want to order another cocktail"? I assumed this meant that our wine bottle was empty, but couldn't I couldn't see, so when I went to pour out the remnants, I wound up spilling wine EVERYWHERE because it still had at least a GLASS AND A HALF inside-- he would have known that if he had been doing his job. His 20% tip was already tacked onto the bill, which is the icing on the cake. Having your tip included does not give you excuse to be a horrible server. I've worked as a waitress in the past and I usually always tip 20%++ but I barely would have tipped this guy if given the choice, that's how bad our service was. I wound up paying $170 for truly one of the worst experiences I've had at a nice restaurant.
Had an amazing lunch with my mom here. Bright her here from the east coast and the one thing she couldn’t stop talking about all weekend was the food here. Tight space but cute atmosphere none the less. Either make reservations or walk Abbott Kinney while you wait because they are almost always packed.
This place was highly recommended to me by my best friend so I booked a table well in advance.
Place and atmosphere were nice but the food was quite disappointing.
The pizza was burnt and the salad and chicken were really oily. Not sure if the waiter didn't understand or plainly disregard my answer to -how was the pizza? Overall didn't feel fine dining .
Our breakfast at Gjelina was the most epic culinary experience we've had before 10:00am. Come for the quintessential Abbot Kinney experience.
A $100 gift card to Gjelina was one of the most memorable wedding gifts that my husband and I received. It came a year later from a distance cousin on the east coast and yet, it couldn't have been more perfect.
Here's what we had:
- Lemon Buckwheat Pancakes
- Duck confit
- Soft Scramble
- Thick cut bacon
- Cappuccino for two
- Arugula
Highly recommend each menu item and the customer service received. Gjelina artfully presents their dishes and each ingredient works together to compliment the overall flavor. For example lemon, fresh ricotta and blueberries? I've been obsessed with this flavor profile ever since.
Pro Tips:
- Come on a weekday morning to beat the weekend crowd
- Ask for a table on the back patio
Ambiance and service here are amazing. And the food is not different. I wasn't very hungry so I "settled" for the grilled peach and burrata salad WOW: A burst of flavors and textures. Exceptional.
The Mixed Thieves mixed drink was also very refreshing on this hot day.
Good combination of the ingredients! The flavors results is amazing. They Have a good services. Is a perfect place to have breakfast.
The height of Venice cool, Gjelina is a buzzing hangout on the ultra trendy Abbot Kinney high street. Decor is dark, minimalist and moody. Food is all simple but with an attention to detail and has a modern European vibe but with a California twist. Definitely worth a visit IF you can get a reservation.
Seriously, I had the best, most amazing tuna sandwich EVER - and I eat a lot of these!! The place is beautiful, the staff top notch, the prices very reasonable - I can't recommend more.
Went to Gjelina for breakfast and had a great experience. The food was amazing, service was fast and coffee was great too. The atmosphere in the outside patio is great!
Great atmosphere and tasty food. Was a bit rushed once we got the food. We were sat in a fairly awful spot right by the host station. Very busy location with a lot of high energy. Good to try but I don't need to rush back
Nice brunch place. Fairly popular though so be prepared to wait. There's some street parking out back but may take some circling around. Decent menu selection, but beware that they do not allow any customization.
We ended up here by accident as another place had over a 2 hour wait time. We are so glad we discovered this place at it is not only a trendy brunch.. The food and service are awesome. We ordered smoked salmon Benedict which came with potatoes and some greens. It was so good I forgot to take a picture. The bread was different than we expected as it was more of a thick bread but still went well with the overall dish. Our Mimosas were about $10 a glass yet the bartender was very generous with his pour. Overall no wait time at the bar and the max wait time was 30 min for a table. We will return again!