Gjelina

Going to start off with giving the staff a shout out for being extremely accommodating. Half of our party was delayed and they held our table for a good 30 mins. Food was delicious, especially the mushroom toast. We were celebrating a birthday...ordered the pudding and caramel mousse. Both worth ordering again. Tables were pushed together a little too close to each other but gave a cozy vibe. I would recommend this place.

I cannot say enough good things about Gjelina! It truly is one of my favorite restaurants. I first started coming here about 4 years ago and the quality of the food is exceptional. It's on a corner off Abbott Kinney and is always packed. I'd definitely recommend making a reservation well in advance as walk-in's tend to wait a very long time. Even with a reservation I've waited up to half an hour. The restaurant itself is very small. The inside has a bar in the center and seats all around. A lot of the indoor seating is communal and the tables are very close together. It's also very dark inside. Outside is a cute little patio with more spacious tables and the vibe is much better. They also have seats on the second floor and the roof. You really can't go wrong with anything you order but here are some of my favorites. We love to start with their oysters. They usually have two to choose from so we do 1/2 and 1/2. Depending on the season they have a great peach burrata prosciutto plate that is mouth watering. The restaurant is farm to table style so the menu is constantly changing. The prawns are always on the menu and a fan favorite. The spaghetti bottarga is delicious, the chorizo pizza is amazing, but the mushroom toast is to die for! Sometimes we end up ordering two of them because we can't get enough. The service is also excellent. Everyone know the menu thoroughly so they can help walk you through your choices. There's also a sommelier which has helped us choose a bottle several times and they've all been fantastic. I would be here every weekend if it was closer!

Had an amazing date night at Gjelina. It lived up to the hype. There is plenty of public parking directly behind the building. Highly recommend making a reservation in advance because it gets quite busy. We sat upstairs indoors and there was a cute rooftop area with heaters for when it gets cold.We had the Brussel sprouts and charred cabbage for appetizers. Both had such unique and delicious flavors.For entrees we went with pasta - saffron spaghetti which was a little spicy from the chilies and the squash agnolotti with brown butter which was soo yummy. It's the perfect spot to celebrate and splurge on a nice dinner. We'll definitely be back. The only weird thing was they automatically put a 20% tip on the bill so we weren't sure if we were expected to add more. Pay attention when you get your check.

Came here for lunch but unknowingly didn't realize the vast difference in menu items as lunch is more pizza heavy (& sandwich) than other dishes. We were seated on the rooftop which was nice and there are space heaters for the colder days. The aesthetic is really nice with earthy tones and wood doors and panels. As you're walking up, you'll see on the 2nd floor bar area the ceiling hanging of dried figs which was beautiful but also brought out this pleasant smell to the room. We ordered:+ Japanese Sweet Potato, Jalapeño Yogurt, Scallion - our favorite dish with nicely panfried potatoes and the jalapeno yogurt was a nice pairing to give a sweet and savory palette. + Beef Tartare, Sourdough, Dijon Mustard, Caper, Shallot - served on top of a toasty bread that was the perfect thickness so the ratio of tartare to bread was great. + Pizza Anchovy, Nardello Pepper, Cherry Tomato, Burrata, Caper, Parmesan - the ingredients read like a flavor explosion but it was pretty muted. The wood fired pizza crust and texture was great though and I really liked the lemon zest on top.+ House Made Pickled Vegetables - would skip as it's nothing special and quite a small portion so not really shareable. + Braised Pork Meatball, Tomato Sauce, Parmesan, Sourdough Toast - I would potentially skip this if you're not obsessed with meatballs. My friends raved about the pasta during the dinner so I will need to make another visit for that!

I went about 11:30am for lunch on a weekday so there was no problem getting a table and the service was very friendly.I got the "grilled taco taco salad" which was surprisingly delicious. Taco taco is a variety of lettuce which is a cross between romaine and iceberg (the dish has nothing to do with taco flavors!). You could totally taste the grilled flavor in this salad which made it very unique. The grilled broccolini also had a great grilled flavor and vinaigrette. Lastly, the clams and mussels dish was great as well. The mussels were HUGE and plump. The grilled bread that came with it was also great and really useful is sopping up the flavorful sauce. The waiter also offered to bring more bread when he saw I had a lot of sauce left (which was complimentary). My only critique would be that the clams/mussels dish is definitely very cilantro forward. I have no problem with cilantro but it was a lot!

Haven't been back to Gjelina in 5 years and decided to visit with a couple friends and the food quality did not disappoint - pizza and pasta were delightful. The market salad was a bit lackluster, very light but didn't particularly stand out to me. They heavily focus on wine and beer here, and it's not cheap. Prepare for the ambiance to be extremely dark, you'll barely be able to see the menu let alone anyone around you! The service is average, not particularly nice but not snooty either. We got two pizzas, the fennel sausage and a mushroom one, and I much preferred the mushroom one, it was delicious!

** ThiS is a review solely based on the desserts I've tried from here. Service and Ambiance excluded.Food (desserts) - Absolutely delicious! Couldn't resist so I ate almost ate half of the three desserts before taking pictures of them. My brother-in-law brought home the Date Cake, Banana Bread Loaf, and a slice of Almond raspberry tart/cake for us as a gift. -All cakes tasted perfectly moist, right amount of sweetness, and freshly baked. The date cake was probably the sweetest out of the three, but still wasn't terribly sweet to make you cringe. Kinda reminded me of a caramel espresso/ mocha cake, which I love. -I thought the Almond Tart/cake would be dry, but I was happy to be wrong. It was moist like an oil cake with slight touches of tartness from the fresh raspberries pieces on the bottom. I would have liked a bit more raspberries though just because they were so good! -Banana Loaf looked and tasted yummy, but it was too special in my opinion. Not a standout but a perfectly baked cake. Each of these desserts were dangerously addictive lol. Our self control was being tested between my mother and I, haha! We finished everything in two days, but really could have licked the takeout boxes clean that first night. Definitely, ordering these again the next time I get the dessert cravings.

Aesthetically pleasing spot. Whenever I walk around Abbot Kinney I always see the restaurant packed with customers. I decided to give it a try and turned out to be a delighted brunch. The restaurant is filled with people. All the dishes were tasty, especially the blueberries pancakes. I discovered and unlocked my taste buds here with the orange mustard from the charcuterie board. The board was beautiful with a good selection of cold cuts. Everything was beautiful except disagree with the 20% auto gratuity when our server on the Saturday dropped my fork and her attitudes to customers. Everybody, the hosts, buzzers and the kitchen crews worked hard and smile. It lowkey ruined the experience.

This restaurant is just a few blocks from our house, making it one of our closest dining options. When I run out of a bread at home, I stop by to grab some from their takeaway. They use same flour as my Pain de campagne. I really enjoy the food--fresh California produce shines through with great care in the ingredients. However, I don't love the pretentious service; it often feels like the staff is doing me a favor rather than genuinely welcoming guests. I wish the atmosphere felt more inviting because I would definitely come more often for their excellent wine and food.

Food was great. Ambiance was great. They didn't have purse hooks on the table and had rounded chairs, asked for a chair to put my purse on and the waiter said I "could put it on the floor".... No.