Westside Tavern

Finally!!!! The Westside Tavern opened! I've been waiting for this restaurant to open since last year when they said it was going to open. Now I can officially have the "dinner and a movie" combo (and the list of cocktails and beers were quite impressive). It's located downstairs from the best movie ( its because of the couches!) theater in west LA; the Landmark Theater.

My good friend (my only other LA friend who gives me the scoop on whats really cool to do in this city! )and her boyfriend met us at the new restaurant for dinner. We ordered the Baby Artichoke Gratin with sourdough toast (good, but not enough to satisfy) and the Crispy Blue Lake Green Beans with meyer lemon aioli (excellent!!-just enough crispiness, reminded me of tempura). For our entrees they ordered a Grilled Prime Flat Iron Steak with Kennebec potato fries and bearnaise sauce and Prime Beef Short Rib Pot Roast with glazed carrots and buttery mashed potatoes. Both looked delicious and smartly decorated. I had the Spit-Roasted Lemon and Mustard Chicken with wilted garlic spinach which I was very pleased with. Not only did I get practically a half chicken but the flavors were bold and juicy.

And, of course, we can't go without dessert. The Strawberry Shortcake was good. There was marscapone cheese on top with vanilla bean ice cream. The dough was crispy and flaky with big sugar crystals on top. We also sampled the Hot Fudge Pudding cake plated with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and candied walnuts- yum!!

Overall, the food was definitely worth the wait. The prices were fair for the amount of food you get but expect to spend quite a bit if you want to indulge in the full flavors of drinks and food from the Westside Tavern.