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Gjelina
What Our Expert Scouts Say
March 20, 2013
The neighborhood restaurant everyone wishes were in their neighborhood - and everyone here wishes weren't quite as buzzy. Great pizzas, a whole section of fresh veggies, sharable small plates. No reservations.
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January 13, 2013
Happening brunch place on Abbot Kinney. Great food. Awesome beer on tap. Loved cauliflower veggie side dish, mussels, and meatballs. Great place to share dishes. Really nice back patio too!
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May 07, 2012
Nice, casual, hip vibe. Everything from the pizzas to the small plates are amazing. Be sure to save room for the butterscotch pudding!
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July 11, 2010
One the best meals I have had in LA.
Every dish was superb. I loved the apricot burrata, the amberjack, gnocchi and mushroom toast (to die for)! Ambiance was also excellent. The only reason this does not get 5 stars - I must confirm 5 stars with multiple visits.
Tip- if you don't make a reservation, put your name down, give the host your mobile number and cruise around Abbot Kinney while you wait for your table.
Don't miss Gjelina. I will certainly be back!
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Tips for Gjelina
November 13, 2012
I really love this place, though I hate the 'no substitutions' policy. But the place is great!
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July 15, 2012
Fabulous atmosphere with even more fabulous food. Come here for brunch, order the oysters and any one of the gourmet pizzas.
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December 19, 2011
Not short of being Chichi but very short in service & taste.
My Experience with Gjelina was not good. I went there to eat with a date and it had taken at least 40 min to get the pizza and then my pizza was wrong. It had taken 15 min to get another pizza out to me. I understand that it is fresh and made to order. I didn’t like that a manager didn’t come over and apologize and not a common courtesy of a discount, free drink or something. I had given it another try with a group of guys (3) and girls (3) we ordered a variety of pizzas and alcohol. The service was better but the pizza the same and the bill $$$ and I was still hungry!
The overall rating is Gjelina pizza was sort of ok. They use unique fresh ingredients to come up with their fancy pizza so they could charge $$ for them. I love pizza but only if it has a WOW factor! I’m sure there are some Italian Restaurants in CA that do make a good pizza for example Ago( W Hwd), La Vecchia in SM and Pisano’s in Hermosa are pretty decent.
Being Italian from the Northeast and raised in CT and NYC I have been spoiled with the BEST pizza in the US. If you every want to have the best pizza and been on many food network and won many awards go visit The “Original” Frank Pepe’s pizza or “The Spot” in New Haven Ct. You will be convinced that a thin crust with an oven that is Coal heated and Brick that also has been seasoned for 86 years will make your mouth water and crave more! I also love Lombardi’s in NYC and Sally’s Pizza in New Haven CT too!
With that said if you go to Gjelina bring your patients, extra $$ and eat something prior to it if you are a good eater. They do have a good looking crowd!
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June 07, 2011
BAD SERVICE, AVERAGE PIZZA, OVER PRICED WINE & LOUD !. Bimbos at the podium give community tables to friends before people on the list. Waiter chats with buddies and ignoring hungry & thirsty people on the table that were seated after a long wait, and had to be reminded 3 times to bring the over priced wine. My pizza came 15 minutes before my date's, and by the time her's arrived mine was tottaly cold. The joint is also very loud and impossible to hold conversations. All 'n' all, waste of hard earned money, time & travel.
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May 11, 2011
Gjelina is nothing short of amazingly tasty.
For the full Gjelina review go to One Delish Dish.co:
So here lies the long-awaited Gjelina verdict – it was an amazingly savory and scrumptious dining experience. The restaurant has a modern, yet warm feeling to it, mainly comprised of wood and brick decor and dimly lit antique light fixtures. There are distressed wooden tables inside and a cozy courtyard out back (complete with lap blankets and heaters for people like me who are freezing if it’s under 75 degrees out). The space has a lot of great character, the service was good, and the FOOD, ohhhhh the food…
Just to be clear, if I could have gotten a sample platter that consisted of everything on the menu I would have done so in a heartbeat. The dinner menu was a mixture of Italian, French, and to my delight, even some North African cuisine. It was beyond difficult to narrow things down, but we did it, and everything was above and beyond delish
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September 10, 2010
Great Food and Cool Place. Gjelina is a great spot on Abbot Kinney that has a very wide menu that includes pizzas, sandwiches and some side dishes. It is always a good option if you have time since the wait can be long some times since it is always popular.
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March 26, 2010
paltry lunch at gjlina. had lunch for 4 each of us ordering salad and one appetizer to share. our appetizer was a buratta with olive mix . our salad were artichoke w burrata , tuna . artichoke fennel and trout as the dressing were good the food was meager for the pricing . We honestly had to look for the fish on the plate similar to what you would give to your cat simple BIRD FOOD small portions 95 percent greens 3 percent veggies and 2 percent and one cherry tomato on my plate , highly disappointed . complained to manager, she could care less.125.00 burned through my wallet and left me hungry ..The owners are Giving there customers a big F U by serving this sad food! so shame on them complete trap . This place is just an up scale soup kitchen with out the bread. If the owners really took a look at the complaints , they instead continue to take the mony and run . sorry gjelina three strikes you out . pricey bird food!!!!
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February 28, 2010
The reason I don't want to brush my teeth. I can still taste the pine nuts and lemon vinaigrette from the spinach salad with feta cheese, tomatoes and olives. I can still feel the slight slick of grease from the chunks of lamb sausage on the artisanal thin-crust pizza with confit tomato, rapini, pecorino, and asiago. And if I close my eyes, I can still detect a hint of the truffle oil that caressed the small plate of crispy fingerling potatoes. It doesn't matter that I had to park several blocks north of Gjelina on Abbot Kinney and had to walk in LA. It doesn't matter that I've been denied reservations at the popular Venice restaurant multiple times (consider it the P Mozza of the Westside). And it doesn't matter that a request for salt is occasionally met with a frown. The thoughtful pizzas with toppings like beet greens and caramelized fennel, fresh salads, and variety of small and large plates dull any pain that (may) result from eating at Gjelina. I may never brush my teeth again.
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