LAGuide

Where To Eat At The Grove: A Survival Guide

Sooner or later, you’re going to end up at The Grove. Here's what to do when you get hungry.
Where To Eat At The Grove: A Survival Guide image

photo credit: Heather Platt

Save for the LAX horseshoe, there’s no place more unanimously despised in LA than The Grove. But whether you’re appeasing a visiting cousin, fixing your iPhone, or seeing a movie by yourself with a water bottle full of rosé, everybody ends up at this chaotic outdoor mall at some point. And eventually, hunger strikes. The Grove will never be known for its quality food options (if you really want to eat well, walk next door to the Original Farmers’ Market), but a few solid options do exist. Between dodging trolley cars and watching toddlers vomit into synchronized fountains, use these places for some needed tranquility. 

THE SPOTS

photo credit: Jessie Clapp

Pizza

Beverly Grove

$$$$Perfect For:LunchBig Groups
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Despite sounding like an unlistenable podcast your old college roommate started, Chill Since 93 is a solid, London-based pizza spot and one of the few hidden treasures inside this capitalist hellscape. The order-at-the-counter shop is located at the end of a quiet alleyway, which means half the tourists don’t know it exists. That’s a good thing. There’s a big patio with tons of open seating—ideal for taking a breather and eating some semi-thick, Roman-style pizza. We like the heat from the spicy soppressata, but if you get one slice, make it the patate. It arrives topped with gooey mozzarella cheese half-absorbed into the crust and a thick layer of sliced potatoes with charred, mountainous peaks. 

photo credit: Heather Platt

$$$$Perfect For:LunchPeople Watching
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Open since 2015, Blue Ribbon turned one of The Grove’s most cursed and consistently vacant storefronts into a mall staple of sorts. The very fact this upscale sushi bar is still around is a triumph. The sushi and sashimi dishes are solid enough, but you’re going to ignore most of it to focus on their fried chicken wings. They’re crunchy, moist, and served with a wasabi honey sauce that takes each bite to a new level. Paying $22 for six wings is slightly painful, but so is The Grove, and you managed to say yes to that.

After nearly getting t-boned twice in the parking garage by a minivan with an Arizona license plate, it’s helpful to remember that this tiny outdoor bar is the shortest walk to alcohol. Fountain Bar serves a few fancy bar snacks, but you’re not at The Grove to eat $70 worth of salmon carpaccio. You’re at The Grove because your relatives  like watching fountains and piped-in Michael Bublé happen at the same time. And that’s exactly when this bar’s giant spritzes and well-made martinis come in handy.

Another day, another restaurant trying to make the massive, two-story space next to the parking lot elevators work. The latest contender is Alma, a fancy Mexican restaurant run by a successful Mexico City restaurant group. We haven’t eaten anything here that’s truly bad, but nothing is memorable enough to warrant having a full meal here. The free chips and salsa are surprisingly good, however, and the bartenders will pour you a well-made margarita, so we recommend using this place to grab a drink and snack at the bar before meeting a date at the AMC.

Congratulations. You just mouthed off to a 7-year-old in Minion goggles and you’re not even off the escalators yet. Go calm your nerves at Arabica. The order-at-the-window kiosk is located in the main mall area (look for the grassy lawn full of people realizing a picnic at The Grove was a horrible idea) and serves simple, smooth Japanese coffee and tea drinks. The beans at this Kyoto-based shop have a lighter roast, meaning the drinks will wake you up without sending you into the stratosphere.

photo credit: Brant Cox

$$$$Perfect For:Lunch
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Eating at a restaurant on a balcony inside a Nordstrom overlooking a dancing fountain and fake trolley line is the definition of ironic dining. If you agree with that statement, Bar Verde will never let you down. The menu is full of things you’d expect from a place attached to a department store—spinach artichoke dips, chicken paillard, a salad with some salmon—and under no circumstance should you be going out of your way for any of it. Instead, order a few random appetizers, ask for their crispest bottle of white wine, and have yourself a proper mental health day.

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