gr/eats

gr/eats is a cute little cafe, with parking, on the bustling Japanese strip of Sawtelle Blvd in West L.A. With Orris, Hanoi Cafe, Mizu 212º, Sawtelle Kitchen, Hide Sushi, and Asahi Ramen all nearby, this place has got some competition. Opened by the guys behind Giant Robot the magazine and the stores, gr/eats benefits from having good connotations right from the start.

Inside, the space is minimal and white bright, with adorable wooden cherry blossom wall decorations and a giant Ai Yamaguchi girl. Its the artist that did the equally adorable but freakishly expensive $60 limited-edition shu uemura face cleansing oil.


From the laser printer menus, Suzie orders the $10.50 Seared tuna sandwich with avocado, and i get the $8.50 Angus burger with watercress, caramelized onions and Jarlsberg cheese. Both come with a delicious medley of fried things, the usual potatoes strings but also yams and bananas. This fried concoction is fresh, delicious and naughty. Our sandwiches were adequate, but it was the fries that made us very excited.


I order a Birch beer just to see what it is, turns out the packaging with the pressed glass letters is really nice. Tastes like root beer but a little sweeter.

We also order spring rolls stuffed with shrimp and slivers of cucumber. They taste fresh but the mystery sauce they come with is uninspired, like watery soy with little pieces of peanut floating in it.


Creme brulée is unavailable today, because "the machine for the top of the tart is broken" (mini blow torch, perhaps? I could not understand the waitress) So we ordered the vanilla ice cream with caramelized banana and plum chunks. But like all of the food at gr/eats it was tiny, though delicious and adorable. KAWAII!!

By the time we leave at 1pm (we got there right at noon when the opened) the place is packed. The lone waitress looks exhausted. Turns out today is get a free gift with any meal day, so we get to pull a gift ticket out of the box to redeem next door at GR2. (the 2nd Giant Robot store)

I end up winning a Matador Records Compilation CD and Suzie gets a Tony the Tiger Kubrick. I impulse buy a Sasquatch T-shirt.

So...gr/eats is cute. We want to come back and get some of the more adult sounding things like Sea Bass with Pesto that seemed too complicated for lunch.

gr/eats
2050 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Lunch $40 (with tip) for appetizer, sandwich, drinks and dessert