Gjusta — Restaurant in Los Angeles

First time visiting Gjusta. I'll start by saying that I founded and own a service industry company with over 80 employees and the way that I was treated by the staff at Gjusta this morning is rude, deplorable and unnecessary. I will never go back and when this restaurant comes up in conversation I will encourage others to do the same.

I'm visiting my west coast office from New York and decided to take one of my employees to breakfast and coffee here. The place is chaos. People milling about everywhere, no organization, no lines. The staff are literally shouting at customers from behind the counter like it's an airport security line. Fine, whatever, it's sunday morning.

We get a half loaf of bread, a cardamon bun and two coffees from the express line where we are asked if we wanted the food "to go or to stay." We say "to go" cause we're not sure how long we're going to be there. We take our breakfast to the outdoor section where there are plenty of open seats so we sit at the edge of a large table and are chatting and munching on our bread. Fine. All normal.

Then, the hostess (a woman in a black sweater with strawberries on it) walks up to our table, interrupts our conversation and says to us "Guys, 'to go' means TO GO!' you're welcome to enjoy your food out on the sidewalk." I say to her that there was no way for us to know this wasn't allowed they should really have a sign telling us that to go food is not allowed in the seating area so that we would be made aware before getting comfortable. The hostess tells me thats it's actually written on the A Frame sign at the entrance to the outdoor seating area. We say "okay" and get up to leave. The hostess is standing next to the A Frame sign. I stop to read it and it says nothing about "to go" food not being allowed in the outdoor seating section.

I tell the hostess that "the sign says nothing about to go food not being allowed in the seating area." She then say "okay do you want to stay?" to which I respond "No, now I want to leave because of your bad attitude." to which she responds "I don't have to take this from you." She continues to say that she's "going to call SECURITY and have you 86'd from the restaurant." As this is happening a group of waiters and bus boys menacingly start to gather in between the hostess and myself and start advancing toward me getting into my physical space while telling me I need to leave.

Not a great way to be treated on a sunday morning.

So, in short we paid $35 with a mandatory service fee for two very small coffees, a half loaf of bread and a bun to be told we can't sit there and then aggressively and violently removed from the premises for the great crime of eating our overpriced food.

Choice and competition are the cornerstones of the economy. Gjusta's food is basically the same as anything else you'll find on Abbot Kinney. But as anyone in service will tell you the product is not the overpriced bread you sell, but the customer experience. Go to Gjelina instead for breakfast. The food is way better, the vibe is great and the people as so nice and they leave you feeling full of not just food but of human decency...

The food here was great and the service overall was fantastic.

We got the prepackaged cookies as well and also tried several sandwiches. Everything was amazing.

However, I am giving these guys four stars and might have done even less for the travesty of organization that encompasses this ordering process.

This place runs on a classic ticket system, being from NYC I have no problem with this system and it gave me slight joyful nostalgia to grab a ticket and watch the numbers climb.

However, upon arrival there was a long line and as a tourist I had zero idea the place operates on a ticket system. The tickets were about 20 feet past the start of the line and no one near me in the line knew we had to grab tickets or that the line was pretty much imaginary since they didn’t serve based off the line.

The signage explaining the ticketing system was made with pin on white letters that were so small most people with sight issues would completely miss it and everyone else would gloss over that text due it’s size and think it’s not important.

Although I dislike a lack of organization and signage, this wasn’t where things went bad. About halfway through waiting in the line, a staff members steps out from the express section and starts handing people tickets. It appears that they now want to embrace the ticketing system.

The issue arose after the staff member gave out the tickets and the person who was first had number 70 but the person that was last had number 30 and the guy who set the number machine that determines whose next in lien started at 30!

Immediately chaos erupted as the last guest to enter ordered before the first guest, whom was waiting an hour at this time.

The first guest argued with the man taking the last guests ordered and the employee chose to validate the decision rather then empathize with the customer.

It was messy, rude and felt slightly crazy. I truly felt bad for everyone walking in waiting behind people, all of whom had no idea the line meant nothing and they should snake through and grab a ticket.

A place like this is meant for locals who know the system. For the tourists, it is a chaotic and unwelcoming scene when the restaurant is busy.

Also the welcome sign detailing the ticket system, said the employees don’t consent to photos, which felt aggressive but ok. They don’t want to be on social media I guess?

When we ordered a drink from express, we were not informed where to pick it up and had to discover ourselves that we had to fight the waiters grabbing coffee to get our to go drink.

This place rang chaos and local only vibes.

My favorite quote was on the way out I asked a few people waiting in line:

Me: “are you waiting in line” Guest: “honestly I don’t know”

Disorganization reins...

I was excited to visit this establishment, known for its lively atmosphere and beautiful setting. While the ambiance lived up to its reputation, a very rude encounter with a hostess significantly marred my experience.

After taking a few photos to capture the Sunday mood, I was accosted by the hostess. She claimed it was a violation to photograph employees without their consent and demanded I delete any pictures containing staff. It's important to note that taking photographs in public places is generally legal in Los Angeles. While I understand the intent to protect employee privacy, I wasn't intentionally photographing them. In reality, capturing the overall vibe of a bustling restaurant inevitably includes some employees in the background. There was also no signage indicating a photography policy, and frankly, if the hostess's approach had been respectful, I would have happily complied regardless of the legality.

Most importantly, the hostess's demeanor was extremely rude, accusatory, and threatening. This unprofessional behavior was the most disappointing aspect of the situation. It's baffling that anyone would try to prevent customers from taking photos, or even demand the deletion of photos already taken. Businesses should recognize that customers sharing great photos of the environment is free and effective marketing, ultimately benefiting the establishment itself(this last statement is only my opinion).

Even if there's a gray area regarding photographing employees unintentionally in a public space, there should be a consistent standard for privacy. If capturing employees incidentally is forbidden, shouldn't the same logic apply to the restaurant's surveillance cameras constantly recording patrons? If the logic holds, their cameras shouldn't be taking videos and photos of all customers without their consent, which doesn't make sense. This highlights the absurdity of the hostess's claim and the nonsensical nature of her demand.

This incident underscores the need for clear communication of policies and staff training on customer service. The potential for a positive experience here is high, but unfortunately, it fell short in...