Loreto — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood, this unique setting offers a glimpse into the experience that awaits. The open, rustic, factory-style space features striking double doors that lead into a stunning, wave-like bar stretching across two long walls. Despite its size, the bar was packed, and service was a bit slow. Unfortunately, our experience wasn’t as warm or welcoming as we had hoped, but the drinks more than made up for it.

We ordered two spicy margaritas, and they were absolutely perfect—just the right balance of spice, sweetness, tartness, salt, and tequila.

For food, we tried the Yellowtail Sashimi, Camote Hornedo, Mar-Esquites, Atun Picante, Callo Brochetas, and Churros for dessert.

Standouts: The Yellowtail Sashimi and Atun Picante were the biggest surprises of the night! I initially expected them to be slight variations of what you’d find at a sushi restaurant, but quite the contrary—they were remarkably different in texture, taste, and preparation.

Yellowtail Sashimi was delicate, precisely cut, and bathed in the most sensational sauce. The combination of chopped onions, lime, cilantro, epazote (a fragrant herb), and pequín pepper created an explosion of fresh, zesty, and aromatic flavors. Atun Picante was an unexpected delight! A variation of the popular tuna crispy rice, the epazote-infused rice had an extraordinary crispiness, adding a delightful crunch to each bite. The fresh, generously cut tuna was dressed in a rich salsa negra and paired with avocado. Creamy, crispy, and packed with bold, zesty flavors—this dish was outstanding. Other Dishes: Camote Hornedo was comforting, hearty, and full of flavor. The combination of roasted and charred Japanese sweet potato, escabeche, clams, and labneh created a unique and satisfying dish. Mar-Esquites didn’t pack as much punch as some street corn variations, but it was still a well-balanced, creamy, and tangy dish. The mix of shrimp, corn, lobster mayo, chile sequin, lemon, and queso fresco came together nicely. Callo Brochetas was our least favorite dish. The scallops were grilled beautifully and delicious on their own, but the overall dish—featuring salsa de cacahuate, pickles, and cilantro on a white creamy base served with purple tortillas—lacked the depth of flavor we found in our other choices. Dessert: The Churros were shaped into an “LA” and served with a passionfruit yuzu sauce—a spectacular pairing! The churros were perfectly crispy on the outside and sweet, making for a delightful ending to the meal.

To top it all off, a spoonful of coconut ice cream was gifted to me for my birthday, which was such a sweet and thoughtful touch. The ice cream was rich, creamy, and bursting with fresh coconut flavor, making it an absolute treat.

I will definitely return to try their...

We went to the restaurant which is in Frogtown where there is absolutely no parking, so they hit you right away with $15 for valet. When we went in, the hostess asked us to wait at the bar. The person standing there mixing drinks ignored us. We were taken to our table. We sat down and ordered our drinks. We had the $18 margarita which was served in a glass that was about 1/2 to 2/3 full. The waiter came and sort of explained the menu, providing very little detail, but mentioning that the plates were for "sharing." We ordered five dishes. Scallops, shrimp, octopus, tuna, and branzino. The first two dishes came out. The scallops were okay, but there were only two fried tortillas. Not really ideal for sharing among four people. The shrimp was a tostada on a single tortilla. We had to sort of cut the tortilla to share that. The octopus was quite dry and we got three tortillas for four people. The branzino came which was served with beans and rice. There were not spoons to scoop up the rice for sharing. The food overall was just okay. The prices seemed very high in light of the small portions being offered. The service was poor. No one ever checked on us after the food was delivered. When we were nearing the end of the meal, someone came and snatched the silverware from the table, when I was still eating one last bite of fish. He wiped the table while we were sitting there with a sort of kitchen towel. These prices warrant better, more attentive service. When the bill came, there was a caveat that you have to pay 3% more to pay by credit card. We had also ordered a tuna dish that was not delivered and we had to ask them to take it off the bill. This was an expensive meal for what we had and definitely not worth the price. There are so many amazing restaurants for seafood in LA, I was sad that we chose this place. The restaurant was busy for a Tuesday, but I can not imagine what these people were coming back for. We definitely...

We had mixed feelings:

The restaurant has a cute design in a giant space.

The food started off amazing but plummeted quickly. We started with the fig ceviche and scallop ceviche. I cannot recommend them both enough, they were outstanding! Everything went downhill after these two dishes though. The tostada joaquin was doused in sauce in was practically inedible. We couldn’t even tell the difference between the tuna and a pepper because they were both covered entirely. We continued on to the spicy tuna crispy rice and octopus skewer. The crispy rice was so crispy that it was hard to chew and the tuna on top, again slathered in sauce, was roughly chopped, not minced, so it didn’t have a nice, smooth texture. It was kind of just a crispy chunky mess. The octopus itself was great. They served it with warm tortillas but it was paired with peanuts and a white sauce that did not work well with it at all. It was a strange combo. We finished our meal with a grape “panna cotta” as described by the server. We thought it was their chance to redeem themselves. It was just a chunk of cheese and shaved ice with some grape pieces. Disappointing again.

We didn’t try their beverage menu or the main (large) dishes so I cannot speak to those. We did see some tables with a nice looking branzino. Perhaps that’s a more successful route to take.

Our server was phenomenal and immensely knowledgeable. However, he never came back to ask how we were doing so we never got the chance to voice our frustrations.

I would not be quick to recommend this spot to others, unless you’re doing just apps, in which case you must get...