TAVERNA at The Mar Vista — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I wanted to like this place because I want there to be more places in our neighborhood. I was told by friends that there is no problem getting in with no reservation. So I stopped by. It was to be a party for two. When I arrived it was busy, but I saw some people midway through their meal and few places to seat a party of two. I commented that it was busy to the host and she just immediately asked "how many?" I told her two and she then started walking away to walk the floor. I could hear her say "Hold on" as she walked away. When she returned, she said, "Ummm...it's gonna be a while". I said, "How long is a while?" to which she replied "Like an hour or so?" I couldn't understand why it would take an hour when there were two clear places to seat a party of two and several people mid-way through their meal. She said, we have lots of reservations. Just as she said that, a table of three got up rather agitated and said "We are not going to stay". As they left I said to the host "See - problem solved". She then said, let me just check on something. As she reviewed her tablet another woman joined her. So I waited for them to tell me if we could be seated. Suddenly a woman came to the station and said, "I don't have a reservation but do you have any tables". The woman was immediately escorted to the table that just vacated. When she returned, I leaned in and said, "I'm sorry but we were here first." The blonde woman gave me that aggressive kill them with false kindness smile and said, "What's your name?" I told her my name and then she said "Don't worry we'll figure something out". At that point I was so turned off by the customer service that I informed that we would not be staying to which they said, "Bye Bye Now". I pride myself at being gracious and understanding because I grew up in the restaurant industry and I know what it takes. But there are simply standards with which you treat your clientele. I felt completely dismissed. I decided to send them an email to let them know of my experience in hopes it would help in some way. I have not received a reply. I asked for nothing, but a reply of receipt would at least honor the communication. I won't be back, but I hope they do...

As someone who loves Greek cuisine, and originally from the East Coast, it's been challenging to find authentic Greek food here in SoCal. If it isn't Middle Eastern food being mislabeled as "Greek" by so called fans of Greek cuisine who put out recommendations on various platforms, or subpar attempts at Greek cuisine by those who are trying to please a wide audience but not offering an authentic Greek food experience. Recently, we had seen some instagram posts about a wonderful restaurant in Los Angeles, featuring large scale grills and spits in front of an large, welcoming open dining area, with grill masters diligently grilling tantalizing huge portions of various meats. We knew we had to make the drive up from SD, so we went for the Sunday BBQ recently for lunch. The place was packed and we were happy to have made our reservation in advance, even though we didn't see people waiting very long for a table. The staff was bustling and quickly moving to serve the various amazing looking food to its customers, and there were many instances of Saganaki cheese being set aflame with the exclamation of "Opa!" along with it. For apps, we tried the beet dip (I couldn't stop eating this!), flaming saganaki cheese, horiatki (Greek) salad, tiropta (savory cheese pie). For mains, we had the roasted pork Kontosoulvi (which was the best we've had outside of NY or Greece,) it's basically chunks of seasoned skewered roasted pork, chopped on to manageable pieces. So good that we ended up getting two orders! Also tried the loukaniko (citrus and wine seasoned Greek sausage), which was good. We also ordered the pastitsio AND the moussaka. They both had similar flavor profiles but I preferred the moussaka only because I enjoy eggplant and veggies in the casserole (versus pasta, as in pastitsio) but both were quite good. During the meal, my spouse went to speak to the grill master at the front to give his compliments as it turned out, it was the owner, Dimitri, working his magic on the grill. He was very personable, engaging and he enjoyed talking to him. It was such an enjoyable experience having Sunday brunch at Taverna At The Mar Vista and we look forward to returning. A must...

Edit April 2024: is there someone new managing this place or owner is getting burnt out from the popularity and constant drone of high-bar (success can be its own challenge!)? knocking down two stars. Taverna is still good. But we made a reservation for 5:30pm. The restaurant had maybe five parties in it at that point. We were then instructed, as we were led to our tables that we were “required” to be wrapped up by 7pm. We all (parents and everyone) looked at each other in sort of disbelief that a host would even say that, first of all.

It gets more cringey.

While the service and meal were fine; when we went to order more food and another round of drinks (an HOUR before our “deadline”), THE SERVER REMINDED US THAT WE NEEDED TO LEAVE THE TABLE in an hour and was hesitant to take an order for more items. On an early table reservation. However we did order more and we were still up and out slightly after 6:30pm so the drama about having to wrap up our meal by 7pm was entirely unnecessary and embarrassing given we brought out-of-town guests here and talked it up.

We were all really surprised and then aback by the rude and tone-deaf approach here tonight.

I would hope the owners/GM notice this because whatever happened what was a great experience over the past couple of years was ruined by some people that were not being very customer friendly.

Edit April 2024: I agree here with reviews below and restaurant response that “turning tables” became the priority and that customer experience and quality suffered. Our bill for four people was $214 plus tip, so I want to be sure in that situation not to be insulted, rushed, experiencing a stressed-out server, or getting soggy or rushed food, and not getting scooted out the door.

Old review 2023: Taverna is fantastic. Exceeded all expectations - staff, food, service, drinks. Everything was delicious and so fresh. And it’s a nice chill ambiance, enough but not over-the-top. Had dinner, but looking forward to...