Layla — Restaurant in St. Louis

UPDATE: Sorry Layla, after this weekend, we won't be returning. We stopped in again for brunch. The place was packed, and we couldn't hear each other across the table. Our server was friendly but completely overwhelmed and so slow that we ended up needing almost an hour and a half for a lunch that should have taken 30-45 minutes tops.

There were no specials, so we both ordered the Standard burger without tomato. When the burgers arrived, there included the largest tomatoes that I have ever seen. Seriously, the single tomato slice was larger than the actual burger. The bun was so soggy from the pickle juice that we ended up discarding them and eating the patty on its own. This was a serious disappointment for a $13 burger.

Between the noise, service, and prices for quality of food, we have given Layla its last chance at our business.

Stopped in this weekend for lunch. They were only serving a brunch menu, which was a bit of a bummer as we were in the mood for a specific burger on the regular menu.

The location: Layla was easy to find in the Grove, and we had no trouble parking. There are several street side tables out in front, bet we opted to head inside on the hot day. The first room of the restaurant was awesome. The wall art and decor are well done and surprisingly modern. This did not, however, carry throughout the restaurant. We were seated at a corner table in a side room. First, it was LOUD. We were sandwiched between a crying toddler and a large brunch group. Combined with the echoes from the bare-bones room, we were unable to hear each other across the table to have a conversation.

The service: While our waitress was initially friendly, we rarely saw her. She disappeared for long periods of time, and was only present to take our initial order and deliver the food. After bringing us the bill, she never returned to take our credit card, and we eventually had to flag down another server to run the card for us. While I normally don't mind a bit of a wait, we were anxious to get out of there due to the previously mentioned screaming child.

The food: We were in the mood for burgers, so we went with the Clarice (lamb burger) and the July Burger of the Month, the Johnny Be Gouda. The Clarice was ordered medium-rare, and was served well-done, which was a big disappointment. The toppings and sauce were good, but difficult to enjoy with the overcooked burger. The Johnny Be Gouda was a gigantic mass of meat and cheese, that was ordered and served well-done. My dining companion declared it to be "delicious."

Overall, the food had promise, but the service and atmosphere were not enough to convince us to return...

Look, the food here is great, the staff is nice… when they’re open, which is hard to pin down. This goes for dining in, calling to order, and online ordering which is by far the LEAST consistent method, which is saying something.

I live, quite literally, across the street from them and can never pin down what their hours actually are. They change week to week, are not posted on the door nor online when they do change, and even when they are somewhat more consistent, they choose to close hours earlier than advertised for no public reason. I understand such things are at the discretion of the business at the end of the day, but building a loyal customer base involves being consistent and professional. They’re professional when they’re open for the most part, but if you can never be sure when that is, does it really matter? At least post on your door or online what current, updated hours are and stick to it.

Again, I want to reiterate the staff is full of lovely people who give great service, and the food is top notch. The rating here is so low only because if even a guy who lives across the street has these issues WEEKLY when trying to order at fairly normal times, how can they expect anyone to become repeat customers? I only keep trying because it’s so convenient. I understand COVID has complicated things recently, but this has been occurring for months - as in not during COVID case surges. I would have stopped coming here months ago if it wasn’t so close. At this point, it’s more of a ‘Well I guess we can try Layla’s, it’s so close that even though odds are they won’t be open, it won’t take long to know and move on.’

So good luck, hopefully they’re open and you can try their food, which is great. Just be warned odds are about 50/50 that they’re open, and those odds change by the day and week on nothing more than...

My partner and I visited Layla last Saturday afternoon and it was amazing healthy food. I'd seen this place many times before, but never thought to stop and experience it. When I tell you that I will be going back here I will be and soon. I loved the ambiance. I'm a big fan of movies and music and there was all types of movie and music posters all around the walls. There was also signs telling you where the beers they had at the bar were made. Y'all this was an awesome place. I got pictures of some of the movie and music posters that I'm sure y'all will love.

The food was totally amazing. I love that this place had healthy items even organic and grass fed. That's my type of food. I ordered a grass fed burger and flash fried kale. I could've fell out...it was so good. My partner ordered hummus, side salad and i forget what the main plate was, but it was similar to a gyro. I tasted his food as well and that homemade hummus drove me insane. It was so good! I have pictures of it all.

This was an experience. I love places that have good service, great food and that gives me a visual experience as well. I was amazed by all of the movies and music posters that we had a great conversation about what we saw. Go check it out for yourselves.

This establishment is wheelchair accessible. They do have a parking lot on the side of the restaurant which is where we parked. If it's full when you go keep in mind there's ample metered street parking. This is a bar and I didn't see any children present. Call ahead to verify before making the trip with your kids. I also noticed outdoor patio seating was available as well. We sat on the inside though.

#Tonetta...