Pura Vita — Restaurant in West Hollywood

Meh…Alright my American friends, let’s get it straight: this place is probably enjoyable for someone who never been to Europe. (That explains all the 5*reviews)

Real talk, read below. For me as I lived in Sicily this place is below average for price/value/delivery.

As vegan, just to be fair, I gladly give credits for Vegan Italian attempt - one star.

The menu that gets you excited - another star.

The friendly female waiter deserves one star as well. She really did her best according to circumstances.

Dark simple interior, bathroom with poor cleanliness and the storage room in front of bathroom deserves zero stars. Sad employee was waiting for me to exit the bathroom. - sadly there is no bathrooms for employee only. Weird music was playing during early dinner (5pm)

But an outdoor terrace on the shady side with a cool bar full of various wine bottles, maybe in summer evening would have a pleasant flair and will get one star.

Here we have 4 stars.

A big 2 unpleasant experiences: an unskilled runner guy who brought burned ciabatta bread and I had to explain him that I like my bread warm but not burned down to dark brown.. the waiter brought a warm and not burned one (picture last 1/2 piece) A ginger ale of price 4,41$ plus the extra “SUS”charge of 3,….$ was a mystery to us but this nice waiter cleared it out: They offer drinks from other restaurants and 41cents was addition tax. She also offered to remove this “SUS” charge.

Other observations: The main dish vegan lasagna has a great presentation. Taste needed more flavour, salt and pepper. And one a big plate it was presented a rather moderate portion size. My guess was that the smart chef wanted to optically enlarge the portion and drew with pesto on the wide palettes of the plate six rays. It’s a very smart move. For the left over tomato Sauce and on the smeared on the plate = wasted pesto, one logically would be needing a piece of bread, right? Nope! They don’t sell A piece of bread here. In Italy you have the bread basket served before food or the 22$ lasagna would be coming with pieces of bread. Here in US they charge you 7$ for the 3 big slides of (if you’re lucky) not burned ciabatta (Italian response to baguettes 🥖 )

Another funny gesture amused us: salt and pepper was served in aluminium ramekin. Salt was in big flakes I had to rub over my fingers … oh boy.

Minus one star for those funny points above.

60$ Bill for one main dish, one desert, good coffee, and a 4,41$ ginger ale 😂 with they struggle and one hour after I’m hungry again.

Would I come there again?

Nope, rather not in West Hollywood.

“Pura Vida”, a ‘simple life’ is when a simple bread, salt and pepper are on the on the table. I get you guys need to make business, still I’ll give chance in other locations.

This place confirmed my observation: often it’s a disappointment when you have to overpay in a VEGAN specialised restaurant, with a fancy menu. Maybe it’s easier to just pick vegan dishes in other good restaurants. What are...

This review is long overdue! I came here for a late lunch one Saturday to celebrate my birthday with a friend. I called ahead to make a reservation and to ask about the menu because I have food allergies which I know can often be difficult, daunting, or even just a hassle for restaurants to accommodate. The person I spoke with (who I think might have been the owner) was very kind and patient about it and confirmed that there were several items on the menu I could safely eat. I can't say enough how much I appreciated her response and how welcome I felt, because, as someone who dislikes causing extra stress for staff at restaurants, I will often avoid dining out altogether. However, I had really been wanting to try Pura Vita for a while and was so looking forward to finally having some delicious vegan Italian food.

Indeed, the food was as delicious, as thoughtfully crafted and as well-presented as at any upscale Italian restaurant I've been to. It managed to strike an elegant balance between delivering on all the comforting flavors of classic Italian food while still incorporating that necessary element of creativity that lives at the heart of good vegan cuisine. Since it was a celebration, we tried items from almost every section of the menu, and can attest that everything from the drinks to dessert and in between was fantastic. My friend, who is not vegan, agreed that the food was excellent.

The service, too, is something Pura Vita should be proud of. I believe our waiter's name was Omar. He was incredibly kind and attentive. He made our time at the restaurant a pleasure. And, though I didn't speak with the owner or anyone from the kitchen while I was there, they were, through Omar, incredibly communicative and open, especially when it came to my allergies. This is a business that clearly operates with a great deal of integrity.

The atmosphere was pleasant and comfortable. We happened to come by at an off-peak hour (I am not fond of crowds), but I can see how this place easily fills up during peak hours and becomes a cozy wine bar in the evenings.

Finally, I'll say that of the many things there are to appreciate and enjoy about Pura Vita, what I especially liked was having the opportunity to support a female-owned business. I hope to revisit many times in the future, and in the meantime, I will continue to enthusiastically recommend it to...

TLDR: Delicious homemade, vegan pasta that is brought down by underwhelming sauces and appetizers.

Atmosphere: small, dark, clean, and cute. The bar is massive in the space, though. I don't know if it is an LA thing or what, but a bar half the size could definitely open the space up more. Note that the building is a Faraday Cage and blocks most cell service, so connect to wifi if you expect any calls.

Service: kind, quick, but a little awkward. The primary server was on-point, but the runners and table cleaners seemed rushed and not as well trained on the details of providing amazing service. Sometimes, they would see I was almost done with something and just wait nearby so they could take the plate quickly.

Food: Let's start with the star of the show - the pasta. I got the Calabrese and asked them to make it so spicy that I'd want to rip my tongue off. The pasta itself was delicious and cooked perfectly. Honestly, this was the best pasta I've ever had since my time in Italy. The chef really understands pasta. However, the sauce was really underwhelming. In addition to it not being spicy in the slightest, it was a bit under seasoned. One of the problems with vegan parm cheeses are they often are creamy but don't have that kick of extra flavor like real parm. As such, the creamier sauce weighed down and overpowered most of the other flavors in the dish. I also got a side of the walnut "meatballs" to try, and they were quite unfortunate: small, dry, no seasoning, and fell apart. I ate one bite and left the rest. Appetizer wise, I tried the Arancini and Bruschetta. I don't want to be mean, but I've probably had over 100 different Bruschetta in my life around the world. This was definitely in the bottom three. The bread was massive and soggy, and the tomatoes were cooked hot with no salt or pepper. I've never had hot Bruschetta. With no balsamic glaze or fresh tomatoes, it just wasn't refreshing like Bruschetta should be. I had two bites and left the rest. The arancini were good, but nothing amazing. Similar to the "meatballs," they were quite small for the price.

Overall, if someone is really craving really great pasta and you have a more plain California pallette, you may love this place. For me, it was good, and I'd go back to try another pasta if a friend...