Best Wine Bars in East Los Angeles

Since 1990 when I enjoyed my first dinner at WaterGrill during intermission the Pulitzer Prize winning Premiere production of Angels in America to my 50th Birthday dinner in 2016 till 2024 Christmas Eve; WaterGrill is an ever green of fine food, drink excellent atmosphere and great service.

We had a few snags being seated. The restaurant has a large draft area and when we asked to be moved to another two top that was empty we were told no as it was reserved. Except so was our table. The dinners were after us that took the table. We were offered a communal table seat by the manager but the host - he would not budge and honestly had an attitude all night even when we thanked him and said good night. We pushed the seating aside and dug into the menu with our waiter who was super attentive. Explained all the dishes. Made excellent recommendations and spaced everything out perfectly. He made sure we knew dishes were to be shared which we usually like to do anyway but made this made our choices even better. Let me just say start with the dates- you will be drinking the butter they are in! We added chicory with bacon vinaigrette which was a warm tasty bite of goodness. One of my favorites was the seasonal squash with farmers cheese. I can’t wait to eat the left overs! Then the main mushroom crusted pork chop. It’s literally one of the largest chops I have seen. So delicious. Get yourself some cheddar potatoes to round out your meal! We came with enough packages it looked santa had come early! The staff is supper attentive and continually acknowledged our anniversary which was so wonderful. The manager went above and beyond to assist. Everyone there seems to help each other and it creates a welcoming atmosphere that makes us want to dine again. Make sure you get a reservation as we are already looking at booking our next one.

We chose this restaurant because it was walking distance to the Orpheum Theater where we had tickets to a concert. We had calamari fritti and tomato with pesto sauce and burratta cheese to share as a starter and then each of us chose a pasta dish as main course. The portions are small but the food quality is good. There's a limited selection of wine and they allowed us to try a few to help make a decision. We then had olive oil cake and tiramisu for dessert. It was a about $90 per person which is expensive but about what you expect to pay these days for a meal downtown

It was half an hour to closing so it was quiet inside. We really appreciated getting a reservation last minute and that they were so accommodating at 9:30pm. We were quick to not be disrespectful being the last ones in there or to keep the staff too late (hate being those people). We had the Caesar salad and the lettuce was cold and crisp. Our bone in ribeye sliced was the perfect medium rare. My favorite side dish that I rarely get to have is the lobster Mac and cheese. The best Mac and cheese around with cavatappi pasta noodles. We also took a carrot cake home because that is also one of my favorite carrot cakes in all of LA. We were celebrating my fiancé coming home from a successful work trip so it was the perfect ending to our date night after picking him up from the airport. We had never been to the LA location and it is just as wonderful as the other Flemings locations.

Had a great time with my friends. We enjoyed the food and wine. Great customer service. Can’t wait to go back.