Best Restaurants for People Watching in Echo Park

This is the first time dining at Bacari GDL. We were a party of 2 sitting in the outdoor area on Brand. We thoroughly enjoyed all the “bites” we ordered: stuffed mushrooms, scallops, shawarma tacos, mushroom pizza,chicken sliders, and chocolate dessert. All were tasty and perfect for sharing. What to know: plan on ordering several dishes (appetizer size) and the food comes out as it is made, so don’t expect everything at once. There are heaters, but bring a jacket. It is still chilly on the patio. There are several staff members helping out, so make sure you get your orders if you are waiting too long. There was a mix up with our dessert. I think one waiter thought the other put in the dessert. The indoor area is small and we preferred to be outside and people watch. One thing that bugged us was that we wanted to sit closer to a heater and we were denied because it was a four-top and not allowed for a party of two AND it was being held for “reservations “. I stated that we had a reservation, but still denied. Five minutes later, they sat a party of 2. When we mentioned it to the host and said, hey, what’s up with the party of 2? The host stated that he follows the rules 🫤. Not cool, but we got over it. Overall it was an excellent experience with the food and staff . We will definitely come back to try the lettuce wraps and other items on the menu.

Totally packed on a Friday night, had to lean across the table to hear each other. Our server suggested we order 5 starters and two entrees for the 3 of us which felt like upselling. We got 3 starters and 2 skewers and the 2nd skewer was more than we needed. The menu prices are, like all restaurants in LA since the pandemic, dizzyingly, insanely high. Of the starters, the celery root was exceptional. The two skewers were delicious but, at the end of the day, they are undressed flame-cooked meat. We can make that at home. It seems Saffy's will be fine without us.

Madison was an amazing host. Her customer service and hospitality was top tier! Manager was also very kind enough to make accommodations for my autistic son. All servers were great as well but Madison’s kindness stood out the most. The food and drinks were also very good. I had a French 75 for the first time and it was enjoyable. I don’t usually drink gin because of the taste, but you can barely taste it.

Over all ok the service was little slow with bring appetizers not giving us time to fished before dinner was served.. great Great atmosphere live music prices point for 4 people

We sat at the bar and the bar tenders were great and made it fun!