Elf Cafe

Saw this place on the Clock app and decided to go for dinner. I ordered the hummus, the lamb kebab and a date cake. The food was absolutely amazing. Pretty large portions cooked incredibly fresh. My only complaint was that the date cake had too much caramel, but the whip cream on top really made up for it.

LOVELY restaurant. The space just makes me want to spend as much time in there as possible, it’s so nice and even smells good. The waiters were very friendly and sweet. The orders arrived quickly. The food was also really good. It is not only vegetarian as the description makes you think, which is all the better for us because we like both vegetables and meat. Not worth getting the deserts tho !!! This is a note to the restaurant owner: please up the quality of the deserts to match the high quality of your savory courses. It’s sad to end in a bad note. I was also not super into the dates with feta… it has potential to be delicious, so I hope they work on it… It was the only savory course that wasn’t really great.

We had the most wonderful experience at Elf. Our waitress (I wish I had gotten her name) went above and beyond. This sounds completely silly, but walking into the restaurant tonight I was stung by bee. Our amazing waitress went above and beyond to make sure I was ok. As someone with a bee allergy, I was scared, but in the end thankful for the Benadryl I carry with me and our waitress who went out of her way to make sure I was comfortable and ok. She continued to check on me and the rest of our table throughout dinner. She is so good at her job and just a generally wonderful human. And then on top of that, the food was amazing! The bread and butter, feta, maitake mushrooms, and tagine were especially our favorite, but everything was so delicious. Just wanted the restaurant staff to know how much they are appreciated, especially our waitress, and that their kindness didn’t go unnoticed!

When I first moved to LA, I fell in love with ELF. It has recently reopened after the pandemic! Elf has an intimate, romantic vibe and the delicious food is prepared with lots of love. There are not enough cozy and unpretentious restaurants in Los Angeles. Let’s keep this one alive. They are doing Vermouth and Amaro spritzes, have an excellent wine list and the food is sublime. If your looking for an intimate, candle lit room with excellent food and service — this is the place.

ELF returns, after a pandemic that cost a lot to a many restaurants and ELF was no exception.. A noticeable absence for what was for a long time what some had proclaimed to be the best vegetarian restaurant in town. Today ELF has grown, changed, evolved towards beautiful things, less vegetarian, or not just only. Delicious cheeses, anchovy candies, cuisine that speaks French, Italian, but above all that speaks to the heart, to comfort and with flawless sourcing. I was able to get a taste of few dishes that day: a perfect cheese plate, a polenta with accents from Marrakech with lamb merguez ragoût, and a brandade of smoked trout, an absolute « Proust madeleine » for me, a south of France native near Nîmes, country of the brandade (and the denim aka jeans) excellence down to the wine list whose staff knows every corner of it. An absolute pleasure to share Elf with others, or to keep secret for yourself!..