La Poubelle

I love French cuisine so a Bistro on Franklin Avenue with a good reputation is an easy sell to me. Tonight we dined outside and I really like being able to sit and watch all the foot and car traffic go by. It’s also right across from the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center so it adds to the only in LA experience. The menu changes often so the options will be different depending on the day. The way it works is you bring up the menu via the QR code and pay for the entire meal, including tip, upfront. Then runners bring out the food to you. This is not the location to go for white glove service, it’s a more casual setting where you order by your phone and can leave as soon as you are done. I started off with the Beet & Goat Cheese Salad and I loved it. It reminded me of Spring and I especially liked the vinaigrette with it. We also ordered fries for the table and they were delicious and went quickly. For my entrée I chose the grilled Branzino and it was very crispy and cooked well. That’s a personal favorite fish of mine so it was nice to see it as an option on the menu. Overall a really nice casual option in East Hollywood with easy parking and flexible seating. There is a lot of street parking, as well as a parking lot behind it and the large Gelson‘s lot next to it.

Went for then music, will be back for the food. What a great find/spot! Loved the crowd, the vibe and especially the music venue, Le Son. Felt like a vintage, old school speak easy. Intimate and sophisticated, yet laid back. Great cocktails too! One of my new spots for music or just to hang out, here in LA!

Food was fine, but this is the kind of spot where you pay for your entire meal and drinks and tip through your phone when you first sit down. Not the end of the world but I definitely regretted my generous tip since the bartender neglected making my drink despite asking multiple times (I could see him looking at me and deciding to continue on with his conversation with the one other person in the near-empty restaurant). Not ideal when you're the only one without a drink to do a cheers, and you have to stand up for yourself so actively just to get your one drink before you're finished with your entree.

My friend and I were first costumers to sit on the table. We ordered food from the menu barcode, they make you choose, order and pay from your phone. Before even your waitress serve you water. The server we had checked our ID's which was odd because we ordered a few different food but not any alcoholic drinks. We didn't say anything but show him our ID's. After that we wouldn't be able to ask anything to the waitress. We asked for water he said "give me a min" than he walked passes us again and said. "I'M BUSY RIGHT NOW' he said I'm busy like it wasn't his job to serve us water or answer questions we have. He didn't want to stop by our table. If you are busy, well excuse us to sit on the table you "serve" and give you a good tip before you even serve us. All the other tables around us that they sit after us, they had their water and everything set. When I tried to talk to the different waitress, he kept saying "order online" because he wasn't listening what I had to say. I gave up in that point. My friend talked to the bartender (he was the nicest person there) we just cancelled our payment and left. Never experienced service like that at any restaurants before. The restaurant itself is nice and I had dinner years ago so I don't actually remember how their food was.

We came during happy hour and got a lot of half priced appetizers. The food was good, but I feel like it was way too dark inside. The style is really cool with all the interesting stuff on the walls, but I felt like it was hard to appreciate it all with how dark it was. Also, don’t get the carbonated water - It tasted foul.