Two Granville Meals

Meeting a friend in Los Angeles means sometimes finding a midway point so that we don't go crazy trying to deal with traffic for 40 miles and 3 hours (yes, it can take 3 hours to drive 40 miles here). 

Studio City was a good halfway point between the East and West Valley, so we chose Granville. The first thing I ordered was this spicy Bloody Mary made with organic vodka for $10 that came with a celery salt rim and was so good that I considered ordering another one:)

My friend ordered the Granville salad with chicken for $14, which is basically a Greek salad and as you can see from the picture, a huge portion.

I ordered the Spring Chicken salad with antibiotic/hormone free chicken, seasonal berries, gorgonzola, pecans, and a caramel dressing that is one of their specialties for $13.50. I think next time I would order my friend's salad simply because the sweetness of the berries and dressing made it a cross between a savory and sweet plate.

My friend finished with a Breve, or a cappuccino made with half and half, before braving her drive home.

After filling out the customer card on my first visit, I got an email for a free entrée worth up to $17 the week of my birthday with the purchase of another, so two friends and I went to their Glendale location. We started with the artichoke hummus, a perfect plate to share, just as our waiter Gary suggested. The crisped flatbread had a nice sprinkle of shaved red onion and the texture was just slightly chewy, a nice pairing for the slightly lemony hummus. This is a very generous portion, so unless you are very hungry or want to take some home, I would recommend this for at least 3 people to share (and we still took some home).

I couldn't decide between the trout with pepita crust for $20 or the 12 oz pork chop with cajun spice for $24 so I asked our waiter, and easily decided on the pork chop when he said the pork chop was a favorite. One of my friends still opted for the trout so we traded bites. We enjoyed the crispy skin, but the fish was overcooked and dry, which no amount of lemon could help, so we told our server and he offered either a redo or something else. They removed the charge for the fish when she opted for a substitution of the poblano quinoa for $13.

She liked the poblano quinoa better but would have preferred less lemon or something to offset the flavor, like some butter lettuce to scoop it up or some endive spears. She said she liked it enough to take her leftovers home (where I'm sure she will eat it with some lettuce). 

I chose the pork chop that was done perfectly medium, juicy, and the cran mango compote served on top gave a bonus burst of flavor. The yukon mashed potatoes and spinach with garlic were nice supporting players on the plate, but the pork chop was truly the star. I ate about half of the plate and took the rest home, but my other friend literally cleaned his plate (I think he would have licked it if he could have gotten away with it).

They gave me a complimentary birthday ice cream scoop with a candle that I had no room to eat, so we asked for 2 spoons so my friends could enjoy it. When we got the bill, they had given us the wrong discount so we brought that up to our server who said if he couldn't make it right he would send his manager to us. It was resolved without needing to escalate it to management, but it ended our evening on a slightly uneven note since our service was so good. I would definitely go back, but I would also always inspect the bill before paying it.