So happy Venica has a place like companion! It literally feels like visiting a friend’s house. Amazing food, perfectly curated wines, overall 10/10 🫶🏼
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jay Jerrier
Another great LA neighborhood restaurant. Great food, friendly service and we got to sit near Russ!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Robbert van Oijen
Been here now 4 times and it keeps impressing me. The food quality and flavours are SO good, and the wine choices are great, haven’t gotten a bad one yet. The ambiance is a key element too, making it feels like home/community (the name ‘Companion’ is the right one!) with the LP player, the massive bookshelf, the wooden elements and the tables setup. It’s a favourite for us, where we always bring out friend and family visiting us. Love it’s in our neighbourhood!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Annabelle Tran
I visited with a friend and we were seated right away. Our server was fantastic—friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. They even recommended a few delicious wines to pair with our meal. The restaurant focuses on seasonal ingredients, and we tried one of their mushroom pizzas, which was excellent. Sitting near the bar and kitchen gave the evening a lively, inviting atmosphere. Everyone we met was warm and welcoming, can’t wait to come back!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Victoria
I've dined at Companion a few times now, and every experience has been great. Hope, who also works at their sister cafe Gnarwhal, makes excellent coffee during the day and is super sweet. Dinner is terrific, too. Tessa in particular is an excellent server. All of the food is delicious, and the menu changes regularly. Right now there's an appetizer dish of beans in broth with cornbread and creme fraiche that is pretty much perfect.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Idean Hashemian
outstanding hospitality & ambience. friendly faces and amazing tunes. elite spot in venice :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jessica Gaby
Hearing that Companion was founded by the same people behind Gnarwhal coffee and knowing that I love Gnarwhal certainly intrigued me to soon give it a go. They served pastries, sandwiches, and coffee from morning to early afternoon then closed their door for a couple hours before opened again for dinner.
The cozy and gorgeously designed space occupied a spot on Lincoln. It gave me that pretty library/bookstore vibe and somehow just felt so homey. I actually came for the pastries but everything's sold out when I was there around 1, so sandwich it was.
I was apparently tad lucky that I got the last available Porchetta Shoulder sandwich. NGL, the price was more on the higher range, but the generous stuffing and taste fully paid it off. The porchetta was so tender and flavorful, and pairing it to raspberry sauce was genius idea. I really loved how this sandwich felt light and refreshing withi lighter touch of sauce, letting the protein flavor stood out.
Then obviously the coffee was a must, so I went for their latte with almond milk. Gnarwhal coffee never failed me and so did this one, bold and aromatic, just perfect wakeup call for the day.
Learnt my lesson and promised myself to come earlier next time. Besides, really looking forward to spending dinner here as well!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Damian Hicks
Great coffee!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amina Malik
I’ve dined here both as a walk-in and with a reservation, and each time I was greeted with the warmest smile. This restaurant is so intentional—from its cozy neighborhood charm to the elevated, seasonal menu and the ambiance set by an amazing record player and vinyl collection. The staff went above and beyond, even sharing local stories that made us feel truly connected to the space. The food was absolutely delicious, and I really appreciated the thoughtful touch of nonalcoholic wine options. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Momin Baig
Such a wonderful local restaurant. Curated menu with a great selection of food and drinks. The music is top notch. Takes culture to another level. The owners go out of their way to connect with you. Got served by Sophia and she was a delight.
The food was really good. We had a salad, pasta, and chicken Milanese that were all great.
The service was decent, but the food was brought rather quickly and it was hard to get a server’s attention to get wine refills.
The worst part came towards the end of the night. We were at the table for about 90 minutes with three courses and a couple rounds of drinks. The waitress simply dropped the bill as we were finishing up and didn’t even ask if we wanted coffee, dessert, etc. Then a few mins later the hostess came by and said “I’m going to need to close you out now”. I didn’t appreciate being rushed out and being made to feel uncomfortable about it. The right way to handle this would have been to explain that they would be needing the table in a bit, and asking if we’d like anything else before closing out in a few minutes.
The kicker then was that the credit card machine that was thrust in front of me had a minimum tip of 20%, with the other options being 25% and 30%. I was actually pretty offended by this especially after being rushed out the door and being made to feel so unwelcome.
So maybe I’d come back? But don’t really want to anytime soon after the poor treatment at the end of what was a nice dinner until that point.
Sawyer Bock
Can't recommend this place enough. Every ingredient in every dish felt so intentional. A wonderful vibe from the moment you walk in the door. A new favorite
Jonah Wayte
Had a perfect Sunday evening at Companion while catching up with friends during a visit to LA last week. I had high expectations for Companion knowing the owners also run Gnarwal Coffee, but everything exceeded what I had hoped for. Food was so good - my favorite was the white Bolognese. The pizza was also a slim but perfectly crisp crust. The service was super friendly and attentive, and the whole restaurant was buzzing with great conversation. 11/10, thank you Dakota & Nick!
Olivia Theroux
This place is a perfect neighborhood spot! They have a different music theme every night and play vinyls from their collection. The food is delicious, the portions are very generous by LA standards and perfect for sharing. Thoughtful wine list with natural wines and a helpful sommelier. Will definitely be adding this to my favorite restaurants in LA.
Brooks Bash
The best vibes in town and the food is incredible. Not sure how they get the pizza to be so perfect. Owners and team and the coolest nicest people. Can’t recommend enough.
So happy Venica has a place like companion! It literally feels like visiting a friend’s house. Amazing food, perfectly curated wines, overall 10/10 🫶🏼
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Another great LA neighborhood restaurant. Great food, friendly service and we got to sit near Russ!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Been here now 4 times and it keeps impressing me. The food quality and flavours are SO good, and the wine choices are great, haven’t gotten a bad one yet. The ambiance is a key element too, making it feels like home/community (the name ‘Companion’ is the right one!) with the LP player, the massive bookshelf, the wooden elements and the tables setup. It’s a favourite for us, where we always bring out friend and family visiting us. Love it’s in our neighbourhood!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I visited with a friend and we were seated right away. Our server was fantastic—friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu. They even recommended a few delicious wines to pair with our meal. The restaurant focuses on seasonal ingredients, and we tried one of their mushroom pizzas, which was excellent. Sitting near the bar and kitchen gave the evening a lively, inviting atmosphere. Everyone we met was warm and welcoming, can’t wait to come back!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
I've dined at Companion a few times now, and every experience has been great. Hope, who also works at their sister cafe Gnarwhal, makes excellent coffee during the day and is super sweet. Dinner is terrific, too. Tessa in particular is an excellent server. All of the food is delicious, and the menu changes regularly. Right now there's an appetizer dish of beans in broth with cornbread and creme fraiche that is pretty much perfect.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
outstanding hospitality & ambience. friendly faces and amazing tunes. elite spot in venice :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Hearing that Companion was founded by the same people behind Gnarwhal coffee and knowing that I love Gnarwhal certainly intrigued me to soon give it a go. They served pastries, sandwiches, and coffee from morning to early afternoon then closed their door for a couple hours before opened again for dinner.
The cozy and gorgeously designed space occupied a spot on Lincoln. It gave me that pretty library/bookstore vibe and somehow just felt so homey. I actually came for the pastries but everything's sold out when I was there around 1, so sandwich it was.
I was apparently tad lucky that I got the last available Porchetta Shoulder sandwich. NGL, the price was more on the higher range, but the generous stuffing and taste fully paid it off. The porchetta was so tender and flavorful, and pairing it to raspberry sauce was genius idea. I really loved how this sandwich felt light and refreshing withi lighter touch of sauce, letting the protein flavor stood out.
Then obviously the coffee was a must, so I went for their latte with almond milk. Gnarwhal coffee never failed me and so did this one, bold and aromatic, just perfect wakeup call for the day.
Learnt my lesson and promised myself to come earlier next time. Besides, really looking forward to spending dinner here as well!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great coffee!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I’ve dined here both as a walk-in and with a reservation, and each time I was greeted with the warmest smile. This restaurant is so intentional—from its cozy neighborhood charm to the elevated, seasonal menu and the ambiance set by an amazing record player and vinyl collection. The staff went above and beyond, even sharing local stories that made us feel truly connected to the space. The food was absolutely delicious, and I really appreciated the thoughtful touch of nonalcoholic wine options. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Such a wonderful local restaurant. Curated menu with a great selection of food and drinks. The music is top notch. Takes culture to another level. The owners go out of their way to connect with you. Got served by Sophia and she was a delight.
Restaurantji Recommends
The food was really good. We had a salad, pasta, and chicken Milanese that were all great.
The service was decent, but the food was brought rather quickly and it was hard to get a server’s attention to get wine refills.
The worst part came towards the end of the night. We were at the table for about 90 minutes with three courses and a couple rounds of drinks. The waitress simply dropped the bill as we were finishing up and didn’t even ask if we wanted coffee, dessert, etc. Then a few mins later the hostess came by and said “I’m going to need to close you out now”. I didn’t appreciate being rushed out and being made to feel uncomfortable about it. The right way to handle this would have been to explain that they would be needing the table in a bit, and asking if we’d like anything else before closing out in a few minutes.
The kicker then was that the credit card machine that was thrust in front of me had a minimum tip of 20%, with the other options being 25% and 30%. I was actually pretty offended by this especially after being rushed out the door and being made to feel so unwelcome.
So maybe I’d come back? But don’t really want to anytime soon after the poor treatment at the end of what was a nice dinner until that point.
Can't recommend this place enough. Every ingredient in every dish felt so intentional. A wonderful vibe from the moment you walk in the door. A new favorite
Had a perfect Sunday evening at Companion while catching up with friends during a visit to LA last week. I had high expectations for Companion knowing the owners also run Gnarwal Coffee, but everything exceeded what I had hoped for. Food was so good - my favorite was the white Bolognese. The pizza was also a slim but perfectly crisp crust. The service was super friendly and attentive, and the whole restaurant was buzzing with great conversation. 11/10, thank you Dakota & Nick!
This place is a perfect neighborhood spot! They have a different music theme every night and play vinyls from their collection. The food is delicious, the portions are very generous by LA standards and perfect for sharing. Thoughtful wine list with natural wines and a helpful sommelier. Will definitely be adding this to my favorite restaurants in LA.
The best vibes in town and the food is incredible. Not sure how they get the pizza to be so perfect. Owners and team and the coolest nicest people. Can’t recommend enough.
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