Eataly - Century City

Yep. go to Eataly when you want a very specific, hard to find cheese or cured meat. Otherwise, stay clear. The place is just bananas.

That’s sad to hear. In NYC (early days) it was very good. In Chicago (about 3 years ago) it was ok. In LA, I don’t think I’ll ever find myself there. In fact, I’ll keep my memories of my Century City dining years (ages 0 through 16 or so) by looking at the following photos.

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I remember this place well. Did it not at some point change its name to Ontra?

I remember Clifton’s and Ontra as a kid. But I recall they were separate places. I ate wherever the 1962-ish Pontiac Bonneville brought me to eat, none of which was Eataly, and decades before I’d even know what Porchetta was.

Having tried the places inside Eataly now, I think most are just mediocre and survive because they have a captive audience (the shoppers of Eataly).

Will be at Terra this weekend. Will see if that improves the QPR of Eataly eats.

I thought Terra was pretty good! Not cheap, but tasty. Had a delicious Halibut.

The creative corporate arts drones also give the entire mall (incl Gelson’s) a ton of business for weekday lunch.

I can understand being disappointed if you were expecting the other kind of porchetta. But the cold cut porchetta basically tastes like ham. Are you saying a ham sandwich could only hope to be meh?

Are you talking about the same sandwich? This is the thinly sliced, cold-cut porchetta in the sandwiches at the panini counter. I suspect you’re thinking of the warm porchetta at the Rosticceria.

Captive to what, though? The hype? It’s in a mall with dozens of alternatives within walking distance. That’s pretty much the opposite of a captive audience.

Kinda. Unless you’re talking about really good ham. Personally, I don’t think cured porchetta tastes like ham because porchetta is not from the same section of the pig as ham and is spiced differently from ham. I know what I ordered. I had MOR expectations and they weren’t met.

I connect with what @ipsedixit said to a degree. If you’re shopping at Eataly, you probably want to sit and eat and then leave as opposed to going through a line to pay for your goods and go get in line to eat food elsewhere. Kinda depends on when you’re at Eataly. That said, my second time at Eataly I cut bait and went to Din Tai Fung because Eataly was too much of a shit show.

Already open???

Yep.
The McD’s of Xiao Long Bee’s is open for business.
Everything was . . . fine. They do have a full bar, if that’s your thing.

Wha?! You didn’t know? DTF CC has BEEN open for 2+ weeks already. Turn in your FTC badge now. :wink:

I totally get that. It just seems extreme to me to suggest cold-cut porchetta could never be more than meh.

Not buying it. You stand in line for food and to pay for your goods either way. Calling shoppers in Eataly “captive” is just hyperbole.

Alas, I am likely not. I had no idea there was another porchetta sando available anywhere.

Extreme, perhaps. But cured porchetta is only so-so at its best. We’re not talking about aged prosciutto or Jamon here.

About captivity, maybe. Perhaps it’s hyperbole, but not by much. I’m willing to bet many shoppers felt as I did: it’s not worth my time and effort to get through the line to pay at Eataly, walk to other mediocre mall eats, only wait in line there OR get through that parking garage to drive to another place. If I go to Eataly during lunchtime, it’s tough to do shopping there and have time to eat elsewhere.
Doable, but dining elsewhere is not the path of least resistance.

Coincides w/ when I moved offices from Century City to Sawtelle. :wink: Thread drift, but I tried Matcha (the soft serve place). Good green tea soft serve, strawberry was very meh. Quite respectable QPR, given the enormous serving size.

If you’re not familiar w/ the layout of the mall (not saying you are, but there might be fair number of people at Eatlay who are regulars), it’s actually not an easy place to navigate. And so I agree that people who shop there are also passively encouraged to eat there.

Parking tip:

If you enter from Avenue of the Stars, go straight up to the 4th floor parking level. Do not be distracted by signs, arrows or ramps! Go straight up.

At the top, make a right, and drive all the way to the end (north-east corner).

The elevator is right there and takes you down and deposits you directly in front of the entrance to the Eataly coffee shop.

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Extremely generous tip! Thank you!

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So apparently I got out of the pedantic side of the bed yesterday morning. :blush:

Actually this underscores another problem I have with the argument. It assumes that most diners at Eataly are there to shop. I’d be willing to bet the opposite is true. People may be slaves to hype or whatever, but most are there because they want to try the food, not because they feel compelled by circumstance to do so.

Does anyone know if there’s a way to exit to either Santa Monica Blvd or Century Park West from the 4th floor?

You’re right. I was guilty of overstatement and imprecise language.
Enjoy Eataly!

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