Sure, but they are not “legal” in the sense that service animals are under Title II and Title III of the ADA.
In other words, places of public accommodation (i.e. restaurants, hotels, etc.) are not required to permit entry and/or access for emotional support animals.
In the eyes of the law, emotional support animals is just a wordy way of saying “pet”.
Exactly.
Emotional support dogs are just pets. Even in the eyes of California law.
From the article linked above.
The protections discussed above do not apply to emotional support animals. California law, like federal law, doesn’t require that emotional support animals be allowed in public places.
“California doesn’t have a separate definition for “psychiatric service dog,” but a dog that is individually trained to help a person with a mental disability with specific requirements is considered a service dog, and an individual that uses such a dog is entitled to the same rights under the law as someone with a physical disability that uses a service dog.”
I loathe the abuse of this law btw.
It’s very complex as there are special accomidations for ESAs when it comes to renters and travel. Also it’s not that California doesn’t recognize their ‘status’ is that there is no state or ‘official’ registry. California law will defer to protections that ESAs are afforded.
NEVERTHELESS… ESAs are not allowed in grocery stores. (and unlike what people believe about the ADA, management can go up to a person with a ‘service dog’ and ask them if the dog is trained to do a specific task and what the task is. The differentiation between Service and ESA) Again, I think this is just part of the opening chaos. When the Whole Foods in DTLA first opened, there were dogs there ALL THE TIME. They put up one sign… people ignored it. Now they have VERY obvious signs and the manager WILL ask you to leave… even if they are in a bag (Target however remains permissive if they are carried. :/), The shopping center where Eataly is attracts both families and dog owners. So it’s natural that they would be curious about Eataly as well. But hopefully as things die down, the regulation will be enforced and the Looky Loos will thin out.
–Dommy!
And under the ADA, it only applies to dogs, not parrots not iguanas, not snakes.
Here’s a hilarious and informative article about the misuse of Emotional Support animals. To drive home her point, the author brings a lama into a grocery store and a pig on a plane:
Ugh. This thing… This writer’s story benefits for the same reason why we have to wait behind that lady who tries to argue over a 35 cent coupon or that guy who just spent 20 minutes in line… but only up until he gets to the register does he think about what he wants from the menu… Inconsiderate people are everywhere. and Workers in service industries rather err on the side of caution than confront (Unless it really becomes out of hand). So yeah. Maybe you can get away with bringing your pet Tiger to Spago. That doesn’t mean that the vast majority of people with ESAs are gaming some system or ‘cheating’. IME, they aren’t and honestly I get much more annoyed and more often by rude adults than someone’s little dog or kid. THEY are the ones who should know better…
Popped by Eataly 4’ish this afternoon with the idea of a very late lunch. Plenty of service dogs on a late Monday afternoon; only a few children. It wasn’t super crowded if you wanted to shop, but there were lines for all the food except the two stepchildren – the salad bar (I guess one does not go to Eataly for a salad) and the chicken station (in New York, there can be huge lines for the chicken, but not here in L.A.). I really wanted fish at Il Pesce, but Il Pesce closes at 3:00 p.m. and does not reopen until 5:30 p.m.
Although I almost never eat sugar and haven’t had any sugar whatsoever since July, I conceived that a proper late lunch would be gelato. Alas, the gelato station was closed because they were having trouble with the register (which seems to be a frequent problem from what I have read). Having gotten in my mind that I was going to have gelato for lunch, I then decided to walk over to Grom, which friends who travel frequently in Italy rave about. Had Grom’s mint chocolate chip gelato – a huge disappointment and definitely not worth the empty carbs/calories. I have no idea if Eataly’s gelato would have been any better.
Yeah, my parking hack, (mentioned above) is the greatest. In and out. But this is my favorite thing in Eataly besides the $20 chocolate… (mine is the 4x espresso 
Grom’s hot chocolate (only available in the winter) is pretty fantastic, not sure I’ve ever actually tried the gelato there though beyond a sample or two.
Those 1%'s. Might they be paying your wages?
Huh? Do you want to talk about food-related things, or do you want to just give gratuitous insults to other posters?
I responded to his or her gratuitous insult, paranoid.
Anxious to see if the Michelin quality fish that emerged from my kitchen courtesy of the Eataly fishmonger was a fluke, I returned to Eataly Saturday afternoon to pick up more fish. I was expecting the worst on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and walked over to the Mall to avoid the parking lot.
Perhaps everyone is out of town, but I was surprised that Eataly was not totally crazy. Didn’t see any dogs (is Eataly cracking down or are all the emotional support dogs home giving emotional support to their owners who are already catatonic with the the holiday blues?) and no strollers. Shopping was actually rather pleasant with the sole exception that I searched and searched and finally found the Italian syrups, all blocked by people waiting to eat at the focaccia station. They should really relocate all the products to locations in the store where they will not be blocked by people waiting in line.
Picked up wild black cod, purple cauliflower (happy because my local supermarkets don’t usually stock that) and dried garlic chips. Never previously seen the latter product – it comes in a glass jar with a grinder and then you can buy refills.
Was happy to be able to exit the store on the main floor, rather than having to fight my way downstairs, but they are still not letting people enter on the main floor.
Long line as always for the gelato. Finally tried the gelato a few days ago. Hesitant to comment on it because the flavor I got – Strauss Creamery – just tasted really funky to me. Maybe the other flavors are better. They were offering samples, but there was a long line and so it felt churlish to sample with people waiting, but if I had sampled the Strauss Creamery I would have definitely picked something else. I noticed that in a corner of the main store, they have a small freezer with Nancy Silverton’s ice cream called Nancy’s Fancy for those who might be interested in trying that.
The butterscotch budino flavor is fantastic.
TJs has a garlic salt blend (in a grinder top container) that has roasted garlic chips, sea salt, onion & parsley that I’ve used on various meats. I’ve never seen just the dried garlic chips in a grinder container anywhere either…
I was there on Wednesday, and Monday, and both days I was able to enter on the main level.
It was fairly quiet on Wednesday too, late afternoon, obviously the day before Thanksgiving. But the food lines were still ridiculous, and the “Roman” pizza place still was very very slow even with only a couple in line. they only had one “pizza” ready prepared also. So busy, that I decided to go try Wexler’s and I suffered through an exceptionally crappy attempt at Jewish pastrami, instead.
Oh yeah, also bought a slab of some really delicious Grana Padano.
I will see your butterscotch budino and raise you a pumpkin brandy.
Does anybody know if the prices for groceries and other products that are imported are reasonable or not? Does panettone usually go for $30+? This isn’t a complaint, I’m just wondering if Eataly offers decent value or if there’s a sizable markup.
