It is borderline impossible to set foot inside of Gjusta without spending more than $50/person it seems like…but god damn is it worth it.
The place is a deli that was in the running for best new restaurant in the country when it opened…in some ways I think that says it all.
@bulavinaka RE: Gjusta making almost everything in house…I am currently trying to think of what they DON’T…cheese/butter is all I can think of, and those categories almost don’t count imo. Anything else??
As I said, the food was very good. And I understand the ingredients and execution are good. Still, the meal we ate was in the genre of sandwiches and “pizza” slices and we paid $70 (for counter service, fetching our own water and not very comfortable seating). It’s in that sense that the price seemed high nonetheless. Please understand that I’m not saying their sandwiches are not better than Subway’s and so on. I’m saying that if I spend $70 I’m generally not looking to eat a meal centered on sandwiches (of whatever quality).
Relatedly, people who are willing to pay very high prices for well-executed meals in this genre should certainly not complain about high prices for well-executed (and in some cases, unusual) meals at Thai and Chinese restaurants.
And despite all of the above, I also said that the food was very good.
I guess I forgot to post about my lunch there last month? Either that or the search is messed up.
The inadequate seating is disgusting, especially since assholes just linger. Bad hospitality, not convivial. We’d never have gone there if we realized we’d have to stand the whole time we were waiting for our food and eating. I don’t understand how they got away with the bait-and-switch zoning thing.
We were starving so we devoured a lot of the salads before I thought to take a picture. I thought these were very good and an excellent value.
Smoked fish sampler, pretty disappointing. Overall seemed amateurish, I think all of them had one flaw or another: underseasoned, dry, not fatty enough, not smoky enough, not filleted properly. The bread was pretty good, the dense seeded pumpernickel-ish one was quite good. Accompaniments were excellent.
Other than what you mention, maybe water? Seriously - it’s easier to list what isn’t made there.
Well, Robert, you and I may form the small club of Gjusta smoked fish skeptics. I think it’s a pretty incredible place for roasted meats, breads, and salads. But the smoked fish section is more variety than a deft hand in smoking. It is a pretty good value given all the other stuff you get.
I adore Gjusta, except for the smoked fish. I love sandwiches, and the bread used in their sandwiches for that matter, am alright with the prices; but @robert and @haeldaur, I too am in the small group of folks who do not think their smoked fish is anything special.
Living in Berkeley sets the bar pretty high for bread.
Where to get bread in Berkeley?
So I stopped by the clusterfuck today that is Gjusta. It is mind blowing how good my meal was today.
Prime rib and turkey butchers. The turkey was way better than the first time I had it, which I thought was average that time. And the prime rib, you already know.
Also had the falafel which was awesome as ever. I think you can put their hummus on anything and it would taste great.
And a personal favorite, the cucumber, dill, avocado, pistachio…et al was fantastic yet again.
Finished off with a carrot cake to go. Pow! So tasty.
Gjusta Gjusta Gjusta
WHAAAT? I was there too AND had the turkey butcher AND falafel sandwich AND carrot cake. Chicken parm was awesome as usual. Those pumpernickel brownies are waiting for me tonigtt as is the pastrami gravlax…
Turkey butcher was great. The dip capped it off. Sweet daughter destroyed most of it - only got two small bites.
Mental note: brownies and chicken parm
I was there on the 3rd for lunch! And I’m glad you mentioned that Cucumber, Avocado, Pistachio… salad, It really is fantastic.
On that falafel sandwich: while eating the tail end of it, I inadvertently spilled most of the ingredients out from the bread. I noticed the inside had been toasted to a quick char. It’s obviously another step in layering in more flavors to this sandwich. Never noticed that before.
Yeah, that and the cauliflower with anchovy are my two favorites to date. Ridiculous. The cucumber just has some many different tastes and textures.
I was passing by and was surprised to see them open on the 4th so stopped in and got the bbq ribs with apricot glaze and the mixed berry crumble tart to go for a post-fireworks dinner. All terrific. The ribs reheated nicely and were very meaty and flavorful.
This is such a tease. 
I totally would have ordered this if it was available for lunch. Haha thanks for the intel.
Fans of the Turkey Butcher may want to check out the Turkey Reuben as well. It’s delicious!
Hi @Bigmouth,
Oh nice! Is the Turkey Reuben new on the menu? Don’t remember seeing it before.
How does it taste?
Genuine question, but are there a lot of complaints here about good-but-expensive Thai and Chinese food? My impression is that the complaints about the more expensive Thai places (well, place, since I think the complaints mainly centered on Pok Pok) weren’t about t the price itself but more about how only some of the dishes were standouts while the rest were relatively meh. I myself am reluctant to go back to a place like Jitlada b/c the service is so ridiculously slow (and indifferent, bordering on rude) that I just can’t justify the commute time + price.
As far as Chinese goes, I don’t recall a lot of complaints about well-executed Chinese food in a relatively expensive location (Meizhou Dongpo, which I haven’t been to myself).
For me, I do consider Gjusta to be very pricey. I’m fine eating it once in awhile, but, even though I think the price is relatively fair, I just can’t afford to spend that much regularly on food! And I do think the price is relatively fair b/c of what the rent must be (in addition to quality of the food). I’ve looked at small plots of commercial property in Venice and Santa Monica (for things TOTALLY unrelated to the food/restaurant industry), and the asking price is truly astronomical compared to some other places in LA county that are still relatively nice (like Encino). When you say the Venice is unrecognizable in many ways, it really probably is…
