LA West Elite Event at Anchor

Solid 4 Stars! I’m starting to think I’m a bit bias for American tapas. Anywho, came for an Elite event, thank you LA West, what a delightful treat.
Beware, they are closed on Mondays and the restaurant is very so you may want to make a reservation.
A: Deviled Eggs — very creamy and soft, the sauce was very spicy, loved it
D: Grilled octopus — uhhh I expected a more chewier texture because that’s what I“m used to, it felt like I was eating seafood seasoning chicken. I didn’t care for it
B: Steak sliders — beef was a little tough and bland
A+: Pork sliders — this was the winning dish of the night! great seasoning with pickled carrots, so good I ate 2!
A: Lobster roll — not a fan of lobster roll but this was good, wish the lobster wasn’t room temperature but the quality was good
B-​: Chicken and Waffles — I know this is their key dish but it was overly sweeten for my palate. I guess the chicken was coated with waffle bits and then dipped into maple syrup, it made my diabetic alarm went off (I’m not diabetic). However, the boyfriend loved it and find it memorable, to each their own I suppose but do give it a try
A: Kale & Quinoa Salad — light and refreshing
A+++++ S’More Bites — genius creation! who would have thought, rice krispies as the base for all that goodness
A-​: Brownies — very rich and chocolaty.
A: Sangria — I love how the owner used this night to test some of her creation. Very refreshing, loved the blueberries and pineapple
I look forward to coming back here to brunch with my gfs. Thank you for a great meal!

LOBSTER ROLL SLIDERS and SMORES!!!
2 things I keep thinking about after dining at The Anchor. Cold lobster meat (huge chunks and lots of it) dressed in a little bit of aoili and a hint of truffle oil, between warm toasted sweet rolls. GET IT! The Smores bites were a burst of nostalgia in my mouth with the warm chocolate and toasted marshmallow. GET IT NOW!
We also got to try.
–Braised Octopus– Stupid tender! Ridiculous ^_​^
–Deviled Eggs– Very creative with the chorizo, bacon, avocado and sriracha. Definitely better than my neighbors.
–Achor Sliders (beef and pork) — Meat was soft and tender and love the kimchi with the garlic aoili in it.
–Chicken and Waffles– Deep fried waffle coated chicken wings with maple chili dipping sauce on the side. Super crunchy, sweet and savory!
–Brownie — chocolate heaven!
Keep in mind that the restaurant is very small with limited seating so I suggest to make a reservation. Get a table inside where you can see the chefs in action. Also, valet parking and restroom located behind the restaurant.
Thank you to the staff members at Unilocal and The Anchor for putting together such an amazing tasting event for Unilocal Elites! It was an unforgettable experience.

I was fortunate enough to attend a Unilocal Elite event at The Anchor tonight and meet Kristin, one of the two owners of the restaurant.
A tasting menu was served and I therefore got to enjoy the:
* Deviled Eggs (order this)
* Grilled octopus
* Steak sliders
* Pork sliders
* Lobster Roll sliders (Favorite)
* Chicken and Waffles (read below)
* Kale & Quinoa Salad
* S’More Bites
* Brownies
The most surprising dish was the Chicken and Waffles, or as I’d encourage them to rename the Chicken in Waffles as the dish is comprised of chicken wings coated in waffle batter and glazed with syrupy sweetness. Kristin, if you’re reading this review, I highly encourage you to make a version of this where you subsequently coat the chicken in waffle batter in buffalo sauce! Alternatively, serve with a side of hot sauce. With all the excitement over Chicken and Waffles, I was delighted to see a waffle battered chicken wing.
Serious exploration went into perfecting the Lobster Rolls at The Anchor. For me The Anchor is synonymous with «I want a Lobster Roll». It was late in life when a friend from Maine introduced me to Lobster Rolls. Therefore, I have undue excitement when I have the opportunity to order one. Glad there is one in my neighborhood courtesy of The Anchor.
There is parking between Ocean and Main on Navy for the building Anchor is in. Bar seating inside or table seating on the patio are both inviting options.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a Unilocal dinner event here with a tasting menu and had a great time. The service was friendly and fast and we were seated right away. The restaurant isn’t too big but they have great outdoor seating with plenty of heaters for the chillier nights in Venice.
Food was great and everything seemed to be up and running full steam ahead for a new restaurant. My favorite dishes were the lobster rolls, waffle fried chicken, deviled eggs and the s’mores!
It’s a cute casual restaurant with a great menu. I do agree that the buns for the lobster might have been a little heavy on the butter but I’m a NY girl and we love our fats. Yum all the way and I’ll be back next time I’m in town!

This was a fantastic event! Thank you to Brittany and the rest of the Unilocal crew, as well as the awesome staff at Anchor who came in on their day off, for hosting such a wonderful Elite gathering. The food was fantastic and plentiful. The service was attentive and friendly. Wine and sangria were flowing, conversations were lively and upbeat, and everyone appeared to be having a great time. Given the number of people that applied, I feel very lucky that I got in :-D

The food was soo good!!! Some were definitely better than others. The lobster rolls were amazing and anything that was on that delicious crispy scrumptious buttery bread is awesome! The chicken and waffles was not what I was expecting. I know it was a play on it but I would rather have chicken and waffles not chicken covered with waffle batter. The smores were super sweet. The marshmallows tasted burnt and I’m not sure if they were supposed to taste like that.
The venue was very small. Definitely much smaller than I expected! The bathroom was also very inconvenient! It was in the parking structure outside of the restaurant a little walk away.
The Unilocal event was definitely awesome since we got so much food! I hope to go to another one these again!

When a restaurant is able to make me a fan of an ingredient I don’t usually enjoy, I consider it a miraculous success. The Anchor did just that with its lobster sliders. They were so spectacularly good, that I wish I had gobbled up the whole platter without passing it down! Another elite at our table saw me drooling in the corner, watching an unclaimed one, and he generously tossed it my way. I’ll be forever grateful. Seriously. I’d come back to this restaurant just for this one dish, and we didn’t even have any truffle slices on ours. It only gets better.
The octopus was great as well, and another member of our party was literally flagging down servers who had leftover pieces on the way to the trash, saving them from obliteration. The green sauce with the little cubes of meat were a nice accompaniment to the dish, too.
I have never before seen waffle battered fried chicken, so that was amazing! The chicken was moist and tender, and the batter was perfect. This is another menu item for which I’d return, since I don’t know where else I could score such a invention.
The kale salad was alright, and the deviled eggs felt like they were missing something — maybe spice, tang, acid, I’m not sure.
Of the two Anchor sliders I tried (besides the lobster), I enjoyed the pork the most. It was really flavorful and matched well with the kimchee and toasted sweet bun.
Although everyone was in ecstasies over the s’mores dessert (granted, it was wonderful), I much preferred the salted brownie bite. It was truly decadent.
Service and staff were impeccable. Everything ran smoothly, and everyone was generous and wanting to please. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been in such attentive company!
Brittany put on a top notch event, and this is one restaurant that has earned my continued business, patronage, and recommendation.

This event was pretty fantastic. I’m so thankful I was able to go and it was truly a pleasure – everything from start to finish was wonderfully organized and everything flowed nicely throughout the evening. Once accepted to the event, there was another email sent out reminding us of the evening and to please be prompt, as everything was going to start right on time. My plus 1 (hi husband!) and I arrived early, and street parking was very easy. Once we got to the front of Anchor, there was a small line and right at 6:30, people began to check in. We were told we could sit wherever we’d like, and we chose to sit inside since it was a little chilly that night, although there were plenty of heaters for their outdoor seating, which I thought was nice. Inside, you could see the exposed kitchen, which was so fun to see, and the lighting and ambiance was great.
As soon as we were seated, the service began and everyone was truly so nice – the entire staff was SO welcoming and on top of it. They offered sangria, white, and red wine and the sangria was extremely popular! I think everyone at our table had some.
That night, they offered family-​style servings of:
–Deviled Eggs
–Anchor Sliders
–Kale & Quinoa Salad
–Lobster Rolls
–Chicken & Waffles
–Braised Octopus
–Brownie Bites
–S’mores Bites
I thought it was a wonderful way to try so much of their menu and everything was delicious; my favorites were the Anchor Sliders, Kale Salad, and S’mores Bites (those were perfection!). My husband loved the Lobster Rolls, and I did think the truffle was subtle, but definitely present and so good. The Braised Octopus was also a hit with everyone at our table. Overall, I thought the staff, owner, and Brittany did an excellent job with this event. The food was delicious and unique, the atmosphere cozy yet cool, and service was just unbelievable. There was no way you could leave this event hungry – the staff would check on us and see if we wanted to try seconds of anything, which everyone seemed to love and appreciate. Thank you, again, for such a fun evening and a wonderful way to discover a new restaurant and meet fellow Unilocalers!

This is probably my favorite Elite LA event I’ve been to!
Venue: Small, clean, cozy, inviting, welcoming, etc. Sat at a community table with fellow Unilocalers and their +1’s, I was able to meet new people, really discuss the dishes with the table, and share them and the flowing drinks. I enjoy these types of situations where we are sorta forced to get to know one another instead of just stick to ourselves and our plus ones.
Service: Really on point. Everyone at the Anchor was attentive, patient, polite, and super easy to talk to. I had numerous dishes replaced for me as they were serving a new taster– and without even blinking I looked down and had a clean plate! Crazy. Our table was continually asked what else we wanted more of. The bottles of wine kept coming, although I was hoping for more Sangria but that is not the services’ fault.
FOOD: Varied, well prepared, thoughtfully planned, and simple. All the dishes were really tasty, some were just tastier to me personally than others. My favorite: The Lobster Rolls, and the Kale salad. The lobster rolls were served with large chunks of sweet, tender lobster, paired with just enough truffle oil to dance on my taste buds but not overpower the dish, which can be challenging with truffle oil. The lingering salty taste was a great way to cut the richness from the butter, and it left me wanting seconds and thirds. The Kale salad has just enough flavor from the cinnamon in the cider vinaigrette to make you stop and embrace the bites of mild spices and vibrant flavors.
My least favorite were the deviled egg (I feel like it needs something citrus in there to cut the overwhelming fats) and the wings– the crunch was great, but there wasn’t a ton of meat on there. Maybe even turning them into a lollipop would suffice?
Overall: I enjoyed the smaller, relaxed environment of this event so much, I stayed and chatted with the owner and staff well beyond closing. I am really looking forward to turning into a regular because everyone’s genuine personality, attention to me as a patron, and really good food has won me over already.
Thank you so much to Brittany for hosting this and letting me go– it’s right down from my house and I’m so glad I went because now I have a new local favorite!

This was a great event. I already reviewed Anchor on their page based on the items I tasted so I won’t rehash that here, however the event as a whole was spectacular. The food was great, the seating provided a great opportunity to meet new Unilocalers and the flowing booze was a welcome addition. I think that an event like this shows how great it is when an owner and host can get buy in from their entire staff as clearly was the case on Monday with everyone at Anchor being so friendly and welcoming.
I hope to attend many events like this, great job Unilocal Elite Event planning team… awesome event!

Wow! I mean, I always expect great things from Unilocal events, but this place rocked. It was a packed house, and rightfully so! They passed around several different plates, like deviled eggs (we missed it, unfortunately), octopus, kale salad, lobster roll sliders, pork tenderloin sliders, steak sliders, chicken and waffle chicken wings, smore things, and brownies. Everything was awesome, although the chicken wings might have changed my life.
And, the other Unilocalers always make the event fun (per usual)! I’m so glad there was an event here, because I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to find this place, and now I will definitely be back!

I’m still dreaming of the Lobster Roll and Smore. Yum!
It’s been ages since my last Unilocal event and I’m sure glad I was able to attend this event. Venice is always an enjoyable place, full of eclectic shops and small businesses I love to support.
I loved the venue, The Anchor. Plenty of outdoor seating (with heaters for those *cold* 65 degree nights) and an open kitchen. Décor is very tastefully done without being pretentious or sloppy. We were served 7 dishes (or more?) With enough time in between to really enjoy each dish in it’s entirety. The standout dishes were, lobster roll, smores and the kale salad. The lobster was fresh, perfectly cooked, minimally seasoned and so good. It’s sad that most places do not execute as well as The Anchor. The smores were delectable. The marshmallow was perfectly charred, chocolate just a bit oozy and the «graham» tasted more like a rustic rice krispy treat. Get it, you won’t be disappointed. The kale salad was very enjoyable as well. I enjoyed the smaller, tender kale leaves and the light vinaigrette.
I have to say that the staff was the shining star. Everyone was on point, friendly, quick and anticipated our needs even before we knew what we wanted. This restaurant does it right on all levels. You pay for good food. If you want quantity over quality, head to Hometown Buffet. This is a place where you will truly enjoy the food and taste the love. I will definitely return and can’t wait to try more about of the menu.

Omg so full. Ate so much amazing food. my favorites were the octopus and the lobster roll.

This was my first Unilocal Elite event in LA and I must say I was thoroughly impressed! Great venue, food, organization, communication, and the other Elities were super friendly and awesome to meet. We were sat down and fed fast which is always super appreciated. The servers were friendly and attentive and the décor is both rustic and elegant.
What we munched on:
Deviled Eggs — Prob my least fav dish. I’m a stickler on deviled eggs.
Anchor Sliders — MY GAWD there were SO MANY VARIETIES and each and every one was delicious! I was getting stuffed on these ’cause they just kept on a-​comin it seemed.
Farmer’s Market Kale and Quinoa salad — This is probably the best way I’ve ever eaten kale. I’m not usually a fan but the mix was really flavorful, the leaves tender, and perfectly dressed.
Chicken and Waffles — I will come back to this location for this dish alone. Perfect mixture of sweet and savory, lightly breaded, and crunchy perfection. A MUST HAVE if you plan to dine here!
Braised Octopus — Again probably the best way I’ve ever eaten Octopus to date. Savory and perfectly cooked so they were tender and not chewy.
S’mores — Yes. Just a lot of yes-​sauce. Again, will be back for this dish too!
Final Verdict:
All and all an awesome experience and I’ll def be back to Anchor for dinner soon. Can’t wait for the next Unilocal event! Thanks Anchor and Brittany for bringing in the new year Unilocalically! :D

This should be a repeat event! So many yummy dishes — I was so full I wasn’t hungry for breakfast the next day… this never happens.
My favorite dishes were the lobster rolls and s’more bites. Amazing!
Thanks Brittany and Kristin for choosing my pic for the social media contest! I will definitely be coming back and sharing the love with a lucky friend.

Excellent food and company. Octopus really rocked the house. Thanks to Brittany for another great event.