Animal Restaurant

We went to Animal for my son’s birthday. The service was bad, the portions were small, a few of the dishes were over cooked or just not good and the sound level was really loud. I didn’t like that they put an 18 percent extra
Charge(not a gratuity) for a livable wage for their employees and then still expect you to tip. The waiter was snobby and not friendly at all. The photos that are posted on Google are misleading because the plates that the food i is served on are really small so you can’t tell how small the portions are. We won’t be back.

I just had the best turkey leg I have ever had in my life :). This place is absolutely amazing, my husband and I live in San Diego but we will definitely come back. And the staff came back to fold ours napkins every time we went to the restroom! OMG so fancy 3>

The food was just ok, too greasy for my taste (crab, sweetbreads, even toast with liver), lots of oil. The biggest concern for me it’s how loud it was, no design solution to absorb the noise or to balance acoustics which results in canteen effect. So loud that it is not enjoyable after half an hour. And 18% service charge which is not gratitude is a little too much considering the pricing and sizes of dishes. (+tip+tax is 150% of the price advertised)

The food at Animal is always a delight, and you will never be disappointed with trying something outside of your comfort zone. Even the salads are wonderful. Just don't leave without having the oxtail poutine.

Service was 5 star! Restaurant was too dark (difficult to see our food) and walls/decor were too bare/boring.

Went early Friday. Service was really good. The server was knowledgeable about the food and drinks, helped guide us to what we would enjoy the most. Great experience

Excellent service, Vanessa was fantastic.

Avi collaborations is absolutely amazing.

Highly recommended and will definitely come back again.

This is one of the many reasons we visit LA every few months. One of the most excellent places to eat meat from the land, sea and sky. Staff is as outstanding as the food. You can also eat at the bar. Make sure to save room for the cheesecake snow cone.

All 4 dishes we tried were too salty. It's super loud in the dining area, people were screaming to talking to each other.

Prior to the COVID shutdown, Animal was an establishment that I was eager to recommend. Having been back twice now since they reopened their doors, I can say with full confidence that this is not the same eatery it was before. If I were to summarize it all in a single word: “okay” probably works. And this is where the compliments end.

None of this is to say that Animal is without good food. There’s plenty to eat here that is still interesting, several staples from the past have stayed on the menu and continue to be great, but the new additions feel conceptual at best — the use of many seasonal fruits and vegetables in dishes leaves much to be desired.

All of this is made more difficult by disappointing service… The staff had little opinion on the dishes when asked, made no effort to build a rapport with myself and the other guests in the slightest, informed us that dishes were unavailable some 20-30 minutes after we’d ordered them, and… despite being told multiple times that we were visiting for a birthday, they could not be bothered to even stick a candle in ONE of the THREE desserts we ordered.

Additionally, they now add an 18% service charge after the fact, which is commonplace in many restaurants in Los Angeles in lieu of gratuity to make a living wage possible for service workers. This is an initiative that I fully support, but… Animal’s manifesto on their bill seems to imply that that the 18% is simply for the cost of having dined with them in the first place and that the gratuity should still be expected. This feels like the opposite of progress for the industry. Either add a service charge and leave it at that, or adjust your cost of business into your prices and have the customer add fair gratuity instead.

So I guess it really is true, “sometimes dead is better.” Maybe this Animal should have stayed in the Semetary.