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Categories: Lounges, Tapas Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: Studio City
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Anywhere else in town I would probably give this place three stars, but in Studio City I almost gave it five. The valley is hard up for more good places!
I went here recently for a friendly chat with some work friends. We originally met at the Laurel Tavern but it was so packed, noisey, hot, and not to mention they didn't have a waitress, that we hauled it down to Next Door. Wow, what a find! This place is great.
It's a hip, almost sheik lounge that reminds me of a modern hotel bar. Kind of like the lounge at Sofitel in West Hollywood. They have tapas and drinks. The menu was ok but not great. For vegetarians, and especially those who don't eat cheese, it's a bit rough. But, for all you meat lovers you will be satisfied. There are plenty of mini burgers and all kinds of things that while I'm sure delicous to some, kind of seem out of place at tapas bar. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad in the Valley. As for the drinks, the bartenders are ok. Not a classic cocktail kind of place, but not too shabby either. Great for groups, or just to hit up on the weekend. Recommended.
Be wary wary qwiet; we're hunting cougars. Wahwahwahwahwahwahwah...
I love me a good hip, trendy tapas bar, so don't think I'm hating on the genre. But while the place looks the part, the plethora of fine looking 40+ gals is about the only reason I'd come back to Next Door...
The bar is sadly under-stocked, and the bartender's knowledge of cocktails haven't progressed much beyond pouring orange juice over vodka. The waiter has the personality of an ash tray, which coincidentally is what most of the food tastes like. And the clientel are about as fake and hollow as their discount boob and nose jobs (my personal favorite is the guy in the gold chains and $200 jeans who hit on every girl at the bar before leaving in his '88 Honda Civic).
BTW, fellas, about that girl at the corner of the bar who's giving you the eye; she's not flirting, she's working. Trust me...
If ya didn't know any better, you may drive by this place a few hundred times and not know it's there. But I think that may be the point, because inside is a beautiful little secret discovery that serves up a mighty fine cucumber vodka martini that is... are ya ready for it... NOT TOO SWEET!!!!
I was starting to lose faith in the bartenders of LA, because it seemed that no one was capable of making a martini (with something other than an olive), drinkable and not a painfully sweet disaster that could send you into a sugar coma! Thankfully, Next Door Tapas Lounge did it.
Where they kinda failed, however, was in the grub department. We decided to order a few things and they were as follows:
The Secret Mini Burgers - These are not on the menu, but everyone orders them. The bartender recommends them. So why not just put them on the menu? This may be a question right up there with 'what is the meaning of life?' so you may never get an answer, but just know that they were cute (yes, food can be cute!), tasty, well prepared and were the best of the bunch that we ordered.
The Bikini De Mozzarella with Serrano ham, mozzarella & truffle butter - This was good, but not mind blowing. I am usually a fan of anything that dangles the word truffle in front of me, but this was just okay. And we even left one behind. I think the Serrano just overpowered the mozzarella and the truffle. So if you like that strong taste, then you will be set, if ya don't, order something else.
The Patatas Bravas which were spicy potatoes with ali-oli. Again, meh, just okay, but not hop on the bar, do a little dance, make it a little love, shake a tail feather amazing.
All in all, I have enjoyed the many times I've been here and the drinks are solid. So, do what we did and have done in the past, have a drink or two and then walk down to Firefly or Laurel Tavern and order the mussels or that ridiculous chorizo fondue and go home happy. Win to the winnity win!
Another perfect first-date bar. Background music wasn't too high and the lights were dimmed very nicely. There is a private party room above the bar. Little cozy leather couches and soft cubes abound. There was a very laid-back vibe. This is not a pick-up joint, but is a spectacular place to hang out, talk and drink some wine.
Prices were about 10 bucks for a dessert and $8-10 for glasses of wine. Seemingly typical LA costs. The ambiance was fairly spectacular.
So, Overall this place gets an A-. I give it an A for ambiance, a B+ for their Lava cake (not on the menu) and an A- for being difficult to find. (Lack of signage means you are a cool cat if you can just find the place. Save your ($4.50) valet money and park down the block on Carpenter/Ventura Blvd. This place was a similar and quieter Firefly, which is just down the block.
Very loungey, laid back bar. You can come not dressed up or you can dress up. Whatever your group decides. If you go with a just a few friends I would be more dressed up than casual.
Drinks are a bit pricey, but that is LA and there aren't many seats so prepared to come early. Otherwise, be content sitting at the bar or waiting around til someone gets up.
The service isn't great, but friendly enough. Not very crowded and no cover charge so you can always get in.
Make sure when you go to Next Door Tapas, be dressed classy casual.
Then, have a great group of people with you!
Grab a table, and make sure u don't leave it cos someone else will sit.
Admire the design, especially the humongous THING of lights on top. Has red colored atmosphere.
Then, the waitress shows up with the drink and tapas menu.
DEFINITELY order the mini burgers (i'm not burger eater AT ALL) but the mini ones, besides being mini, taste amazingly great. The potatoes are a must, there is also an avocado based tapas (don't recall the name). The tapas are pricey but tasting good, it's worth the money (at least the 3 times that I have been there everything tasted great).
They have good wine selection, if you're wine freak like me, but also nice cocktail drinks. The bartender is a really nice guy, very polite and good drink-mixer. :D
It's a good place if you feel like going out for chit-chat and drinks.
After dinner, Victoria C, Deborah K and I wanted a little drinky drink to cap off our fun girls night out. They suggested Firefly which I could not find for the life of me. I eventually decided to just pull off Ventura, park way far away on a flat street off of the scary hill (you will never find me ever parking up or down a hill as I have a terrible fear parking on hills). I sauntered down and proceeded to look for this famous no-sign Firefly but I got a call that they went to Next Door.
Walking in, I was struck how bright the place is. I'm a dark bar sort of girl ("so dark, we forget who we are..." sings Mimi). I suppose this makes easier menu reading. I scanned the wine list and the rioja and syrah jumped out at me. As did one of the ports and a sherry. But I finally decided on one of the few martinis that did not feature Grey Goose (bleh, hate Goose).
The blueberry lemondrop uses Stoli Blueberry. How much would this thing cost? Apparently $14.07 (who charges tax on a $13 martini, anyway??) would be acceptable over the hill in Hollywood but am I not in the freakin' Valley? And the thing wasn't even garnished nor did it have a sugar rim. Hell, I could throw some vodka with some sweet and sour into a shaker and make zillions then! Ah well, two of those plus tip put me over $33. Almost as much as what I paid for dinner!
The server was really nice though and had great hair. Crowd is older and pretty much kept to themselves though some old guys kept giving us the once-over.
I hated the restrooms. What's up with no soap? And the strange screwy faucet tap? Do you wave your hands to get the water going? Press the "button?" Fiddle with the button (oh wait...that's um, something else). In any case, when you finally get the water going, it comes in a very slow drip. And with no way of controlling the temperature and no soap, I felt like this was the dirtiest restroom indeed.
I can't imagine coming back here. Even if I wanted a $6-$7 glass of wine or a $15 glass of sherry or port.
Celebrated my fiance's birthday here this past Saturday. 9 of us had dinner at the Italian restaurant next door. Food was good but service wasn't great, it was slow and the waiter didn't really want to pay attention to us.
We moved over to Next Door around 9pm. A few more people joined us and it got crowded after 10pm. The drinks are strong and the bartenders were pretty cool. No Hollywood attitude.
Okay, so I think they deserve an extra star. I went here for drinks the other night with a friend and remembered how much I enjoy this bar. It's hard to find a bar with a great atmosphere and this bar has it. But still just three stars due to the outrageous martini prices. Stick to the wine.
So I came here last night with a couple Yelpettes for a drink or two after dinner.
The manager…
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OMG this place was awesome!
We went for our company Christmas dinner and it was a perfect addition to our great list of dinner spots we've been to before.
The shitake mushrooms, the wedges, the creme broulee!
Man. I don't know when I'm going to be able to go here again, but I hope it's soon.
Ok ok... I meant to go to La Loggia but ended up in this bar which is actually connected. I had been drinking and was confused! So much for dinner right?! Anyway, the below reviewers are not lying. The mini burgers are delicious, you have to order them if you come here. Its an upscale lounge, great spot to go with a couple girlfriends and have a martini. This is not a real tapas bar if that's what you are looking for, go to Ole.
I am getting older and much less fun. When I go out I require to things, a place to sit and no hassle drink service. This place provided both, so I like Next door tapas lounge, but I kinda hate the name.
The topas are good, the mini burgers (not on the menu) are very tasty but only the size of a quarter. The most bang for the buck would be the grilled cheese and ham, which was good. The chicken skewers have a very ethnic taste and smell, you should for sure try them.
Overall a pretty good experience. Yes the drinks are way over priced, but the martinis come in an oversized glass. I recommend getting whiskey on the rocks, cause they give you a very liberal pour.
My friends invited me to this place.. two things that are a MUST ORDER:
They have mini burgers which are NOT on the tapas menu. Ive never had such a good mini burger-- In fact I wish it was a real full on burger- we ordered them THREE times they were just that good!!!!
Also they had pomme fritte-- some sort of french fries with a cheese dipping sauce.. WOW. SO good! (2 orders of that!!)
Tapas are expensive- the food was good though...
I wasnt big on the avocado eggroll, or even the chicken skewers- they were dry. Im not big on mushrooms so it was a no no to me.
Ambiance was great.. those mini burgers still are stuck in my mind lol! It was nice and cozy- not to mention I was right next to Philip of days of our lives-- always a plus point ;)
Drinks were good- nice and strong- average LA bar prices on those.
Worth the trip... if anything for the miniburgers. ;)
A friend recently introduced me to this place and I fell in love with great atmosphere and beautiful lounge decor. We went on a weekday night, so it was pretty calm but I can imagine what little elbow to elbow room there would be on a busy weekend.
Everything was ordered from my friend's recommendations, so do forgive me if I slaughter the names or the ingredients. First on the list were the potatoes. They were sitting in a sauce of what tasted like a combination of cheese and Ancho chilli. Whatever it was, it was a bowl of liquid love. My favorite dish of the night!
Next up we had the grilled cheese with truffle butter. There was just a light hint of the truffle butter in the background which was great since I am a little weird when it comes to strong truffle flavors. Some other dishes we ordered were the chicken skewers and the avocado and shitaki eggrolls, which were both delicious but nothing compared to the first two mentioned.
This place seemed to get a better review than Ole, so last night I thought I'd try to check it out. The front door was hard to find because it's right next door to Loggia. It's was blocked by a bunch of people who were having a meeting in a large room. Luckily, they showed us the way after feeling weird and showing up at their meeting.
Honestly, everything was okay. Nothing overly exciting. I went here with a friend since we are always looking for a really good tapas place. Haven't found one yet !!! We ordered a bottle of wine - Moscato D'Asti (my favorite) and 4 tapas plate and 1 dessert. It actually took a while to get our food but when we got our food it all came at once.
The filet mignon with three different sauces was very good and tasty. And another one that I can say that I liked was the shrimp sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and spinach with toast. Now the last two were really disappointing...Morrocan Chicken was too dry and the Spicy poatoes were just like french fries (like the potatoes wedges at KFC) in cheese sauce (resembled nacho cheese sauce) and not one bit spicy. The banana dessert was simple and yet so tasty that I wanted to lick the plate.
Service was slow but I can't complain too much because there was only ONE server. Poor girl !!!
The place it self has a really nice ambiance. It can very much be a place to hang out with friends or go on a date to. I may come here again, but when someone else is paying the bill because it is a bit pricey.
Great New York vibe in a quaint underground-like setting. The bar is quite phenomenal and great for lounging on the romantic couches spread around the fireplace. Glass of wine..$11. Waitress...priceless. This bar space will impress even the most cynical of sceptics!
Food...very plain and non-eventful! Patatas my ass! It's nothing but overweight french fries dipped in melted cheese! McD can put their fries to shame!
...oh, and by the way, we ordered soup that was never served but included in our bill. The waiter later apologized blaming the error on a computer problem.
Funny composition of dining experience...a fabulous bar leading to a Spanish Tapas Bar connected by a door to an Italian restaurant (La Loggia's). Though the stylish bar and ambiance rule, the food is very forgettable!!!
I love this place and try to go atleast once a week. The bartenders, the waiters and even the busboys are super friendly. Try the bikini de mozzarella- (little grilled cheeses with prosciutto fried in truffle butter). I also really like the ahi tuna- but the best ever are the mini burgers. this is a next door secret -its not on the menu, but they are perfectly cooked and layered with fresh avacado, french fried onions and a garlic aioli. I could eat 3 orders myself. YUMYUMYUMYUM!
oo do i love their mini slider burgers. They are just so amazing. You'll end up ordering 5 orders just for yourself once you have one. Portions are very tiny so order a lot if you plan on getting full off of tapas. Its a good place to start your night. Its also a great place for a date. The place does get full fairly fast since its small but you can always sit at the restaurant attached to it. Service is ok but they have a very good bartender. He makes good drinks and takes care of his regulars.
sexy.
hot.
sultry.
well here is the deal with Next Door Tapas Lounge... they should change the name in my opinion to something a bit more sexy, but goddamn! If I want a night of passion, I could totally start it at this spot, and totally end it in my bedroom, hahaha...
great spot, great bar, great atmosphere, and the bartender pours em' right, cocktail waitresses are on top of their shit, and nothing less than a perfect night can be made here with the right attitude...
Update 10/3/07: I went here a couple of weekends ago and the food was HORRIBLE. everything was bad. God I hope they were having a bad night. And they were out of sangria. Boo.
But I agree with Victoria C.'s review. Mauricio is great.
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I f-ing LOVE this place. It's pretty much my favorite bar in Studio City. I love love the vibe there - great decor and great music. The music varies - some nights it's more loungey chill out music, some nights it's Madonna and Sia remixes and other cool dancey tracks.
It's romantic and a great place to come with the opposite sex, but I come here with my girlfriends all the time and have a great time. It actually gets pretty crowded on weekend nights, so it's just as good as going to any other bar in the area. Not a ton of seating, but enough generally. (If there's no where to sit down stairs you can always check the little lounge area upstairs.)
The tapas that I've had were pretty good. My absolute favorite is these spinach and artichoke cakes - can't remember what they're called though. They have pine nuts and some sort of small dried fruit - the waitress told me once she *thinks* they're raisins, but I think she's wrong. Anyway, it's like an explosion of flavor in your mouth. To. Die. For. The other dishes I've had have been decent but nothing to rave over. I come here for the amazing vibe and the spinach cakes. Period.
(OH, and they carry Peach Stoli, which probably only I care about. But that earns them huge bonus points in my book.)
I've been here a few times. My last visit was this past weekend. I won't be returning.
Here are few comments:
* They no longer serve sangria. (They used to.) How can a tapas bar not serve sangria? Exactly.
*The service was good (and has always been good).
*The atmosphere is great - comfortable couches/lounge setting.
*The food is mediocre. I bit into creme brulee that tasted like ricotta cheese. The chocolate lava cake tasted like the stuff I buy from a box at Trader Joe's. The crepe, however, was good.
*It's pricey for what you get. The food is not high enough quality to warrant the cost.
In sum, the place has real potential. The atmosphere and service are terrific. But the food is just so-so, and they don't serve sangria. Unless The Next Door ups its game, I won't be back.
The better tapas bar (by a long shot) in Sherman Oaks is Ole.
I went to this place yesterday hesitant, but it was a great evening shared with a dear friend. My drinks were well made, and the bartender was very nice. The lounge is simplistic but with detailed objects creating a nice atmosphere. FOOD: i ordered the tapas and i must say that the tapas aren't REAL tapas, but rather just small plates of food. real small, like tapas. yes. i enjoyed the food i had, plate of meat and cheese(tasty), filet mignon ( real yummy), chicken croquette(fatty but delicious), and a dessert that had vanilla gelato (i can't remember the name, but it was freakin awsome). anyhow, if you go there just don't expect to be in spain, just plain ol' america with their take on tapas, or rather their way of being to call it tapas for the sake of the small portions. just so you know, it's the room on the right of the restaurant, and the name of it doesn't jump out, in fact it's on the valet parking sign only. just take note of where it is on the map if you look it up before you go (i highly recommend).
tasty tasty.
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