The Courtyard Kitchen

Be prepared for a wait as they do not take reservations, however it was very good. Chipotle Beef burger was very good, my wife ordered it without the aioli & onions as she is not a fan of those. I had the Roasted Turkey Club on toasted sourdough, it was very good. Our son had the Commoner Breakfast with the scrambled eggs and he said it was very good also. The staff was very friendly and courteous. I can highly recommend as it was a very good food and a very busy place!

Delicious! My first impression walking in was “this place is so cute!” They decorate well and covered every space in a fashionable way. There are lots of menu options and I finally chose the Spanish Chorizo and it did not disappoint!! So tasty! My husband got the shakshuka and it was also really good! That was our first time trying Shakshuka too. Service was also very friendly! Parking was surprisingly good across the street (about $3 something for 3 hours) using the meter. It’s also on a very cute street with lots of shops to walk by and to take a nice stroll.

We were excited to eat and were so hungry when we got there. We were warmly greeted with a smile and sat immediately, we came after the morning rush. A busser brought water about 5 minutes after being seated and it took about 10 minutes for our server to come by. He was nice but wasn’t a great server, lacked communication skills. He grabbed our drink order then it took about another 10 minutes to get our lattes and they were delicious. My main issue was with the entrees, they’re overpriced, lack flavor and I couldn’t believe how small they were. We had to ask for more dressing and season everything with salt & pepper. At $25 ish per entree, I thought they made a mistake with how small our “Salad” was. It was literally a handful of spinach with a couple of other veggies thrown in. The Greek Short Rib Bowl came with all the ingredients separate in the bowl with no grain under them like a traditional bowl. It was more like a weak, hodge podge salad with 3 small but delicious pieces of short rib. We left hungry after spending $80. I won’t go back any time soon.

On this Sunday it was a little chaotic here. A fifteen minutes wait turned to 30, with another 30 minutes before we saw any food. The kitchen size to restaurant ratio could just be off and there was some challenges with the kitchen. The host and servers worked hard to keep things moving as fast as they could. The food tasted fine, the shakshuka was tasty, the French toast was nicely flavored though a little dry on the outer edges. The price for the quantity of food wasn't great, but this is Santa Monica, you're on a diet even if you're not. Nice spot to try, just give yourself enough time.

The food here was good, but portion sizes were almost ridiculous for the price paid. For example, the avocado toast came with only one slice, which was also lacking salt and honestly flavor, no one should have to pay $13 for that. Other dishes were fine, like the shakshuka was well seasoned and I enjoyed it. However, service was very slow, not sure if that was due to being understaffed or not. Some things just needed a little improvement, however, the food tasted healthy and fresh.