restaurant review: superba snack bar

Inside Superba.

One early November Saturday, my friends and I met for brunch. It was a beautiful sunny and warm Los Angeles November so we decided to check out Superba Snack Bar in Venice Beach.

This is what I thought:


The Scene

Located in a hip and gentrified area of Venice on Rose Avenue, I had a bit of a hard time finding parking. When I eventually found street parking a couple of blocks away, I entered the nice and airy space. I liked the open-ness of the space. But, I did not like the seats. As you can see, unless you were seated along a wall, the seats were all stools with no backs. Also, although there were three of us, we were seated in a table that would comfortably fit two diners and uncomfortably fit three. 


The Food 

We ordered three things and shared all of them:

• Short Rib Benedict - According to our server, this dish is their most popular brunch item. We were excited to try it. When I bit into it, however, everything was too salty.  

Short rib benedict.

• Wakame Spaghetini - Our server warned us that this dish has the taste of the sea. I understood why once I had a taste. It was briny. But, I expected my seafood to taste "of the sea" so I quite enjoyed this dish. I also enjoyed the big chunks of crab but was sad to have barely tasted the sea urchin.

Wakame spaghetini.

• Braised Oxtail Sandwich - One of my dining companions absolutely loved this sandwich. He described it as a grilled cheese with oxtail. I thought that the bread had a nice crunch and the oxtail sufficiently fatty. But, it was a bit too greasy for me.

Braised oxtail.

The Service

I thought that service was very friendly. When a friend ordered coffee and thought it tasted odd, the server kindly took her cup away and did not charge us. But, when I ordered orange juice, it never came. They did not charge us for that either. Thank goodness I changed my mind about drinking orange juice because I would have been put out about having to remind our server about my drink.


The Price

For brunch, it was a bit pricey. For the three of us, we paid a total of $53 excluding tax and tip. This was the cost of just the food. We had no coffee, no juice, no cocktail.


The Verdict

Although I enjoyed my seafood pasta dish, it was not enough for me to return. I made a reservations through opentable.com. If you wish, you may make your reservations by calling 310.399.6400.


Have you dined at Superba? What was your experience?