Gnaw: Poppy + Rose
The Stage: In the heart of the Flower District of Downtown Los Angeles, blocks from Skid Row, sits a quiet and unassuming restaurant. Inside, family-style seating abounds, and windowpanes serve as wall décor. You’re invited to order with the hostess, take a number, and then you are shown your seat. The pressure can build here if you are slow to order; there is a line forming behind you after all. Decision made! Butt meets seat and before you can string together a few lines of conversation, your food arrives, and the real fun begins.
The Food: The food featured at Poppy + Rose is comfortable and familiar. As a kid who grew up in Oklahoma, I have had hundreds of breakfasts mirroring this one, except my mom can’t make a latte taste this good. The perfectly cooked bacon (get that crispy stuff out of here), homemade jam, sunny-side-up eggs with crispy edges, and some of the best hash browns I have ever had made me wish I was home. Perhaps, that’s the point. In a city where no one seems to originate from LA, maybe this restaurant exists to remind us kids from flyover country what we are missing. Now, go call your mother.
The Service: The servers should maybe think about entering the Los Angeles Marathon next year because they were so ridiculously quick.
The Price: Are you sitting down? Good. $20 for one person! I know it is breakfast and breakfast is often the most affordable meal that you can find at a restaurant, but here $20 felt like a steal.
The Takeaway: Poppy + Rose is a near-perfect brunch spot in the heart of one of the most vibrant and bustling neighborhoods of Downtown Los Angeles. Based on the line outside the door when we left, I am not the only one who thinks so.
Be good to each other,
-Nathan
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