Towne Food & Drink

Tucked away on the corner across from Ralph’s this unassuming patio is romantic, removes u from the hustle of Dtla, and almost gives u some romance.
Per a coworker’s suggestion, ordered the bone-​in strip steak, with a miso bernaise sauce. This was served with roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, etc. It was decent, but nothing too memorable. And it was pricy at $ 48 for just the steak.
Pisco Hawaiian punch was kinda strong, and ok tasting, but not my favorite cocktail ever either.
Overall, I’d be willing to give Towne another shot, but it’s so pricy that I’d rather go to one of my go-​to spots for an assuredly good meal.

It’s sad that this restaurant is already closed after I just made review (sorry for the super delay!). So, this in memory of Towne Food & Drink. I hope you open somewhere in DTLA in the near future! You will be missed.
I used to always pass by this place before going to Ralph’s. So decided to try it one time during my lunch break.
* Pastrami Pork Belly Sliders — sliders with house-​made sauerkraut & 1000 island + gruyère. It was very delicious! The pork belly just melted in my mouth.
* Chai & Pistachio macarons — pretty good! I like Chai better. At that time they also had Lychee, Key Lime, Peanut Butter & Jelly too. I also heard they had Root Beer & Bubble Gum! Pretty unique flavors compared to the other places I’ve been to.
There was also complimentary pretzel bread with mustard butter.
It wasn’t that crowded, but customer service was slow at that time. My waiter was excellent though! He offered me a complimentary dessert to make up for the wait & I got my food right away.
I should have tried their gourmet twinkies (I hope there’s still a next time)!

We finally made it in here for dinner. It was on my hit list for sometime. The décor is clean and modern. The ceilings are tall and the space is open for the most part.
We started by ordering french fries as a starter. They were very good. The fries were good sized and had a good level of crisp. I like crisp fries, but there is a fine line between crisp and burnt. The house ketchup was good.
For my meal I ordered a chorizo pizza. The size is great. You may have some left for the next day, or it would be good for sharing. The sauce is clean and sweet. The tellagio cheese goes well with the large thin slices of chorizo. The mustard greens add another layer of flavor. Next time I will order it without the greens. I just have never personally liked the texture of cooked greens.
For dessert I ordered the bag of donuts. It comes as six large donut holes covered in sugar. It also comes with two dipping sauces. Both sauces are tasty. One is chocolate, and I believe the other is espresso flavored.
The service was good. Everyone was very friendly.

I’ve been here twice now (once for dessert and once at the bar) and both times I had a pretty mediocre experience… not sure if I want to come here again to try an actual full meal.
I came with 7 friends for dessert one night. A lot of us wanted to try their s’mores (?) chai latte but they were out of CHAI! Boooo. already not off to to a good start. Supposedly their desserts are supposed to be good here but the 3 desserts we shared were pretty subpar. I think I had too high of expectations, especially from the made-​to-​order mini donuts that come in a bag. I expected super warm, fresh, soft, pillow-​like donuts but instead these were rock hard and dry. :(
The only thing I liked (more because of the presentation than the taste) was the push pops. Reminded me of the good ol’ Flintstones push-​up ice cream from back in the day! You can choose 3 flavors. It’s pretty much just sorbet or ice cream though in a cute push pop form and comes in a little pail. Cute. but not something I would come back for.
They’re also pretty unorganized in terms of not knowing which table ordered what… they tried to give us another table’s food and was surprised when it didn’t belong to us. eh…
As for the bar, they have some interesting-​sounding cocktails that are dated from different eras. I had the Genesis Collins which has gin, grapefruit, soda, honey, and an «invisible touch». It tasted okayyy. Bartender was really nice though so thumbs up for the friendly service. Otherwise, I wouldn’t really recommend this place. There’s better places to dine in downtown.

Not terribly busy but I didn’t know this place even existed. Parking is a nightmare in this area… it’s right off the ¹¹⁰⁄₁₀₁.
The service wasn’t wonderful… No free bread or anything really while you wait though. Took a while for our orders to be taken and our food to come out. But the food was good… cooked very well and to perfection.
Split some bolognese pasta (I think) which was actually really good. as well as the salmon on top of green beans (with foam). totally delicious. made very well and the skin was perfectly crispy.
A surprising treat. If the parking wasn’t such a bitch.

The service is friendly and the ambiance is spacious and clean. It’s nice when you find brunch places that have interesting items on the menu besides eggs. The beef cheek hash had great flavor and was presented prettily in an individual cast iron pot. The lobster cobb salad was awesome — had shrimp tempura «croutons», bacon, and lobster… yum yum yum check check check. The regular brunch menu item — eggs benedict and home fries were done well.
The baked goods are just ok. (You can get the baked goods to go on the way out if you’re too stuffed for dessert.)

My bf and I come here frequently. It was a rainy Saturday night. We sat at the bar. The bartenders are very cool here.
The food quality has declined while the price point remains high. The grilled octopus was cold with only traceable amounts of octopus. The mussels were still flavorful.

Alert — dog friendly! Saw bffs dining with their canine bffs on the porch during my last visit.
I’ve only come here for the desserts. The first few times were great. However the last two visits have been disappointing. Maybe Sunday nights are not the best times to purchase macarons. A tad dried out… not fresh. For the price, they need to do better.
I tried the red velvet twinkie. Buy a real $ 1 twinkie and give $ 5 to a beggar –addict outside Ralphs instead. At least you’ll get a false sense of do-​gooderness and one less day in purgatory.

I love working with these guys for private events. They have such a phenomenal team on deck and they really know hospitality. If you’re ever planning a special event, talk to Matthew, he’ll get you all set up.
I also love eating here. Hi, gigantic pork shank for 2. I’m talking to you.
Enjoyed the Spiced Apple Julep and the Eastern Mule.
Make haste to exercise supreme control over passing the tantalizing sweets, whispering sweet nothings as you pass them by on your way out. Or, if you just can’t resist, tell me how it was so I can live vicariously through your weakness for sugar.

Hmmm I wish I could give two separate reviews
One for the bar/​happy hour and one for the restaurant
Bar
Great ambiance
Think red black metal and wood accents
Large portions for happy hour food (taste wise great too!)
Good selection of happy hour cocktails
Four stars
Restaurant
Open space
Mostly steel and black
Food was mediocre (some too salty, some too bland)
Worst of all, service was subpar
Took almost an hour to get our food and had to flag down our waitress multiple times
Three
Meh. Will be back for happy hour but not to dine.

Came for lunch mid-​week. Towne has an ambitious menu, though nothing was really executed well.
— (Pretzel Bread) + fontina cheese sauce. Excellent. If you don’t want the cheese sauce, just ask for the complimentary pretzels instead.
— (Lobster Mac) Pasta rings topped with large pieces of lobster. Sauce was rich, but the cheese overpowered the taste of the lobster.
— (Pork Belly Sliders) Biggest disappointment. Incredibly dry and bland, which I didn’t think was even possible for pork belly. I could barely taste the sauerkraut and gruyère.
— (Salmon Cubano) Average, nothing memorable. House-​made ketchup was just okay.
I also tried the banana and chocolate mint twinkie for dessert and they were mediocre. So far, not impressed.

Towne is a spacious new restaurant in DTLA with MODERN DECOR and a CLASSY VIBE but it’s NOT STUFFY! The staff is über friendly, very helpful with the menu, and attractive (if that’s important to you). The owner also goes around greeting the patrons and making sure everyone is enjoying themselves. I like when the owners do that! It makes me feel like they’re in touch with what the customers want.
Okay, lets get to the good stuff!
They have HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY ON MONDAYS btw!
Kampachi «Tacos» /​hijiki /​crème fraiche /​radish — unique flavor and very delicious
Lobster «Mac» — so cheesy and rich, nice big piece of lobster on every bite
Lamb Sausage Pizza /​Broccoli rabe /​Smoked Mozzarella — the lamb sausage had so much flavor.
Pastrami Pork Belly Sliders /​house made sauerkraut /​house made 1000 island /​gruyère — THE BEST SLIDERS I’VE EVER PUT IN MY MOUTH!!! And trust me people, my mouth is a whore when it comes to sliders! Damn, I think I’m going back there tonight just for the sliders… TWO ORDERS!
Chicken Wings with sweet chili sauce — tasty, nice and crispy on the outside and perfectly juicy on the inside. As someone who grew up in Buffalo, I have to say these wings are LEGIT!!!
Pints of beers are $ 3 – 5 in the HH menu, wine and well cocktails were $ 5, and selected specialty cocktails were $ 8.
The regular menu is reasonably priced and with the HH it’s fantastic. Our bill came to $ 104 + tip for two people who had 3 – 4 rounds of drinks. :)
Towne, see you next week for Monday Night Football!!!

I hate Mi Piace in Pasadena, but Towne Food & Drink is not too shabby. Good job owners, you’ve redeemed yourselves! Towne is located in the heart of downtown LA on the 1^st floor of a residential building. The interior décor is beautiful. Red, black, and white with wooden accents and chandeliers. The bar and lounge area is spacious, modern, and comfy. Service is friendly (they charged my phone for me) and they serve you freshly baked pretzel bread w/​mustard grain butter to start off your meal.
The dinner menu however, isn’t quite as sophisticated as the interior décor. I like that they have their own take on the lobster mac, but it’s a really heavy dish, less cream more lobster please! I also tried their tuna tartar with uni. The tuna was fresh but the tartar lacked flavor. The combo of the tartar and uni was pretty good but again, I would’ve appreciated if they gave more uni. On both occasions I went for a seafood entrée, I tried the dayboat scallops and the trout. I wouldn’t recommend the scallops, there’s nothing special about that dish, but the trout is worth trying. The fish was perfectly cooked with a crispy skin and moist interior. Their cute ice cream push pops are also a must-​try, I had the ginger caramel one and liked it. I shall return because I’m determined to try one of their frozen vodka drinks served in a frozen glass w/​a concave ice cube (doesn’t it sound cool?). I just can’t make any plans after dinner because I’ll most likely be in vodka lalaland.

Walking through the enormous space that is Towne Food & Drink, the first place that comes to mind when eating at Towne is undeniably Bottega Louie.
Picture handsome servers, an elegant ambiance and a display, albeit much smaller than Bottega Louie’s, of desserts ranging from red velvet twinkies to colorful macarons.
But now that the magic of Bottega has subsided for me, I feel it may have also transferred over to Towne because I was underwhelmed after I had lunch here.
Among the three of us, we decided to get a bunch of little bites: warm pretzels with cheese sauce, bone marrow matzo balls soup, pastrami pork belly sliders and lobster mac.
Here’s how it all went:
Warm Pretzels with Fontina Cheese Sauce
First thing’s first: instead of bread, Towne treats guests to complimentary warm pretzels, so beware. Unless you are a pretzel fiend, ordering the warm pretzels is redundant. The only difference between the FREE pretzels and the $ 6 pretzels? The cheese sauce which, admittedly, was good, but we felt a little dumb for getting twice as many pretzels than we wanted.
Bone Marrow Matzo Ball Soup
The Matzo Ball definitely had some volume and the soup was mild in flavor which, surprisingly, I did enjoy. This soup won’t blow you away, but it’s a good and simple dish.
Pastrami Pork Belly Sliders
I expected a lot more from these sliders. I’m talking nice, juicy and thick cuts of fatty, meaty and savory pork belly. It was to the point where I could barely detect any pork belly at all. Just some pastrami and a hint of gruyère. Disappointing.
Lobster Mac
Somehow this got lukewarm before it got to the table. But more importantly, they could have showcased the lobster in a better way. I feel that the cheese overwhelmed the naturally buttery taste of the lobster.
We were a little bloated after the meal so we decided to skip the dessert. As you can see, from my experience, I feel that Towne Food & Drink is pretty hyped. But I went during lunchtime. Perhaps the food is better during dinner? Check it out for yourself.

Four and a half star for Towne Food & Drink, leaning towards the four side just now.
The modern american theme is echoed immediately as you step in. The warmth of the wooden floors, the high ceilings with the gigantic windows and clean lines really bring out that new american feel. While it may not be immediately apparently how expansive this space is, a few steps in you’ll see that it reminds you a little bit of Bottega Louie with the (albeit smaller) dessert bar to the right, and a (albeit larger) bar and lounge area to the left. Note, rest assured that you’ll be able to comfortably converse and hear you partner without screaming like peyton manner on the football field.
Fun note about their vodka centric cocktail list– it’s inspired by the different decades here in the US and how vodka was used. From something you would find in the roaring twenties, to something your folks might have sipped in the 70s, and something we would drink today. Fun perspective.
The service was fantastic and knowledgable. The food also gets bonus points for the small plate approach. Definitely good to come here with 3 – 4 friends so you can share many things on the menu. One thing to note though, whlie the menu seems to be separated by starter, small plates, pasta/​pizza, and entrees– it is essentially all small plates. I might even venture to say that some of our small plates were larger than the entrée itself. I might just find a different way of presenting this menu after having experienced it.
The american theme is very apparent when looking at the menu. Yet what makes it modern is the slight twist in each of the dishes. For the most part, these tweaks work out successfully. Some did not work as well; but overally the food here made for an overall enjoyable experience. I will not that the dessert might need some more work though there are a few gems as well.
Some of the notable plates:
— pretzel bread with mustard grain butter, yes i know this is part of the meal and free with your dinner. but wow, that was some of. scratch that. the best pretzel bread i’ve had. and the the mustard grain butter was addictive. The richness of the homemade butter with kick of the mustard really took the pretzel to a whole another level. you’ll encounter your first dilemma here as you will need to try your best to enjoy as much of this as you can without stuffing yourself for the good stuff to come.
— the pork belly pastrami: great job of taking two of america’s favorite things and combining it into one. If you think about it, this is really a fun modern twist with the classic smoked pastrami approach but apply it to america’s hot new darling, the pork belly. The slaw on top does a great job of cutting down the richness of the belly, and the hawaiian slider bun is just the perfect vessel to hold all that tastiness while adding just a tad of sweetness of the slider.
— beef cheek pot roast: i believe this dish really encapsulates what this restaurant is about. taking something distinctly classic and american, but also upping it’s complexity by introducing something more exotic (and not necessarily typically consumed by the average american). Think about your classic pot roast– usually made with chuck or round top and to be honest, it’s quite a terrible cut of meat. Yes a lot of work can make this great; but for the price you pay for, you can definitely get some beef cheek for about the same price point. And that beef cheek– while it sounds strange and gross to some, is marvelously tender and probably one of the tastiest cuts if you’ve had the pleasure of sampling. So all in all, it’s a very well executed pot roast with the right cut that will bring folks to a more familiar but more enjoyable place.
You’ll see this theme occur throughout such green curry in the steamed mussels, or the chorizo in the pacific cod, or the bone marrow in the matzo ball. Some of these ideas come out more well executed (curry in the mussels) than others (bone marrow in the matzo), but overall this is an enjoyable restaurant.
Last notes… definitely appreciated the lychee flavor on the macarons! also, do yourself a favor (unless you are peanut butter adverse) and do try the peanut butter dessert. ginger + peanut butter + chocolate pairing was quite a revelation. and maybe because this place more well lit than other places in LA, but definitely a beautiful crowd here~

What a great edition to the downtown area.
Located on the corner of Flower and 9^th St, Towne adds a nice touch of Contemporary Sheek New American restaurant. Black, White, Red interior décor. Service was great, friendly and always had perfect timing when it came to checking up on us and refilling our water glasses.
Food was pretty good. Good portion, not to small nor too large of size. Some items made for sharing. Popular for the Lobster MAC. small, but tasty. I had the Brisket Burger. I’m not a fan of spending $ 12 on a burger but it came with fries and it was delicious. Served with their homemade peach ketchup. Not bad, but a little on the sweet side. Pizzas are good too, flat bread cut in 5 slices.
DESSERTS! I was fortunate to try a few when they first opened. Red Velvet Twinkies! It’s so gooooood! S’more donut? Who woulda thunk it! Oh, and of course, the Macaroons. Not the hugest fan of them, but Towne’s beats Bottega Louie.
Irony…the pastry chef of B.L. is the same as Towne. Shhhh! You didn’t hear it from me. It just taste better.
Patio seating. Happy Hour menu. Pretty and natural looking staff. Good service.
Enjoy!

3 stars for food, ⁴⁄₅ for ambiance/​location/​overall feel. It’s a cute date/​catch-​up with an old friend spot, but I wouldn’t come here for the food per se…
Things I tried at dinner during opening night:
Pretzel bread — Pretzel breads are usually really dry and hard, but these were buttery and delicious. We asked for seconds but the server said they don’t want to run out before end of dinner service…
Tuna tartar — I expected fresh tuna with subtle seasoning to highlight the fish and topped with uni, but this is chewy tuna with uni mixed in, and very very slippery tasting, for lack of a better description. I also thought this tasted too salty. The tapioca puff that came on the side was an interesting idea, but it didn’t go with anything. Don’t order this.
Lobster Mac — This is almost like some sort of lobster & cheese ravioli. It’s very rich and creamy. I like it, but thought it could have been served hotter (it came on a skillet, but wasn’t really that hot)
Beef cheek pot roast — Wow, This is the smallest piece of meat ever. On the up side, the meat is buttery melt in your mouth smooth, and sour dough gnocchi are good. But still, seems like this would belong more in the appetizer section rather than main dish.
Macarons — These were pretty looking but airy inside. When you bite it, there is a big gap between the shell and the actual «meat» of the cookie. The texture is also a little too wet/​mushy. My friend said they almost tasted like cake pops, which I agree. Definitely needs improvement.
Red velvet Twinkie — This was super moist and not too sweet. Loved it!
Filled donuts — They ran out of this by the end of the night, but I overheard the 60 year old man at the next table calling it «orgasmic». So… don’t think you can say no to that!

This new restaurant is half a block from our apartment so we walked by very often. They don’t have any visible signage so we weren’t sure what it for a couple of weeks.
Walked in for lunch today and decided to sit outside on the covered patio area. Our server, Angela, was very knowledgeable and helpful and did a great job overall.
We started off with the Lobster «Mac» which was very very good, but it’s not the typical mac n cheese. It’s 8 large but individual pieces of pasta filled with cheese and baked with a few pieces of lobster on top. The lobster adds color and presentation, but really doesn’t add any taste. It is really delicious though, so I would either add more lobster (since it is priced at $ 14) or just remove the lobster, lower the price, and call it Towne «Mac» (or maybe add it as a side?).
They also brought out some bread which I think was probably the best thing I had. Tasted like a pretzel, but came with salty honey mustard butter (don’t know what else to call it… that’s what it tasted like) which was freaking good. Wish I had some of that butter right now.
Next is the Salmon Cubano ($ 15), which came recommended by Angela. It was just as she described it, but honestly, was not that great. It was difficult to eat because the bread was too big, and it got rather messy. The fries were pretty good, but I didn’t really enjoy the homemade ketchup. All I could taste was tomato, so it was more like a pasta sauce. Wish they had something like the ‘salty honey mustard butter’ to go with the fries instead. Ended up taking most of this entrée to go… but it’s still sitting on the counter in the box and I probably won’t eat it.
The other entrée we got was the organic free range wood fire chicken ($ 19). It was a bit much to order for lunch, but it was really really good. We should’ve probably skipped on the Salmon Cubano and just shared this as it came with 2 large portions of chicken on top of potatoes. Chicken was cooked very well and stayed moist throughout. Will very likely order this entrée again.
A lot of people talked about their desserts so even though we were full, we tried a Chocolate Mint Twinkie (Angela said it was very popular) and 2 macarons (lychee & pistachio). I liked that the twinkie was not too sweet and didn’t have too much filling, but it was a little dry, as if it was not made that day. I would like to taste one that was made fresh, but maybe they’re just all that way. The macarons were much better and we will probably order those again. I wish I would have read about the push pops mentioned in other reviews, but I didn’t see them on the menu anyway.
We obviously overate for lunch, but will be back to try some of the other entrees. Maybe we’ll come once happy hour starts!

Excellent service !
high ceiling, clean and spacious ! The theme was old american meets modern america, the wall was plastered of beautiful black and white photos of what LA was like back in the 50’s with a twist of modern classics.
Our waiter def knew what he was talking about, as he was introducing each item to us. His description of each items on the item sounded so delicious… I mean, this guy made mexican coke and sprite sound like it was made of gold ! He was very good, to say the least!
I also loved how attentive they were about refilling the waters and replacing our forks and spoon.
The only thing i would hope for, (and the waitered agreed with me on this) is the increase on their vegetarian menu! I was only able to order the Watermelon salad (which i absolutely adore, and i for one, am not a salad fan.) and a burrata pizza (was just ok because i was too distracted by the desserts), i ate two slices and decided to hold my stomach for the treats!
I had the strawberry macaron (WAY too sweet) and the Red Velvet (also very sweet)
the mint twinkie which tasted much like a brownie but pretty good.
also had the salted chocolate cupcakes –was actually my favorite out of the bunch! Sweet with a hint of saltiness equals NOT too sweet! perfect for my pallet!
At the end of our dinner, a man walked by and introduced himself to us and thanked us for dinning at his restaurant — whenever a chef/​owner comes and greet us, i always find that to be a nice little touch of appreciation.
So when the owner came by to introduce himself to us and asked if everything was to our liking. told him how i was disappointed about not being able to try the push pops as Ive been seeing it all over Facebook and Unilocal,but apparently they were suppose to be serving this the following day, but quickly brought us out two complimentary push popice-​cream and sorbet push pops (totally reminded us when we were kids) — VERY sweet of him to that for us!
…ice cream and sorbet was also hella sweet too~

Came here last night for a special private event before their grand opening to the public. The place is awesome! The décor, the food, the MACAROONS! Oh the macaroons!!! Seriously best I’ve ever had, way better than B.L. if you ask me.
Our table ordered a variety of items including the pastrami pork belly sliders, lobster mac, white bean ravioli, bone marrow matzo ball soup, watermelon salad, and a few other plates. Everything was amazing!
The owners are the same guys who own Mi Piace in Pasadena. They definitely know what they’re doing! If you love great food with a NY meets LA vibe, and something better than Bottega Louie, this is the place to be!