Bacari PDR

This is a great place to come for happy hour. Pretty much the entire menu of tapas is on sale for $ 2 off, and a glass of their house red (a delicious Cabernet) is only $ 6. On top of that, the food is DELICIOUS. The burrata with marinated artichokes, served with freshly-​grilled sourdough, was mouth-​watering. The pork belly skewers? Melt in your mouth. The bowl of clams was delicious — the clams were pretty small, but the spicy broth they came in was full of tomatoes and jalapenos and made for good dipping with the baguette. I was very impressed with the gracious servers and staff. Food comes out as it is prepared, and it feels like they staggered the timing perfectly for us. It’s quiet but not too quiet, the noise level allows for comfortable conversation. Parking can be challenging (street only). I did find it odd that you are charged $ 2 for an extra baguette, as we got it for dipping in the clam sauce.

This place is easy to miss while driving, and your GPS might take you to a different location up in the hills, so just be aware of that! There is a tiny parking lot in the back of the restaurant.
Came for Happy Hour. $ 2 off all plates, which comes out to $ 7 for most. We started with a pitcher of sangria for $ 14 and before we started drinking that, we decided it might be a better option to do the open bar for $ 25. Let’s just say, a pitcher for 2, 2 glasses of wine, and 1 beer later, we were more than good. You get 90 minutes so there was a lot of chugging. Shout out to our kind waiter for being so patient with us!
For food, we got…
— Crab Crostini: Comes with 2 pieces. Tasted more like tuna.
— Pork Belly Skewers: Sooo good. My favorite of the night. Very fatty and melts in your mouth.
— Bone Marrow: Pretty good. Portion was a bit small though. Comes with toasted bread, but there wasn’t enough marrow for all 3 pieces of bread.
— Scallops: On their specials list. 3 pieces, all seared perfectly.
— Bowl of Clams: Another good dish.
— Mushroom Pizza: Lots of umami-​ness going on. Yum.
I was stuffed by all the drinks and food. Prices will add up fast, so next time, we know to only order 4 – 5 dishes. And unless you drink 4+ glasses of alcohol, don’t get open bar lol.

the food here is excellent — delicious and flavorful. however, the portions are teeny tiny! we got the open bar and ordered 4 dishes, plus dessert. Upon leaving, we were still so hungry we had to eat a second dinner of a large-​sized ramen just to fill our stomachs. also, did not love that they charged us for a side of bread. (we were hungry!!!)
Had the bowl of clams, yum, crab crostini, yum, mushroom pizza, yum and my date got the lamb burger and the bread pudding. the sangria was my favorite of the open bar beverages.
service was great — our server Louie was very friendly and on top of our drink refills.

Came for DineLA this week, but will definitely be back as soon as possible.
Their all you can drink (for 90 minutes) option is amazing. My friend and I had enough sangria to last a whole day!
The food was equally as amazing.
Recommendation: order the fries with a fried egg on top. It will change your life. The egg gives the fries a creaminess that compliments the crunch of the fries. Game changer.
I ordered the truffle mac ‘n cheese and the Bacaro burger. My friend doesn’t like her food too truffley and she thought the mac ‘n cheese was delicious! The flavor was not too overpowering, but just enough to cut through the cheese. The deconstructed Bacaro burger was heavenly, with just the right proportion of toppings to meat to bun. The desserts were also heavenly and thankfully not too sweet, because at this point, we were all so stuffed!
Will be back. ASAP.

Location: If we hadn’t been with people who already knew where this place was, we would have driven by it. From the outside, it looks very small and dark with no discernible signage that indicates that the restaurant is there. It’s also somewhat awkwardly located — picture an island in between two smaller streets. That’s where Bacari is. There is next to no parking for the actual restaurant (I think about 5 spaces total if the cars squeeze) but there looked to be plenty of street parking if you are willing to walk a bit. We ended up parking up the hill from the restaurant, but I think you can also park below it on a flat street. Not sure if there were meters there or not though.
Service: We had a reservation and were slightly late so it was appreciated that they called us on the way there to confirm we were coming. It’s not a huge place so holding a table was kind of a big deal I think. Although despite that, we never saw a huge line/​group of people waiting to get seated. There was a crowd at the small bar however… our server came over in a very timely manner and got us going with a large pitcher of sangria since we were doing the Dine LA menu which included the all you can drink option (side note — you can do this anyway for $ 25!). My husband tried the house beer which happened to be a wheat beer (his fav) and loved that. I know this isn’t a high end wine bar or anything but since the first course of the Dine LA menu was a choice of cheeses and salami, I kind of expected the wait staff to know a little about the cheese. Our waiter didn’t seem to know much beyond the names. It worked out fine though because there were 4 of us so we got to try all the choices. That was my only tiny gripe. Other than that, food came out fast and hot. We actually started to run out of space on our table! Because they brought a pitcher of sangria and water for the table we didn’t need refills very often. I also saw our waiter wander over to our corner of the restaurant at least 2 – 3 times during our visit to check on the tables over there just in case
Food: Again, we went for Dine LA so we mostly stuck to that prix fixe menu. Keep in mind that I’m reviewing the menu for TWO people which is why there are two dishes with each course. The only extra thing we ordered were the Bacari fries which I had seen posted so often on Unilocal.They were good, but not mind blowing to us. First course — meats and cheeses. Again, we were able to try all of them and all were good. Our fav though was whatever the soft cheese was (again would have loved an explanation when it was delivered but he didn’t seem to know) and the delicious hot bread it came with. Yum. Second course of polenta sticks (eh…not the best) and crab crostini (spicy) was okay. I didn’t partake of the crostini because I was warned it was spicy, but everyone else agreed they were pretty good. Third course (or course 2.5 because they overlapped) was the mac and cheese and bacari burger. Mac and cheese was very decadent, even without the bacon you could add and had a nice crispy panko topping. The burger was open face, and kind of small. I asked for medium and it came out more medium well, but minor issues (at least for me). It was good, but not the best burger we’ve ever had. For dessert, we got one bread pudding and one malabi to try (there were only two choices). We agreed that actually desserts might have been the weakest course we had. The malabi (and our waiter did warn us so we knew to expect it) was very floral and tasted like you were chewing a flower. Not our fav. The bread pudding with ice cream was better, but we have had some GREAT bread pudding before so this didn’t really measure up.
Overall: Don’t go without a reservation because it’s a very small place. Do partake in the $ 25 all you can drink if you go with a group and plan on hanging out. The sangria was delicious! Remember parking can be hard, but its there. Food was yummy, but we definitely had our high and low points during the dine la menu. Would love to come back and try other things though. It was a good intro dinner to Bacari.

This review is based off of the DineLA menu. Overall was a great experience. Will definitely come back to try some more of their menu.
Parking. Kinda difficult here, since there really isn’t much. There is a very tiny lot directly behind the restaurant, and I mean it will hold like 4 cars or so. So it’s street parking after that, which can be a little tricky since the restaurant is almost like a little island because of it’s location and how small it is.
The interior/​ambiance is really nice. Dim, surprisingly larger than it looks from the outside, fun wine bottle ceiling. The service was also great. Very friendly, good explanations of the menu items, quick to refill drinks/​water. The food also came out fairly quickly, which was nice since we were really hungry.
On to the food. It was pretty good I thought. Got to try quite a few items on the menu because of our group. The sangria was good. Tasted so much like juice, so it went down pretty fast. The bacaro fries were good. Nothing blew me away about them in particular, but they were definitely good. The crab crostini was delicious. Definitely has some spice to it, so you may not want to order this if that’s not your thing. The mac and cheese was really good. Always love that panko topping. The scallops were good, well prepared. Also tried the bacaro burger with the fried egg on top. Also very well prepared, great flavor. It was pretty small overall. Was hoping it was going to be a little larger. Maybe it’s larger on the regular menu, not sure. Also got to try both desserts on the DineLA menu (bread pudding and malabi). Definitely liked the bread pudding more. The malabi felt like I was eating a flower in terms of taste, not texture. Wasn’t my thing, but I’m sure some will like it.
Overall, great experience with good food. Definitely recommend checking this place out when you’re in the area.

Very good meal. Staying at Hilton LAX tonight and wanted somewhere good. Not hotel food. Saw this area was close by on a map and used Unilocal to find a good smart. It didn’t let us down.
It is restaurant week and they had a fun special for $ 39 per person which included a LOT of food and bottomless drinks (house beer/​wine/​sangria/​champagne for 90 minutes.
Food we opted for crab crostini, Mac n cheese, Bavaria burger, seared scallops and bread pudding. We started with cheese and salami.
Very good. Love the atmosphere. Nice servo and staff. If I’m in the area will return again

Let me start off by saying that the 4 stars are for the amazing cooks who clearly know what they’re doing. The food was amazing and don’t let any other review have you doubt that! Me and 3 others came here for Dine LA. We had the following:
Pick two from cheese and salame (there’s only one salame choice)
Cana de cabra, bianco sardo, and delices de cremiers. All excellent! I like that the serving comes with figs, almonds, AND bread! So delicious!
Pick two from their entrees, we got the following:
Mac and cheese– so creamy and rich! The very fine crispy panko on top were the best combination, amazing!
Grilled chicken breast: the breast is on top of a Parmesan risotto cake that’s crispy on the outside and so soft and tasty in the inside, again a combination to die for!
Seared scallops: the white truffle olive oil makes this dish so unique from anything else I’ve tried when it comes to scallops. So amazing!
Noa’s cauliflower: this was probably my favorite. The sauce is so tasty and not overwhelming at all. The cauliflower is so crisp and not soggy at all even with the warm sauce.
Pan seared polenta: seriously, how does eggplant taste this amazing?! You cannot tell its eggplant, but you can tell than it’s delicious!
Now for dessert:
Bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and their Malabi. Holy crap, both so amazing! The Malabi is a refreshing dessert not too heavy or sweet at all. The bread pudding is definitely your comfort dessert.
I didn’t have a problem with any of the food and our food came out pretty quickly after we ordered. HOWEVER, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE SERVICE.
SERVICE: Upon arrival, I already knew I was not going to be well taken care of. That’s probably not to say that their service may be excellent other days, but last night was the exception. It was busy, and only got busier. Thankfully I made reservations and we were seated right away. The hostess took us to our table dropped the menus off and walked away. Me and my boyfriend arrived before my other two friends. As we sat waiting for them, we were not acknowledged once. I get it, our whole party isn’t there and our waiter wanted to wait until we were all present but seriously? After 11 minutes you can’t even introduce yourself?! So our friends arrive and we aren’t acknowledged for another 8 minutes. Our server was friendly but oh so slow.
Included in the Dine LA menu was their 90 minute open bar. However because service was so slow we only got 2 drinks out of the hour and a half of open bar. Ridiculous.
Two stars for service for sure. I left wishing I could run into the kitchen and hug and tip the amazing cooks back there! I almost don’t want to come back because of the poor service we received but the food was so amazing I just might.

2.5 stars rounded to 3 because the food was the only thing that was MEH. Everything we ordered was WAYYY too salty I didn’t even want to eat it… the only decent thing we ate here was the scallops, but even that was also a little too salty for my taste.
Place is pretty tiny and was feeling a little claustrophobic at our corner table, but the vibe was fine. Hipster feel.
I wouldn’t come back here for the food, but maybe a few drinks.

This was actually one of those random dinner spots that the girlfriend and I just decided to go since our original destination wasn’t available until 7 pm and it was 5:30 pm and we were both «hangry.»
Fortunate to have found street parking just a block away from this place. It’s quite hidden up in the hill… reminded me so much of the Bay :)
We walked in without any reservations on a Saturday night and we’re quite thankful to be seated.
Ambiance: modern with a dash of coziness. Definitely a happening place.
Service: really friendly. Our server that night was just on point with giving us time and space since we were talking (it was playing catch up) thus the girlfriend and I were just yapping.
Food: definitely tapas style without the typical tapas price… yes… I was a bit shocked at how cheap it was coming from tapas in SF. We ended up sharing the following: caprese (which I pretty much ate the whole thing…) bacaro fries (the girlfriend ate pretty much the bulk of it since I just nibbled… it had a sauce that wasn’t quite jiving with me.) mac and cheese (this was good… really cheese and creamy and we did get it with bacon… just had too.) grilled hanger steak (the steak was delicious and medium was just perfect) got the white pizza (didn’t quite like this one… too creamy for me.) and we ordered the scallops (special that night which was really good… well made… not to chewy).
Dessert: the friend had nutella panino which she liked and I had the bread pudding … the ice cream to bread pudding ratio was just a tad more so since it was a bit chilly that night, I hardly ate the ice cream thus resulting to a soggy bread pudding. Yes, 1^st world problems.
Overall… the girlfriend and I talked for a quite a while and we hardly got any stare down to leave or hurry up. It was quite nice! The food was great. The serving was just right and couldn’t complain with the price.
Would highly recommend to make a reservation especially on weekends.

Bacari is a cute, cozy tapas spot that has a great happy hour and good value.
They have cold or hot tapas for $ 9/​plate or 3 tapas for $ 24. They also have a all you can drink special for $ 25 = all you can drink sangria.
Poached Shrimp — pretty flavorful and comes with tasty radish slices
Bone Marrow — was really good. had a nice crispy-​ness on the outside the fat
Bacaro Fries — Fries are well made, but the sauce helps make it and gotta love a fried egg on almost anything
Sadly they were all out of clams, which seems to have great reviews here, when I went.
Good service. Nice ambience — feels like you’re in a cozy cabin with pretty overhanging light bulbs. There’s parking in the back that fits 4 – 5 cars, but a far amount of street parking nearby.

So sad that I’ve just recently discovered this place! Everything was just so dangerously good and good portions even as a tapas style
Ordered the 3 plates for $ 24:
(cold dishes)
–poached shrimp (loved the radish shavings that came as a garnish)
–burrata di gioia
–tomato & basil and fire roasted pepper bruschette
(hot dishes) also 3 plates for $ 24:
–panini with fontina, arugula, shallot aioli (that aioli alone should win a prize of some sort)
–bacaro fries (anything with a fried egg wins a piece of my black soul. fav dish of the night!)
–bowl of clams (loved the jalapeños, added a nice kick)
–cauliflowers
–tal’s tower (shrimp stuffed mushrooms, soooo good!)
–oven roasted bone marrow (carnivorous friend said it was probably the best he’s ever had)
Only bad comments would be their bathroom and parking situation.
Overall a great experience. good food and good wine, what is there not to like? I will be back for their happy hour!

Came here on Halloween and was pleasantly surprised (Although driven by and sorta sensed that it was a cool little drinking spot w/​tapas) It’s definitely the locals hidden gem.
It’s small, casual and fun bar that never disappoints! The servers, bartenders, etc. awesome knowledgeable group of people that deliver great service with not only a smile, but with such wit, humor and damn it, they were charismatic bunch! Especially on Halloween, I loved the Hugh Hefner look a like, and I can’t remember, but the rest of the employees were so darn cute, it made it festive and wanting to come back for more.
Food consisted of variety, individual pizza’s, eggs and fries, seafood appetizers, etc.
Their small plates for the price were right on! People that were there, were simply locals and visitors just hanging out getting their fix on drinks — such a comfortable atmosphere, highly recommended for first dates, to couples/​date night, to small groups of friends wanting to catch up and hang out.
It’s small, but cozy and the service can’t be beat. Drinks and food were unique and very tasty!
Come here and make it a stop on the way to whatever adventure you have in mind for you and date, loved one or friends. Highly recommended!
Parking may seem tight, but there is lots of parking surrounding it. And then steps to the beach for that perfect romantic evening or end to evening :)

My friend took me here after picking me up from the airport and we gorged. We took advantage of the deal to buy 3 plates for 24 and got:
Bacaro fries
Veggie panini
Grilled chicken breast
Mac n cheese
Tal’s tower (mushroom, shrimp, grilled baguette)
Bowl of clams (came with amazing bread)
I didn’t taste the chicken breast, but everything I tried was delicious! We over ordered for sure.
We wanted to try the cauliflower but they did not have it that night. Will definitely come back in the future!

***Bacari PDR offers a very inviting happy hour where all of their food is $ 6 (most of their small plates are typically $ 8-​$ 9, which makes ordering easy); the food is decent but a notch below nearby Playa Provisions and The Tripel***
Bacari PDR is a small neighborhood spot. With its tight dining room and casual but focused-​on-​the-​food-​and-​drink interior (blackboard specials, bottles lining the ceiling), Bacari PDR feels like the kind of popular and trendy restaurant that would more likely be in Silver Lake than Playa Del Rey though Playa Del Rey has definitely been on the rise lately with very strong restaurants like Playa Provisions and The Tripel.
Bacari PDR’s menu is modern but approachable and casual. Reading the menu also reveals one popular ingredient after another like pork belly, lamb, chorizo, burrata, goat cheese, arugula, beets, poblano peppers, eggplant, and so on. Bacari PDR utilizes these many ingredients to create a variety of small plates – cold preparations, hot dishes and pizzas. Bacari PDR even offers a happy hour where the whole menu is $ 6.
I tried a few things and a lot of it was decent but not great. The pork belly skewers were sweet and fairly rich but should appeal to pork belly fans. The grilled hanger steak with grilled zucchini was satisfying though the hanger steak did not deliver the incredibly flavorful, moist and tender beef that AOC achieves with its signature hanger steak.
Their smoked mushroom pizza was quite good. The mushrooms were well cleaned and had a great earthy flavor to go with the good melted cheese and mild white sauce. The margherita pizza was not as good. The crust was way too soft and the tomato sauce had a boring sweet flavor. The simple sauce and almost bread-​like crust made this pizza, unfortunately, taste too much like a frozen pizza, which is definitely not representative of the food this kitchen can put out.
Service was friendly and quick. As mentioned, their happy hour prices are good even if the portions are on the small side (this is a small plates restaurant so expect to order at least three dishes per person).
Bacari PDR is a good addition to the Playa Del Rey area. I did not love it as much as Playa Provisions or The Tripel, but if you live in the neighborhood, this is one you will want to check out.
Free parking is available on the street or in the nearby residential area.

Thanks again, Unilocalers!
Hubs and I went to Happy Hour last night, Friday, and early as we hadn’t had time for lunch and were ravenous. Happy Hour is M-​F, 5 – 7 p.m., and we arrived at 5:15 and had our choice of seats, although there were several tables already full. By the time we left (6:30?) the place was full. I recommend street parking as the lot is super-​tight if you have anything larger than a Fiat 500.
We are wine drinkers, and I was in a rare mood to «quaff», not sip, so we ordered the sangria. The servers suggested a liter which I thought sounded huge, but with all the ice, it was just right to last us through menu deliberations, the meal, and some left for «dessert.» As sangria goes, it was ok, nothing to rave about, and you cannot of course compare it to a good glass of wine as it is fruitier, and that is what sangria is.
Our orders were unusually carnivore-​focused, and all good. We had the lamb-​stuffed eggplant, the hangar steak, and a burger for each of us (they are smallish, not tiny, not meal sized either.) The steak slices and burgers were properly done to medium, tender /​juicy.
We had excellent, attentive service from a team of 2, and we thought the room and the «outside» (which is inside) had a nice cozy ambience. We could see the orangey glow of the sunset from our window table.
We both agreed that the Happy Hour selections and prices were very good, and since Waterloo & City is gone, this may become our new small plates Happy Hour go-​to.

I love this place. My friends love this place.
Great cocktails and food. My favorites were the scallops and mushroom pizza. I also loved the fried egg on the fries. Happy hour 5 to 7 pm. The staff are awesome.
I love PDR, so happy this gives me another reason to go down there. Enjoy incredible food and drinks with a beach breeze, but without the tourists and «characters» of other beaches.
The only bad is that the location and plates are small.

I came here on a Monday for Happy Hour without a reservation and they were super accommodating. Out waiter was super nice and helpful and also had a cheery attitude.
Luckily I scored with parking on the back, they have about 4 – 5 parking spots so if you get one you are in luck! If not there is a parking structure about a block away that will charge $ 10 and $ 20 on the weekends. There is also street parking that you might get lucky with.
Now for the food and drinks…
–We got the sangria pitcher for $ 14 which is a steal, it’s pretty mellow not strong at all. The dinner menu is very tapas style so we got a couple of plates for food.
–We got the noah cauliflower and I have to say it was pretty good, has a chipotle sauce that goes well together.
–The poached shrimp was my favorite! Super refreshing with a nice little kick to it.
–The bowl of clams oh so yummy… also another one of my favorites!
–The bacaro fries were sooo good topped with a fried egg (too bad I only grabbed a few) but it was pretty good.
–The pork belly skeweres were supposed to be one of the popular ones but I was not impressed, they were super greasy and had a lot of fat.
–We ordered two pizzas: the bacon and brie which was ok and the smoked mushroom pizza definitely not a fan of that one.
Lastly great place to come to for happy hour. I would like to come for brunch because of the menu I noticed they have. I’ve gone to the one in DTLA and it is just like this one but this one is bigger and they have a nice little bar.

The first thing I noticed about this place is the smell of the ocean… So heavenly! So if you’re a beach gal like myself, this might be the perfect spot for you. Parking is limited with only about 5 spots in the back so g’luck finding street parking. I heard Bacari can also get pretty packed so don’t come here on an empty stomach.
On a brighter note, Happy hour = happy me! HH is M-​F 5−7pm, I recommend taking advantage of the yummy tapas (hot and/​or cold) for -$ 2 and cocktails for -$ 2.
I recommend:
1. Sangria by the pitcher ($ 14 on the HH menu) — it was enough for a group of 5 to get 2 or even 3 rounds in.
2. Poached shrimp — the citrus chili sauce gave it a nice kick. This tapa was very refreshing!
3. Cabecou — the cranberry paired amazingly well with the goat cheese, mmmmmmm.
4. Noa’s cauliflower — recommended by our server and one of my favorites of the night. It had a very strong chipotle sauce which I can see getting overwhelming but I thought it tasted great with the spinach in the dish.
5. Bacaro fries topped with an egg and bacon — mmmm salty goodness. Anytime you pair an egg and meat with French fries I am a happy camper.
6. Bowl of clams — I loved the sauce/​stew it was in. Very tomatoey which tasted nice with the bread.
Skip:
1. Bacon and Brie pizza — I liked the jalapeño
2. Smoked Mushroom pizza
3. Glazed pork belly skewers — good taste but a bit salty. Big pieces of pork just aren’t my steez.
Lastly, I heard great things about their weekend brunch! I definitely plan on coming back to try that or the open bar special.

**BRUNCH GAME STRONG IN PDR**
Arrived around 1:30PM on Saturday with no reservations.
Seated immediately in the patio area.
BRUNCH HOURS — — 10:30AM — 2:30PM
PARKING
========
Luckily, we found a spot across the street (free).
Might be difficult on nice beach days, but possible.
AMBIANCE
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Rustic beach cabin vibes.
Cute and casual.
Mostly young people (20 – 30’s).
FOOD
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**These dishes are served tapas-​like (small portions).
Strongly suggest ordering 2 dishes per person.**
FRENCH TOAST
Nice and fluffy. I prefer more sweetness, but still solid.
RATING: ⁴⁄₅
SHAKSHOUKA **FAVORITE**
A beautiful dish of an egg poached in a tomato sauce with warm sliced bread.
That bread was everything.
RATING: ⁵⁄₅
TOFU SCRAMBLE
This was the least favorite. I didn’t care for the sauce.
Definitely something I can make at home on a whim.
RATING: ³⁄₅
POTATO HASH WITH FRIED EGG
Didn’t look too appealing with that Hollandaise-​goo,
however, everything worked in terms of flavor.
A fried egg is always a good thing.
RATING: ⁴⁄₅
BEVERAGE
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Unlimited mimosas meant we each had 3 and was buzzing hard.
Nice mimosas, didn’t taste «cheap».
RATING: ⁴⁄₅
SERVICE
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Friendly and easy-​going.
Lots of mustaches and beards.
OVERALL
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Definitely liked the brunch-​tapas concept.
Great place to hang out with friends and relax.
There was no sense of urgency here.
Will return.
RECOMMEND their brunch.