Craig’s

If a stylish crowd sprinkled with celebs, capable food and a good bar scene with a kind of sophisticated club atmosphere sounds good; you should head over to Craig’s on Melrose. Craig Susser, the former manager of Dan Tana’s, has opened a conspicuously similar restaurant called simply Craig’s.

After 23 years it was time to open his own place and with investors like producer Jerry Weintraub, billionaire Gary Winnick and actor Ryanne Phillipe his goal of creating a new “clubby chic” restaurant, bearing his name, has been realized. Naturally there’s some back channel drama as 75-year-old Dan Tana is reportedly less than thrilled at his defection which apparently was the result of Susser’s dissatisfaction with Dan Tana selling his restaurant to a third party. The war’s on eh?

Drama aside, Craig’s has a similar feel to Dan Tana’s but more modern and roomy. The main room seems to afford both privacy and self-display. Nice. The bar is filled with a stylish crew, has plenty of room and is visible from the dinning section. It’s not about the food; it’s about the hang. Curved teal colored booths, brick walls and a mahogany bar in a darkly lit room with a smattering of celeb’s and a bit of NY city vibe: it feels like a place you could come back to again and again.

The food’s good enough: Steaks, Veal Chop’s, Caesar Salad, Fettuccine Alfredo, Linguine with Clams, Fried Chicken and Bananas Foster over Waffles (Whoa there!). Craig’s won’t be winning any awards for “Healthy” eating but who cares? That stuff’s no fun right? Don’t worry their there’s a nice Salmon and a Chicken Paillard for those who are boring health conscious. Truthfully Craig’s reminds me of places I frequented growing up in NY. There always seemed to be a happening crowd at the bar and a sense that this was a regular spot for some. Anyway, cheers to Susser for trying to bring LA a place with some personality and bit of 212.

Craig’s

8826 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 276-1900

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.