I’ve been experiencing a lot of firsts when it comes to eating out these days and my dinner date to the Cara Hotel restaurant was one for the books.
Cara Hotel is a Mediterranean escape in Los Angeles that definitely makes you forget where you are. The pictures are great online, but in person it really does and gives what it’s supposed to. That said let’s get into the details of the Cara Hotel.
Entrance & Arrival to Cara Hotel
Located in what’s considered Los Feliz, just down Western Ave., and across Hollywood Blvd is a little bit of paradise tucked away behind hedges and off white exterior. If you need a vacation, but can’t go far, take a trip to the Cara Hotel and you will get that bit of vacay inspiration you need. I don’t usually valet at all, but listen hot weather and any kind of heel or walk is not the move; valet was great, affordable in my opinion at $14, I was expecting way more honestly, but not complaining. Super attentive, super friendly, instead of wasting paper and tearing off tickets, which I also fully expected, they text you and you just text them when you’re ready for your car. So easy, so friendly.
The stairs that lead to the entrance of the hotel are beautiful, just grand and wide enough for a photo moment, but not doing too much considering location. The imperfect concrete was beautiful, the stairs aren’t steep and they are great no matter what type of shoe you’re wearing.
Cocktails
Cara Hotel like most restaurants and establishments, has their cocktails that make them who they are, but since I’m on a Lemon Drop tour, I decided to keep it going while there. The stemware that they use is gorgeous, gives a bit of a vintage vibe, not your traditional martini glass, but I loved it. The presentation and the way it was brought out is also something I noticed.
At Cara Hotel they bring your drink on these square wooden trays and it’s nice and elegant and honestly takes up less space when serving and trying to put drinks down. The only downfall and this is with any Lemon Drop the beautiful sand like sugar around the rim makes it way down as the glass “sweats” and it gets pretty sticky.
I also made sure to order us a sparkling water while there because though still was just fine, the sparkling water was a vibe; I’m grateful I have friends that enjoy sparkling water as much as I do. My girlfriends that I was with had Espresso Martini’s and a drink called the Butterfly. Definitely very well made and just really an experience.
Dinner and Menu at Cara Hotel
I went to Cara Hotel for dinner, but definitely plan to go back for brunch. The menu is well rounded; everything from pasta, to steak, burgers literally a bit of everything, sides and dessert included. If you’re considering bringing your partner/husband/boyfriend he will definitely find something on the menu. I can be easy to assume a lot of these really curated places don’t have good menus or seem more feminine, but plenty of guys came through with their girls/friends and had something as well.
For dinner myself and a girlfriend had the Lemon Fettucini, which we both agreed could use more lemon or a lemon zest to spice it up some. Black pepper for sure helped, which speaking of that, instead of using salt and pepper shakers the pepper (and I would assume salt) is in these little tiny self serving bowls. Not shareable in the least, but I’d rather have the little bowl than salt and pepper shakers taking up space on the tables. Our other girlfriend had salmon which she definitely raved about. Can’t go wrong with salmon right?
I will say as much as I loved dinner, I’m looking forward to going back for brunch. Great for a day date or dinner date, you absolutely will not be disappointed.
Service
The service was great and definitely matched the level and quality of everything else. In a recent reel I made from a visit to Catch LA, I said something along the lines of “we were all treated the same” and I would say the same for Cara Hotel as well. Places, ALL places, but especially establishments like such that are high on people’s list, I appreciate feeling like I’m welcome regardless.
Along with that, our server never rushed us out, I don’t know if they have limits on dining, but we literally outstayed everyone in our section. People came before and after us and left before us, so I appreciate the love and time that we had. It was very well received.
Ambiance and Vibe at Cara Hotel
The moment you step out of your car for valet, the stairs to the Cara Hotel are right there. We didn’t sit poolside and even then it’s still so gorgeous. We were actually right on the street side, my back was to the valet; there were tall hedges and a fence because outside of a few engines revving, it wasn’t loud at all. They had soft music playing, trendy music, just loud enough to hear.
We had reservations for 7:00 and stayed until like 11:00 which is totally uncommon in the current dining out era, but I’d like to thank my girl Jacklyn Sweet for that. Make sure you follow her because she is the reason I went. All in all, the Cara Hotel has got the vibes, it’s insta-worthy & the food is good. As far price definitely on the $$-$$$ range. For 3 people we spent just over $200, without tip. We each had an entree and two rounds of drinks. If you’re going to go, do it and do it up, don’t try to nickel and dime. I would definitely recommend. I can’t wait to go back for brunch; it seems like that is where all the fun and champagne is.
*Check out the interactive-vibe below & help us welcome our guest feature writer, Jazmyn Anderson:
