Babushka is one of those "if you know, you know" places that the Valley always seems to hide to…read morecasual passersby, just waiting to be unearthed. It may just also be my favorite deli in LA for anything vegetable/side dish. As other reviews note, the selection of prepared foods for such a small shop is staggering. I've been coming for three years now, and while I'm guilty of ordering my favorites often, I think I'd have a tough time making my way through all of the foods on offer even if I switched it up on each visit. 4 different types of meatballs (the chicken breast one is to die for), lox, cabbage rolls, at least a half dozen cooked seafood options (shout out fish in tomato sauce), stroganoff, 3-4 different types of couscous and plov....and that's only half of the non veggie section. The cakes are great (Black Forest and walnut go hard). The Russian/Ukranian chip flavors rule. There are specialty candies and jarred foods and good looking fruits and veggies. There's an off menu soup with dill and little chicken meatballs that I'd recommend to anyone ailing in a heartbeat. And then, finally, we arrive at the salads and cold veggies. Nonstop bangers. The beet salad with prunes and garlic may sound wild for non Eastern European tastes, but it's unique and addictive and works. The potato salad Olivier? Best potato salad I've ever had. My wife has recently discovered the zucchini, which looks like a bunch of unassuming diced veggies but tastes savory and complex and herby. You'd be the hero of every picnic or backyard bbq ever grabbing side dishes from here. Seriously. The kind folks who work here will let you sample too, which is helpful when there are so many options. Some places wear their culture on their sleeve, fill your stomach with the love of a home cooked meal, and remind you that diverse communities are the heartbeat of this city. Babushka's is one of them.

Babushka means "Grandma" in Russian in an especially endearing way. Babushka Grandma's Deli…read moreachieves that rare homemade style of handed-down recipes in its well-stocked deli counter of ready-to-eat meals for the whole family. "Grandma's Hands" sums up the comfort many of us associate with Grandma's cooking. The owners and employees are doing a five-star job at forwarding that kind of comfort to the community and customers here. First of all, everything is freaking deliciousness! Admire the always-on-point "People Love Us On Yelp" sign as you arrive. The free parking lot offers nice and ample parking spaces for disabled customers as well as tables upon arrival which can comfortably accommodate wheelchairs. Now don't get me wrong, I love fancy gastronomy featuring tres Nouveau French culinary techniques just like you but I absolutely ADORE borscht, stuffed cabbage and plav equally. (Even more sometimes!) I've been shopping here and picking up takeout here for a long time. My experiences have only been better over the years. The discounts can be incredible and I appreciate sale-priced groceries in today's economy as well as the opportunity to support local and international farms. Sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, low sugar and no sugar added cookies, pastries and cakes, caviar, dried fish, pickled Herring, perfectly ripe berries, smoked fish, halva, cheese spread, jams, and artisan teas, all five stars. But wait. Is it a Russian-American market where I find the most Ukrainian imported groceries and ways to support Ukrainian farming?! Yep! +Heart hands emoji+ This market does a great job of offering a nice seat and friendly conversation to the average dine-in customer. Stop by to sip on an imported pear juice. Try a bite of fresh cream cheese cake with berries. Ask for advice! Go for the Beef Plav which is an employee favorite. The Beef Plav here contains a generous amount of tender, lean beef with carrots, savory buttery rice and whole softly roasted garlic cloves. Yum! (Five stars!) I've found some especially healthy and nutritious food here for my health recovery goals recently. About six years ago, I had been exposed to high levels of radiation according to a good old fashioned Geiger counter. My health began to drastically decline and I became very weak. I could barely stand and I barely survived. I knew about a famous brave Ukrainian woman who had survived radiation exposure thanks to her unborn child. Her survival story led to me requesting female cancer screenings which led to the surgeries that saved my life. (**Confetti flying **) There's a very long list of doctors and people who have helped me survive and recover to whom I live for in gratitude. Our commitment to the people and values which help us survive the impossible compels us to rise to the occasion of coming back stronger and better than we ever could have accomplished before or alone. So I'm drinking bone broth, eating extra protein, taking vitamins. And lifting weights with steadfast determination to recover my strength and then some. (Go Navy!) No market has helped me more in this health effort than this hidden gem. (Many thanks!) I am the customer who buys ALL the boxes of pastilla. (SORRY OTHER CUSTOMERS!) Pastilla is a layered pastry made of baked apples and eggs white, no sugar and nothing else! It's a miracle of a snack! Tastes like apple cake, made of egg whites. Protein in my car after working out? Five million stars. ***** To all y'all spending big bucks on cold bone broth, consider the chilled chicken gelatin dish here. Khoolidets? -It's rich with real collagen, high in protein and perfectly balanced with firm carrots and vegetables.I love this dish! Five stars. A real life look young dish! My personal secret to looking a little younger than my age is recovering from surgeries and serious stuff through nutrition, hard work and most importantly, contributing to my community. Beat the odds. Cimb a mountain. Start a non profit. Save the world. You've got this! And. Yyou're going to look GORGEOUS while you're doing it because you're already beautiful just the way you are. If ever there's a pandemic, a zombie apocalypse, or problem, people will come to each other's aid time and time again. To offer encouragement, advice and help to achieve the impossible. Grandma's Deli Babushka is a good place to be reminded that we're in it together.:) Spaseeeba! I'm on a mission to recover improved again. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who is helping me with this mission! Cheers YELP! :)!

The Turkey Pesto was the best sandwich I've had in a while. I kept meaning to take a picture but it…read morewas too good to stop eating My friend had the Chopped Cheese and really enjoyed it. (She shared a bite, and it was indeed, perfectly done) The shoestring fries were hot and delicious. They even gave me a side of gravy for the fries (a habit picked up from a Canadian friend). Everyone working was energetic, nice, and gave great recommendations. The patio was pleasant and we both left full and very happy. Will be back!

We were so hungry... this is the only picture that survived…read more After hearing so much hype about Uncle Paulie's, we finally decided to give it a try. We ordered The Bodega and the Italian Sub. Both were good, but if I'm being honest, they just didn't live up to the expectations we had going in. The biggest disappointment was the fries... they arrived cold. Maybe we caught them on an off day because I know this place has a loyal following. Based on our visit, though, it just didn't quite live up to the hype. We'd definitely be open to giving them another shot... because every restaurant deserves a second chance. But next time, we're hoping the only thing that's cold is our drink.

Spring and Easter is the time of the year when I feel more homesick for the Old Country, the nature…read morechanges, the big celebrations and the food that you can have only that time of the year. With a simple Google search I found out that Caviar & Delicatessen sells cozonac for Easter, a sweet bread, traditional for Romania. I realized they are close to me and checked them out. Caviar & Delicatessen took over a Russian deli about 1 year ago. Don't know about any caviar here, now it's a Romania Deli with owners from my neck of the woods, they do sell products for the Russian and Armenian community. I called and paid $10 as down payment for a cozonac to place my order with the older owner, who was very nice. Went to pick it up and checked out the store. They sell imported items: jellies, spreads, canned goods, juices, soft drinks from Eastern Europe. A bit pricey, but they are imported, not their fault (yes, tariffs!). They also sell fresh vegetables, fruit, bread. They make desserts and many salads, dips (boeuf salad=Russian salad, hummus, babaganoush, eggplant salads- salata de vinete and zacusca, bean dip), prepared food- roasted potatoes , meatballs in tomato sauce, schnitzel, kebabs, fried fish. They also had drob for Easter. Everything looked fresh and inviting! It was fun to browse and explore the merchandise! Tables outside! My cozonac was big, delicious, well made. It was rich in ingredients: cocoa, walnuts, raisins, great filling! It is a very hard dessert to make, I am not gonna even try. But it was a major treat to buy it ready to go in LA and the quality is outstanding! It's worth the price because they use all the right ingredients! I got painted eggs, well done, the bean dip was terrific, the mititei (our version of kofta) were so good, meat well blended, all the right spices. You get them frozen here, a decent amount, we'll have them a few times. I never made them, but they came well off the grill, tasted like in restaurants in Bucharest. Ready to go back and shop more goodies. 1 star lower because of the service, the girl couldn't find my order, had to step in, helped other ladies ahead of us, even if we were there first! Service was slow, she forgot to take $10 deposit off my final bill. Had to step in. Also, I couldn't charm my way into placing an order for pasca (didn't know they make it) sweet cheese Easter dessert. As a first time customer I couldn't convince the owner's son, he was tad curt. Maybe too much on his plate. Live and learn, note to myself to place orders ahead of time. For non-Eastern Europeans - try their vegetarian dips, they are full of flavor and take home some prepared deli meals. They can spare you from making dinner! It's easy to try, nothing strange here! Glad they are close, high quality food, helped with my homesickness for my Easter time this year!

Great family owned spot with a hot bar of prepared food and great groceries. Tried the Lula,…read morechicken schnitzel, stuffed leaf wrap and vegetable patty.

Stopped in for a quick lunch of the classics: pastrami & Swiss on rye with Russian on the side,…read morepotato salad and a Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray. It was on the early side, so the servers were all embroiled in personal conversations, and it took quite some time for someone to approach me -- but once they did, they took good care of me, checking on me multiple times, and making sure I had everything I needed. Ambiance and decor are unchanged from whenever they built the place, but perfectly clean and well-maintained. While I was initially delivered the entirely wrong order (no harm, no foul), my pastrami sandwich eventually arrived hot and juicy, and decently portioned. The meat was flavorful and just fatty enough to be indulgent without crossing the line into a problem; the rye was sturdy, with good flavor, the Swiss had the right level of bite, and the Russian dressing provided just the right contrast of creaminess. It was a good sandwich. The potato salad was far less successful, tasting commercial and somewhat sour -- not spoiled (I don't want to give that impression), but more acidic than creamy, and therefore less enjoyable to me. Of course, the Dr. Brown's was flawless. In the end, Brent's remains the better deli in the Valley, with all the food a few notches above; but if you're on this side of town, Art's will treat you well, so you might as well...

Service = 5 Food = 3…read morePrices = 0 Outrageous to charge $35 for 2 lbs. of watery coleslaw soaked in sugar that is worse than what you get at Ralph's. (The photo shows one of the containers for $16.15, less than a pound!) The bill for two people at lunch: two sandwiches (one incl fries), coleslaw, tap water, and the worst halvah I've ever had. Over $200! It's no wonder the place was like a graveyard. Great service is not enough for me to ever go back. You can get much better REAL deli food at Brent's in Northridge. Our bill there would've been $120. And a better environment, too, with actual parking.

This is my second time dining w/ Ggiata, 1st time at this location. There's limited indoor and…read morelimited outdoor seating but we came by on a weekday for lunch and were lucky enough to snag an indoor spot. You order inside at the counter and it seemed like most people come here for takeout, there is back patio available outdoor seating. We waited in the back though for about 25 mins for our sandwich and salad which when I went inside to inquire about, even the cashier thought was odd so maybe this was just a weird fluke? The Eggplant Parm 5/5 OMG latest obsession !! Beautifully toasted bread plus well fried but not overdone spicy eggplant, melts in your mouth

After waiting 20 minutes it was clear something was wrong, cuz it wasn't overly busy. Apparently…read morethey lost my walk-in order. So they rushed to make it and boy did it suck, got the chicken Caesar wrap and the majority of the wrap was croutons, in fact the croutons were larger than any single piece of chicken inside and outnumbered them 2:1, it seemed like a joke. Honestly I should have taken my tip right back out of their jar, don't know why they ask for a tip if they don't offer any additional service besides handing a bag over. I think worst of all, the young lady at the cash register offered NOTHING to make it right.

After seeing the social media post about their meatball subs, I had myself a mission!…read more First impressions: The place is extremely clean, both inside and out. Almost like a brand new car. It's got a seriously cool vibe to the place; almost a mix of Mel's Diner nostalgia, but the ambience of an independent comic book shop that has all the cool toys. They carry a seriously good swath of international snacks and beverages that you will not find many other places. And the only thing that would make it better is if they had a counter you could sit at and enjoy your meal. First attempt pulled up lame when I was told they were out of meatballs and wouldn't have any for at least three days. Crushed. I had my heart set on the meatball so I didn't order anything else on the left.. Second attempt turned out much better because they had the meatballs!! I ordered it up and was told it'd be :20 (and came within :10) so I sat at the couple of tables just outside the front door. I was planning on eating the sandwich there, but it was way too hot outside so I took it to go. Driving home and not looking inside to see what it looked like. Because the sandwich wasn't as heavy as I expected when it was handed to me, I suspected the social media video was a bit overblown on portion size, so I was excited to get home and see. The first thing I noticed was that the sandwich was a pretty good size, and just tantalizingly presented, and cooked with some great browning. I picked it up and tried to take a bite, but the meatball was bigger than I could get my mouth open! However, I persisted and that's when I found out that the ride home caused the bottom of the bun to get a little soggy, and everything started squirting out through the bottom, so I made the sad decision to try to eat it with a fork and knife (which really is the saddest way to eat a good sub). However #2, the second half of the sandwich did not suffer the same fate, so I was able to pick that up and that section of the sandwich the way it was meant to be enjoyed. All-in-all, the sandwich pretty much lived up to expectations. Visually appealing, large portions, tasty, but fairly tame flavor. Textures were great. Not as messy as I expected, but just enough to give you extra licks on your fingers. Also, it didn't sit in my gut the way I thought it would, especially considering I've been fasting all day for medical test (and this was my reward). I was full and content, but not stuffed.

Solid peanut butter and jelly sandwich this most recent time that I went! Not cheap...but very…read moretasty! I liked the big fresh chunk of toasted bread. As usual, I got a "Dads Diet Root Beer." Service was super friendly and the ambiance was fun and chaotic! Like a real NY corner store!

My late night comfort spot and the one I pass by a lot…read more Big fan of all the vegan friendly options Fat Sal's offers and the service is top notch in person. It's on the smaller side compared to most other locations and I've been to the ones in Encino, Glendale and Hollywood. Impossible Double SmashBurger, Fat Falafel Sandwich, and Plant Based Buffalo Fries are stellar, well made and thoughtful. A good variety of comfort food including Fat Sides, Fat Fries, Salads, Wraps, and all the things they're known for. You can "Make it a combo!" Which includes a large fry as well as a large drink for $6.99 (Sandwiches and Burgers). Cool art, neon lights, merch, music and restrooms for customers. Underground parking (90 minutes free with validation), local metered street parking or some limited side street residential parking on the opposite side. Inside or outside dining, but the inside has AC ;) Located on the corner of Ventura Blvd and Laurelgrove Avenue.

Read the other reviews for food. Mine will solely be for info I wish businesses were upfront about…read more This is my fight against hidden restaurant fee-flation and for price transparency. price as of 7/30/26 Extra service charges or fees (other than tax and tip): N/A Tip lowest default: digital, 15% Allows bill split/itemize: N/A Fee transparency/fairness score: 5/5

BEST SANDWICH SHOP IN THE VALLEY and I'll fight someone about it. Real, authentic Italian meats…read morepaired with soft doughy bread and the perfect amount of oil& vinegar. Since randomly stumbling across this hole in the wall a couple months ago I have been back multiple times. My fav is the imported prosciutto sandwich, I can't get enough of it.!!!!! The people here are very kind and always take care of us well. The sandwiches are just so perfect exactly what u would think of when u imagine a classic Italian sandwich. Most of all I appreciate their authenticity among a sea of franchised sandwich shops.

I was hungry for something I could cleanly take out for lunch and Roma Deli came up with a high…read morerating. Parking is somewhat limited for the lot in the side and street parking in front. Inside is large, seating 50+ people. Plenty of staff behind the counter to help ordering and preparing food. I looked over the menu and ultimate decided on the large size Italian Combo sandwich, rather than the recommended Fancy Italian Combo ((which has different proteins and a special roll). I was quite happy with it, certainly substantial in size, good flavor from multiple meats, lots of shredded lettuce. I even dipped it in the residual juices from the side tomato-cucumber salad and loved that too! The sandwich can be made into a combo that comes with 2 sides and a fountain drink. Here I found that the quality was not as good as the sandwich. The tomato-cucumber salad was the right amount of oil/vinegar, the fruit and vegetable were fresh, very solid option. The pesto on pasta shells was underwhelming. I do like me some pesto, but here it was more for visual and aroma than taste. I would try other sides before getting this one again. Lastly, the taste of their Diet Coke was odd. I thought they had given me half and half with regular coke, so I asked for them to pour me a new one, and it ended up tasting the same ‍ Given the variable quality of sides and drinks, I think I would come back primarily for the entree items, and probably evaluate my other preferred sandwich the Meatball.

Hank's Bagel absolutely delivered this morning. We stopped in when it was not busy, and our order…read morecame out in about two minutes. My youngest said it felt like bagel magic. I grabbed an onion bialy with cream cheese, and I am still thinking about it hours later. The flavor was unreal. It tasted like the best part of French onion soup, just without the soup. Rich, savory, and perfect with the cream cheese. Blissful is the only word that fits. My youngest went with an everything bagel, plain, and she lit up after the first bite. Soft, squishy, exactly how she likes it. She looked at me and said, "Dad, how come you haven't brought me here before?" I told her that sometimes, for great things, you have to wait in life. We also grabbed the nectar of the gods (Diet Coke) and an apple juice. Everything was packaged neatly, easy to grab and go, and the whole experience felt effortless and the people there are wicked nice! Hank's is officially in our rotation now.

The bagels from this place are amazing. The toppings are always fresh... If they make it onto your…read morebagel. Out of the five times I have picked up bagels here (ordered online and in person), only two have been correct. Three times I have brought home my orders open them up to find a missing topping. Today it was cream cheese. Last time it was avocado (a pricey loss). The people putting together the bagels need to be more conscientious about what they're doing and double-checking their accuracy. Also, the manager should be checking the order before it goes out. This is happening far too frequently for a To-Go food shop.

The Chef makes some of the best if not THEE best breakfast burritos especially the Sausage…read moreBreakfast Burrito and best believe they hit the spot every time. 10/10 I'd definitely recommend for people that are in a rush or not and need something quick and filling for breakfast.

This place is a hidden gem and I was super delighted to have found it…read more The sandwiches are cooked to perfection packed with flavor and finesse. They even have frozen yogurt and slushees. I cant wait to come back with my 7yo for yogurt and slushees.