Sam B.
Yelp
Wow! This is the rare place that totally lived up to the hype! .The gorgeous, Instagram-worthy food tastes just as good as it looks in the pictures.
Layla specializes in sourdough bagels. They have both open-faced and closed faced bagel sandwiches. The open-faced sandwiches come in whole and half sizes. You can also buy the bagels by themselves. They have gluten free bagel options for those that want to know!
Layla also offers freshly baked pastries, coffee and tea. I noticed that they now have a Layla Salad which sounds delicious. I have it on my list to order next time I want something lite instead of a bagel sandwich.
I got the Lily bagel and the chocolate miso banana bread. The Lily bagel comes in whole or half sizes. I ordered the whole bagel because I was sharing it with other people and sharing a whole bagel is $1 cheaper than ordering 2 halves, so, why not?
The Lily is a beautiful open-faced sandwich. It is vegetarian. It has tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, capers, and herbed cream cheese. The herbed cream cheese was really special. So smooth and melt in your mouth creamy with the added savoriness of the herbs. I also loved the saltiness of the capers, the juciness of the tomatoes, and the crunch of the pickled onions and cucumbers. The dill on top was so refreshing. All the veggies tasted picked off the farm fresh.
You get to choose what kind of bagel you'd like on your sandwich. I chose the plain bagel. They serve it un-toasted unless requested which is how I like my bagels the first day. My dining partner also thought it was very tasty but wished the bagel was a little softer as they found it a bit too chewy. Admittedly, I did have a hard time cutting the half bagel in half to give my friend a taste. But overall, we were extremely satisfied with the gastronomic masterpiece.
The chocolate miso banana bread was also perfection. It is a chocolate chip bread. I thought the addition of miso in this classic banana bread was an unusual and interesting combination. A very gourmet pairing. Miso is healthy but gives the sweet treat a salty kick you can feel good about. Genius! This bread tasted so freshly baked and the sweet and salty chocolate and miso combo was a winner in my book.
Layla is open in the mornings and for lunch (current hours are 7am to 2:30pm). They have lots of individual tables and chairs as well as a communal table in the middle. It's very laid back. You can come here with friends but would also be very comfortable coming alone. I think they have many regulars as one man walking in when I was there was called by name and he declared Layla his "Cheers" (check out the theme song to this 80's TV show and you'll understand).
Layla is located on the main stretch of South Beverly Drive and walking distance from a great many shops and eateries. This is the second location of the very popular bagel shop. The first location is in Santa Monica. There's metered parking nearby and a parking structure across the street by the newsstand.