LA Times restaurant review: "The tall door of the rustic Mediterranean restaurant opens, closes, opens -- on a roar of sound inside, much of it generated by the folks at the two tall communal tables docked at the bar. Laughter wafts up to the funky chandelier, an old pot rack dangling bare filament lightbulbs. Silverware clatters. Hands hoist glasses of wine. The party at Gjelina, is impromptu and ongoing. The tables are a wonderful mess of plates. This is a place where everything is meant to be shared."

A bit pretentious, but the food was good and the people watching even better.