Wha?! You didn’t know? DTF CC has BEEN open for 2+ weeks already. Turn in your FTC badge now. 
I totally get that. It just seems extreme to me to suggest cold-cut porchetta could never be more than meh.
Not buying it. You stand in line for food and to pay for your goods either way. Calling shoppers in Eataly “captive” is just hyperbole.
Alas, I am likely not. I had no idea there was another porchetta sando available anywhere.
Extreme, perhaps. But cured porchetta is only so-so at its best. We’re not talking about aged prosciutto or Jamon here.
About captivity, maybe. Perhaps it’s hyperbole, but not by much. I’m willing to bet many shoppers felt as I did: it’s not worth my time and effort to get through the line to pay at Eataly, walk to other mediocre mall eats, only wait in line there OR get through that parking garage to drive to another place. If I go to Eataly during lunchtime, it’s tough to do shopping there and have time to eat elsewhere.
Doable, but dining elsewhere is not the path of least resistance.
Coincides w/ when I moved offices from Century City to Sawtelle. Thread drift, but I tried Matcha (the soft serve place). Good green tea soft serve, strawberry was very meh. Quite respectable QPR, given the enormous serving size.
If you’re not familiar w/ the layout of the mall (not saying you are, but there might be fair number of people at Eatlay who are regulars), it’s actually not an easy place to navigate. And so I agree that people who shop there are also passively encouraged to eat there.
Parking tip:
If you enter from Avenue of the Stars, go straight up to the 4th floor parking level. Do not be distracted by signs, arrows or ramps! Go straight up.
At the top, make a right, and drive all the way to the end (north-east corner).
The elevator is right there and takes you down and deposits you directly in front of the entrance to the Eataly coffee shop.
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Extremely generous tip! Thank you!
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So apparently I got out of the pedantic side of the bed yesterday morning. 
Actually this underscores another problem I have with the argument. It assumes that most diners at Eataly are there to shop. I’d be willing to bet the opposite is true. People may be slaves to hype or whatever, but most are there because they want to try the food, not because they feel compelled by circumstance to do so.
Does anyone know if there’s a way to exit to either Santa Monica Blvd or Century Park West from the 4th floor?
You’re right. I was guilty of overstatement and imprecise language.
Enjoy Eataly!
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We finally made it over there this weekend and even with the warning about the layout, it still threw us off. Drooled over the cheese, salumi and butcher section but not a whole lot more. Got a couple slices of pizza. The tri-colori ingredients were tasty but the bread was ridiculously tough and almost impossible to chew through and I like noshing on jerky!
There is some other neat items in the grocery area but I’m not sure we’ll be rushing back any time soon.
Parking hack if you don’t plan to have lots of packages, we parked at Annenberg for the exhibit and after we were done, we just walked across the street to the mall. After we were done, we walked back to pick up our car. Easy way to avoid the parking lot madness. Parking on weekends at Annenberg is only $1.50 if you visit the museum and get your parking validated.
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Thank you!!!
I went on Sunday night and tried to get into Terra without a reservation at 7:00 p.m. No dice.
Long line for pizza and pasta restaurant, but no problem getting into Il Pesce. Dinner at Il Pesce was actually quite tasty. Nice bottle of Bastianich red, fresh oysters and a whole, head on, bone in Thai Snapper for two. I’m always thrilled when I can get a whole fish, so I was a happy camper. Century City/Beverly Hills/West L.A. is kind of a food desert in my mind, so I still see Eataly as a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Can’t think of anywhere else I can go close by and get a whole fish.
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Lolz
The entirety of West LA? B/c, if so, I would rather strongly disagree…
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Yeah! We have Gjusta, Gjusta, Gjusta.
Is Mexican food ethnic? Because Coni’s (Centinela) does whole fish.
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I dare you to eat one.
I have my own definition of West L.A., which because I detest traffic doesn’t involve going West of the 405. The West LA of my mind extends to Sepulveda. And that I believe, despite my fondness for the fast food Green Olive on Santa Monica and Sepulveda, is a food wasteland.
I actually do mean this literally (and respectfully), but that’s also going to depend on how you define “food wasteland.”
You have Fundamental LA, Poke Me, Yamada-ya (I haven’t been recently, so I have no idea if it’s still good), Fresh Corn Grill (ditto, but it certaily has a lot of business), Pomodoro (ditto), P’tit Soleil (separate from Soleil, which I haven’t been to), Attari, Shaherzad, Shamshiri (which I don’t particularly like, but it has it’s fans), Emporium Thai, Qin West, Sprouts, and Bristol Farms. And that’s just btw Wilshire and SM Blvd.
If you expand just north and just south, you have Tender Greens, Northern Cafe, Pink Orchid Bakery, California Chicken Cafe (yes, it’s a chain, but it’s a really solid chain, IMHO), Ptifire Pizza, Wally’s (for some basic upscale ingredients). Some might include Eduardo’s, Tacos Tu Madre, and Pastina. And that’s still just basically on Westwood Blvd.
If you extend from Century City to Sepulveda, you have Clementine, Tuscon Son (the entrees are meh, but the baked goods are wonderful), The Stalking Horse (which was fine the one time I went, but I don’t yearn to go back), The Six, Westside Tavern, Gyu-Kaku (not my favorite, but one of my friends who recently started eating beef again loves it), Jaipur, Bossa Nova (decent enough chain, IMHO, and the hrs are great).
Add in the stuff that’s already at and coming to the mall, and you have what might be the most wonderful 4 mi square eating radius in the history of mankind. Okay, so I might be exaggerating (just a little bit) for effect, but, IMHO, it’s an embarrassment of riches. But YMMV.
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