It’s ketchup at a burger and fries restaurant. What are we doing here?
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Talking about Sqirl.
You two seemed to be vying for the purposeful misreading crown. Maybe time to spin this off into ketchup: threat or menace?
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Just responding to whether I would want a restaurant I patronize to carry ketchup, which you or someone else raised. The unabashedlly contemptuous of American corporate culture answer for me is no. I postulate that ketchup wouldn’t exist but for American corporate culture because it is cloyingly sweet junk without culinary merit.
And it’s dressed with geranium vinegar. 
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More dish ratings:
Green salad: 4/5. Simple but good
Chicken: 3/5. Chicken is hard. The only chicken I recommend is Citrin or Majordomo.
“Spinach”: 4/5. Tasty.
Aligot. 4/5. Tasty. Healthier / less tasty than really good aligot.
A lesson in not judging a restaurant on one visit.
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Maybe a little lower than @PeonyWarrior and @mzonelli, after two visits I like but don’t love Sqirl dinner.
Highlights were tartare, agnolotti, asparagus, its sauce almost a thai curry. The fish is also quite elegant. All memorable and would return for.
Squimps were a bit simple and missing a layer of flavor, perhaps an herb or spice, of the best here. Steak was solid if quotidian. Pork was a miss - dry though the sikil pak interesting. I’m generally agnostic about these fancy taquear plates and can’t think of any I like outside Ray Garcia. They often misunderstand what’s fun about making your own taco. The cabbage - had twice - is wildy oversalted, no one at my table was able to finish either time. The only truly bad dish.
Would I go back? I ask myself after every new, chef-y restaurant. Probably, though I wouldn’t rush. I’m curious if LA will pay for this food at this location. They’ve attended to the ancillary details (even blankets), but it’s still a $125-$150pp meal on a cold sidewalk.
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Oooh we didn’t try the cabbage but we had a good time with the pork. I really enjoyed dinner but am not rushing back until a menu change/seasonal updates. It’s slightly too much dough to be a regular spot for me
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Not Sqirl-specific, but I seriously just can’t w/ these prices anymore. 
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I give Sqirl extra points for having interesting and healthy food. I find the menu very appealing. I probably overrated the food on the first visit or we got lucky and ordered all their best dishes. The second visit was only “good neighborhood restaurant” level. Still good enough for us to go back.
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didn’t love it.
- beef tartare was so salty i couldn’t finish it. odd they describe the chips as “thick-cut”, at best they’re regular cut.
- i didn’t think a salad could be salty, i was wrong. also didn’t finish.
- agnolotti was thick and doughy
- the only thing edible from the “half chicken” was the thigh. the breast was absolutely hammered, hard, dry and inedible. i couldn’t tell you about the leg because it was missing, are they sourcing legless chickens?
highlights
- sqimps were excellent, perfectly cooked and flavorful with a hint of smoke
- sticky toffee madeleines were delicious, thin crisp exterior and gooey center
- crème caramel good
jidori chicken liver layered with compound celery butter, membrillo gastrique, & schmaltz grilled tehachapi grain country
classic beef tartare with non-classic green blueberry capers, smoked tonato, thick-cut chips
sqimps - pacific coast squid filled with shrimp chorizo, lacquered in aminos, grilled over bincho, served with a california saffron aioli & nixtamalized fennel
house caesar - a perfect crunchy green caesar, croissant croutons, bread crumbs, aged parmesan, and fresh cracked pepper
agnolotti - beet striped agnolotti brimming with a smoked beet filling, sitting in a ricotta whey butter sauce and finished with delicate sprigs of dill
asparagus, charred nori oil, coconut milk, fermented jalapeño, makrut lime leaf, pickled shallot leaves
koji cured jidori half chicken, bagna cauda, braised swiss chard panzanella, charred lemon
sticky toffee madeleines with a blood orange butterscotch & seville marmalade crème fraîche ice cream
vanilla bean crème caramel with toasted bay leaf ice cream
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No sending things back? Double salty would rub me the wrong way lol
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We really liked the pork, the sqimps, the ceaesa, jimmy nardello jam and butter w/ toast, creme caramel with toasted bay leaf ice cream
We didnt like seating either outside (without heaters) or inside, with noses inches from a wall, a thin reed of a “table,” and very hard stools (not the kind that are helped with a laxative).
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i can see that sidewalk being a problem in the summer. the tables face directly west and you’ll be in direct sun until about an hour before sunset.
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There’s a Hannah Goldfield positive New Yorker feature/review of Sqirl and Koslow. I think it’s well written as the description reminds me why I’m not that interested in going. “The evening menu veers more formal and European …but it’s threaded with sly references to the greatest hits of daytime…” The kinds of LA food I’m most interested in is not usually European.
The review/feature seemed mostly warmed over information. Does Goldfield live in LA?
She does live in LA
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you’re missing out! To me the menu feels very LA
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Dinner menu: