Fabulous Fab’s

You know that feeling when you’ve lost something precious and no matter how hard you’ve looked, you just can’t find it anywhere? Then one day, perhaps even years later, you find it again? 

That’s exactly what happened with me and Fab’s restaurant in Sherman Oaks. It was a cheap but delicious Italian restaurant that was my go-to place for take-out. No sport would go unwatched without Fab’s. Laker games? Check. Yankee playoffs? Check. 

Then one day around a year and a half ago they said they were closing for renovations; just through the summer. Well the summer came and went. Then fall, winter and spring. Before I knew it, more than a year had transpired. I called them frantically trying to figure out when they were going to re-open but their phone just rang and rang. When I drove by a couple of months ago, it was boarded up and I sadly realized I would never again watch Kobe while eating my chopped salad. 

Then the unthinkable happened. Two weeks ago my phone rang. It was my husband screaming with excitement through the phone-Fab’s was re-opening their doors next week! The bonus? They were having a “family/training night” so we could come to eat-for free! My heart sailed and I nearly wept.

When we arrived on Friday night, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, we were shocked when we walked through the door. The room was a moody red with high, roomy booths, a wine cellar and a slick bar. Now remember, I said we used Fab’s for take-out. The reason: Fab’s had no atmosphere. It was a white room with pink and blue booths-the kind you might see if Woolworths had a café.

Unfortunately, because we arrived toward the end, all of the seafood was gone. However, I ordered the Italian chopped salad and was not disappointed. It was exactly the same as I remembered: mixed greens with garbanzo and kidney beans, pepperoncini’s and black olives all topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese. The dressing was their garlicky Italian house. Simple yet delicious.

Next we ordered the ricotta filled ravioli with marinara. Pretty standard but very good nonetheless.

And finally, we ordered a pizza. This is probably one of the best pizza’s I’ve had here in L.A. It was sautéed spinach and mushrooms topped with mozzarella cheese along with dollops of creamy ricotta. The crust was thin and crispy and the pizza seemed to be brushed with garlic. Heaven.

They were only serving a house Chianti and chardonnay so I opted for the former. It was very light and blended well with the meal. But as I said, they now have a full bar.

We ordered cannoli for dessert but once again, they had run out. The prices seem to have jumped a bit (they still gave you a check so you could tip which we did heavily because our service was excellent.) It’s not surprising considering the posh new interior.

They still have their take-out window behind the restaurant. We ordered last Friday night (yep, another Yankee game). The only downer: my chopped salad and pizza came to thirty dollars; easily ten more dollars than before.

What can I say? You take the good with the bad. The Lakers lost the playoffs, the Yankees won’t make the playoffs, but the one thing we’ve still got is Fab’s.