Simplethings

I enjoy the simple things in life. I like minimalism, live a modest lifestyle, and am impressed with simple and small efforts. Seems like a restaurant named Simple Things would be right up my alley, right? That’s certainly what I thought when I added Simple Things to the list of places I want to try. I was finally able to find out for myself…
Simple Things is located on the busy Riverside Blvd strip right next to the Toluca Lake neighborhood in Burbank. I was very pleased to walk into a space that resembles an art gallery with large windows, high ceilings, lots of white-​washed surfaces, and modern furniture. This is then met with a rustic-​feel with a sort of farmhouse esthetic with wood beams, antique pieces (old typewriter and dough rollers, for example). The two styles co-​mingle perfectly and create a lovely and comfortable space.
Tables at Simple Things are covered by brown butcher paper and small containers of crayons beg you to doodle, play ‘Hang Man’ or sign your name. It’s entertaining for both young and old patrons. But slow down, buddy! You have to order first! Simple Things is a café-​style eatery where you take a look at a menu and order at the counter, find a seat, and then the food is delivered to your table. Simple Things offers sandwiches, salads, soups, sides, and half-​half or create-​your-​own-​plate options. The food is simple, yet farm-​to-​table in essence with a healthy but creative kick.
Having never been to Simple Things before, we had some questions for the female on duty who was very pleasant, kind, and knowledgeable. Unfortunately, I forget her name even though I made it a point to ask.
I ordered the ½ sandwich and ½ salad combo ($ 12.75) with a Portabella & Avocado sandwich (hickory roasted portabella, avocado, roma tomato, butter lettuce, veganaise on a michetti roll) with a Harvest Veggie Salad (kale, angular, baby carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, dried cherries, Parmesan cheese with balsamic — comes with pecans but no pecans for me). My beau created a plate ($ 12.50) with skirt steak, butter leaf salad, and cous cous.
The food didn’t take too long to arrive but when it did… we already exchanged looks of hesitation between the two of us. Presentation was sorely lacking. His salad had brown lettuce (lots of it… not just a few pieces), his steak was TINY and shriveled, and his cous cous was literally just cous cous looking like a bowl of blank pasta. My plate looked a little bit better but the salad was overly chopped which I was not expecting. Okay, it’s called Simple Things so maybe that doesn’t matter and the flavor will make up for it.
Nope! My salad was half hot and half cold as though some ingredients were straight from the fridge and others weren’t but it contrasted way too much. Aside from that, it was flavorless and barely had any dressing at all. It was dry as the California heat outside. My sandwich was equally terrible being cold (I don’t think roasted portabella is supposed to be cold…) with no flavor and was about as good as a sandwich a kid makes at home. His steak was okay but just that… okay. His salad was also bland and his cous cous tasted like I described visually: just pasta.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t go on. We had spent about $ 40 and this was not even worth a quarter of that. We decided to mention to the staff that we are quite displeased and do not like our food. The female from earlier was super nice and offered to comp it and let us order something else but it isn’t that only one of us didn’t like the food: neither of us did so we figured another dish wouldn’t make a difference. The menu itself here is just not good. So we decided to be comped and eat elsewhere even though we were starving. The girl was very polite, apologetic, and made sure our card would be reversed in the charge.
So, that’s the story of how my love for simple things failed me. Normally, I would give this place 2-​stars based on the poor food and the fact that we had to leave and go elsewhere but I upped it to 3 because of how much I like the design of the eatery and how pleasant the staff was. Other than that, don’t go here if expecting great food. Simple Things will simply let you down.

Best egg salad sandwich I’ve ever eaten. Adorable ambiance, delightful staff. Plus, crayons.

first, i waited alot after i ordered my order. i had gotten the plate of caesar salad with chicken and brussels sprouts. i loved it all expect the chicken. the chicken wasnt cooked good, i had to throw it away. please cook it good, we dont want to get sick because of this.

I’ve only been here once but had heard how popular of a place this is. Had the ‘create your plate’ with the skirt steak, caesar salad, and a side of mac and cheese. It was a little more than I would like to pay for a meal like this at $ 15, but oh well. The steak was cooked deliciously, however it was kind of small. In fact, all of the portions were fairly small for my liking. I finished the entire meal in one sitting. Salad and mac and cheese was good as well.
This location is small so it can be kind of hard to find seating but otherwise it’s all good. The food also takes a little while to come out.

Cute little brunch spot. Very hipster. Bread is delicious but besides that the food is just okay.
We had the Brussel sprouts, Mac and cheese and the thanksgiving sandwich. All were just okay. A bit under seasoned. The Spicy tater tots were pretty good although how can you really mess that up? I would probably only return since there’s not many good brunch spots in the area.
I did however like that they serve alcohol! lol servers are very nice as well.

Was so excited when this place opened up last year but since my first amazing lunch i have yet to have as good of a dining experience at this place.
I went back today after promising i would never go back and I was right, there is no reason to go back. The food is bland and the portions just get smaller and smaller. On top of it there was a piece of pasta and a lonely piece of chicken in my cous cous (not in the recipe/​vegetarian).
Just a bummer because the place is really cute.

YOU will NEVER get rid of me!
Your catering for my daughter’s first birthday party was sooooooo darn GOOD! Everyone raved over the food. There were grade school kids asking for more Brussels sprouts! And the sandwiches were devoured. The fried chicken biscuits made me tear they were so good. It was hands down the best decision I made to hire you. Thank you for showing up on time and setting up everything so nicely. I got asked so many times «where is this food from?!! It’s great!»
Consider my your #1 fan.
Now please add «catering» to your Unilocal categories so everyone can find you easier. You need to cater ALL the parties! :)

This place is charming. It’s great to take your little one, and the food is tasty. We ordered the Cubano, the Bbq Porker, and the Thanksgiving type Sandwich. The BBQ porker was our favorite, followed by the Cubano. The Thanksgiving one was a bit bland, especially compared to other restaurants that serve the same one.
As for the pies, my wife loved the special Chocolate Chip one, while I enjoyed the Choc PB one. It was rich, but delicious.
We’d definitely go back!

Stopped by for lunch and I got the albacore tuna salad, my friend got the BLT. My salad was just too weird. Perhaps it was because I never had any of those veggies in my salad but I tried every single one of them: they just weren’t tasty together. My friend’s BLT was very good but I was very disappointed with the salad. We ordered a few of their cute miniature pies and that made up for the salad experience.

For the last 12 months, I’ve been an Office Assistant for a Burbank company.
One of my responsibilities is to order and pick up lunch orders for 10 – 15 people every day. After picking up from almost every restaurant in Burbank, I can easily say that Simplethings has the best customer service. Hands down.
Not only is the food great, but each and every employee seems to care about your experience in their restaurant.
After I paid for my order, one of the employees went through every meal to make sure I got what I needed. And on top of that, an employee chased me down the sidewalk after I left because a side of tater tots had been overlooked.
They had my back and made sure I was taken care of. This restaurant truly cares about you and I’ll definitely be coming back again.
Austin

I was expecting good things after a friend recommended Simplethings to me. Alas, I was left mildly disappointed after my visit.
After navigating torrential Los Angelean rainfall on my journey there, I found a parking spot on an adjacent street and whilst hopping between puddles, opened the door and went inside.
Observing the décor, I was greeted with what struck me as the schizophrenic love child of a post-​war bakery and an Apple Store. It was not bad at all… Just confused. Or maybe that’s what the cool kids call fusion?
After perusing the menu, I chose and ordered. From my point of ordering, to paying, to selecting a seat, to having the food arrive, I found the service a little hesitant and confused. It wasn’t bad. It just lacked authority and confidence.
And the food? It looked great but tasted bland. It wasn’t terrible. It just wasn’t really good.

Simplethings has moved up the starway since my initial review. I have been pretty impressed with the sandwiches I ordered, especially the turkey dinner one. I find myself thinking about it again and again.
Service has also improved. It also only took about 5 minutes before they handed me my order which is a drastic improvement from the first time.
Still not excited about their pies. I had a mini one at a work function and it was mediocre at best. I’ll certainly come back for sandwiches as the price is more economical than Olive & Thyme.

Son of a.
A) Pretzel buns
B) BANOFFEE PIE WHAT THE HECK
I did ½ sandwich soup combo with the sweet potato sandwich and seasonal butternut squash soup. The sandwich was so flavorful and it felt fairly healthy barring the enormous pretzel bun it came on (which was delicious). The soup was tasty and fresh.
THE PIES OH MY GOD THE PIES. We tried several flavors: key lime, french silk, coconut cream, salted caramel and the mother of all pies, banana toffee. MY GOD BANOFFEE WHAT A PIE. The salted caramel was a close second, so rich and amazing. I’m glad they make mini pies because I would’ve cleared a whole pie by myself they are that good.
I’m afraid to know that this place exists and is right down the street from me. I will be back with my eating pants on.

I love the people here and the food — I’ve had some of their sandwiches, salads, sides, and desserts, and everything has been absolutely delicious. It seems like they use very high-​quality fresh ingredients for everything, so all their food is very flavorful and filling. Their Cuban is probably my favorite sandwich of theirs — such an interesting, rich, great touch that they use roasted pulled pork in it. And their grilled cheese — totally perfectly melty cheese on squishy pretzel bread — is a very close second.
But please note that if you place an order online for pick-​up or delivery, use GrubHub, Eat24, etc. — just use ANYTHING EXCEPT ChowNow which is linked to from the Simplethings website. The way ChowNow works is that after you place an order, you get a confirmation email that you placed the order, but then you must wait for a SECOND email from them which confirms your pick-​up time. So, after placing my order at 11:00am the other day, noting that I wanted to pick it up at 12:00pm, ChowNow did not send me a pickup time confirmation email until 11:45am, which said my pickup time would be 12:45pm! I’m not sure how it takes ChowNow 45 minutes just to tell me that my order will be nearly an hour late, nor how a full hour notice isn’t enough time to process my order and prepare a few items, but my workday is way too busy with way too tight of a lunch window for me to deal with ChowNow ever again.

I came here for the first time on the day of my College Graduation. I was starving and it was cold and I was craving grilled cheese and tomato soup with everything I had, so we went to Simplethings.
They have a specific combo where you can order a grilled cheese and tomato soup, and I believe it is called «the rainy day» combo. It is a lovely mix of cheeses served on a salted pretzel bun with a cup of delicious tomato soup. Together, they are magical.
I love that when you order a hot coffee, you get your own little coffee set– so fancy.
I would love to come back again. I like that it isn’t super pretentious with outlandish combinations. Just classics done right.

I came here with a friend for brunch since Olive and Thyme was closed on a Sunday… what kind of a brunch place closes on Sundays…
Anyways my friend said to come here because it was the only thing open in the area. I agreed to it as it looked like a decent place. It was pretty empty when we got here.
I ordered the french toast with a side of sausage and lemonade. I was pretty disappointed on the food, it was pretty mediocre. The sausage was definitely better than the french toast. The lemonade was refreshing and came in a cute mason jar.
Unfortunately this will not be making my to go to brunch places.

I am obsessed with their mini pies, they are just too good!
The $ 3 pricetag for two bites is steep, I will get the bigger size for $ 6 next time, it seems like a much better value.
Service was fantastic, the store simple but cute.
I went with the chocolate peanut butter and it was super tasty and I don’t even usually like pie, perfect with a latte, this was a great afternoon treat!

Everyone is so personable here! I love the people and I love the food!
And kudos to my server Sirena. She was so patient and attentive to my semi-​complicated order.
I highly recommend this spot! My favorite are the cold pies, more specifically the coconut cream! Yum!

My boyfriend works nearby, so I joined him and a friend for lunch here today. The staff is super nice, and, honestly, you guys had me at mini-​buckets of crayons and butcher paper: P
I ordered the tomato red quinoa, spicy tater tots, and a mini key lime pie. I ended up not liking the quinoa, mainly because it had lots of onion (which I can’t eat) — that’s on me. Next time, I’ll go with my gut and get the steak lager pie, which his friend ordered — it looked so good! And I was a bit sad. But not for long, because I had tater tots and pie! (I’m five years old on the inside, it seems…) I mean, yum! The tots came with two delicious sauces. I also tried my guy’s Thanksgiving turkey sandwich, and it was quite tasty :)
Oh, and that mini key lime pie — adorable AND delicious!
It was a lovely little place for a nice lunch, and I will be back soon! (Hopefully not next to a table blasting dubstep Taylor Swift — that was just strange. Hehe!)

Simplethings. Let’s keep it simple.
Décor was very cute. Tables had brown sheets on them with crayons, yes crayons, to draw while you wait! Employees were very nice too, inviting and warm place.
Cubano sandwich, Fried Chix sandwich, tomato soup and chicken salad (I think). Damn the food was good. The chicken sandwich was on the smaller side but was very tasty. The Cubano on the other hand, stacked with meat. Damn that sandwich was good. The soup was standard but thick, very good.
Like the name, the place is very simple. It excels in what it does and that’s making your stomach happy.