Rate-A-Restaurant, #113 in a series

Pic: beverlyhillspeople.com

Restaurant: Cube

Location: 615 N La Brea Ave (Melrose/La Brea district)

Type of restaurant: Italian (cheese, pasta)

We stipulated: Looking for a new but closeby spot for a business lunch, it was time to try Cube. I was originally looking to find a quick spot without table service to grab a bite -- but was too curious about Cube to pass it up. And I'm glad we didn't: Having told the waitress of our time constraints, the whole lunch lasted just 45 minutes.


Pic: la.com

They stipulated: You oughta have a soft spot for cheese. Once the home to Divine Pasta Co., the spot recently morphed into Cube. The owner's the same, and Divine Pasta pasta is still available. But Cube's key focus is its extensive cheese bar. (Oh, and BYOB -- there's no liquor license yet at Cube.)

What we ordered: Bruschetta ($4.95); Chicken Panino ($8.95); Gnocchi/garlic pesto ($9.95); limonata ($2.00)

High point: The chicken panino was quite delicious -- and large enough to save half for an afternoon snack. The waitress also gave us a sample of their cheese of the day -- a sharp, 8 month aged cheddar that was nice, particularly for someone like me (I'm not a big cheese fan).

Low point: The bruschetta was terribly disappointing -- there was nothing special about the bread or even the tomatoes.

Overall impression: I was pleasantly surprised by the space, which is nicely designed and a step up from the old Divine Pasta place. I'm not sure why the sign out front lists Divine Pasta and a host of other names I'd never head of ("U.S. Fish" and others). Was the owner originally planning on opening a new restaurant with several different food themes, before scrapping that idea and going with Cube?

Chance we will go back: Very possible. Cube seems like a fast lunch alternative to the other hot La Brea spots (which have become rather stale).

(For a full roster of Franklin Avenue's restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.)