The day will come when driving into the massively reconceived, rebuilt Manhattan Village from the Sepulveda Boulevard entrance, Joey Restaurant will offer a welcoming sight â a massive modernist structure, with seating inside and out, glass all around, and affluent diners bent over their Spicy Passionfruit Margaritas and Real Peach Bellinis. But not yet. For though Joey is open, the Village is still under construction. And if you enter (as I did) from the Rosecrans Avenue side, you may wonder if youâve come to the right mall.
Until the rubble of construction is cleared away, finding the oddly named Joey (my urge to put an âapostrophe sâ after âJoeyâ is a throwback to my years spent on copy desks) can be a bit of a treasure hunt. It sits off one of the (many!) new parking structures, with a fountained plaza on one side, and a massive California Pizza Kitchen nearby.