| rev:text
| - Beso Off is the best way to put it. A restaurant that needs to be shuttered - and in a city where there are many other choices, most likely will not continue to survive as the place does not seem to really care about the issues with the restaurant.
And cheap food - as in quality, not price. Or, the head chef is just way too enamored with salt, which is usually used to hide the cheap flavoring of sub-par steaks, especially the way that they slather it on everything.
So, this is a cluster beyond clusters. We came here for a business dinner because the Los Angeles location has good reviews. Big mistake.
The wait, etc was not bad. We made a reservations, they sat us when we had more than 50 percent of our party there. The wait staff - Craig and Angie - were super nice, very charming and had more common sense than the assistant manager on duty, Chad Jahn. Yep, totally using the full name.
So, let's start with the cluster:
A) Fire in the kitchen (grease fire) that made the whole place smoky. The grill is right there, so you can "see" them cooking steaks. Big whoop, sorta cool, but OBVIOUSLY too small for a restaurant of the size. And, apparently, the back kitchen is just as bad.
B) Our salads/soups come out fine - nothing spectacular, but not terrible - and then we wait for the steaks. And wait. And wait. Oh, by the way, it's only 8.30 when we sit down but they're already out of the bone-in filet which the waiter talked up. How do you run out of a steak by 8.30 PM? Kitchen incompetence??
C) We're still waiting for our steaks. It's a good 45 minutes post-finishing our salads and appetizers. We're still waiting. And still waiting.
D) Angie and Craig are proactive, and good wait staff; they come up to us and apologize about the wait. It's not their fault - the kitchen is run by incompetents, but they do their job and do it well.
E) The steaks come out ... medium rare. Not the medium that was ordered but the medium rare. We send them back, and one comes back ... charred on the outside, but still rare/medium rare. He's too nice to send it back, and the issue is that the kitchen is backed up so just sending out steaks. Good way to settle a problem with an incompetent kitchen staff: send out undercooked meat and hope they don't send it back to cause more setback in the kitchen. Idiots.
F) I ask for the manager - the man with no freakin' sense to come to our table. This would be Chad Jahn, who looks like a former bouncer that has been elevated to restaurant manger. Demote him back to bouncer, that's what he seems he'd be good at. We talk to him, tell him the issues ... and he never checks up on us again. Good management skills, asshat!! Oh, and he doesn't acknowledge our issues when we leave. He did take care of the bill, but I think he had to be told to do that (I told him we're getting free desserts).
G) I got churros. I like churros. The churros at Costco are better than Beso. Um, useless kitchen staff, churros are served hot.
H) So, while walking outside with the colleague for her to smoke, we pass by former colleagues and they ask how it went. We told them it sucked, to leave. There was this long-haired guy listening to us. I'd noticed him for a bit walking around, so I said "are you one of the owners" and he said, no, he's just waiting for a friend. Um, found out he is one of the owners. If, as an owner, you cannot take responsibility for your poor service and food, the restaurant as a whole are doomed. Nice sidestepping and not taking ownership, long-haired 80's rocker looking dude!! His (or Chad's) solution to the fire and the wait was to offer free Sangria. Thanks, and those that don't drink thank you also. Idiots.
I) Like I noted, the food was salty. The steaks had a salt layer that should not be necessary if they are really Harris Ranch. The string beans, mushrooms and other vegetables were slathered with salt as well. Salt is a lazy additive for poor quality and tasting food. Draw your own conclusions here.
We got out of there 3 1/2 hours later, when it should have been 1 1/2 hour dinner. It's not because we were socializing, but because it was just waiting and waiting and waiting and then sending back food and waiting. The place is a train wreck rapped up in hipster clothing (well, like most things hipster) and the management (and owner) seem unable to manage or take ownership of the problems and issues. Good riddance for when it shuts down (the chef should not be a head chef), but our wait staff rocked and should be at a better place.
Eva Longoria Parker should be ashamed her name is associated with this place. But, it might not be that long before others force it out. I heard Mastro's is opening in Vegas...
Update: Yay! A fake review posted by an employee or PR person for the restaurant!! Thanks Megan!
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