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Categories: American (New), Tapas Bars
Neighborhood: Glendale
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The food is four stars, but the service gets docked a star.
I've been to Palate a few times. The food is consistently good. The restaurant serves dishes that balance creativity and comfort. If only the staff were even half as comforting as the food, but more on that later.
For this review, I'll stick with the dineLA menu. The dineLA offerings weren't enticing, but I knew exactly what I wanted. I was happy with my meal and it was a good deal. I chose the stinging nettle tart, the pork belly and the date custard w/love. :-)
Everyone in my party enjoyed the tart. My friend ordered the goat tortellini which also disappeared from the plate as quickly as the tart. The goat tortellini had a great goat flavor, not too gamy, wonderfully tender and smooth.
The pork belly is a signature dish and rightfully so. In it's various inCARNEtions (I'm sorry, puns are my weakness.), it is always fatty and ready to dissolve in your mouth. The other two dineLA entrees were average: pancetta wrapped salmon and hangar steak. To be fair, neither of these are dishes I would order at a restaurant like palate.
Their mason jars are always good. This time, I had the lamb. It was smooth and tasted almost like a pate. I could come back for a glass of wine, couple of mason jars and dessert and be set for the rest of the night.
The chocolate pudding is a staple and was good, but the date walnut custard was my favorite dessert of the night: light, not too sweet. It paired well with the honey taste of the dates.
Finally, as is ALWAYS my beef w/finer establishments, the service was pretentious and stuffy. While the staff was attractive, they could've taken a page from owner, Octavio Becerra's page. Chef Becerra, as well traveled and well known as he is was all smiles and hugs when he greeted his customers.
Came here last night with the girls and from the get go you could tell that PF+W was a wine junkie haven. First off, forget about the formal dinning room up front, this place is all about the cozy wine cellar complete with a cheese room in the back. Our server was a doll and was on board about giving us the most bang for our wine buck. Speaking of stretching your buck, it happened to be DineLA Restaurant week and for $34 you got a 3 course menu to choose from - awesome deal. The crowning moment of the night was when I got to say my favorite line in the entire universe:
Me: Oh waiter, so we'll be having 1 of everything on the menu! (A huge I'm in heaven smile)
Waiter: I should have just figured that out for myself. (wink - wink - smile)
Me in my mind: Ahhhh a waiter after my own heart.
Thus we had the following:
Appetizers:
- citrus salad / cherry tomatoes / french feta /arugula pesto
- warm stinging nettles tart / red onions /pecorino / roasted potato
- goat tortelloni / hazelnuts / green garlic /preserved lemon / goat milk butter
Main Course:
- pancetta wrapped salmon / forbidden rice /rhubarb chutney / garlic luv
- pork belly / celery root / brussels sprouts /kumquat + bacon + pistachio relish
- grilled hanger steak / shelling beans / red boars kale / garlic confit / hen egg s.s.u
Desert:
- honey panna cotta / orange blossom water
- date-walnut custard w/ love
- chocolate pudding / crème fraîche / fleur de sel
The ladies and I had a fantastic time tasting everything. The stinging nettles tart, pork belly, and chocolate pudding are must gets. Just as I was coming off the "I got to order everything off the menu high", our darling waiter surprised us by pairing all of our deserts with well thought out wines/ports. Holy shit, any person who takes my "best line in the world experience" to the next level (which I did not think was possible) is a god in my eyes. Life doesn't get any better than being surrounded by good friends, good food, good wine, and good god.
Dine LA #1
My friends hadnt ever been here and honeslty nobody wanted to drive too far away so we came to Palate for the Dine LA menu and pretty much confirmed my thoughts about it once again being a solid 2 star place.
The food was just okay as usual. We basically ordered EVERYTHING off the dine LA menu. There are 3 apps, 3 dinners and 3 desserts to choose from so we tried all. $34 per person.
There were a lot of dishes that were a miss, some were ok and a few good. My favs were the lettuce salad with apples and cheese, teh hanger steak and panna cotta. The bad ones were either oily , very salty or boring in flavor. Worst dishes were the Gniochi, the date pudding and salty mushroom soup.
If they havent been, maybe you;ll want to try it for a small price such as the $34 because I think it gives you great insight into their menu. But I personally think there are better places off of Dine LA list to try.
Observations: The owner/head chef stands outside of the kitchen and moves around like a maniac with orders. This is completely unprofessional. I felt bad for the kitchen staff. Most importantly, I dont think your customers are supposed to see all this going on.
Again, the decorations are HORRIBLE. I cant get over the look of this place. The back areas are fine but the front of the restaurant is a nightmare. You just have to see if for yourself.
There was so much potential here. A wonder to find a good wine bar/restaurant in Glendale. I truly… Read more »
mediocre food and sub-par service. i would definitely not return.
the only saving grace was the potted pork spread but a place can't sustain itself on its mason jars alone.
the beet salad and citrus salads were fine but nothing special. the hanger steak was the only entree worth your dollar and everything else -- including the pork belly, salmon and cod -- was either not fresh and tasted fishy like the salmon, or just outright bland, like the cod. i wanted to appreciate chef becerra's innovative dishes but they just didn't work.
also, service was so bad i can't believe it calls itself a fine-dining establishment charging those kinds of prices. not worth the drive out to glendale.
one pic and review on my site.
When my best friend suggested a trek from West L.A. out to Glendale, I predictably checked Yelp to get the scoop ahead of time. After reading such scathing reviews about the service, I was not expecting much.
Yes, they were almost an hour late seating our group of 10. Yes, the front looks like one of the night clubs I frequented in Tel Aviv in the late 90's. However, we ended up having a truly delicious dinner with excellent service.
TIPS TO LEAVING HAPPY AND NOT BITTER:
- Make sure you get a table in the "cellar". Contrary to one reviewer's complaint that you face the fridge, you are actually looking into the small fromage room that allows a delightful look at the beautiful fresh cheese. It felt as though we were in the back of a vineyard, with wine bottles and books stacked high across the walls. Lovely.
- Order the pork belly. Absolutely the standout dish of the night. Rich, tender, and fatty, with a crusty layer that reminded me of the most insanely delicious chicharrones I have ever had.
-Order 1-2 cheese plates for the table. Each cheese we selected was delicious and included the most amazing sides- fresh marmalade, a chutney, and pickled grapes that had a slightly salty taste. They also come with a HUGE basket of baked flat toasts for spreading.
- Come with a group. You can try more without as much commitment to each dish.
-Prepare to wait and deal with some odd service staff at the front of the restaurant. Once in the back, our servers were knowledgeable and completely professional.
-Expect to pay about 100 bucks for two to leave fed. If you plan it right however, it can turn into a 3 hour rambling dinner that is worth every cent.
- Skip the ridiculous valet. Street parking was half a block away.
Went to Palate last night for the first time with another couple. We were all impressed. We had reservations and were seated promptly in the wine bar. (I recommend the wine bar b/c of the cool ambiance...the front seemed so "traditional".
We were greeted by our server "Doug" who was PHENOMENAL! He helped us make our selections, was very personal, made sure our food was good, but was not overly intrusive. Wonderful.
Doug recommended some cheeses for us...you MUST get the cheese plate when you come here...some of the best we've ever had. They have their own "cheese chef" who sits in a little room with some windows whose only job is to cut you yummy cheese and beautifully plate them with yummy accouterments.
Two of us ate off the dine LA menu and 2 didn't. Highlights from the meal were the hangar steak. Also, I think they fixed their "salt problem" with the mushroom soup because it was delicious. The artichoke tart was also really yummy.
The goat tortellini were good, but the dish seemed to have too much going on.
In terms of desserts, we had the panna cotta and the chocolate dessert. The panna cotta was very good, but it seemed like one too many flavors. The chocolate pudding was delicious, but wish there was a cookie or something else to go with it.
Overall, a GREAT meal with AWESOME SERVICE. We look forward to going back with more friends.
Also, the entire staff seemed very friendly and helpful and everyone thanked us for coming in on our way out.
The only negative is I think $5.50 for valet is a bit much when you can park for free and walk 1 minute. The restaurant is right next to a bunch of auto dealerships so parking is plentiful at night.
Went there for my wife's 30th bday with a group of 9 and got the table in their "Library. When we first got there our table wasn't ready so we had drinks at the cocktail bar in the front (they have another wine bar in the back). The bartender was pretty snooty, so I started to get a bit worried since many people on Yelp have also complained about the waiters. However, our waiter Doug was great. No pretentiousness and was great throughout the night. Definitely ask to be seated with him if you're eating there.
For food, we ordered one of everything off the menu to share with the group, but then reordered the standouts which were the sweat bread, monkfish, hanger steak and pork belly. We brought our own bday cake for dessert.
Overall, the food was good even though it was a bit on the expensive side. I'd go again if we lived around the area.
BTW, we also saw Sandra Oh from Grey's Anatomy there that night.
1 1/2 Star*********
It's been a while since my first and last visit to 'Palate' (ugh, such an effing pretentious name) but certain things about the evening will always haunt me. The nasty, dry potted meat. The inexcusably dull calamari. The HORRENDOUS wait staff!
Our waiter, who was not familiar with cooking terms like 'seared' and 'sauteed', also happened to be too cool for his job and spent the entire evening either avoiding us, or rolling his eyes and looking put out. Hey honey, you work at a tapas bar. I didn't come here for rancid meat and attitude for $100 per person. But I got it anyway.
Two friends and i went to Palate during week 1 of DINE LA. i was stoked cause it's close to my house, but my westside friends weren't that excited.
first impressions: the decor is a tad tacky (why do those grapes need to be so big?!), the hostess was very nice, the bartender wasn't overly chatty but informative, the wine per glass is a little spendy and our table was ready right away.
we started with 3 of their 'pickles', the broccoli, brussel sprouts & olives - all really good flavors, i would eat those again for sure. also - their table-bread rivals a NY bagel - it had really good flavor!
from the DINE LA menu, i had the mushroom soup (SO salty! the flavors were under the salt, but it was distracting), the gnocchi (quite light and fluffy with a good sauce, but a small-ish portion). and for dessert, we got to try all 3 - i liked the pear/dark choc/hazelnut torte (minus the pear), the date/walnut pudding thing was better than i thought it'd be, and the panna cotta is just not my thing (i'm not a fan of flan or anything of the sort, either).
we also had a very attractive waiter that made our experience more enjoyable.
i'm not 100% sure i would return, but it was nice to try something new.
**Disclosure**Disclosure**Disclosure**Disclosure**
THE PROPOSAL DOESN'T CONSTITUTE TO FIVE STARS (meaning Palate isn't worth five stars, but the engagement is worth ten)
"CATHERINE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
It's just one of those things. It was something that I was dying to experience. Something that I absolutely wanted to try. Something that had to be done. Well, over a year later, I finally was able to see for myself what the hype was all about. Sad to say, me, personally, didn't go bananas over Palate Food + Wine.
Maybe it's because I'm pregnant and can't enjoy wine for the time being?
Maybe it's because my pregnancy left a filmy taste all over my tongue after eating the Porkfolio assorted plate?
Could it have been the bitter beets?
I don't know what it was, but it was something fishy that I still can't quite put my finger on.
I'm going to go ahead and blame it on my pregnancy. After all, I only crave peanut butter sandwiches with milk, yet some how ended up eating pork belly and braised ribs.
What WAS very cool though, was when my finance pulled a little red box from his coat pocket and let the words, "CATHERINE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?" fall from his mouth!
Yes, he's asked before but never gave me a ring until we came to Palate Food + Wine.
Since he had called ahead of time to make arrangements for the big question, the hostess let him choose the table he wanted.
I was wondering why his eyes looked shifty as he searched for the perfect table. It was in the quieter, less active room and I remember asking myself why he chose such a semi secluded area to sit.
The server had to pull the tables apart from the party sitting to the left of me. I saw my fiance's face looking really, really nervous so I started apologizing to the server and my finance for my belly being too big to fit in between the tables.
The server, who obviously knew what was going on, was totally chuckling and assuring me that it wasn't y fault.
Then I remember my finance getting even more nervous right before he asked me.
It was because he didn't have enough room between the tables to get down on one knee to pop the question.
But, I, of course, was thinking that he was dissatisfied with the service, food and set up of the restaurant.
It didn't matter after he gave me the ring.
Our privacy was shared amongst the five other tables in our area and the server was so happy to be in on the proposal that he gave my fiance free wine all night. Pretty cool, huh.
If a restaurant only gets one chance to make a first impression, Palate squanders it pretty quickly.
Walking through the door, I was most surprised by the design; it's as nineties as Collective Soul. The main dining room is dwarfed by colossal ceiling-high goblet sculptures with glass grapes spilling out of them. They wouldn't be out of place in a cheesy Atlantic City steakhouse.
We arrived on time for our reservation, but were told to wait at the bar. After more than a half hour, my wife had to track down the hostess for an update. She had clearly forgotten about us, but offered nothing in the way of an apology and brusquely led us to an awkward L-shaped booth, passing no less than five empty tables along the way.
The booth was set so I was seated directly facing the table next to ours. Not a pleasant view. I spent the next hour watching an aging Eastern European couple -- bejeweled in pave-crusted yellow gold, decked out in their finest Ed Hardy, and drenched in foul cologne and perfume -- eat and drink their respective body weights.
The wine list was solid, and our server was amiable, yet absent for most of the meal. The food itself was just average. In fact, the best dish we had was a persimmon salad. Not a good sign when the salad is better than the potted pork, pork belly, or duck confit. Overall, an unimpressive performance.
Service:
Our server was very talkative so it worked out well when we asked him to recommend some cheeses and a red wine for us. In general, the staff was friendly and attentive. We could definitely feel the pretentiousness from the way our server described the concept of the restaurant and the setup of the menu.
Food:
The menu changes every Thursday so check their website for updates. Most of their items are from French cuisine so brush up your French before heading here!
Palate does offer a great selection of cheeses to suit any type of cheese lovers. Cheeses are served with accompaniments like jams and grapes that definitely enhanced our cheese platter experience.
For entrees, the black cod was cooked and seasoned perfectly (not too salty and still tasted like fish). The rest of the dish was a little hard to make out because there were so many ingredients on it. Pork belly was delicious but truly artery-clogging. The edges were crisp and the meat was tender. For an unknown reason, it was served with cooked squid. Yes, squid. We enjoyed the delicious (and fatty-tasty) squid but the odd combination left us scratching our heads.
The panna cotta for dessert could've been delicious if not for the puckering citrus and the jarring orange blossom water that it came with. The custard was great but the pairing of ingredients just didn't make sense and made the panna cotta taste a little like French soap.
Overall, we got the feeling that the chefs were trying so hard to fit too many ingredients into each plate. Although the flavors worked to some degree, the dishes came off as confused end products.
Price:
Reasonable but not the price that I'm willing to pay for this kind of food. 1 cheese platter + 1 DineLA prix fixe + 1 entree + 2 glasses of wine + tips = $98.
Ambiance:
Once we walked in, I was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of food and liveliness from conversations. While the food smelled fantastic, I really don't enjoy smelling like my dinner when I leave a restaurant. Also, the restaurant got pretty loud after a while that it was difficult to hold any intimate conversations.
The decor can only be described as schizophrenic which is a quality that was reflected in the entrees. There were giant pillars and fake grapes spilling out of colossal drinking vessels that were in discord with a vault-looking door behind the bar and pseudo curtains that separate the space. Confused much?
We came to Palate for their DineLA menu as a way to try out the restaurant. While their dishes were good tries, they're simply not our cup of tea.
Ya, so...looking back at my entire palate experience, what I remember most is the crunchy, buttery, french bread sticks that I think were free, and the kale salad that was a small part of a dish.
Mason jars in lamb, chicken, pork, and cod- VERY dry...1 star
Pork belly- 3.5 star
Venison osso buco- Tough and hard 1 star
Bone marrow- 3 star (the pomegranate salsa or kale thing was a 5 star)
Braised short rib- 3.5 star
Cheese plate- nothing extraordinary that I hadn't tried (3 star)
Cauliflower tart- 3 star
Service- 5 stars
Seriously, I'd go back here for the bread sticks, and if the management is reading this, that pomegranate kale should be an official salad.
My husband and I went to palate for the first time tonight. It was highly recommended by a friend so we decided to check it out. I read all the reviews from other yelpers before I went so I knew what to order.
We made reservations and were seated promptly. We asked the server to recommend a red and white wine for each of us. He asked what type of wine we liked and said he would bring us some wine to taste. However he didn't tell us WHICH wine he was bringing us. When I asked him, he seemed kind of annoyed. Like I'm not allowed to know what type of wine and how much I'm going to pay for it. My husband liked the wine that was recommended to him but I didn't so the server brought another which I enjoyed much better. Later when we got the bill I found out that the freaken 5.0 oz of wine cost $18. No wonder I liked it MUCH better.
Anyway, we ordered some appetizers and then my husband ordered the braised short ribs and I got the pork belly. The food was so salty that I'm STILL thirsty, almost 3 hours later.
I read another yelper's review about how the restaurant is filled with old people. They weren't lying! I think we were the only couple in our twenties!! YUCK! No offense to old people, but seriously?! Every other table probably averaged 60-65 years old. Talk about NOT cool.
To sum it up, we'll probably never go back.
DEAR OWNER,
If you're reading this, please tell your servers that they need to be nicer to the customers. WE DON'T ENJOY LOOKING UP THEIR SNOBBY NOSES!!!
The food is very good at reasonable prices. Short ribs are great.
The only problem is the service--I remember waiting dessert for so long that we didn't want it anymore (turns out they forgot about it).
So go for the food and not the service/ambiance.
good food mitigated by DOUR and dubiously-accented waitress.
needlessly pretentious for a place with "Porkfolio" on the menu and "Cooking for Dummies" in the bookcase!
I have very mixed feeling on Palate Food + Wine. I was so excited to hear about the palate opening up in my neighborhood, when as anyone knows, glendale is quite limited in terms of delicious foods, let alone a decent wine bar. I was especially excited after reading Jonathan Gold's review, who in my family is practically considered holy.
My family went in august/beginning of september and had one of the most fabulous meals and greatest experiences I've had at a restaurant in a long time. Each member of my family is a foodie in their own way and are picky when throwing out compliments to a restaurant (my father rarely loves every aspect of his dining experiences). But, we had the most fabulous, engaging, educated, and entertaining waiter who's name was Kyle, I believe. Our dinner was delicious and he paired every course perfectly (unfortunately I don't remember all that we ordered because it was so long ago).
This experience was just THAT great that my mother introduced the restaurant to all of her girlfriends and gave them lots of business with the hopes of having a dining experience as great as the first, but sadly our experience has gotten worse and worse each time. Apparently, Kyle, our perfect waiter left or was fired (still unsure).
The past few visits have made us realize how the owners and waiters are incredibly pretentious and snotty, We love wine, but probably are not their most knowledgeable customers; so obviously, we have questions and want recommendations for pairing with our food. With every question we asked or recommendations we asked for they looked at us with more and more disgust (I dont think our waitress smiled once at us, even though our bill was over 400 dollars), Needless to say, no matter how delicious the food is, we will not be returning. We gave it many chances and we're done--the food is not THAT great.
Here are some thoughts on the food--cheese selection is great, i like their starters with their mason jars, something different. It's also nice that their menu changes. Last time we went I had the ravioli, which was totally overcooked and disgusting. But, I will admit the that the scallops and the steak were both quite amazing.
I wish I had more positive things to say about the Palate, because it would have been a regular restaurant for us.
I wanted to give them 4.5 stars but it's not possible and I didn't want to gyp them by only giving them 4. I almost didn't go to Palate because of all the negative Yelp reviews. So glad I went anyway! The food was amazing. The chef has a wonderful and interesting way of pairing flavors that one would never think to combine. The outcome was perfection with every plate.
We had the 5 course sampler/tasting menu. I like that the chef was mindful of dietary restrictions with the sampler and tailored them to our needs. I am pescatarian, I don't do any fowl or land animals (save cheese), and my Man eats anything and everything. So they prepared salads and fish for my 5 courses and they gave him salads, fish, and God knows what kind of sausage-y, meaty rolled up thing (which he enjoyed immensely) for his 5 courses.
The only issue I had (hence the 4.5 stars) was with desert. Not because the flavor and texture of this creamy white flan-type desert with liquid heaven drizzled atop wasn't to DIE for. But our server forgot that it was prepared with gelatin, which is made from ground-up animal bones. He remembered when I had two bites left of the desert. I am not a militant vegetarian/pescatarian so there was no need to freak out over an innocent mistake. For those diners who are, it may be a good idea to gently remind your server before you order that you don't want ANY of whatever you don't want.
That being said the service was excellent, and I don't want to take anything away from our waiter. It was an honest mistake and he DID make good on it by gifting us a wonderful desert wine.
Great food, great ambiance, great service. Some people have complained about the location of Palate. Yes, it is in the heart of auto row, but who cares? There is plenty of free street parking and valet service. Which in the Los Angeles area, free street parking is priceless.
It says casual attire here, but I'd say it's more upscale-casual.
FYI. I had 2 drinks, my Honey had 3, we each had the sampler and we shared desert and our bill was about $211 before tipping. To me, that's an expensive dinner- it was totally worth it! (Thanks, baby!!)
This is one of those places that thinks so much of itself it gets in the way of having a good (not even great) dining experience.
The servers are snotty and rude. The food was okay but certainly not worth the hype and I don't drink so I can't comment on the wine.
They do not have salt and pepper on the tables and when I asked for some they looked at me in horror...well, now I am exaggerating but really!! They are not wheelchair friendly...they seated us upstairs when they were told there was a wheelchair in our party and then the hostess was very slow to get help...just rude!
I will not be going back.
So I really, really wanted to love this place for a few reasons. I was introduced to Chef Octavio on a couple of occasions and he was just so personable, passionate about his craft, and sweet, that I truly wanted this venture of his to be a huge success (and still do). I appreciate the daring of opening a restaurant in Downtown Glendale when the Westside must have surely been-a-calling...though the building is very charming and the space has a cool vibe. However, at least for me, loving a place hinges largely on the food, which is, at best, eh...I so wanted to love Palate, that I refrained from making rash judgments and didn't call it quits after a first mediocre date. I gave it yet a second, and even third chance...and each time, my palate was left, at best-confused, and even sometimes, muddied...sorry Octavio. There was a mushroom soup on the menu once that conjured memories of the Elephant exhibit at the zoo. My friend agreed it was bad, but she was thinking circus, not zoo. It tasted like the soil hadn't been washed off the dang fungi. The gnocchi collapsed into a mound of flavorless mush, coating my palate with a rather distasteful film, and the fancy shmancy tart was just an un-yummy pizza. Finally, just because something is in season (ex. sweet peas), doesn't mean it should find its way onto every plate on that evening's menu. The redeeming items were the cheeses, we tried six different varieties, all of which were very good, with buttery delicious crackers on the side. The wine selection is fantastic, and the Sommalier (sp?) is very knowledgeable and helpful. I would definitely return for wine, cheese, and chit-chat in the back wine-room. However, I'd probably eat dinner elsewhere...sorry Palate, perhaps my palate is simply not sophisticated enough to appreciate your "interesting" offerings.
I was so excited to come here after my gal pal, Susy H. raved about the place! I finally made my way to Palate and was disappointed...I'm still confused... What did I do wrong?
On the table, we received a bread basket and what looked like herb butter. AVOID! The bread was literally plain wheat bread and the butter was just butter. FILLER!
We started with the Porkfolio, which was raved about on Yelp. Not sure why though because it was merely a plate with a slice of salami, prosciutto, and a few others. Ok, $12 for six slices of cold cuts. The joke's on us.
The potted berkshire pork was good- very fatty, cold, and good with the toast (more filler - and not even good filler, just toasted bread; can you rub some garlic on that bad boy or something?). I order the salted pear salad which was amazing: peppery greens with tangy creamy blue cheese and warm salty pear. Killer bold flavors.
For my main, I get the "fig wrapped salmon" as was explained by the server. Um, where is the fig? Did she mean fig leaves? Because what I received was a piece of dry ass salmon wrapped tightly in dry ass leaves/greens. My salmon was so overcooked that instead of separating nicely, it crumbled off. The few bites I did have were unflavorful like they didn't season the fish or the fish wasn't fresh. That was disgusting and would never ever order it again. My bf, on the other hand, ordered the pork chop which was succulent, moist, and full of flavor.
I will say that the wine selection is amazing. They offer 2.5oz servings as well, allowing you to taste multiple offerings. Unfortunately, the server had no idea which wines to recommend, and just kind of gave us what was "in the back," as she said. That was odd.
That said, I was not impressed by the service. More than once did we say, "We're still working on that!" as they pulled our plates away. Between courses, they would give us new place settings which were slammed down on our wooden place mats. Thanks, real romantic. In the middle of our three hour meal that started at 6:30p, the hostess came up to our table and asked, "When you guys made reservations, were you told that another party was coming in at 8:30?" Umm, no...are you telling us we have to leave now?
When we were ready for dessert, the waitress said, "Our desserts are nothing special, go for a cheese plate." Wow, great marketing. So, we indeed got a cheese plate and that was probably the BEST part of my night. We got to enter the cheese room and taste different cheeses before we ordered our selection. The chef was very knowledgeable and helpful as we tasted goat, cow, and sheep milk cheeses.
All in all, my experience was disappointing and would only come here again for cheese and wine. The service is average, food is hit or miss, but the cheese and wine selection is great.
Great deals on wine and great food at reasonable prices. This is a big city restaurant in the burbs. We started with an order of the lamb that come in a mason jar, the meat was a little dry but served as a great meaty spread for the toasted bread. Next we ordered some of the pickled cauliflower, pickled fennel, and the cheese plate. These were the stars of the night. The pickling of the cauliflower and fennel was just right and didn't take away any of the crispness. After the appetizer round we moved on to the entrees. We ordered the duck leg and the pork belly. The pork belly wasn't my favorite but did come with some great sides. The duck leg, on the other hand was tender and perfectly cooked.
You'll also appreciate the variety of wine available and the option to have half pours, which are priced at exactly half of a full pour (the bartender pours a generous half pour). After dinner we purchased a few of the wines we had tried and enjoyed the great prices on wine.
This place SOUNDS way more exciting than it is.
The ever-changing menu, the farm-fresh foods... everything is freshly potted, pickled, jarred, cured, etc. in-house.
The neon lights, pumping house music, and grotesque romanesque architecture and enormous sculptures of grapes - TACKY AND ANNOYING! It was all so distracting that it actually took away from the food. I found the food mediocre at best.
The service was snooty too - and I could hear the chefs in the back barking at the servers.
At a table for two - I sat squashed in-between 2 other tables so I couldn't get out, and my husband sat about 10 feet away from me at the other end of the table. Ok it's an exaggeration, yes. But why do the tables have to be so long?
Dear Jonathan Gold: I hope you will rethink putting this on your list for next year. Too much hype as gotten to their heads and I think they are getting lazy: Oversalting the food; hiring awful employees; not standing back to realize how awfully designed the whole place is.... I could go on, but I'm bored.
The wine bar is great. The front section is a bit boring. Ask to be seated in the rear. I liked the lamb pretty much although I've been there twice and I've have yet to be bowled over by anything. Had a wonderful bottle of wine though, which was suggested by our waiter. I'd go back.
Excellent food at good prices. Surprisingly generous portions for a small plate restaurant. They also have an excellent wine list. The interior is appealing but the restaurant is located between two car dealerships in an unappealing section of Glendale Blvd in Glendale. The wait staff is hot and cold, you just never know if you're going to get a happy person or a grumpy one. All in all it was a good experience.
Palate, where is indeed your palate?
I don't usually head east of the 5 on a Saturday for dinner but I did make an exception just for you because somehow I thought that you may be different. Oh, how I was disappointed.
Granted that you're located in a historic 1920's building and a lot of parking, I can't seem to fathom your decision to be right smack in car-dealer central in Glendale. Seriously, what we're you smoking when you were scouting for a location? And don't get me started on your schizophrenic and incohesive dining rooms.
And what is up with those gigantic glass grapes in the main dining room? Who, for the love of god, chose that?! I tried, I really tried to get over that, even if it means downing a bottle of burgundy all to myself, but I just can't. Those grapes are all staring at me. For pete's sake, why would you even get those wooden placemats from Target?
I would give this to you though, your extensive wine and cheese.
But, being handed with a menu binded by a metal fastener in a cardboard folder reminded me too much of those dreaded high school term papers - way before the advent of computers.
The food was acceptable at best, but you're just trying too hard to be too many things at once.
I would really love to love you, but you're nothing but a cleft to my palate, Palate.
I visited Palate Food + Wine in Glendale for the first time this past Saturday night. I was excited to try a new dining experience and read all the wonderful reviews about the food. It was about 8:15pm when I ventured out and my party of 2 did not have a reservation. I called the restaurant to find out if there would be a table available in about 30 minutes and I was told to come on in - that there wouldn't be a problem.
When I arrived, I was greeted by two hostesses. I explained to them that we did not have any reservations (what I did not do, which in afterthought I should have, was explained I was the party that called earlier). After that, the hostesses whispered to themselves for a good 2-3 minutes, as if to figure out what to do with us. I should have listened to my chow sense and bailed right then and there - but it was the food and wine I was there for, after all, not for good hostessing skills.
After their conference - we were told there were no tables available, but could be seated at the wine bar area while we waited for a table (about 30 minutes). After being lead to the bar area, we were told to let them know if we decided to eat at the bar. We told both the hostess seating us, and the other hostess that we would like a table. This was at 8:45.
We sat at the bar and waited a good 15 minutes for someone to take our drink order. I was very pleased with my first selection ('05 Westwood - a red blend from Sonoma), and, we decided to nibble on a cheese plate. The cheese took about 20 minutes to come out - but it was a delightful selection (you select 3 on a list of about 20) and it served with homemade crostini. After enjoying the cheese and wine, I realize that we are still waiting for our table! I look at my watch and it's 9:45 at this point. The bartender asked us if we want more food - we tell him we were waiting for a table - and ask him to inquire from the hostess if there was a table.
The hostess promptly shows up as we are paying the bar tab - and here's the kicker. She waves us over to the other side of the bar. We are expecting to go into the main dining room area, and she leads us to a table about 2 feet from the bar we were just at. I said to her - "This?" - and she says condescendingly "It's a table" - and walks off before we can say anything else. My dining companion and I were dumbfounded.... so much so, we go up and went back to the bar where we were seated and proceeded to order.
We were still determined to salvage the evening - and ordered from the bartender. We ordered the roasted squash soup, the beef cheek ravioli, and the cauliflower tart. The soup had a nice roasted flavor but nothing to write home about - and the pepitas they added to it were too hard to eat. I tried a bite of the ravioli - the pasta was perfectly cooked and the filling was tasty. The tart, however, was a disaster. It tasted like a mushy goop. I had one bite and wanted to spit it out - and ended sending the dish back. At this point, we were SO done with the ridiculousness of the evening and just ready to go home.
I have no issue with eating at the bar - but what I do have issue with is the air of pretentiousness that hostesses convey that make it seem like they could care less about what you request. While we did not have reservations, if we were told there would be no table available for the rest of the night, we could make a decision if we would stay or not. Additionally, if after the 30 minutes or so, no table would have opened up, I would think it would be fair to approach the party and let them know. Add that to pretty much being ignored by the service at the bar and having to ask for everything (napkins, water refills, utensils), made for a very unpleasant evening.
The damage: 2 glasses of wine, 1 cheese plate, 1 soup, 1 ravioli = $63 pre-tip. The real damage: being ignored & awful service = never, ever stepping foot in that establishment again. Palate food + wine is more like Palate pretentious + apathy
Can't remember when exactly my wife and I dined here - most likely in May of 2009. After having read a few glowing reviews, we gave it a try. The experience, menu and food were totally disappointing. To top it off, our server had a severe case of halitosis, and an unfriendly disposition. We never entertained returning.
I told everyone I was going to give Palate a 5 star because it was an unexpected surprise.
Came here with some friends last night for multiple occassions, one of them being my gf is moving to Virginia for Med School so it was a farewell California dinner and it was a great venue for that occassion.
Glendale is definitely a bit of a drive from the O.C. Palate is located on Brand about 2 miles from the Americana. It's in between 2 car dealerships so it's pretty discreet. There's plenty of street parking nearby and they offer valet. Upon entering, you are greeted with a bar, the decor is simple, modern, and elegant. The staff is extremely friendly.
We waited for our entire party to arrive before being led up the stairs to the back room with a very welcoming and almost dining at home in your living room - room. It was dimly lit with candles at the table. The menu was an extensive packet but it is filled with wines and cheeses, the main entree menu is actually only a selection of about 10 different items.
We started with a cheese plate and meat plate. Before those were served, a loaf of bread was brought to the table with a decorated sliver of butter. The cheeses were fresh and accompanied by some marmalades/jam type sauces as well as golden raisins. The meat platter consisted of meats such as pepperoni, salami, etc... and came with mustard seeds, a black sweet vinegrette, and a olive-like paste. These definitely brought your tastebuds alive to prepare your palette for the entrees.
I ordered the duck - served with fig and collard greens and grits. It was prepared to perfection. Not as fat as asian bbq duck so some of the flavor is lost there, but its like having a duck steak. The texture of the duck with the grits really bring out the flavors and quality of the meat.
Friend A got the special of the night: Risotto with truffles. Delish! The flavors were completely infused and the texture was just right.
Friend B got the pork belly. I like pork belly and duck because of the flavors the fat infuses into the meat. (Remember, I'm a bacon FANATIC!). The pork belly was served as a chunk as you would like to have your filet mignon served and tasted much like pulled pork. I suppose if there was too much fat, pork belly as an entree would make some serious damage, but that's what kind of what I was hoping for. Nevertheless, the flavors were all present and the dish was well plated.
Friend C got the scallops served with some potato ring slivers, onions, and some other veggies that don't come to mind. Scallops were cooked well, not over or under cooked as most places tend to do. The dish was not impressive but again, well plated.
For a food and wine restaurant it did its duty. They had wines-o-plenty. And great cheeses to pair. I went to visit the cheese room and purchased a goat cheese I fell in love with on the appetizer plate. They also sell wine to take home. It was a very pleasant experience and kind of a diamond in the rough.
If you're in the area, try it out. If you aren't, I'm not sure I would tell you to rush out and drive 45 miles to try it... unless you love wines and cheese like me!
I finally returned to Palate after a year of them being in my dog house. We had spectacular service, the service might have even been a hair too good. They make the waiters go through this whole shpiel about the pedigree of the chef, how to order, the nature of the menu, special events, the wine and cheese lists and so on. Seriously. Just come by, get me a drink and THEN tell me all the details. I am a fan of my drink, so it turns out.
However, the food was marvelous. Housemade butter, whole wheat bread, cucumber and cauliflower pickles, lamb and shrimp pots, arugula salad and a beautiful fish dish. Not to mention the excellent wine selection with many wonderful wines at lots of different price ranges.
I am really looking forward to the cheese event, which they have every Tuesday. Cirque du Fromage!!!
Palate, you have won me over at long last.
I had a really bad experience here. I met a girlfriend here for a bottle of wine and food at the… Read more »
I've been here about 20 times now and am always impressed with this place. Great chef Octavio, great wine guy Steve and a number of fun people taking the seriousness out of food and wine but serving serious food and wine. Though we've had a couple of moments overall it's the one of the best of the several food & wine places in L.A.
I've been here at leaste 20 times and every time I really enjoy myself. Octavio, Steve and their… Read more »
I went to this place last Tuesday night with someone dear and was impressed, folks.
This place is a definite must try. It's a bit expensive but a nice, local place to go to on a Saturday night with friends.
Decor is industrial but still manages not to be cold. I liked that.
There's a little wine shop there (I recommend highly the Escencia--robust and flavorful!) that you can just stop into as a regular customer. It's in back.
I'm a moody fig person; I didn't love their fig dish, but I do recognize objectively that it's tasty. It's just not my kind of tasty.
YOU MUST TRY THE PORK BELLY. Goodness! Comes with potatoes and beets. Those potatoes were some of the most delicious I've had. I wish I could have just a plate of those alone. SERIOUSLY, TRY THAT DISH.
The cheeses, veal, everything...all fantastic.
Words that are good to describe this place include: Decadent, Rich, etc.; you should eat a light salad for lunch before going there for dinner.
And the chocolate pudding was great. Just great. Perfect for your average chocolate-o-phile!
You must try if at all possible.
I would like to give this place a higher rating, but Palate Food and Wine is missing the "sparks" or the "wow" factor.
The over all dining experience was decent, but not great. The food was good, the service was professional, the decor was ok. It simply lack the sophistication like AOC, Hatfields or Jar.
It can definitely be a better restaurant (seems like they are trying REALLY hard to make it great). I would go back again, because of their effort, not because of the food.
Sorry to find out that this place is -not worth it-.
Bad service.
Mediocre food.
The wine was good. That alone.
This is a really cool spot. I love the decor and the modern feel to the place. The wine selection here is very well thought out and has more European and Spanish producers than California which is nice a change from an everyday Napa cab. They have a whole room that is dedicated to their meats and cheeses, you can see women and men in the temperature controlled room slicing and preparing yummy tapas plates.
The food is the same very Euro style from the Charcuterie plate to the picked veggies.
We ordered the porkfolio assorted plate - prosciutto di parma / speck alto adige /salumi: genovese / toscano / peperone /salame cotto
Mason jar - potted berkshire pork
And pickled cucumbers and carrots.
I really enjoyed the wine choice that was recommended to us by our Waiter. A 2003 Barolo Marcheria by Boasso and was reasonably priced.
I loved the food and wine. This is a great place for drinks with friends and some great snacky snacks.
Thank you Palate for raising the culinary bar in Glendale - We deserve it!
Yes, the service is off - in fact in speaking with the valet his comment to me was 'yes, people like the food but always say something about the service'. EH. I'll get over it.
I can't recommend enough (menu changes on Thursdays):
Porkfolio - different cuts of pork on a plate; need I say more?
Mason Jars: I really enjoyed the berkshire pork
Pickled: tomatoes and the onions - awesome, really a raw pickled onion was awesome. Beans - the waiter pushed the beans - a bit tart for me.
Plates:
Pork Tenderloin - awesome, so awesome in fact we ordered another plate of it. The plums really need to be offered alone on the menu- that good.
Salmon in Fig leaf - man was this dry and disappointing. Can't say anything good - so I won't day anything at all.
Go, sit at the bar have some nice wine, share some plates with a friend and relish the fact that you are in Glendale and didn't have to drive to the west-side!
They have Tuesday night and Wednesday nght specials now (ask as it changes from time to time).
When you come on this special night all food prices are lowered in a "Cehf's Special" menu. They bring you stuff over and over including different wines. The atmosphere is entirely positive and upbeat.
Perfect way to spend a weekDAY in Los ANgeles.
We went again last night. Seems as though you see many of the same faces. From the cheese platter… Read more »
I have to preface this by saying that I didn't actually eat here. They pretty much turned us away,
We had a 7:15 reservation and we arrived at 7:35. They said they have a 20 minute policy on our reservations and they ended up seating the people in front of us and so we were out of a table. They offered us a table at the communal area which we declined. Now, I admit I should have called to say we were running a bit late but I have never had such an experience at a restaurant. Usually a restaurant will make you wait for a few minutes and work you in. The food cannot be that good. And even if it was I would not want to be treated the way we were. I'm sorry. The crowd was old, and it's just not a place I found inviting. I was so excited to try this place but I have no desire to go back. I never thought I would have to write such a bad review of a place. Bleh.
I've been hearing great things about this place since 2008! Who can even remember that far back? Ok, so we went.
First, my biggest complaint. They seem to have two rooms. A dining area in the front, and one in the back. For some reason, they don't serve liquor in the back dining area. So where we were seated, you could have wine and beer, but no cocktails. Why??? That's crazy! I mean, I'm sure there's some license reason behind it, but I don't care. That's crazy!
Here's the good. The variety of cheeses is awesome. We tried 5, some softer some harder and sharper. Not a single miss. All top notch. Then we got the porkfolio, it was ok. Good meat selection, really delicious bread. Also comes with three different sauces (I think all mustards). There's a purple one that I've never tasted before, but is absolutely killer. And finally the desserts. They have this lemon bread thing that was amazing, some of the best dessert I've had in the while. Their chocolate pudding wasn't too bad either.
Not sure if you're paying attention, but I haven't talked about the main course. That's really where they fall short in my book. I tried their chicken and their pot roast dishes. Chicken came with some asparagus and very thinly sliced mushrooms. The vegetables were pretty good, but the chicken was pretty bland. Also, could have been more tender. The pot roast was better, but still nothing spectacular. A friend got the scallops, which came with other seafood. The biggest problem is that it literally came with only one scallop. $16 main-course plate, one scallop. I get that they're expensive, but that's ridiculous.
A lot of people on help have been complaining about the service. We came here on a Saturday evening, with 6 people, and the service was pretty good. Things got refilled very quickly. Everyone was very accommodating when it came to mixing cards and cash. No problems.
Palate is like a hot model with bacterial vaginosis.
I'd eat there once but I probably wouldn't go back.
Perhaps I should explain.
Palate has many of the qualities to be a very good restaurant. The decor is tasteful and classy, if perhaps a little ornate. The food was solid, and sometimes very good. And with no dish above $20, the quality of the food is hard to beat at that price point.
We started with the potted pork, which was flaky and fork-tender. Spread on crusty bread, it was a great way to start the meal, accompanied by the pickled onions and cauliflower. Perhaps the best dish of the night.
We moved on to entrees of octopus with shiitake mushrooms, peppers and scallions, and the beef with potato confit, topped with some greens. The octopus was surprisingly tender, although I must admit I do enjoy a bit of pop to my octopus, if not a bit uninspiring. More of a warm octopus salad.
But the evening started to go downhill with the beef.
Now, I understand Palate prides itself on its fresh, organic produce. And when the beef came out, it looked perfectly cooked with a dark crust and pink in the middle. I was all but ready to delve into that cut of medium rare meat.
But something caught my eye. At first I thought it was a sprig of herb waving in the warmth rising off the plate. But it kept moving. Right across my cut of beef. It was unmistakable. There was a caterpillar crawling across my entree.
Let me emphasize that. There was a LIVE CATERPILLAR crawling across my dinner.
Now, that in itself didn't faze me too much. Let's face it. I'm Chinese. I've eaten much worse. I sent the plate back, notified the maitre d' of said caterpillar still making its way across the plate, and the dish was replaced.
I have to admit though, I did eat the replacement plate, which was less pink and far closer to medium well and more heavily sauced, with much more caution than I normally would. I mean, I eyeballed each mouthful pretty carefully before committing fork to mouth.
But here's where Palate failed. They didn't comp the dish. They didn't address the issue. They didn't send out a small dessert with an apology from the kitchen.
An average family-style chain restaurant would have comped the dish. A fine dining restaurant would have probably comped much more than the dish. But Palate comped nothing.
Actually, I lie. They didn't charge us for water.
If that had been the only complaint of the night, that would have been bad enough. But the service overall was inattentive and haphazard. For a restaurant that prides itself as a wine bar, getting a glass of wine was no easy task. Our wine order wasn't taken until well after our appetizers (and a nice syrah would have gone nicely with that potted pork) and, even after we did manage to order some wine, it took an inordinate amount of time for it to be brought to the table. In fact, we had to ask for it a second time after being ignored.
And when they replaced the dish, they didn't replace the silverware. Hence a plate in front of us with nothing to eat it with. Again, we had to ask for a fork.
Which brings me back to my original analogy. I turned up at Palate's door ready to ravage it. Love it even. The foreplay was teasingly delicious and hinted at greater pleasures. But when it came down to the business end of things, a little bit of cleanliness would have made all the difference.
At the end of the night, I made eye contact with the maitre d' on the way out. Not a word was spoken, just an awkward exchange of glances. Was he expecting me to say something? Honestly, I shouldn't have to at a restaurant with fine dining aspirations.
But I think it's safe to say there will NOT be a second date.
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