Palomino Restaurant Rotisseria Bar
Categories: American (New), Lounges, Italian [Edit]
Neighborhood: Westwood10877 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024 (310) 208-1960
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Best Nights: Mon, Tue, Wed
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
36 reviews
Neighborhood: Westlake
"The decor is amazing. It's a little smaller than I imagined from the pictures, but it's absolutely gorgeous in person. It has a sorta…" read more »
91 Reviews for Palomino Restaurant Rotisseria Bar
I got the classic mojito $7.5 and the chicken pizza $5. Mojito was yummy, however the pizza kinda sucked. It had very little taste and my crust was burnt. My friend ordered the sausage and mushroom pizza(better than mine), mussels and chorizo(overcooked) and some sort of beer. Happy hour(4-7pm) prices for the food, but not specials on our drinks. I may come back for drink but not for the food.
I've been there for 3-5 happy hours and twice during unhappy hours.
Unhappy hour: Food is not bad... perhaps good. It's hard for me to tell because I was blinded by the high prices. Not exorbitant, but if I recall correctly, it was $15-20 for an entree. That's not all thaaat bad, but compared to...
Happy hour: Yummy pizzas for $5 each. The pizzas are all sophistimicated. They appear to be freshly baked, although one person could probably eat two of those pizzas or more to get full. I usually get the tomato basil since it tastes pretty fresh and isn't as heavy as the other meaty pizzas. Drinks and appetizers are also tasty and reasonably priced. Great social atmosphere.
The one thing to be aware of about happy hour: It gets crowded fast. If you don't find a seat, you're kinda outta luck and you have to loom around until you find seats, or just leave.
My overall recommendation: Gather your friends and arrive up to 15 minutes before happy hours and feast on the pizza, appetizer, and drink deals.
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This place is a little hard to find when you're driving. In addition to the seemingly endless zones of construction going on at the UCLA campus, the multitude of cars, and limit on parking spots on the streets. ..it just compounds to the confusion even more. I say, just pay the money to park in a lot, and be on your merry little way, since everything in Westwood is pretty much within walking distance.
I've only come for happy hour, and boy, did it make me happy. It's from 4-7 PM, and +10PM everyday. Their fruity drinks are the best (try the tropical and exotic flavors of the mojitos), and their beer selection isn't too shabby either. The first (and sadly, last) time I went was when I still had my apartment on Kelton, and my darling boyfriend swung by after work for some high class bar food.
We ordered the king crab and artichoke dip. . .creamy, delicious, and most definitely crabby. . .it was a sensual flavor delight of crisp (from the bread chips) and smooth, warm, salty, and balmy . . .like a day at the beach. I'm pretty sure we ordered the calamari (last time I came here was almost a year ago. . .so my senility may make this review void) and a pizza. Maybe. Anyways, I remembered we ordered three appetizers and rounds of drinks. . .so maybe it's not my senility but the drunk factor???
Anyways, I remember the calamari came with two dipping sauces. . .one was tart, garlicy, and a white cream sauce, while the other was good 'ol marinara. Yum. The pizza wasn't too bad. . .though being accustomed to Little Caesar's while living as a poor college student. . .the pizza was quite gourmet here.
OH the best part is if you're part of their "premier email dining club" they send you coupons! The first being $15 off your next dinner meal with them!
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I've been here many times for the excellent happy hour (*every* day from 4-7pm and after 10pm). $5 pizzas and tasty half price appetizers (the wings are great), drink specials...what more could you ask for? Well, maybe free parking but this is Westwood, so you'll have to hunt around for it.
Wow!!!!! Just got back from Palominos...GREAT PLACE!!! This was my first time there...Wish I had tried them earlier...I definitely would have them as one of my favorite places.
Everything from appetizers to dessert was delicious! We had the crab dip, salads, seafood linguine, scallops, lamb shank and salmon, chocolate torte and coffee.
Lance was our server and he was awesome!!!! Really nice personality and the service was excellent! Thank you Lance.
Everyone there is really nice and welcoming. I highly recommend!!!
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I've been here twice, once for happy hour and then the other for lunch.
For happy hour, my friend and I had a great time. The food was reasonably priced and satisfying.
When I came here for lunch, my pasta was $11 and very dry. I seriously could've made that at home and it would've tasted better (and I can't cook worth ish). I ordered the Capellini Pomodoro. Maybe it was my fault for choosing that dish.
I would only recommend this place for happy hour. True, I only tried one thing on their regular lunch menu, but it was too disappointing for me to come back here during regular hours.
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This is a great spot for Happy Hour...which they have twice a day.....all the appetizers are half off.......
I like the clam pizza.....their pizzas are really thin and tasty.....
also they have a great fondue dish
tasty wings
and Bomb shrimp.....
My friend used to live down the street...so we used to hit up the Happy Hour all the time......but I lived in Santa Monica at the time.....now its a bit difficult to make it over that way for Happy Hour....but I miss the place.....mix of young professionals and college students.....
Usually when I would leave I would run over to W for a night cap
Based on the reviews I should have come here for drinks and appetizers @ happy hour ... good to know for next time. However, I did come here for lunch and the service was pretty awful. The food was average ... nothing I would write home. My friend's food also looked average ...
I'd skip for lunch -- and instead reserve your outing for happy hour. Looks like I've missed out.
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One of my favorite places in LA. Great food. Good place to go for special occassions or just to meet up with a good friend. And everything I've had on the menu has been amazing.
Adequate. Plastic; but hey - this is LA right?
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i love a good happy hour; see review for south in santa monica. happy hour here is from 4-7 AND after 10pm EVERYDAY; select appetizers are half off , all pizzas are $5, house red&white wine/beer are 3 bucks. amaziness.
i've gotten over the fact that the parking is nonexistent and now just park south of wilshire and walk over.
the food here is not your typical deep fried, tortilla chips, and cheese dishes, it is actually quality food. gotta try: grilled wild mushrooms, crab and artichoke dip, house wine, calamari, sausage&mushroom pizza, and crisp potatoes gorgonzola.
***never been here for anything other than happy hour. i hear it is an upscale place. ummm, i'll just stick with my $5 dollar pizzas.
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Great for happy hour but it gets packed so come early to grab a seat!
$5 for any pizza and half off appetizers.
THE SKINNY:
There are basically 3 bars in Westwood: Maloney's (now O'Hara's), Brew Co., and Palomino. Palomino hands down! No sleazy, loud obnoxious frat boys (usually) and no drunk crying sorority girls, which is the usual crowd at Maloney's and Brew Co. Extra star from me for the lack of the fake-ID-crowd.
THE FATTY:
I work(ed) down the street, and my girlfriends and I come here a lot for the happy hour... seriously a lot, like 3 times a week. We can sit and catch up to yummy food that is totally worth more than it's 1/2 price. As a college student, I can never go wrong with the Cosmoritas... two get me pretty buzzed! Gorgonzola waffle fries are soooo delicious, along with the super fresh and never chewy calamari. The king crab artichoke dip is also tasty, yet expect a lot more artichoke than crab. Stay away from the "pizza", which should actually be called a burnt cracker with unmemorable tomato sauce. Also have had the mixed berry cobbler, which was not too sweet, had a decent topping (but not crumbled like I prefer it) and vanilla bean ice cream. We devoured it in about 4 seconds.
Recently, the HH drink went from $3 to $4.33. I asked the bartender and he said it's because of inflation. But still worth it for Westwood because the atmosphere is a lot nicer (aka I don't feel like I'm going to get molested at Maloney's overrated pint night).
Based on my experiences so far, this is the best happy hour in Westwood. It draws more of the Westwood biz-cas crowd than the puking undergrad crowd. From 5-7 and 10 onward: $5 pizzas (which are really good), half priced apps and drink specials ($3 Bud). Definitely going back.
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Take Culver CityBus 6, Metro 20, 720, 920, 761 or Big Blue Bus 1, 2, 3, 8, 12.
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Came here around 5:30 for an early dinner to catch their 3-course $25 meal. My friend and I had their Lobster Ravioli and Crab Cakes. Both were good but not worth the $25 considering the appetizer was a bland salad and dessert was a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream. I definitely need to come back sometime for their happy hour though (4-7 pm and after 10 pm), 50% off yummy fried appetizers!
The interior makes you feel as though you entered a cheesy lounge in Reno. But, who cares? You feel like a winner because the happy hour menu features $5 pizzas, 1/2 off appetizers, and $3 domestic beer and house wine!!! Get buzzed, and go play at the arcade in Westwood.
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When in Westwood on business, nice place to stop in for dinner. Based on reviews, I need to check out the bar action next time. Food was decent, reasonably priced for an moderately upscale dining experience. Service was quick (and arrogant - is every waiter in LA and aspiring actor or just too cool for regular people)?
Nice happy hour (particularly because it's late night and not just 4-7). And you can get seated at a table that's not going to be directly behind or next to a really loud/drunk group. As a restaurant, it's happy hour is roomier and calmer than pubs/bars. I like this.
My best friend also tells me that they have the most amazing mojitos (pomegranate and others).
But the pizza I had tasted like saltine crackers with sauce. I advise against this item.
I've been going here at least once a week, sometimes multiples times a week for their Happy Hour. EVERYTHING on that happy hour menu is good. I always get the grilled prawns, calamari, and grilled mushrooms (which is pretty much a salad). Appetizers are half off and pizzas are $5. ALL of the pizzas are good. They have merlot, chardonnay, margarita, and budweiser for $4 a pop. They make the best mojitos in different flavors. My favorite is the passion fruit mojito. The lychee martini is REALLY strong, but still good. They also have this excellent chocolate souffle dessert. I forgot the exact name. But the dessert comes with this chocolate souffle, vanilla bean ice cream, this sweet sauce, and strawberries. The service is also great, even on a busy night. Even when it gets busy, it takes no longer than 10 minutes to get a table (it's self seating during happy hours). Happy hour is 4-7pm and 10pm-12am every single day!
I've been here for dinner, which is in a different room than Happy Hour, and the food is good from what I remember. But go there for Happy Hour. It's my absolute favorite. :)
Its a decent upper chain restaurant. Some locations have a prix fixe menu for early diners. My favorite items were the lobster raviloi and the profita rolls with pistachio ice cream!! Yum!
People are right. Brew Co.'s happy hour is better than Palominos. You go here for atmosphere, and perhaps for a larger selection of HH food, but I wouldn't go for quality.
1/2 off HH food and I think it was $3 beer/wine. That's it. The red wine was disgusting. White was alright. Beer options were only Bud varieties I believe. Please don't get their pizza. It's like a cracker crust of a thing, although they do have one with a good amount of clams.
4-7pm and again after 10pmish or so.
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I recently stumbled upon Palomino's for a friends 22nd birthday and I must admit the restaurant was not a stuck up establishment I presumed it to be. The waiters and staff were very courteous and the decor was very modern/chic.
I had the scallops and it was cooked to perfection, very tender and full of flavor.
The only downside to my meal was my tanqueray tonic...i found a small piece of glass inside my drink and fortunately did not swallow it.
All in all, Palomino's is a great restaurant for something more upscale in the Westwood/UCLA area.
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I went on a Wednesday evening for happy hour and its a great place to relax with a nice crowd. Great appetizers (the roasted mussels were good) and cheap pizza + $3 house wine, and I also got the lychee martini which was strong in a good way. Happy hour is the way to go!
We just got back from having dinner here. I'm stuffed. It must be all the pasta I just ingested. I ordered the linguine with rotiserrie chicken. On a scale of 1-10, the dish was about a 6. It was extremely doused in olive oil and the chicken was dry and hard. Not rotiserrie like I expected.
I added the tomato sauce that came with the bread and it shot up to a 7. That sauce is soo good with just the perfect kick of chiili.
For dessert, I had creme brulee. It was good, just average, nothing spectacular. He had the bread pudding which was the size of a house. The vanilla ice cream it came with was really good. I didnt actually try the bread pudding as I am not a fan.
Service was good, although it took forever and a day for the waiter to come back with the bill to sign.
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Definitely classier than Brew Co.'s and O'Hara's. Friendly bartenders! Diverse crowd. Great food! Generous happy hour (I bought a house drink for $3!). I'd love to frequent this place more
The single redeeming factor of this restaurant is that it has a SICK happy hour - my co-workers go there frequently for the cheap(-ish) pizzas and appetizers and drink specials.
You have to go crazy early to secure seats, partly because:
a) everyone else knows about the happy hour;
b) the people who go to happy hour are generally mean, cranky and/or desperate for seating to the point where "road rage" can be applied;
c) it's only fun when you roll at least four deep so logistically it's way more annoying.
Don't let me deter you though ... it's awesome.
The restaurant for dinner, on the other hand, is passable - I don't mind it, but it's not my first choice. Average star rating: 3.
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Palominos is a great place for a wednesday night happy hour. I say wednesday because for me, it's a difficult day to get thru, and there's just something about being @ Palomino that makes me smile and relax. The bar gets packed, but for good reason. Their specialty drinks are strong and distinct, and they have a nice variety of appetizers to go along with your cocktail hour. The gorgonzola fries are heavenly!
Downside? Parking... really slow valet...
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Happy hour here is great (4-7pm) for food. Crabcakes, sausage pizza, clams, and calamari are the usual picks. The chicken wings are sort of.. odd. Unfortunately, there are only 3 happy hour drinks, which I guess is cool if you're into jungle juice and crappy beer. I don't think I would come here during normal hours because the place seems a bit.. pretentious. But during happy hours you'll see swarms of grad school kids, college kids, and business men taking over the bar area. Now that's what I like to see. Tip: Brew Co down the street has happy hour 11am-6:30pm. Grab a drink there and then head here!
UPDATE 7/08
Me and a friend of mine stopped by the Palomino for their late night happy hour. We were "jones-in" for their king crab and artichoke dip.
That dish is so addictive! Why can't I learn to make it so I won't have to pay $14 for it? Someone teach me.....please. Well, I guess the Palomino has to make thier money somehow.
On this occassion, however we were slighted on the portion of dip we got. It was like half the usual size....but we wanted it so bad, we wouldn't dare send it back to the kitchen for fear we would have to wait to experience that cheesy, buttery goodness.
"Shit! *yelling at the top of my lungs*
Why, does this dip drive me so crazy?
"I'll see you again King Crab Dip.....I love you!"
YES!
I agree with the Karl's review (re: email list).
I used my $20 coupon earlier tonight. But I thought they only send your $20 off for the month of your birthday? Well, whatever, it came in handy.
I ordered the flight of Riesling,( 3 two-ounce glasses of different brands of Riesling), King Crab and artichoke dip, and the mussels...mmmmmmmmm. The bill went from $41 to $21 after I used my email coupon...good times.
I love the ambience, and the food is flavorful. Wait staff is pleasant. Paying the valet $6 always sucks, but hey, its L.A., why would parking be free? *smh*
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Me and a friend dropped by here around 7 on a Tuesday without reservations and waited for half an hour before claiming our territory (don't worry, no peeing involved) at a small table for two near the bar. The atmosphere is high energy and the customer service is pretty good. Cute waiter, too.
Palomino's is probably one of the nicer restaurants in Westwood but not the place to go if you want an intimate setting. I thought this was going to be one of those snooty, wannabe-classy-but-not-that-good places but the food was surprisingly tasty. We ordered some beers, a Chop Chop Salad and Calamari Fritto (a must). The entire dinner-teaser +tip ended up costing about $36. Kind of pricey but I hear they have killer happy hours from 4-7pm (darn, just missed it!). Will definitely check that out next time.
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Come for happy hour and otherwise do not bother.
Amazing happy hour on food only. Apparently the area has a law against alcohol specials in happy hours.
Half off appetizers! Woot!
this place has a great happy hr (until 7pm on weekdays and starts up again after 10pm)...i believe pizzas are $5 and most appetizers are 1/2 off. they have excellent calamari!!
ive had dinner here twice in the main dining room as well and a couple of menu highlights:
-crisp potatoes gargonzola (waffle cut fries with gargonzola cream sauce--TO DIE FOR)
-calamari (crispy, fresh, comes w/ great dipping sauce)
-king crab artichoke dip
-roma tomato and basil pizza (thin crust)
-grilled chicken salad
-beef short ribs
It's an odd mixture of suits and backpacks. The crowd stands for business professionals eager to drink their work woes away and UCLA students eager to get a good meal on a student's budget.
The food was above average for the happy hour bar menu from 4-7 pm. At half off appetizers and pizzas and $3 drink specials, this is a steal to find in Westwood. My party ordered the brick-oven fondue, king crab and artichoke dip and a basil- tomato pizza. I also had 2 Cosmo Ritas and a Merlot. Needless to say, I had a hard day.
I deducted a star because it can get overwhelmingly packed and aggressive. It's a bit weird to have other patrons giving you the eye to hurry up and get the f**k out so that they can make the happy hour special.
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I've never eaten here, so I can only talk about their bar area. Every time I come here I end up having a good time. As the people below have written, their happy hour is great. There are a couple ok drink specials, but the food prices are amazing.
For a while this place was a well-kept secret, but the secrets out. The crowd is getting younger and the area seems more crowded everyday. That's probably the only problem, its been getting harder and harder to get tables.
The happy hour is a great place for UCLA seniors and post-grad professionals. $5 pizza (they are goooood) and the rest of the half off menu. Great atmosphere and friendly and good-looking staff makes the place for you! The non-happy hours are more pricey but the place, staff, food is still wonderful.
A Popular place to meet for Happy Hour after a long day's work. It is always packed with a lot of suits but no worries, they loosen up after they down a few drinks:)
Be prepared to be aggressive because getting a table is not easy. People are very competitive about claiming a seat and will can be very devious about trying to take someone else's claimed spot.
Luckily I have fast feet and a big mouth so it was not a problem:)
Onto the Happy Hour selections...
There are quite a few things to choose from but all menu items are not made equally.
I have sampled quite a few and here are my opinions on what I have tried.
Crabcakes: They are mediocre, on the bland side, do not taste very crabby, must be a lot of filler in them and are genrally forgetable.
Mussels: I liked thse, the wine broth was tasty and is enjoyable with bread and butter. As for the mussels itself...they are very small but good.
Apple cheese fondue: I like this dish and it is one that I normally order.
Cheese pizza: I would not bother with this one, the crust and sauce isn't very good and the cheese was spartan which pretty much means the pizza sucked!
Seared Ahi appetizers: These looked very pretty but were also on the bland side, nothing special.
Mushroom salad: I really like this salad, plenty of mushrooms, tasty dressing. This is one that I always order.
Chicken Wings: These are pretty saucy which is good because it masks the dryness of the chicken. Some may enjoy it but I have not reordered them.
Overall:
The food is decent, have a few drinks and you can bump that up to good!
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This place was bank. That's it. Our Westwood local took us here after O'Hara's but before any other bars, and we sat down, I got mistaken as one of an Asian UCLA group that was having a gathering there, and I noticed that for all it's clean, metro design, it's brimming with well dressed UCLA amnesty international model UN club types. Hey it's a Thursday.
So sitting down the greatest surprise, and this was in concurrence with a lot of other LA places we went to, the half off appetizers I think past a certain time. We gorged on calamari, crab dip (so good), pizza, chorizo. All of us had 3 dollar beers. Our total bill for 4 apps and 3 beers: 32 bucks including tax. I almost cried. I almost pee'd. I almost shat. It wasn't that crowded, and we got seats immediately and the crowd was actually quite amiable, the total opposite of O'Hara's (which wasn't awful, but it was great to hit these two spots in one night to get difference ambience). Brightly lit with an air of sophistication but a crowd that wouldn't know how to be sophisticated, it's unpretentious, at least at night. From all the other reviews happy hour seems to bring on the suits and whatnot. I'm sure it's not as bad as New York suit bars.
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I've been to Palomino twice for happy hour, and my conclusion is: if you have a place to sit (that's a BIG if), good times will be had! People seriously need to chill out. It's friday night, the place is packed, and I'm standing by the entrance obviously waiting for a seat to open up. I may be a small Asian girl, but do you think I'll quietly let your group of 3 take the next table? I was here first!!
Okay, I had to get that out.
Other than the stressful quest for seats, the food is good, drinks and ambiance are great. Keep in mind that all the appetizers are on the greasy and heavy side. I would recommend the tomato and basil pizza, seared ahi and tomato bruschetta, clams, and potatoes with gorgonzola cheese. Add a cosmic rita or two to that, and you're good to go.
Until I find another happy hour-worthy place near Westwood, Palomino is my top choice for after work drinks and merriment.
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This place has a great vibe and is a perfect night out for a UCLA student with family in town. Try the mushroom salad and the specialty gin cockail.
This is the place to go when you're a poor college student but want to eat like you're a young professional. My friends and I frequented Palomino many a time for two reasons: 1) happy hour and 2) their $20 three course meal.
First off, happy hour hours are from 4-7pm and after 10pm every day. You MUST BE IN THE BAR AREA (I had a group of friends sit in the dining area during happy hour and get charged full price - ouch) which gets crowded during 4-7 but is nice and empty after 10 (think lounge-like atmopshere). All appetizers are 1/2 off, which means you can get calamari for $6! And, their crab and artichoke dip is to die for - we always order it and are never disappointed in the choice. Also, all their flat bread pizzas are $5 too, which is great for the price.
Secondly, their $20 three course meals - If you have dinner there between 5-6pm, they offer this three course meal (soup/salad + regular sized entree + dessert + soda/coffee/tea) for $20! TWENTY BUCKS! I mean, the entrees themselves are usually about $15 to $20 anyway! The only problem with this is that the time may not be feasible for those who have work, but hey! We were college students. Timing meant nothing to us.
Drinks are good here too, I usually get a mojito...too bad there are no discounts on drinks during happy hour.
**SEE PICTURES POSTED**
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