Chris "iPhoneJunkie" M.'s Profile

I don't want to spend too much time reviewing this place because it's very standardized mexican food for the masses. However I also think, for what this place is, the people reviewing it are giving it a bad rap.  
It is what it is...decent Mexican food at a shitty outdoor mall.  If you are expecting more then that, then you also probably think that the Americana is a cool place to hang out!
The service was excellent, the carnitas was good(far from the best I've had but still tender and tasty and large), the pomegranate margarita was fantastic and the mariachi band was entertaining.  The meal itself really wasn't all that expensive either and it came out hot and timely.
If you happen to be stuck in the hell hole that is the Americana and want a decent meal, you could certainly do worse(cough cough Cheesecake Factory!).
Does it deserve 4 stars??  Probably not, but taking all things into consideration, it's better then a 3.

I can sum this up in a nutshell...this place is alright.  Not great, not  bad just alright.
After reading some of the reviews I might sound like a broken record, but  here goes....
I've been wanting to try this place for a while, but never made it down here.  I always heard too that the place is hard to get into so go early.  So a couple of buddies and I went there around 6:30 on Sat and it was already packed.  We got in alright, but there was no where to sit.  So we walk up to the bar to order drinks of which they have quite a good selection.  If you are a beer connoisseur this is a great place to check out!  As the guy is getting our drinks I snap a photo of the cool looking taps that line the back of the bar.  The dude comes running over and says, you're not allowed to take pictures of the taps!  Uh Ok that's weird, but I already had gotten the picture I wanted so whatever.  We get our drinks and vulture for a table and vulture and vulture.  It's kinda weird because you feel the pressure to be one step ahead of the other vultures who are all staring down tables that look like they're almost done as if to say, "alright move it along now we want your table"  Kind of uncomfortable for all parties involved.  Not of big fan of this method of seating.  If it was just a standard bar then this would be acceptable, but being as this place bills itself as upscale bar food, you'd think there'd be at least one section with some sort of seating arrangement.  So we finally end up being at the right place at the right time and snag a table.  So how do we order I ask?  Oh you have to go order at the bar and they don't allow substitutes nor do they have ketchup.  Ummm, ok but I really want a burger without blue cheese and with ketchup...sorry no luck.  So I go with the steak au poivre and the other guys go with the burger and we split some sweet potato fries.  Food comes out fast considering how crowded it was and the sweet potato fries were really good!  The aioli sauce which comes with them is really tasty and an acceptable substitute for ketchup if you like that kind of thing.  My steak was just ok...kinda tough really.  Had a bite of the burger...it was ok, but would have been better without the blue cheese(I do admit I didn't miss the ketchup though).I do have to say the caramelized onion goop on top was quite good!  "Best Burger in Town" though?  Hardly.  
I feel like it's hip and cool to like this place by default, but let's not get carried away. It's a good bar with decent food and an interesting atmosphere. Like so many others I might be willing to give it 3.5 stars for selection of booze and atmosphere, but due to lack of service, lack of customization and lack of orderly seating there's no way I can give this a 4 or higher.
Perhaps to just come here during the week and have a drink after work this might garner a higher rating, but that's not really how this place bills itself.  It left me wanting more like so many other over hyped, hipster joints in LA.  Just because the sheeple say something is the best or the coolest doesn't make it so.
I might go back someday, but I won't be heartbroken if I don't.
Glad I finally got to try it though.

What can I say, the food was fantastic, the wine was spot on and the atmosphere was perfect for a jazz club.  Shame the kitchen had to ruin it by not getting our food out in a timely manner.  Had our waiter not been so cool I might have walked out of there after not getting anything except wine for the first hour.  Normally I wouldn't complain about getting inebriated off good wine at a a restaurant, but it felt like we were at Hell's Kitchen...I started imagining Gordon yelling at the chefs and calling them donkeys.  Apparently, our table got confused with another table and the other table kept accepting food they didn't order during this fiasco and no one wondered what was going on?  I might not have minded but the jazz band this particular evening was just ok.  Very lounge like and not what I would expect from a so called "jazz club".
However, the food was so good that it made it all worth wild.  The ham & cheese plate was to die for.  The tuna tartar and zucchini fritters were some of the best I've ever had and the spare rib sliders were fantastic.  Ended up having a soup and salad for entree which was unexpected, but still felt full in the end.  Skipped out on desert though since we had been there for almost 3 hours at that point and just wanted to get out of there. I also love the way they present their wine flights with a little place mat with the wine information on it. They need better glasses though for the flights  as they seemed cheap and more suited for desert wines.
I'm guessing on a less crowded evening during the week, with better jazz, this place is 5 stars, but on a busy Saturday night, keep your expectations low.  Can't say this is my favorite place in town, but I imagine I will go back at some point.

I have so many issues with this place that I don't even know where to begin....
I went there last night for the first time because someone we had dinner plans with recommended the place.  I'm always up for good italian so what the hell.  Yes hell is what the experience became...I don't care how hip and cool this "mom and pop" place is, they need to get it together!!

First we were seated at a table that was barely big enough for 3 and there were 4 of us.  Unfortunately, our 4th was running late...no big deal, we'll just have some wine and order an appetizer.  Oh wait, we forgot to bring wine and our 4th who is not there yet has it!  I'm sorry an italian joint w/o a liquor license is like a candy store without candy...that's neither here nor there though.
So the waiter comes over and tells us he won't tell us the specials until our 4th has arrived??  Uh, ok that's weird, but whatever....so we sit there for about 20 minutes and all we are given is a bottle of water we were forced to pay for(because they refuse to give you tap and say, but we don't charge a corkage fee so you have to pay for water????).  We ask the waiter finally if we can just go ahead and order an appetizer to hold us over until our 4th comes and he tells us "No, I have to put your full order in, I can't just put in one appetizer because it confuses the kitchen."    This was the 3rd WTF moment of the evening...I know it's our fault that our full party isn't here , but on a rainy night in LA, shit happens!!  I have NEVER been to a restaurant where I was told no we can't order an appetizer and no we can't hear the specials until our full table has arrived.  I felt like I was being treated like a child who was being punished for being late to school.
Anyway, he tells us he'll finally get us some bread instead.  Fine then.  He comes back 5 minutes later, with still no bread mind you, and says he talked to the boss and they will make an exception this time and put our app order in.  Oh don't do us any favors!  How about some freaking bread already!!
Another 5 minutes go by and we are passed off to another waiter who gives us the same speech about not giving us the specials and he still doesn't have any damn bread!!!
30 minutes have gone by now and our 4th finally arrives!  At the 40 minute mark our app comes out and we now have a third waiter!  Ok fine whatever just open the wine so we can eat the app, drink some wine and order.
The food finally comes and although it was good, it wasn't good enough to wash the bitter taste in my mouth from the whole experience so far.  Anyway, we finish dinner, split some desert and wait for the check...and wait....and wait.  We flag someone down and ask for the check and wait....and wait....and wait.  30 minutes of this crap!  I finally go up there to the counter and ask for it and our 1st waiter comes running over and says oh I was just getting that for you.  Right!  Sure you were pal.
So we figure out the bill and are ready to pay and we wait....and wait....and wait.  Finally I take it up to the counter and we finally get out of there....3 hours later!!!  Folks this is not a 3 hour dinner kind of place...even with our 4th running 30 minutes late we should have still been out of there in 2 hours!
Oh and on top of everything I ended up feeling sick from the food shortly after we left....or maybe it was the whole experience....don't know why, nothing tasted bad, but boy did I feel like crap.
Apparently, this place is popular due to how crowded it was all night, but I can not figure out why?
Will I go back...HELL NO

I gotta be honest, I don't know much about Vietnamese food other then I haven't been a big fan of it in the past.
That being said, I really enjoy this place.   I actually crave the shrimp/pork spring rolls sometimes....they are huge and tasty!
I don't get the whole Pho thing so perhaps I miss the point of why everyone is complaining?  But my signifacnt other seems to enjoy it from time to time so that's good enough for me.
Service is usually good and the food is solid as far as I can tell.  I'm pretty sure this place won't knock your socks off, but if you've never had Vietnamese before(or didn't much care for it) this isn't a bad place to start.
The portions are big, the prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is modern.
You could do a lot worse.

Porto's is just simply awesome!

The potato balls, meat pies, sandwiches and cakes are the best!  That probably explains why there's always a line of 100 people in front of you when you go there.  Patience is needed once you enter the joint, but it's so worth it.
We tend to get a large box of meat pies & potato balls as well as a plate of mini sandwiches for parties we throw.  People love them as they are perfect as finger food, but they also do a fine job of soaking up the alcohol.  Just be sure to order a week or so ahead of time for a large order like that.
You really can't go wrong here...just give yourself plenty of time and take a few valium before you go.

We love this place.
It's close to us, has a great vibe and we always leave with a good bottle of wine we'd never heard of before.  We try and go to one of the weekend tastings as often as possible(maybe once a month or so) and then walk down colorado to grab a bite to eat. The location is great for that.  You can even order pizza from next door and bring it over to eat while you taste.
The owners are very cool and very helpful as well.  They definitely try to make the whole process of wine tasting seem down to earth and accessible.
It can get really crowded in there during special tastings, but the space is small so that's to be expected.  They also don't have the largest selection of wine, but it is a well rounded selection and you won't feel overwhelmed.
My favorite thing about them is that they try and have some sort of theme for their weekend tastings.  We attended one a while back that was called white trash wine tasting.  They paired wines with foods such as twinkies, sloppy joes, potato chips and spam!  That was by far the most memorable tasting I've ever been to.
If you're local and like wine, there's absolutely no reason not to go check this place out.

The good...

Food = Fantastic!

The rock shrimp and kobe beef were some of the best I've ever had!  The mixed drinks and large sake list are a great compliment to the food.  A little on the pricey side, but worth it for the quality and taste of the food.

The Bad....

Service/Management = Suck

When we arrived we were seated outside.  Why's that bad you say?  Because it butts up against the heavy traffic flow that is the Americana walk ways.  I felt like I was in a fish bowl.  Apparently just because you have a reservation doesn't mean you get a good table.....they allow far too many walk-ins...Anyway, there was much chaos up front because one of the kitchens had gone down and they were still allowing walk ins!  This was a problem due to the fact that it was a busy night and clearly one kitchen could not handle the load...yet they still were allowing those without reservations to come in.
It took hours to get our food...we got stuff we didn't order even though we told them that and didn't get stuff we did order and finally canceled it.  Some table were getting food that hadn't been there long while others who had been there a while had nothing, but their drinks.
Lots of people around us were complaining as well...one table even got up and left it was so bad....after having it out with the manager first in front of our whole section.  Funny, right before he got angry, his kids ran over to in and out, came back and ate before the adults even had their main course.  He was pissed....It was a mess.
I was also told by my significant other that the ladies bathroom was in bad shape.  That she had seen cleaner bathrooms at dive bars!
Our server tried her best to keep up with the chaos, but ultimately it was a losing battle.  She informed us what the problems were and bought us a sake. We were grateful for her honesty and appreciative of her attempt to salvage our evening....at the end of the night I actually felt bad for her.
I'm not sure I'd go back to this particular Katsuya.  I hear the one in Hollywood is run better.  I would like to go to that one because I did really enjoy what food I did get.  What can I say, a nice, high end Japanese joint probably shouldn't be in the middle of the disneyland shopping experience that is the Americana in Glendale.  Just sayn

I don't review spas ever, but I absolutely love this place and felt compelled!  
Have been there twice and received two different signature treatments and both were fantastic.  The facilities were clean with a modern Asian feel.  Very relaxing.  It may not look like much from the front, but once you're inside you forget that you are sitting right next to a busy freeway.
If you live in the area this is a great place to have a little relaxing get away for a few hours.  It's a bit pricey, but I would much rather go here then say, a Burke Williams.  Much more personality.
My only regret is that I can not afford to come here more often.

Quite possibly the worst pizza I've had in years.  Ordered pepperoni and garlic....the garlic was un-cooked and was piled high. The toppings on other slices, while abundant, seemed to be thrown on as an after thought and were cold.  The cheese slid off the dough.  And to boot, it was during the middle of the lunch hour and no one was in there....that's not usually a good sign.
The interior could have been cool as they let people write graffiti on the wall, but most of it looked as if it was written by teenage, wanna be gang bangers, obsessed with male genitalia and bathroom experiences.
The service and the cheap prices were the only good part of the whole experience.
If you're in High School and don't know any better, then you'll probably like this place.  Otherwise, you might as well go to pizza hut....