TAO Asian Bistro

Went here at Tao for a family birthday dinner, and everything in this restaurant was absolutely magnificent. The indoor scenery is beautiful, especially the Quan Yin statue. We also adored the dark ambiance throughout the building. Service was really good and welcoming. Food was enjoyable as well! We really enjoyed the family birthday dinner here at Tao.

I'd come back here, no doubts needed. Due to food, service, and ambiance here, I'd definitely consider the restaurant a 5 star and would recommend to "foodies".

My friends and I went to TAO LA after a Vegas weekend getaway.
My girl friend from Australia had her visions set on an LV restaurant that was a major let down so I wanted to make it up to her by taking her to TAO. I used to work TAO LV beach club so I was confident TAO LA would be amazing, even though I've never been. Based off the menu, the food was 100x more awesome, they care about their image in what they present, and it was all very noticeable. The let-down location in LV did not seem to care about their established image and it was honestly such a bummer, but if it wasn't for that bummer experience we would not have experienced the TAO LA experience!
I will have to say it took them an hour and 10 minutes after our reservation to seat us. We had to check with the desk a handful of times because we eat late but came with empty tummies because we were excited with the food and didn't expect to get seated over an HOUR after our reservation.
They must've heard the guys complain because when we were seated, we got one of the most stunning seats in the house.

For parking, we went to valet. You get a confirmation at dinner and you'll pay a smaller amount.
The scenery and ambiance inside was unreal. I love the dark sexy setting, and felt like I did not dress up as much as I'd like for this event! Yes, being at TAO was truly an EVENT! While we were waiting, TAO had a bar waiting area inside which was nice!
Ok, once we were seated, our server was extremely knowledgeable. I loved that TAO had vegetarian options for me too and all the drinks did not take too long. We had a bunch of family style plates and it was all so delicious! My girl friend was loving her experience and so were my other friends so that honestly made the night!! Everything from service, drinks, food, ambiance, and setting was above and beyond yet so consistent to the TAO hospitality brand. I am definitely excited to add TAO to the list of places to go when I have more out of town visitors. Thank you for such a lovely experience!

Came here on a Saturday night with a group of 14 for my Birthday celebration. It was honestly one of the worst dinner experiences, and not very enjoyable time. The entire planning process took a while because the person i was in communication via email responded very slowly. I asked via email how the menu worked, and how we are unsure of what everyones dietary restrictions are (this was only 2-3 days before the event, and the person responding to the email was very slow at responding and not clear and did not answer my questions directly. Instead of helping with the menu selection, she just urged me to choose menu of what i liked and send by certain time.) i thought i would just pay the deposit and secure the reservation date/time first, and let them know at the restaurant what we wanted on the menu and ask further questions since it was hard to get a response in a timely manner via email or phone (not reachable after certain time, and i always tried to call between their business hours)

The instruction was unclear (and ive sent the menu to multiple friends in our group and nobody really understood how it worked), and i had multiple questions that was not being fully answered. Overall, it was a complicated menu and was unclear how many items we were supposed to choose from the long menu that was sent to us. I let them know that only one of our friends was vegan and one friend had nut allergy, but rest are fine with everything. They made the entire menu mostly vegetarian/vegan menu instead of meat dishes. Out of 10 dishes, 7 were vegetarian dishes (2 fish). No one confirmed what would actually be on the menu. It was a surprise, but not in a good way. Not even a SINGLE chicken dish????

When i try to speak to the server and the manager at the restaurant after several friends complained, the server was apologetic and wanted to replace the items to alternative to make our group happy, but the manager named ALEX was the unapologetic condensing asshole that kept repeating how the vegetable rolls were their "gift" because they did not want the ONE vegan friend to feel left out and sent out more vegetable dishes to accommodate the entire group... well i got to say, to please ONE person, you made 13 people disappointed with the vegetable rolls that nobody touched. Our entire group's energy was shifted after this condescending manager's unapologetic answers to our complaints and made my birthday dinner feel disappointing and unenjoyable.

Will never be going back to Tao again, as the entire experience was by far one of the worst dinner experiences I've ever had at somewhere that I had high expectations for. If we are paying for the menu, it should be enjoyable, not be blindly fed food items we did not thoroughly enjoyed. We paid about $2000 including drinks for heavily vegetarian-based food that we could've probably got at Panda Express. Not worth it!

If you are thinking of hosting a big group gathering here, DONT. Because it will be disappointing, and the customer service was horrendous. They need to figure out better system in hosting big groups, and have the communication process more smooth and timely. Tao was not a good place to host big group, and the experience may vary depending on your food preferences and service expectations. They shouldve sent the "chef special" menu to customers interested in doing this, and list what is included clearly instead of just making it "freestyle" vegetarian centered dishes because theres ONE vegan in the large group. Its hard to shake off the thought that we got scammed into signing something without fully knowing what to expect. We trusted them to send the right menu, and if not, to redo and make it right. That is called exceptional customer service at fine dining places.

DO NOT RECOMMEND TAO IF YOU ARE THINKING OF HOSTING A LARGE GATHERING.

It was my second time here and I was satisfied both times. Definitely recommend making a reservation before going as it can get busy especially on weekends.

Drinks - tried lychee martini, mango chili martini, and bubbles & berries and all of them were amazing. They put enough alcohol :)

Spicy tuna tartare on crispy rice - love this appetizer. It comes with many pieces

Shrimp har gow - I liked how it containd a big piece of shrimp inside

Satay of chilean sea bass - must to order! So delicious

Druken pad thai - a great dish to share as it is pretty big in portion. Not as sweet as pad thai at thai restraurant which I liked

BBQ duck fried rice - another great dish to share. Pairs well with all of their other dishes

Steamed bok choy - a little disappointing. Wish the leaves were separated.

Would definitely recommend ordering for family style as there are so many menus to try and all the plates were meant to be shared.
Ambience is great and serve was wonderful!

Ambiance is unbeatable. Absolutely stunning interiors, it's like being transported to a different world. The food and drinks were decent, pricing is pretty on par with other LA restaurants. The dim sum, lobster sushi roll, chinese broccoli, shishito peppers, bok choy, pad thai were delicious! I would avoid the sushi here (except for the rolls which are yummy), it's meh compared to other sushi restaurants in LA. This is a great restaurant for a formal social outing with friends and I enjoyed my dinner here. Service was ok, had to flag down several staff members to ask for things instead of my waitress but they did help out when asked. Would come back.

This was my first time visiting Tao for a celebration of my and a friend's birthday. The vibe is phenomenal and I just felt transported to another place. When I go back, I want to sit on one of the stair landings.

We were a large group and shared a lot of the dishes. I loved everything I ordered, some dishes more than others. The olive leaf fried rice was fresh and super flavorful. The cod was soft, flaky and full of delicious flavor. The edamame was fresh but nothing special really (same with the vegetable egg rolls). The Brussels sprouts were really good, better than I expected.

The service was excellent and they were quick to help us with everything we needed. Everyone enjoyed their experience and we will definitely be back.

Oh! The music was on point!

When I first visited LA, TAO was a popular location. They kept the good ambiance over the years. Your day can easily turn into a romantic set up. Good service, average food.
The best thing on the menu is hands down the sea bass skewers. If you're into good Chinese food this is the spot, but if you're focusing on sushi etc this might not be the best option.

Came here recently with my friend, she had amazing things to say about the ambiance and food so I gave it a try.

Firstly, the valet ranges from $25-30 which could be your best option. It's next to the highlight room and other nightlife.
We started by ordering Chilean sea bass skewers (came out quickly and tasted phenomenal; albeit like most Chilean sea bass does). Then ordered orange chicken (popular item but it didn't stand out far from Panda Express..). Had miso black cod (amazing as well, similar to Erewhon, Nobu, etc). Ordered pork noodles (it was mediocre..) and our cocktails were alright nothing worth the price nor outstandingly special.

The service was really unpleasant, it felt ingenuine and we felt like a bother throughout the night (trying to take a couple photos being my first time) and when asked to be helped multiple times and for boxes it felt as though a push to leave after sitting for about an hour. The restroom is awkward because the sink area is not separated from the men completely and there's restroom attendees that hope for tips.
This establishment is good for the cool atmosphere (large space with lots of different seating and the statue), but if you don't like dark restaurants with mediocre service, you can definitely find the food that Tao sells elsewhere, sometimes better (nobu, erewhon, plenty of other places). I would only return for the ambiance with friends or a date, but not specifically for the food, photo opportunities, drinks or service.

Great ambiance. Love that they take reservations. Food was good but be prepared to pay.. the portions aren't that big either. For 2 people we had a hefty bill. The sushi rolls are very small.. so we had to order 2 of those. Pad Thai was good but too many mushrooms. The service was excellent very nice and attentive. Overall still a nice evening and a cool experience for all.

Super lux restaurant and bar. Valet $20
Beautiful decor. It is really dark and intimate. Our server was good. Reservations are necessary but you may need to wait even with reservation. There is a lounge area while you wait.
The food was really great! Sushi was fresh and the snapper was deliciously spicy.

Lots of steps so wear a comfortable shoe or at least a heel that won't slip lol