The Palm Los Angeles

iSpeak for the ladies: Take me here!! Simply beautiful restaurant and the food presentation purely awesome. more

good service. ok food more

This is my first restaurant review. I've enjoyed prime steakhouses throughout the country and was looking forward to trying this one especially since my wife and I were attending a concert at the nearby Nokia Theatre. Well, it didn't quite pan out to be the experience that it's reputation precedes.\r Beautiful Christmas tree and an inviting ambiance. The food was another matter. After the very good Caesar salad, my wife's gorgeous face expressed a look of disappointment I haven't seen in quite a few years. Her salmon, as she conveyed, was tasteless. The cottage fries and fried onions were not even on a level of supermarket quality. In fact, one of the cottage fries actually hurt one of my crowns. Ouch.\r My 16oz. N.Y. Strip wasn't a total disaster however there wasn't much to tout. I'm accustomed to an attractive, juicy, sizzling steak arriving at my table whenever I pay more than $35 for it. This one looked like it was sitting around for a bit and wasn't very juicy. So so consistency and an underwhelming flavor. I've had much much better locally at Mastro's, L.A. Prime and Ruth's Chris. My reigning champs though are Peter Luger and Gene & Giorgetti's.\r The $145.00 we spent on this meal was not a good value and the service met the bare minimum. Pros: Location, Ambience Cons: Food, Value (or lack of) more

He and his buddy decided to share a 51/2 lb. behemoth. They requested that it be boiled, rather than split and broiled. The server said that the kitchen could do that. However, when the lobster was brought to the table, it was beautifully presented, but broiled and split! When my husband questioned her, in quite a haughty tone, she insisted that ""this is the way we serve our lobsters."" My husband repeated his original request., and the server assured him that the lobster was fresh, and he would not find it dried out (as he feared). However, our tasting proved otherwise. Although the crustacean was quite sweet and\r well textured, we found that it required an inordinate amount of butter to counterbalance the dryness. Although I would have sent the $100+ plate back to the kitchen, the guys decided to finish it, rather than waiting for another selection to be prepared. (Our friend's wife and I had already begun our to eat.) As for my dinner, I had the pepper-seared ahi. It was ample, fresh and generally tasty. But it was presented like a brick on an iceberg...no greenery or imaginative vegetable enhansements...just a slab of tuna on a white plate. When the server had taken our order, she curtly told me, ""Yours comes with nothing."" (I was believer and ordered the spinach as an accompaniment.) It was a good thing, because my a la carte offering would have been pretty boring without it. As I reflect on our mediocre and expensive experience, it reminded me of why I had not been back to the Palm in nearly 20 years. It's too bad that such a beautiful new restaurant in the revitalized downtown area was not able to dazzle us with great food and friendly service. more

Our family of 8 went to the PALM for the first time in celebration of a birthday. I made reservations so we were seated right away. The management must have told the server that we were celebrating a birthday so he mentioned that they had something special. The food was generally fine. The main problem that I had was with the overcharges. I guess each item was priced individually. So, you were charged for each water, steak, sides, etc. Seeing the main course, I expected to spend a lot at the restaurant.. $48 for steak. I'm okay with that. Additional for each side dish. Okay. So, I ordered 3. Additional for salad. Okay. So, I ordered 4 of those. The server came around near the end of the main course and said that the restaurant had a surprised dessert platter for us. When the platter came with different desserts, I was impressed. So I thought, ""Wow, all this selection on the house?? How sweet of them."" My mother decided to take care of the bill before I could see it. Later, when I saw the bill I was shocked to see that I was charged double for the sides, additional for some things that I never ordered nor received, and for all the single dessert dishes that the server decided to put out there. Note: we're not even huge fans of dessert so I was annoyed that we were charged an additional $60 for this dessert plate. We were easily charged over $100 over what I had really ordered and I felt cheated of the details of this blind costing ""special dessert"" thing. I don't know if I'll want to go back for fear of pushy waiters that randomly order whatever the heck they feel like charging so that they can get a fat tip. Pros: Good ambience - old Hollywood caricatures on wall. Food is decent. Cons: Overpriced for meat that's not always properly cooked to customer's desire. more

my boyfriend and i just had our valentines day dinner here. we are avid steak eaters, and have frequented man high-end steakhouses from LA to Vegas to NY. i had heard good things about this place and had always wanted to try it. our waitress was very informative and friendly, and she helped me decide on a dish. the appetizers were great, i had the cesar salad and my boyfriend had the tortilla soup. the side dishes were also amazing, we had the wild mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach. i was, however, a little dissapointed with the entrees. my boyfriends rib eye was overcooked (he asked for rare and it was well above medium). our waitress was really nice about it, however, and immediately brought out a new one. my pork chops were also a bit overcooked and the meat seemed a little rough and not as tender as i would expect for a steakhouse that claims to have this type of aged beef. as it was our first time here, the manager offered us free desert, which was a huge slab of cholcolate cake...yummy!! while the meat wasn't everything i expected, i will definitley give this place a second chance. maybe i'll have the lobster or filet mignon next time!! Pros: great service, good food, strong martinis, good ambience, decent prices Cons: meat was not as tender as i expected more

Ive always heard so much about the Palm and decided to try since I recentley moved into one of the lofts downtown and the Palm is just 2 blocks away. Our server was very informative about the menu and guided us through the entire experience which was comforting. I knew they were known for there steaks so I decided to try the 16 oz. New York, and the server suggested that I have it blackened which was an excellent decision. Our entire dinner was so great everyhting was perfect and because it was our first time they even bought us dessert and welcomed us to the neighborhood. We decided to check out the bar and as soon as we walked in the bartender immediatley acknowledged us and asked how our dinner was then offered us some drinks. I can't wait to go back more

i was so pleasantly pleased when i dined at the palm in the downtown area. i felt like my server really tried to help me find the perfect meal for me and my friends. i ended up getting the surf-n-turf, my friend had this new item on the menu, the pork malfata, and we all shared a bunch great sides.\r \r i am from boston, and i was floored by how great the lobster was....way better than what i have had in boston. i also had this dry aged new york strip that was exactly what prime beef is supposed to taste like. i've had run ins at morton's and ruth's chris where the beef is supposedly prime, but didn't quite taste like i know it should taste so, i'm really picky about it. as for my friend, she also enjoyed the pork malfata as much we liked our surf-n-turf. as for the side dishes, we had the 3 cheese au gratin and asparagus fritti and loved it all! \r \r i guess we had come when there was newly added items to the menu and were definitely wowed by the ones we tried. we had drinks and more drinks. the server kept us laughing. and the desert made us well--stuffed to the brim.\r \r had a great time. loved the combination of fining dining, but come as you are. this palm had a great vibe.\r \r Pros: great food good vibe more

honestly, for as much hype as this restaurant (chain) receives, it is very overrated. i used one of their 'private' dinning rooms to entertain clients and the experience was less than stellar; the food was average as was the service. to compound the problem, their management has been horrible with regards to follow-up issues; hiding behind the ""we are so busy this time of year"" excuse. please, do yourself (and your clients) a favor, choose another venue. more

My wife and I went to the Palm for the first time thinking we would kick off the Labor Day weekend with a nice meal. It was quite the opposite. The food was so disappointing and expensive that it drove me to sign up for City Search just so I could write a review and spare other innocent LA foodies from falling victim. (no joke). We were first surprised by the prices. Much more expensive than my favorite chop place, Arroyo Chop House so we had great expectations. My wife got the hearts of Lettuce (something like $8.) and was expecting maybe butter lettuce with a nice dressing...nope, iceberg with blue cheese and some tasteless oil dressing. We ordered two filets (med, med rare) and the mushrooms and creamed spinach for our sides. Both of the filets had no taste and mine was extremely dry almost all the way through. (luckily my wife had some leftover blue cheese from her salad...yes, sad but true) The mushrooms tasted like they were just sitting in some type of white wine without much of any other flavor and the spinach was very milky tasting and had a watery texture. \r I must say that the service was good though. Our waiter was so nice and attentive that I didn't have the heart to tell our waiter how disappointed we were with the meal. Rather than making a fuse, we decided we just wouldn't go back. Our waiter asked if we were interested in joining the 837 club which was a frequent diner rewards club. I joked by saying that we would only if we could be placed on the wall of caricatures (along with Mahoney and John Travolta). Our waiter said, ""oh that's when you reach 12,000 points!"" We rolled our eyes and graciously declined. Well, I guess if ""celebrities"" are willing to spend a minimum of $12k on this lousy food, heck who are we to say?! oh, and did I mention it a chain? Maybe I didn't have to... more

I went to the Palm in Downtown for the first time last weekend and had a wonderful experience. I had the 4lb. lobster, it was juicy and delish. My date had a huge Ribeye steak that was cooked perfect. Great service from bar and the sever staff's. I will be going back soon. Pros: great food, good service, cool bar Cons: little expensive more

I was very disappointed with The Palm. Their steak was very poor. It was tough with too much fat. I was also disappointed by their lobster. You just don't get much food at all. The restaurant looked nice inside, with the dark wood paneling and all. But I just felt like the food was poor, especially in conjunction with the high prices. Overall, I was really disappointed and I left wishing that I could have received a refund. In fact, I went home with an empty wallet AND an empty stomach. Pros: fun downtown location, near Staples Center Cons: , small portions, poor quality food more

This place is just as cool as the one in West Hollywood. The food is just as great, the service was more than average. Had a nice time and a pricey check. But it was all worth it. I will go back for sure. Close to the Staples center so great place to go to before an event. Give it a 10 Pros: food, food, food more

I've been to the West Hollywood Palm twice and the downtown one twice. The downtown branch is definitely more open and modern and to some, it may lack the old school atmosphere of the Hollywood branch. However, the food is consistent and good. The NY strip is excellent - one of the best that I have regularly enjoyed and in my opinion, better than Pacific Dining Car. It is firm, yet tender, beefy, and rich - just like a dry-aged NY strip should be. The service is excellent. Pros: Great location, Consistently Good, Close to Staples more

I am a steak lover, and I know my steak. The Palm needs to work on its selection. Its prime tastes like Stater Bros. choice, if that. I don't pay $40 for a steak that I can get at Stater Bros. for $15. The quality was far below average for this price bracket. Pros: Nice atmosphere, Good location Cons: , Bad Value, Poor Food more

The food is average. service usually goes from fair to terrible. They believe their own publicity and unless you are a high profile personality the dining experience is usually just okay more

We ended up paying more than $60/person without any alcohol at all. Waiter was pushy, wanting us to order the larger cut and more side orders than we could finish. Very bad value for money. The steak was OK, nothing to write home about. more

I ordered the New York, medium rare, and it came to my table medium. I can enjoy a steak cooked medium, so it wasn't a huge deal, though disappointing considering this is what they do. The texture of the meat was fantastic; however, the flavor left a lot to be desired. I've barbequed choice and select steaks at home that have had much more flavor and better marbling. The half and half onion ring and home fries (warm potato chips) side was almost inedible. The caesar salad was the culinary highlight, which is unfortunate. more

First of all, great steak starts with great meat--prime, dry aged, well marbled, trimmed right, perfectly cooked. That eliminates most of the faves on the list. The Palm has it all. Plus, great salad, beans, asparagus, creamed spinach, and that NY pumpernickel. A little rowdy, so faint of heart Southlanders who can't handle East Coast energy might be put off by it all. Pros: Great steak, Fab lobster, rowdy and fun Cons: noisy, burly, macho more

The Palm served me a surf and turf spread a few weeks ago, and I suppose it makes sense to put in my two cents on how I felt. The service was great. The waiters and waitresses were immensely attentive to our every need and request. The drinks were well prepared and well blended. An excellent job on their more individual and signature selections. The food was decent, but interesting and even... yes, bad... in a few places. The lobster saw a presentation of a lot of unusable matter to the table, more so than is traditional. It was a little bit unnerving on the plate in front of me. The steak was satisfying and savory, though, and somewhat redeeming for the lobster. Pros: Great location, Cool fratty atmospher, Great bartender Cons: Boring menu, Boring clientelle more