Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts In Los Angeles

It's too bad that it is impossible to give zero stars in a rating. I attended and graduated from the baking program in 2006. The curriculum stinks. The classes are 3 weeks long each. How on earth are you supposed to absorb, not to mention excell in a restaurant or bakery after having 3 weeks experience. After 30,000 dollars I expected to be able to make enough money to at least pay back my student loans, but no. Salliemae calls me daily. I made 16,000 a year after 2 years in the industry. Could you live off of that? There is no restaurant industry left where I live and no positions available. After being laid off I live on meager unemployment insurance. The only option I have left is to put all that I have left into a new education and a new career. I only hope that if you are thinking about attending this school you leave a comment, so that I can speak to you myself. Not to talk you out of it, but to let you hear what happened to me. To prevent it from happening to you. more

Chefs at CSCA Pasadena demonstrate irritability, impatience and often operate their class at a rediculously fast pace (and if supplies aren't available as was usually the case, expect that anger and irritiability to inscrease exponentially) . They are unapproachable and incapable of providing a letter of recommendation because they always appear to be so irritated at the class as a whole, that it makes it difficult for one to ask for a chef's recommendation because there isn't a chance for a student-mentor relationship to develope. It was like being on T.V. 's Hell's Kitchen and the class was being taught by Gordon Ramsey (regardless if the chef instructor was male or female). I've been working in commercial kichens as a paid employee since attending CSCA and when the boss snaps, you take it because that's the guy that signs your paycheck. However, if one is PAYING for classroom instruction and what they get is is an angery, demeaning chef-instructor ... ... well, one doesn't have to sign THEIR paycheck, especially if one can learn more from the class textbook, which would not only be THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS less than the tuition ... but if the book was checked out of a LIBRARY... I guess one could LEARN to be a chef FOR FREE !! Pros: excellent curriculum (schedule of classes covers a variety of culinary subject) / valuable resources (campus library, on-line book catalog and recipe index) Cons: CSCA Le Cordon Bleu, Pasadena, has chef instructors who lack the teaching skills needed to perform under dynamic classroom situations/ no student interaction more

I graduated from CSCA in 2005. Maybe I had an isolated experience but I am really disappointed in their school. The teachers were more interested in themselves than actually helping out the students. The counselors had very little time for students and the 'excellent placement program' that was promised was useless. Sorry, but I went to culinary school because I was passionate about food, not so interested in lining the schools pockets :( more

One of the best culinary schools in California very amazing, hands on, teachers are down to earth and help you along the way. Great place to build ur furture more

We had dinner here tonight and were not impressed. Extremely expensive with food that was average. Wine list is pricey. I thought the price was suppose to be more affordable because students were waiting on you and making the food. Not So! Cons: Too pricey more

i wanted to learn a little about cooking methods and other processes that go into cooking and i enrolled in some classes at the california school of culinary arts. they were very friendly and were able to help me enroll and they had a very good well trained staff who helped me learn all the skills that i needed to learn.excellent customer service. more

The CSCA is a good way to get a leg up in the competetive cooking industry. It will help you develop a lot of basic skills beyond cooking that are necessary to be successful in the cooking industry. The classes cover a wide variety of subject, again going beyond just strictly cooking. However, the instruction quality varies a lot from instructor to instructor, so if you want the most out of the school you have to go to the registrars office and bug them to get the chef you want. more

The Culinary Arts School has a cafe where they sell unique fancy desserts and have a complete lunch/dinner menu. You can have restaurant quality food at lower prices, simply because these budding chefs are still training. Delicious! more