Where is the Best BYOB Restaurant in Los Angeles, California?
This little french restaurant instantly became one of my favorites. I went here for dinner, and as soon as I stepped inside, I was struck by the yellow walls, the deep blue with little night stars on the ceiling, and the overall sense of a romance. The pictures on the restaurant’s website really do not do it justice! One of the appetizers we had was the cheese fondue, which was not a bowl of melted cheese as we expected, but instead a surprisingly delicious block of crusty-on-the-outside melted-on-the-inside cheese to spread over bread. I would definitely recommend it. I had the their duck (Canard a la Jeff ), and the blend of the sweet orange sauce and the flavorful duck were perfect. My other guest’s guests got the Grilled Filet of Salmon and the Steak a la Christine, both of which they ate with delight. The only odd thing was that the side dishes that come with the entrees are either french fries or scalloped potatoes. The french fries were fine, but I would recommend the scalloped
When I saw the 9.7 rating for this restaurant, I immediately called up a friend to suggest we try it out. We both love Italian, and a 9.7 is damn impressive….or so we thought! First of all, the “Italian” Restaurant looks like a cheap fast food joint. The reviews warn that it isn’t pretty, but I didn’t expect it to be downright ghetto looking. As for the food, the pastas are just very heavily infused with garlic…and just because it has a ton of garlic, it doesn’t mean it’s authentic!! And forgive me, but it was rather laughable to see some people drinking a bottle of wine with their pasta in this run down looking fast food “Italian” joint….it’s like seeing people drinking wine at the mall with their food from Sbarro. This place is ok for fast food pasta, but the rating should be an 8.8-9.0, NOT 9.7.Pros + garlic dipCons – decor, parking, location
Discovered this place today when looking for a lunch spot in Hollywood for a business lunch. Very cute little Italian cafe with a small number of tables inside and nice terrace outside (on La Brea). Inside has a wine section, a giant cheese selection, and lots of italian charm. The food was delicious. We had salads to start the heirloom tomatoes were super yummy and the wild arugula very spicy and crunchy. Veal Milanese for lunch with a side of (gasp) 4 cheese mac and cheese with black truffle oil. And actually felt good afterwords. The service was nice. I also had the sparkling home-made lemonade to drink which was good not too sweet. Of the pasta dishes about half were not available for lunch which was a shame since one of them (sweet corn stuffed pasta with brown butter) looked like it could have made the day… will have to wait to next time. Pros + Great lunch spotCons – Some pasta dishes not available at lunch
I went here on a business lunch and was excited because it is a fairly well known restaurant. The restaurant itself, is not as impressive as I expected it to be from pictures and descriiptions – it just seemed very…bland. The hostess was the only positive part of the experience. She was very friendly and helpful. After being greeted and seated, however, service wen’t downhill. My guest and I both ordered salads and several appetizers. Our waiter, Nicholas took our order, very unenthusiastically, and appeared to be put out anytime we asked him for anything. It took over 10 minutes for him to fill our water glasses and once we received our food, that was basically the last time we saw him. Let me rephrase that – it was the last time he paid dus any attention. He walked by several times, but refused to stop long enough for us to ask him for ketchup, etc. We literally had to flag him down – twice – for our bill. Overall, I was not too impressed by the food either. Granted, the place is k
My friend and I went to a movie in Encino and afterward we decided we were hungry. So we drove down Ventura Blvd. looking for a last minute dinner on a Saturday night. Well, we ended up here and had a really nice dinner. We had to wait an hour because we didn’t have a reservation, but we didn’t mind…we just had martinis at the bar. We were seated in the main dining room which was completely full. Our server was very sweet. The prices are very reasonable. We shared a bottle of wine (I’ll be back with wine in tow as they have a cheap $2.00 corkage fee!) and each had an entree. I had the Crispy Potato Scaled Salmon with spinach and mushrooms in a white wine and port sauce which was terrific. The server recommended it and she was right. I can’t wait to go back to have it again! My friend had the Salmon with Citrus Salsa which which was a little heavy on the citrus, but still quite good. Basically Cafe Bizou is a casual restaurant with good food, fast and pleasant service, and good pr
