chrisl137

La Parolaccia in Claremont is about 15 minutes in the wrong direction, but is excellent food (though I've only been to their original Long Beach location)

Michael Ad

I've looked at those reviews and ratings a few times - pretty useless.

And, as proof: The Ivy? I haven't heard anyone say the food is good there ever.

TWA884

I haven't been to The Ivy in years, not my cup of tea; but its food rating on Zagat is faily high (24); however, it is best known for celebrity sightings.

I have been to five on the list within the past year, Bestia, Cassia, Gjelina, Ink and Perch LA. The food is outstanding at the first three, very good at Ink and better than average at Perch LA (which has other reasons for its popularity).

I've heard very good things, from friends whose taste in food I trust, about Republique. I don't know much about the others.

Michael Ad

Republique is fantastic. Weekend brunch is a great time to go - but anytime is good.

I'm basically with you on the other places - the ones you listed are great, and I haven't been to most of the others except Toca Madera. Went once, fine; I'll probably try it again sometime.

One place that I won't revisit, though, is Bestia. Food is top notch, but the noise was just out of control. One person in our group just gave up on conversation and the rest of us went hoarse. Server couldn't hear us; we couldn't hear him. Silly and not enjoyable.

DJ_Iceman

My wife and I ate at Patina downtown last weekend. Amazing, incredible experience! It wasn't flawless, but even the flaws were handled graciously. We will definitely be back.

TWA884

In LA Weekly:
Been to five of the ten, 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8.

Click on the link for the reviews.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Also if you're willing to wait a long time for a reservation, there's n/naka in Culver City which is also extraordinarily excellent.

TWA884

But it is not in Santa Monica, so it is not on that list.

n/naka is one Sang Yoon's five recommendations of places to eat in Culver City:

TWA884

KPCC:

antonen

Hi all!

I've got a difficult question but I hope someone will help me.
I need a recommendation for a good steakhouse for a porterhouse, preferrably dry-aged. With no overcooking. And it should be very good as I'm flying away from US and this time I didn't have really good steaks, only mediocre which is both unexpected and frustrating.
That's just the beginning

Then they must have something to be prepared medium-well or well done for my wife and it should not taste like coals. I believe it's not so easy

Then I need something for the kids (chicken or salmon).

Are there any such places in LA?
Any recommendations would be welcomed!

sinfonia

Well, there is always Capital Grille in Beverly Hills (I think it's still there?), but keep in mind that Capital Grille is still a chain restaurant. (But their coconut cream pie is pretty amazing, and I hate coconut.)

But I like Nick and Stef's. It is part of the Patina group of restaurants. It is located in downtown LA and is known for their 28-day dry-aged steaks. Their huge dry-aging meat locker is covered in glass windows so you can see in - it is the only place I know in Los Angeles where you can actually see the meat dry-aging. The last time I ate there, the server was trying to explain to me that it was one of only three like it in the nation or something like that. Having said that, I don't recall a porterhouse on their menu when I was last there - I seem to recall ribeyes, filets, and NY strips, but perhaps that was a different menu from the current one. They have chicken and salmon, of course.

Enjoy!

Non-NonRev

The one place where the porterhouse is the star is Wolfgang's in Beverly Hills. The owner was headwaiter at Peter Luger in New York for almost 4 decades before branching out on his own.

Like Nick and Stefs mentioned above, they dry-age for 28 days in their on-premises aging box (not glassed in).

The porterhouse would be ordered for two, with the ability to order each half of the double steak to be cooked to two levels of done-ness.

Several non-steak options available for the kids.

http://wolfgangssteakhouse.net/bh/

TWA884

In addition to the ones listed above, there are several excellent steakhouses in Southern California that originated here and/or are not affiliated with national chains.

The first one is a favorite of my my fellow moderator Moderator2. The rest are listed in no particular order:

Michael Ad

In case you have an Amex with an address in SoCal, you'll likely find an Amex Offer for Nick and Stef's in there.

So the parents like steak but the kids prefer chicken or salmon?

Non-NonRev

More local:

The Royce at the Langham (Pasadena) - prime American, Japanese wagyu and Australian cuts cooked over wood burning grill

Chi Spacca - part of the Mario Batali Mozza cluster, their Italian tinged speciality is a 42 Oz. dry aged bone-in New York steak

Also about to open: Celebrity chef Curtis Stone and his brother Luke are opening Gwen (named for their grandmother) in Hollywood - a prime butcher shop with attached restaurant serving the same prime cuts