Kendall's Brasserie

This was my first time dining here and I would probably recommend to a friend and return myself. My friend and I arrived for dinner 10 minutes prior to 7 o' clock. We had an 8 o'clock show at the Ahmanson Theatre. The restaurant was pretty busy, but there was no wait. My friend and I were able to have non-alcoholic beverages, soup, appetiizers, and our entree in the hour before our show. The server, Rachel M., was attentive as well as the guy refilling my ice tea. The server made sure we didn't miss our show without making us feel rushed. Some would say the food is a little pricey, but I thought it was average. If you're going to the Ahmanson Theater or Disney Hall, this restaurant is conveniently located within walking distance. The reason I gave this review a 3 out of 5 star is because there was trash next to my table upon being sat which my server recognized and quickly picked up; my friend's iced tea did not come with a straw but mine did, and lastly there was a person walking through the restaurant which looked to be of management personnel, but never once stopped at our table to see if everything was okay (probably because we looked young.) Overall, I enjoyed the atmosphere, food, quality, and service. I would probably go back again if I was in the area. more

I dined this week at Kendall’s due to its convenient location to the theatre even though past experience has taught me that the food is overpriced & below average. Little did I know that while I ate the tiniest saltiest portion of hot salmon served cold & my friend was trying to make excuses for the undercooked flank steak smothered in burnt shallots & garnished with soggy fries, that the table next to me was about to experience every diner’s nightmare. \r \r A lovely lady, enjoying her wine & salad, suddenly erupted & jumped up in a scream that instantly revealed a three inch long cockroach stranded upside down alongside her pale green salad. Talk about a garnish. She explained that the cockroach fell from the ceiling or crawled onto her from the ledge behind her neck, travelled along her blonde hair which she mildly touched thinking a draft was disturbing her locks, finally to reveal itself as six legs crawling along the underside of her chin at which point she quickly jerked her hand against her neck and out flew our pale brown winged friend bouncing first into the salad & then out onto the table.\r \r After dousing herself with Purell she received her mushroom risotto which she didn’t touch, an unfortunate unpredictable earlier order since the mushrooms mimicked a close kinship in size and color to the cockroach served earlier. Insert gag reflex here. She did accept a complimentary second glass of red wine and I have a feeling she could have imbibed a third. We all could have. A bottle on the house would have been more appropriate. The woman on the other side of them was visibly shacking as she was escorted with her date to another section of the restaurant. Doubtful she enjoyed her bland French onion soup no matter where she sat. She must have been thinking, “What’s beneath all that crusty Gruyere?” Well, whatever it is, it'll blend right in. \r \r My table, for having been offered the best view of the upside down wiggling roach, legs extending upwards desperate for a salad leaf to right itself into flying position, was not even offered an apology, not even a glancing excusez moi monsieurs. Still, the husband had to pay for his meal! Oh, Mon Dieu! I couldn’t help but think of comparisons to Victor Victoria when the waiter turns to the male guest & says, “There is still the matter of your bill Monsieur. There was no cock-a-roach in your salad.” When you pay this amount for food, it’s not just the food you pay for – in this case it’s definitely not - it’s the ambience and suffice it to say Kendall’s has become a hot dog stand. My apologies to the famous American sausage. \r \r As we all left together having made fast new friends we passed the manager & the hosts at the front of the restaurant who managed only a tight small smile. When the Lady of the Cockroach passed by she politely giggled, “It was an interesting evening ,” & nothing much else could be said, especially not by management who stared back at us, frozen in time, perhaps from our warp speed escape. It’s obvious neither the evening’s management nor the Patina Restaurant Group knows how to exhibit grace under pressure, quality control, or sanitation requirements. As we left through the wide restaurant doors it was just tight lips pressed up against us and in this town of gossip I couldn’t have prepared a better dish. Bon Appétit. \r Pros: At least the doors are wide enough for a quick escape Cons: If it doesn't come with Anntenae, it's just not Patina more

Having been here several times, there was a time I would have given it five stars, but over the years (really since the economy started to tank), so has the service and food. You occasionally get a great server, but overall, the quality of the food is hit or miss. I really don't like the way the slap bread on the table with just wax paper. Can't they afford bread baskets? Pros: Ambiance is excellence Cons: Service and food aren't consistent more

I'll admit this right off the bat...my wife demanded that I publish this review. It was our anniversary and we were attending a dynamite play at the Ahmanson and we always eat French on our anniversary. Boy were we stoked! We had arrived ten minutes early for our reservation and were seated quickly. Nice place, and were given a large romantic table so we sat side by side with a view of the whole dining room. The only issue with the ambiance was the statues of the singing children- located in the corner- kind of caught my wife's attention with the Linda Blairish look on one of the statue's faces. But I digress. I had no problem with the service whatsoever. Efficient and attentive, although, our server's personality was somewhat distant and robotic. No problem. The Calamari appetizer arrived while I washed up in the obviously undersized bathroom. It was very tender and I thought it was rather good but my wife thought it was tasteless and neither the Chipotle Marinara nor the Dijon sauces reconciled that for her. For entrees, I had the Chateu Steak (w/Bearnaise) with Frites and Watercress. For a $27.00 steak dish, I'm not too disappointed. Had worse, had better. The fries were drizzled with oil/garlic and came with ketchup. No complaints there. My wife was obviously disappointed with her chicken dish because she constantly compared it to the rotisserie chicken we enjoy from our local Ralphs. If it wasn't such a special occasion, I probably would have come right out and told her that she need not pull her critique punches because the chicken we get from Ralphs is more juicy, tender, and flavorful than what she was making the best of. The samples she gave me were dry and ""just okay"". Would we come here again? No. It wasn't a total disappointment for me, but, I wrote this for a reason. Pros: Location, Ambiance Cons: Food Quality more

I am not surprised by the bad reviews for Kendall's. I had an amalgam of the experiences of the other (bad) reviewers - food is ok but nothing special and overpriced, kitchen is agonizingly slow, staff is not particularly helpful, and any problem is always caused by someone else. \r \r This is a restaurant which is IN the Music Center. They should be aware that their location makes them a prime spot for people to eat before the opera or a play -- why else would they be packed at 6 pm? I am not in the habit of waiting 35 minutesafter the salad for a main course to be delivered - we sat down at 6:10, ordered right away, got salad pretty quickly, and then waited until 6:55 for the main course. \r \r Note to staff - ""making a 7:30 curtain"" does not mean running out of the restaurant, into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion just upstars, racing up the stairs and getting into my seat by 7:29. Also, a line of 5 people at the ladies room? Perhaps this is a clue that the restroom is too small for the number of tables.\r \r I will not be going back to Kendall's, either before a show or any other time. I would rather just bring a sandwich - at least I know I will be able to have a pleasant meal before the show.\r \r Pros: Location is good for the Music Center Cons: Slow service makes its location pointless more

I'm surprised at all the bad reviews for Kendall's, because we had an excellent evening. We had a French waitress who was very helpful with selections and getting us out on time for the LA Opera. The food was great, it was easy to get seated (we had a reservation), and it's a really fun place. Sure it's noisy, but it's a big restaurant with an evening crowd. Pros: Excellent value, considering the location Cons: Loud more

Don't like the crowd. Over priced. And $8 parking. more

I was surprised to read all the negative reviews. I make it a point to dine here when I see a show at the music center. The food and service are excellent. The polenta ravioli is my favorite and the wine list is extensive. It does get busy before the theater, but the good food, staff and management make up for it! Pros: Next to the Music Center Cons: Can be loud. more

So-so food at so-so prices. \r The onion soup is good. My friend had the Rissotto and it was nothing to write home about. The pear salad was ok, but had hardly any greens. I had the shrimp and avocado salad, the dressing/vinagrette was delicious.\r The dessert was great. We had a bread pudding that the server recommended.\r The best thing about it was that Linda Hamilton was sitting a few tables away from us and seemed really friendly to the tourist that chatted with her. \r I love PAtina restaurants but this one cannot be compared to the rest of them.\r Sorry.\r Pros: Great service the day I went Cons: Food was bland and not great. more

The food was not bad, decor great, but the SERVICE WAS AWFUL! I told our server upon being seated that we needed to be out at 7:30 for an 8:00 show. She said no problem. We ordered fairly simple first courses (salad/oysters - nothing that had to be cooked), which took 45 minutes to come out. We had to ask for them about 5-6 times, including asking a manager. They finally came and our mains came out right after. The manager informed us that the waitress put the order in together; however, he didn't even apologize for it! I had ordered my duck medium well and a friend ordered their pork chop medium/medium rare. \r My duck came out RAW & needed to be sent back, and my friend's came out overcooked so it was dried out. Being short on time by then, we had to scarf our main courses down & got out of there at 7:50, just barely getting to the show in time. The staff wasn't even apologetic! Never again will I go here! Pros: Nice decor Cons: TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, AWFUL SERVICE!!!! more

I have never written a review about restaurant, but since this was the worst dining experience I?ve ever had in my life ? I feel obliged to share it with the world. \r \r Kendall's Brasserie has the advantage of proximity to the Ahmadson Theatre in downtown LA, as well as the facade of a busy restaurant with nice ambiance. Don?t be fooled - the place is a rip off with cramped seating, bad service, and most importantly ? a tasteless, overpriced food. My wife and I were seated in an area more cramped than my high school cafeteria next to a couple who, although we were not formally introduced, know practically everything about their private life since they were nearly six inches away from us. \r \r The waiter arrived after ten minutes, treating us as if we were a big inconvenience in his busy section. I ordered an ice tea, which seemed like the waiter had to go all the way Figueroa to fetch it since the ice had nearly melted by the time I got it. The entrees arrived, both Nutrisytem sized portions priced above 25 dollars (over 30 plus tax). The roast chicken was dryer than ?last day to sell? discount chicken in the deli section at Ralph?s. The pork tenderloins I ordered were probably came straight out of a Lean Cuisine box and dumped on my plate. All I can say is we left hungry and violated - 70 bucks down the drain and we could?ve have gotten a better meal at Jollybee. Then they have the nerve to offer customers a ?critique sheet? to mail back to them with a 41 cent stamp. For those of you planning to go to a show at Ahmadson Theatre - have an early dinner at home.\r Pros: close to theatres Cons: tasteless, overpriced food more

This place has great food but gets bad reviews because they get all the crowd from people going to Play's,Oprah, and a concert all at once! So the wait for the food might be a bit long, nonetheless its good food and service is great. Pros: Food. Nice view of downtown. Good for people going to a show at the Music center Cons: parking more

we went here one night after seeing a show at the opera house upstairs. Beautiful ambience and great location. We walked in around 5:00PM, very early and had a reservation for six. There was hardly anyone there and we were seated right away, only the round table we were at was right by the entrance to the kithcen. Everytime a worker went in or out of the swinging doors i felt a gust of wind and my face and heard the clanging of dishes. My brother asked the hostess to move tables and was told that all the other tables were already reserved. A few minutes later my husband went up to another guy, the manager and told him we were unhappy with the table and we asked for another one round table. The man said ""no problem."" I then went to use the restroom. THe toilet seat was hanging off its hinge and the bathroom counter soap dispenser was leaking brown liquid across the counter and onto the floor. Why do they make the restaurant/bar area so beautiful and not even bother to clean the bathroom? This says a lot. They food was pretty high priced, everything a la carte, and small portions. Mostly - it didn't taste good. the meat too red and rare. the monkfish grainy, the herb-crusted salmon very fishy tasting and ravioli dish only had like 6 raviolis. The thing this place has going for it is the location and it looks pretty inside - it also is probably fine as a bar, but pretty disappointing food and value wise. Pros: ambience, location Cons: food quality and value, dirty bathrooms, high prices more

After reading earlier reviews, was somewhat concerned about our evening meal before a great show at the Ahmanson. Our apprehension was misplaced. The food was very good and the service was attentive without being pushy. Got us to the show with time to spare. more

I went there pre-theatre during Saturday and the dining experience was totally fine. I ordered the steak frites with lemonade, which were both decent. I also ordered a salad, which I thought was average. The service was fine. Pros: Near-by the Theater more

Went here after a show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The service was some of the worst I have seen in LA. Sitting at our table for 15 minutes before someone even comes by with water is rediculous. Having our waiter have to come back to our table twice to tell us something on the menu isn't being served or that he completely forgot what we ordered is rediculous. Waiting 20 minutes after we are clearly finished eating for someone to clear the plates is rediculous. Waiting an additional 15 minutes for our waiter to finally ""check up"" on us is rediculous. It's unfortunate that there aren't many other late night dining options downtown for theater/concert goers because this place sucks! more

Arrived at 5:45 pm, asked to be out by 7 for a 7:30 performance. Entrees arrived at 7 and at 7:15 hostess asked how we enjoyed our (expensive) dinner! Never again! Pros: convenient for opera Cons: poor service more

This had to be one of my worst dining experiences ever. We started off by ordering our drinks and then our appetizers and meals. We had to ask the manager for our drinks 10 min. after we finished eating our soups, because our waiter never brought them out. We ordered steaks and it took 15 min after our steaks came out to get our steak knives and our waiter never checked to see of everything was to our liking. The food was Just OK, nothing great. As we looked around everyone else was having the same trouble. The manager came to explain that it was because of the performance rush. I would not expect anyone to go there unless they were going to a play or the opera and if you were looking for a nice meal to add to your romantic evening I would NOT GO THERE. Pros: location Cons: , limited menu, Mediocre food more