I have been a long-time fan of Catalina Bar and Grill, having frequented the old location for many years. I regret to say that I will never go there, again. The new venue is, essentially, a gutted office building. The space is large, and cold (I actually had to ask the server to turn down the air conditioning so that my date might dine with her coat off). The Cahuenga location used to be packed. No longer. Unlike the cozy, former venue, the acoustics leave much to be desired... which is reflected in the fact that the place was not even at a quarter of it's capacity. \r
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I would hesitate to call this establishment a restaurant, rather- I would liken it to a cafeteria. My date ordered the goat cheese salad. I ordered the chicken piccata. Both dishes were sub par. They would be considered standard fare... for a 300+ person wedding if the budget were $10 a plate (yet they cost substantially more). We ordered the warm apple tart a la mode for dessert. Not only did the tart show up on our bill after sending it back uneaten, twice, but I actually had to engage the manager in a debate before he would remove it! The fact of the matter is that the tart was never hotter than a 10 second microwave zapping (not to mention- it tasted awful). The manager informed me that if I wanted a warm dessert, I should not have ordered pie with ice cream. I asked him if he had ever heard of sweet and sour sauce, but abandoned the whole ""juxtaposition of harmonious textures/flavors"" sermon.\r
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I went to ""Tasty Tuesdays"" where I saw Michael Konik and the Tasty Band. Michael Konik is quite possibly the worst singer I have ever had to endure. I think the band would be more successful without his strained attempts at crooning. Konik's banter between sets was equally painful. His smarmy demeanor only made me feel more ill to my stomach than the low quality food.\r
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I could go on... but who would listen? I'll chalk this one up to a learning experience (ala school of hard knocks). \r
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Lesson learned.
Pros: now you know
Cons: food, service, acoustics, management
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