The Dresden Room

11/25/2008 Posted by cajenner

I frequent the Dresden often and to be honest we only go for Marty and Elayne. We usually choose to go on Monday nights because it's less crowded and parking is usually easier but even if theres no street parking you can park in the lot for $2.50. Tonight we encountered a horrible experience. If you go here, watch out for the over-processed blonde waitress. She seems sweet at first but watch her move for about 5 minutes and you realize she's a hummingbird on speed. I have friends that have seen her do lines in the ladies. She's a complete b*tch. She forced me to order a drink (I'm pregnant and was simply there to be with my friends, and I ordered an expensive meal thinking that it would make up for buying a drink), she said I couldn't replace a drink with food so my only healthy option was a $5 bottle of Evian water. We had a group of 5 including myself. She took 2 of our orders, took half an hour to help the 3 other customers in the lounge, came back to take the other 2 orders and left our other friend hanging for another half hour. Finally we got everything we ordered (in about a 3 hour time period) and the same friend tried to order an appetizer. She told him she wouldn't take his food order until she helped the customers buying drinks first. We were all incredibly kind to her despite her attitude and coke problems. Finally she brought our checks. She piled about 10 papers together, handed my friend a napkin and pen and had him seperate the bills and do the math himself. They're handwritten checks so I'm not sure why she didn't just write them all seperately... Anyway then she came to the table and loudly asked who had the gold card and said it was declined. My friend is very wealthy so I know his card could not be declined. It was embarassing and unnecessary for her to announce it to the entire lounge. Basically it was a good 4 hours of Hell at the Dresden. All because of this server. Marty and Elayne ROCK! :) Go to see them but avoid "blonde" waitress!

Pros: Marty and Elayne, historic lounge

Cons: "Blonde" waitress

07/15/2008 Posted by vmarg

I used to live on the same street as the Dresden, so it was a great place to just walk to with a friend when we decided to go out for lunch. There are a quite a few good restaurants in that four block span of Vermont where the Dresden is located. But just based on appearances Dresden is the most stately looking and inviting with an awning, stone and brick work on the outside with oval windows. I usually eat lunch late, so we ended up at the Dresden at around 2:30pm and the place was almost completely empty. The waiter asked if we had forgotten to eat lunch and right away you could see that this was the kind of place where they take service seriously not just a job that you take while you're waiting for something else. The red room looks like an old time bar, so we opted for the famous dining room with the white booths. The dining room is fairly small so, there is that feeling of cozyiness. But there is a lot of vertical interest with the tall decorations and it's beautiful. I've been to a lot of restaurants and I prefer the ones where the decor has real character, not just the crisp and clean look. If you have been to Taix on Sunset the feel here is somewhat similar although more casual. One diner was leaving just as we were perusing the menu, so we had the whole dining room to ourselves. How often does that happen in LA? The menu is very traditional fare with dishes like grilled chicken breast and prime rib. I ordered the prime rib, which looked like a hunk of meat when it came out, but the taste was exceptionally tender and good. My friend had the grilled chicken and was equally satisfied. There are no twists or hip LA concoctions on this menu, the basics probably haven't been changed in a long time. Basically, this is a place with a very unique look that is beautiful and you don't have to settle for bad food to get the experience.

Pros: Great Ambiance, very unique, solid food, relatively low prices

Cons: Food could be better