Beau Rivage

02/18/09

If you are thinking of going there, I would think twice!!

by Binger256 at Citysearch

My wife and I went to Beau Rivage over 11 years ago on our first date. It was one of our favorite restaurants and has held special memories in our past. That ended Valentine?s night 2009. The service and food have become disastrous. We?re seated right away, but it took 15 mins for a server to offer us anything. We?re seated at an ok table outside; it was too cold for my wife. With some persuasion, we?re seated at a table inside. Now 10 more minutes for our server to offer us anything. Finally I got the host?s attention, and he took our order himself. After 20 minutes, we received our lobster bisque that was very watery and had no flavor. We waited another 30 minutes before our entrees arrived. When my wife tasted the first bite, I knew something was wrong. Her entree, lamb, was cold. The waiter took it back but when it came back it was still cold and looked like it had put in a microwave. At this point, we decided to leave. While all this was going on, we saw several other couples got up and left that evening, or where having problems with the service and food.

When I got the check, I noticed that we?re charged for not only drinks and the appetizers but entrees we did not eat. I asked for the owner, and he started to argue with me that I would have to pay for food that we did not eat. He said there was nothing wrong with the food and asked me if I?ve ever been out to a restaurant on Mother?s Day. Obviously, he was implying that we shouldn?t have expected good food service on the busy day. I reluctantly paid the bill since we didn?t want to deal with his rude behavior any longer. On our way out, I went to the bar and asked the bartender politely for change to tip our server. He said to me, ?You have to wait. The place is very busy if you haven?t noticed by now.? I?ve never been treated like this at any restaurant in my life. These people don?t have any pride in their food or profession. If you are thinking of going there, think twice!

• Pros: Great Location Romantic Atmosphere
• Cons: Worst Service, abusive owner that doesn't care about service.

02/15/09

The Romance is GONE!

by rschwietzer at Citysearch

My wife and I first went to Beau Rivage over 10 years ago. It was fantastic and has held a special place in our past. That ended last night. The service and food have become disastrous. I had made reservations for Valentine's Day, and decided to introduce our special place to some friends. We ended up standing up half-way through dinner and leaving -- and it wasn't because we had such high expectations. The service and food were just horrible. Something has happened there in the past years. Take your money elsewhere.

We were seated right away, but it then took 15 minutes for a server to recognize us. We asked for the wine list (wouldn't have been nice if they gave it to us w/ our menus). After about 45 minutes they finally took our order. It wasn't until 90 minutes that we received our appetizers. The lobster bisque had no lobster in it and tasted awful. We sent the lobster bisque back and asked for Caesar salad. They had run out of Caesar salad (really) so brought us another salad -- which was good. Throughout all of this we had to ask repeatedly for refills of water. We waited another hour - now 2 and a half hours into the meal - before our entrees arrived. When they did, they only brought 2 of the 4. Those two (lamb and a surf&turf) were cold. We couldn't even eat them if we wanted to, because we had no knives. By the time we were able to ask someone for knives, and for them to bring them they had finally brought the other two entrees. All the entrees were cold. At this point we decided to leave.

I went downstairs to discuss with the manager, at which point the owner came over and started to argue with me about how he hates Valentine's night, and how hard it is to get service. I explained that he should probably not take so many reservations then, and not risk his reputation. He continue to argue (getting loud). The manager interrupted, and just charged us for the wine.

I've left out other things, but you get the picture.

• Pros: Beautiful setting
• Cons: Horrible service, food average, WAY overpriced, owner doesn't care about service

07/24/08

Perfect service, sublime Mediterranian fare, romantic setting

by doll83 at Citysearch

I went there on a late Sunday afternoon shortly before sunset. We were asked for a reservation but were seated promptly without though. The very friendly and conversational waiter arrived at our table for the drinks. The appetizers (dark olive and turkey-rabbit pate) and crispy bread arrived shortly after we ordered the main dish. I ordered a Orange Roughy, wrapped in a brique crepe with mushrooms, sweet peppers and lemon caper-- for $29.00. My Friend had a Norwegian Salmon Steak, grilled with a Champagne-raspberry sauce--price: $27.00. According to our waiter the menu was wholly Mediterranean implying French, Italian and Spanish specialties.

When the food arrived at our table the waiter--after placing the plate in front of me--rolled out the silverware out of the crisp white napkin, then placed the two forks, knife and spoon neatly on both sides of the plate and finally put the napkin carefully onto my lap. I was stunned! I never experienced such an excellent service before. I felt like a queen! The fish was delectable too. I would highly recommend this eatery, it is a real Malibu gem for every occasion at night and daytime.

• Pros: Fare, ambiance, service, atmosphere, parking, crowd