The Palm
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone: (213) 763-4600
- Price:
- $$$$
- Specialties:
- Business Dining, Steak
Editorial Review for The Palm – by Citysearch Staff
In Short
With its Italian-tinged menu and playful artwork on the walls, this national chain (which got its start in 1926) maintains a congenial atmosphere even as corporate patrons use company credit cards to pay for 36-ounce New York strips or jumbo lobsters. Sitting in dark wood chairs placed at tables topped in white linen, suit-jacketed gents and ladies sup on prime steaks, chops and hearty portions of classic Old World dishes like spaghettini marinara and veal piccata.
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Insider Tips
What to DrinkBefitting the power broker atmosphere, The Palm's wine list is chock full of vintage bottles so treat yourself to a nice Italian red.
The ExtrasRegular patrons should join the 837 Club, the restaurant's frequent dining program. After spending a certain amount, customers earn incentives like gift certificates and trips.
User Reviews for The Palm
07/19/2008 Posted by sarelf
He and his buddy decided to share a 51/2 lb. behemoth. They requested that it be boiled, rather than split and broiled. The server said that the kitchen could do that. However, when the lobster was brought to the table, it was beautifully presented, but broiled and split! When my husband questioned her, in quite a haughty tone, she insisted that "this is the way we serve our lobsters." My husband repeated his original request., and the server assured him that the lobster was fresh, and he would not find it dried out (as he feared). However, our tasting proved otherwise. Although the crustacean was quite sweet and well textured, we found that it required an inordinate amount of butter to counterbalance the dryness. Although I would have sent the $100+ plate back to the kitchen, the guys decided to finish it, rather than waiting for another selection to be prepared. (Our friend's wife and I had already begun our to eat.) As for my dinner, I had the pepper-seared ahi. It was ample, fresh and generally tasty. But it was presented like a brick on an iceberg...no greenery or imaginative vegetable enhansements...just a slab of tuna on a white plate. When the server had taken our order, she curtly told me, "Yours comes with nothing." (I was believer and ordered the spinach as an accompaniment.) It was a good thing, because my a la carte offering would have been pretty boring without it. As I reflect on our mediocre and expensive experience, it reminded me of why I had not been back to the Palm in nearly 20 years. It's too bad that such a beautiful new restaurant in the revitalized downtown area was not able to dazzle us with great food and friendly service.
10/22/2007 Posted by likefoodie
Our family of 8 went to the PALM for the first time in celebration of a birthday. I made reservations so we were seated right away. The management must have told the server that we were celebrating a birthday so he mentioned that they had something special. The food was generally fine. The main problem that I had was with the overcharges. I guess each item was priced individually. So, you were charged for each water, steak, sides, etc. Seeing the main course, I expected to spend a lot at the restaurant.. $48 for steak. I'm okay with that. Additional for each side dish. Okay. So, I ordered 3. Additional for salad. Okay. So, I ordered 4 of those. The server came around near the end of the main course and said that the restaurant had a surprised dessert platter for us. When the platter came with different desserts, I was impressed. So I thought, "Wow, all this selection on the house?? How sweet of them." My mother decided to take care of the bill before I could see it. Later, when I saw the bill I was shocked to see that I was charged double for the sides, additional for some things that I never ordered nor received, and for all the single dessert dishes that the server decided to put out there. Note: we're not even huge fans of dessert so I was annoyed that we were charged an additional $60 for this dessert plate. We were easily charged over $100 over what I had really ordered and I felt cheated of the details of this blind costing "special dessert" thing. I don't know if I'll want to go back for fear of pushy waiters that randomly order whatever the heck they feel like charging so that they can get a fat tip.
Pros: Good ambience - old Hollywood caricatures on wall. Food is decent.
Cons: Overpriced for meat that's not always properly cooked to customer's desire.
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