Drago Ristorante

08/12/09

Delicious Italian fare with exceptional service!

by DenaG

My date and I shared the cesar salad which was so fresh and a peferct appitizer to share to start our meal. I had the Lobster Spagetti (with shrimp) It was satisfying, perfectly cooked and seasoned without being too heavy. My date had the Lamp chop that was also delicious. Our wine really complemented both of our entrees and I found the staff well trained, friendly and knowledgeable.It was a treat that the chef came out to welcome us and ensure we felt well taken care of. The dining room was very pretty and the large flower center piece in middle of the dining room was beautiful and smelled almost as good as the food.

• Pros: Great menu, perfectly prepared food, well trained staff
• Cons: Can't think of any right now

02/06/09

Poor food, bathrooms smell

by bobo13

I was anxious to try the mothership of the Drago Restaurant empire and was shocked at the condition of this supposed "celebrity chef" restaurant. After hearing about Centro Drago I decided to try Drago Santa Monica.

Mediocre was not the word to describe my experience...

My Bread was stale... the breadsticks tasted like they were 4 days old...

I had the tortelloni... they literally tasted like someone stuffed them with canned pumpkin and poured whipping cream all over them. They were encased in a "spinach" pasta... however this pasta was highlighter green in color... like they used to much food coloring... not to mention all the tortelloni were broken and cracked.

My husband had the berramundi... which he said was bland and tasteless... (served with one carrot, one asparagus and a piece of bok choy).

Our waiter Geovanni was very nice and had a great sense of humor... very polite and really tried to make a bad experience pleasurable.

I think the worst part was the odor coming from the bathroom area. It literally smelled like a broken sewer mane.

As we left we noticed Mr. Drago sitting watching the Laker game oblivious to it all. Thank you Mr. Drago, you will not see us again at any of your places...

• Pros: Very nice server and hostess
• Cons: Food, restaurant smell

03/23/07

Our Favorite Restaurant

by dectal

WE love this restaurant. The chef is really nice and the food is shockingly good. Highly reccomend. We go there for all our special occasions. Also, we think this restaurant is better than his brothers in Beverly Hills.

• Pros: Chef, Food
• Cons: Bathroom door too close to kitchen door, you can get wacked.

12/03/06

Horrible Rule service

by proffoodjudge

Consider the class of this restaurant, the service is very very poor. We get a table at 7:30pm. It take at least 30 mins for our drink order to arrive at the table, and another 2 hours for the food to arrive. Granded the food is not bad, but it's not brilliant. And frankly, regarless how good is the food, no one should put up with poor service. The waitress (She seems to be the manager) respond to us very rulely as we politely inquired for our food order. She kind of yell at a friend of our, as we ask her question. When the food arrive, they didn't even bring the right order, and one of us need to wait for the food to be re-made after we have been waiting for 2 hours after we order the food. And they alter my order without even asking me whether I want it or not. DON'T GO HERE!! It's not worth it to be abused by poor services. Expensive, lousy service and ok food. Honestly, you can get much friendly service at your neighbourhood Starbucks or McDonald.

11/07/06

I don't get it either

by davdin

We ate here for a birthday party 8 people. Everyone was so excited because there is so much hype about this place... I was not impressed, actually disappointed. The only thing hyped up were the prices.

The place was very busy, which is fine for an Italian restaurant if you want atmosphere, but the servers seemed rushed and we had to flag down waiters. After several of them stopping by, I did not know who my main waiter was - average service - not what you expect for the upscale prices.

The food was very salty. Too much for my taste. Believe me I love flavor, but not only salt. Signature steak, oh so very average. The waiter put too much dressing on my salad (and I usually like a lot of dressing), a definite no no for a fine dining restaurant. If I'm going to pay that much for a salad I'd like to eat it, too. We were lucky because we had several people at our table and could taste the different dishes. The ONLY one I liked was the ravioli, but it too was a little on the salty side. Luckily, it was only an appetizer so I only had to eat a few. Wondering if I was in a bad food mood. I asked my wife if it was only me. With a frown she said we are not coming back... empty wallet, not so happy stomach.

• Pros: Lots of Hype - Crowded
• Cons: Food