Stefan's At La Farm

01/05/08

Don't Book Your Event Here

by allenomis at Citysearch

It was hard for us to find a reception site for our wedding that was good value. LA FARM offered fantastic food for a great price ($85 included dinner, wine during dinner, taxes, tip, parking). 6 weeks before the event, we found out the restaurant was sold to Goran Milic of Divino Brentwood. Each time we called over the next few weeks, Garon was busy, would call back, etc. It took until 4 days before the wedding to finalize the menu and get the seating chart! And the whole time Goran complained that he would not make any money off the event, causing us to order our cake separately ($500). On the night of our reception, chef/owner Goran Milic was not present. We were specifically told he would be present to cook and assure the quality of the meal. The setting was great, wonderful lighting, temperature was perfect. The tableware was not what we were shown originally (beautiful bird pattern plates) to mismatched, simple white restaurant plates. Wine service was mixed (bride and groom had to flag down a waiter in order to get wine). Meal service was fine. Several people never got cake; others claimed their slice of cake was served, then quickly removed from their table before they had a chance to eat it (we were all dancing). LA Farm was instructed *multiple times* before the party date that there was to be a host bar for cocktail hour from 5-6PM which was then to be transitioned to a no-host bar (wine and beer was included in dinner service). Near end of evening, LA Farm indicated we were responsible for a bar tab which had been open for the entire night. Groom had to be summoned to argue with the staff over their mistake. Bartender had no accounting of the drinks ordered, said the bill was $40,000 then said $4,000 (later other guests reported bar tender appeared drunk during the event). Groom settled with the staff at $3,000 in order to avoid a scene and return to his reception, although the manager later argued with him again. Overall, very unprofessional.

• Pros: Great atmosphere, meal overall a ?B?
• Cons: Scammed us out of at least $2000 (cake and bar tab), did not deliver contracted items, did not return phone calls, unprofessional night of event

09/21/07

Update Continental Dining, but underconstruction

by inder22 at Citysearch

I went to LA FARM in Santa Monica for a sponsored dinner. Thus I did not pay for anything, but was practically able to try all of them items on the menu.First, the location was hard to find and is located in the back of an office building. The decor was nice and the restaurant had nice starters including a tomato soup and potstickers. The menu featured scallops and steak, all of which were tasty. The service was nice. I can not comment on whether this is a nice place for a couple or special event, as the location was entirely booked for our event. Also, since I didnt feel the price burden, I cant comment on the value of the restaurant.

11/22/06

Poor service, boring food

by monica28 at Citysearch

Four of us had lunch there today. The serivice was disorganized and slow - they brought a hamburger to our table when no one ordered one, then brought 2 dishes and made us wait quite a while until they brought food for the other 2 people. I found the food boring, overpriced, the waitress overcharged me, and my friends ordered meat medium rare and it was clearly well-done. (Couldn't reorder because it was the last one of that cut.)

Beautiful place, but I go to restaurants to enjoy food, not just atmosphere. I probably won't go back.

• Pros: Beautiful place, great art
• Cons: Poor service, boring and overpriced food