The Stinking Rose

05/13/2008 Posted by ThaHandsomeAnthropologist

Went here on a date with my girl. (As it appeared 75% of the other patrons did on this Friday night... lots of couples.) Anywayz, the garlic bread to start off with was good, and the menu was ok (a little short with few options for me) but I could deal. The real problem I had with this place was two-fold. 1) The prime rib I ordered had nothing to do with garlic, and 2) my entire dinner took 30 minutes. If I'm paying $100 for dinner and drinks for two people the least an establishment could do is let me enjoy my meal. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a hot plate and a quickly cooked meal. But my appetizers came out 2 minutes after I ordered them, and were scooped up 10 seconds after I finished them... only to have my entree immediately following suit. As for the garlic... I was expecting tons of interesting things done with it. Instead, they had garlic bread, and a garlic fondu (which i had, and was pretty good.) But the calamari I could have eaten anywhere, and the prime rib was garlic-free. Not a bad restaurant. Just a little rushed, and not what one might think in terms of Garlic.

Pros: Quick Service, Good Food, Very Romantic

Cons: Service is "too quick," not enough garlic throughout

04/21/2008 Posted by RosiandNick

My fiancee and I missed our reservation at the Ivy... I've heard great things about " the Stinking Rose" so decided to go for lunch. The service was good - the complimentary bread was very tasty, Garlic fries were so yummy - My fiancee' loved them. We had the double shrimp & double crab legs, it was the right amount of garlic... it was very good. I'm pregnant and don't find taste in food right now... So I was very pleasantly surprised. I saw a lot of reviews about the saltiness... Good thing I read them after I went 'cause that would have definitely stopped me from going. I use very little salt and was very glad my food was NOT SALTY!!! All in all great experience!!! Loved it!!

Pros: great fries, delicious food, good service, lunch time not crowded, great ambience

Cons: no con's when I went

03/08/2008 Posted by foobah

Watch out for the crab cakes, or should I say the salt cakes; although I think I did detect a hint of a crab meat taste from the mess of crab meat loosely held together with what I can only hope was some kind of breading. We started with the roasted garlic special appetizer. I've roasted garlic myself, and hardly recognized the mushy, pre-digested stuff floating in a pan of hot olive oil that arrived at the table. I had the pork chop accompanied by what I think were intended to be mashed potatoes and a few, mushy, terribly sweet reminiscences of apple slices. My partner has jumbo prawns; they were large and even though quite dry, tasted like prawns. At the front desk we were met by someone's teenage daughters who didn't have a record of our reservation on the steno's pad page they were working from. but who kindly found us a forlorn little table nestled between two large tables of Asian teenagers celebrating birthdays. DON'T GO THERE IF YOU'RE OVER 23 OR LOOKING FOR GOOD FOOD OR NICE AMBIENCE OR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE. Do go if you have a perverse need to sample real garlic ice cream.

Pros: None

Cons: Everything else.

02/17/2008 Posted by 1cinda1

If you love garlic, which I do, this is a good place. But The food it toooo salty!, I had the Zuppa Di Pesce - fish soup and felt the salt was to hide the fishy fish. The worst part was the service, they were fine to get to the table, at least 4 different servers, one main waiter, but by the time to order desert- no one around, then the bill, same deal. very slow. prices are a bit high for what you get, and the worst part is their valet parking-took forever to bring the car, they don't help you in your car and watching them park other cars was unnerving, made me wonder if any of the valets even had drivers licenses.

Cons: Valet Parking, salty food, expensive prices,

02/15/2008 Posted by funnyp

I went here for Valentines Day because my friend had raved about this restaurant. The atmosphere was fine and the aroma was great. I really enjoy the garlic aroma. We started off with the garlic fries and they were very yummy! As an entree, I had the spicy shrimp pasta and boy was it spicy. It was a little bit too spicy for me. The shrimp pasta was mediocre. My husband had the Garlic Braised Boneless Short Rib. Both dishes were a bit too salty. My husband had to drink plenty of water while eating his dish. Overall, I would recommend ordering the garlic fries but not the other two dishes that we had.

Pros: French Fries

Cons: Food was too salty

01/31/2008 Posted by finedine2008

Excellent seafood dishes, the garlic is very tasty and brings out the flavor of their dishes. Unlike other Beverly Hills restaurants, the stinking rose has friendly staff and environment is very comfortable for dining in large groups or with family.

11/19/2007 Posted by hyunmin

My girlfriend wanted to try this place, so we went there after a long drive. Food really was not very good. Overpriced and not very tasty. The meat seemed like it was old. Sauces were heavy and salty. Would have been OK for half the price. I had valet parked my car. The day after, I noticed a long gash along my rear fender. Seemed like it was reamed by someones bumper. I'm sure it was the Stinking Rose's valet parkers as I'm sure this damage was not there before. Those guys did not seem careful with the car when they took it from me. That place is stinking, to be sure. Don't go, but if you do, take the bus!

Pros: None

Cons: Valet parking, food

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

11/05/2007 Posted by thejadedcarnation

My boyfriend took me here for my birthday - I already knew we were going to dine here beforehand. I came into the restaurant with certain expectations because of all the rant this restaurant gets for the "garlic-ness." The service wasn't that great - I was having a romantic moment with my boyfriend as we were holding hands across the table, and then the server just busted in "prime rib medium rare" with no regard to the occasion at all. I thought that was rude and spoiled the moment entirely. I don't suggest this place for a special occasion or a special date - it's more like just a place to dine for fun and on a night out on the town.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

10/12/2007 Posted by stevengdmd

I went for dinner at the Beverly Hills location and got my car valet. The food was decent, expected more though. The next day I was driving my car, and noticed the front fender was scraped and starting to fall off. I told the valet manager about it and he said to send documentation and what not. I did all that and was never responded back to or reimbursed for the damages the valet guy caused. I will never go back here again.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

09/29/2007 Posted by amsaunders

My brother decided to have his 21st birthday dinner at the Stinking Rose after hearing about it from friends and watching a special on the Food Network about it. I had never heard of it so came to the internet to see what people were saying. The reviews made me nervous...people either loved it or hated it. Thank God our group feel into the LOVED IT category! My parents and I arrived before our reservations and since they wont seat you until your whole party is there, we decided to get drinks in the bar. The atmosphere of the place is just awesome with old hollywood pictures EVERYWHERE! The drinks were good (a bit over priced but come on its L.A. what do you expect) and once our whole party arrived we were seated right away. Our waiter was wonderful and very helpful as this was everyones first time at the Stinking Rose. The food was incrediable! The bread they served was good but make sure you get the roasted garlic cloves...they are amazing! I highly recommend the garlic crab ( but not for a first date as it is a pretty messy ordeal) and the garlic fries. The rest of my party ordreded everything from the halabit to the lasanga and salamon ravoli to the BBQ garlic pizza and garlic rabbit. Everyone was very satisfied with their meals and actually commeted on wanting to do the whole experience over again! The whole staff was very friendly and quick and the night went off great! I hope that others who had had bad experiences here will give the restaurant another go because I know that I and my family can't wait to go back!

Pros: Great atmosphere, food and staff

Cons: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful