09/08/09

It did not meet my expectations

by CSMobileUser

After learning about this place on TV I decided to visit it with my wife and daughter. The recommendations on TV were great and the view very attractive. Unfortunatelly, my expectation were not met. The food lay out on the center of the room was messy and not reorganized to keep guest happy. The view is great, no doubt about it, but service is not.

07/28/09

Here to Defend The Castaway!

by CantRememberLogin

I was always interested in trying Castaway, but was scared off by bad reviews posted online.

I have now been twice within the last few weeks (summer 2009) and both times had positive experiences.

My first Castaway experience was dinner for 4. We had friendly and attentive service and a table by the window with a lovely nighttime view of the valley. There aren't any surprises on the menu (which has been described as "tired"), but I like to think of it as "traditional." We had steaks, salmon, and sea scallops. All of it was enjoyable, and everything was perfectly cooked. There was no reason to complain about anything we ordered.

My second experience was for Sunday brunch. All the standard brunch items are there (including extensive dessert options), and as good as any other Sunday brunch buffet. Sitting outside on the patio overlooking the valley added a lot to the experience.

Based on my experiences, I will happily go back to the Castaway.

• Pros: Good food, great views

05/21/09

Valet stole my car fuses

by PissedJohnny

Everything was working (complete) in my car when I handed the keys to valet. After dinner, got the car back from valet and drove away. Turned my radio on, dead. Plugged my cell charger to the cig lighter, dead. Overhead console, dead. I said to myself that's weird. Since I have another car, I didn't use it for a several days because cannot live without a radio while driving. Several days later asked my neighbor who knows about fixing cars and he told me most likely blown fuse. We opened the fuse box and behold! 4 fuses gone. He smiled and told me fuse just don't evaporate. So just beware.

• Pros: none
• Cons: valet

02/19/09

Appalling Service! We didn't even eat.

by Ransackeld

I thought that would be an amazing place to take my fiancee for valentines day. I made my reservations on Jan. 10th for 9pm - I had a feeling it would fill up quickly. We walked in the restaurant at 2 minutes to 9pm. The lobby was enormous and packed wall to wall. The hostess told me that it would be a 25 minute wait. That's ok, after all this is supposed to be an amazing place and it is valentines day ......................... 30 minutes later I asked her how much longer, she told me it would be another 15 minutes ............................. another 30 minutes later, the hostess, who was getting snappy at this point because we were not the only ones that were unhappy, told me that there were still 7 people in front of my name -we had been waiting for an HOUR. I asked her if she thinks they overbooked a little, she said that they TOTALLY overbooked. I commented on how I thought that was a horrible business practice and we left - hungry and angry. Shame on this restaurant - and it seems from the reviews on here that the food is not even that good. The prices were about $60 per person, not including drinks and tip. If I go to an expensive classy restaurant the last thing I want is to be treated like cattle.

• Pros: Never found out.
• Cons: Service. Service. Service.

02/11/09

Horrible PEOPLE!!!

by Roarkman

I had taken my girlfriend here for dinner. She had her sweet 16 here and was raving about how nice it was. I was sadly disappointed. I was treated like dog 3hit, and so was my girlfriend by our waitress. She acted as if we werent good enough to be served at that restaurant. When my girlfriend asked to make some changes to a meal, she was made to feel stupid for making such a request. Our food took forever and tasted like it was from TGI Fridays. So in short my girlfriend was brought nearly to tears!!!! I will never come to this place again!!!! Id much rather eat at Dennys, or Arbys!

• Pros: Nice View
• Cons: Horrible service

10/17/08

Horrible Banquet

by OFVInc

The banquet staff was completely inept and disrespectful. We expected better since we had heard the views and the atmosphere made up for their food. Too bad it didn't make up for their staff. They were slow and seemed to be disorganized/confused.

When my partner asked to see a manager, one staffer said there wasn't anyone there to help us accompanied with a glare and rolling of her eyes. Not to mention, an older hispanic woman who bartended at our event and her uniform blouse hung almost completely open exposing herself. She looked utterly inappropriate and unprofessional to be tending a respectful event, not to mention her slow service and VERY haughty attitude.

The beautiful view does NOT make up for the amount of money we spent and people's time on a wasted Friday evening.

09/26/08

Great atmosphere, lovely customer service!!

by sawcy77

I just recently dined here on my GF 30th birthday. It was both our first time at Castaway. I did make reservations, and was very skeptical about going to this restaurant due to all the reviews I had read. WOW...is all I can say!! From the moment we walked in, we were greeted by the host/hostess and seated right away. We had a wonderful view right next to the window over looking Burbank and I could see Universal Studios as well. The waiter Stefan was awesome. He greeted us right away and was very friendly. Everything we ordered was brought to us in a timely manner. The Coconut Shrimp appetizer was delicious as well as the Filet Mignon and NY Steak. Stefan did come by our table often and asked us if everything was fine. I really enjoyed that! Even the Restaurant Manager came around and greeted us and asked us how our dinner was and I thanked him for such the kind service of his staff. I even spoke to the waiter Stefan and asked him about the restaurant and he gave me a full explanation of the dining area as well as the banquet rooms and patio outside. The ambience of the whole place was beautiful. At the end of the dinner, Stefan brought out a piece of cheesecake for my GF with a candle and wished her a happy birthday. And I didn't even ask him to do that. I thought that was very special!! From the start to the end, we both were very SATISFIED with the restaurant. Oh, we even had pineapple Mojitos which were delicious as well!! I would definitely recommend this restaurant to friends and family!!! And this is why I gave it 5 stars!

• Pros: Great customer service
• Cons: none

06/26/08

Uneven Service, decent food and ambiance

by JStarks3

I came here for dinner for a special occasion and had an ok experience. The ambiance was nice and the view was stunning. However, we sat at our table for a good 15 minutes and did not even get noticed by a waiter. What's more, they weren't even busy that night. I'd say less than half the tables were full so there was no excuse. Sadly, a really nice waiter had to come by and ask if we've been served. We told him "no" and he got our drink orders and apologized for his coworker. After drinks we waited another 10+ minutes and our unassigned waiter came by again and asked if anyone took our order. Again we said, "no." At this point a waitress was standing a few tables away and over heard and just said "Oops!" and didn't even apologize! Apparently she was supposed to be our waiter the whole time and didn't even care that she was doing a bad job. The manager should fire her or at least not allow people like that to work at restaurants that have a reputation to keep. Anyway, our surrogate waiter got us our food and checked up on us very well after that. He even threw in a complimentary dessert because he felt bad we got stuck with the bad waitress.

The food was really good. I got the filet mignon and it was juicy, tender and delicious. My gf got lobster and she liked it a lot. Our dessert was a chocolate cake and it was good, too. Later we stepped out onto the balcony for a bit and enjoyed the view.

All in all, it started off as a poor experience but had a happy ending. What can I say, I'd give it 4 stars if it wasn't for that one wait staff who didn't even apologize.

Pros: Pretty good food, nice view.

Cons: You might not get a bad waiter there, try your luck.

06/10/08

Terrible service, bad food

by kwhaever

I always think I want to go to this place because it has a great view, but after consistently rude waiters and bad food, I think I've finally learned my lesson. The icing on the cake was the night we went there with my parents to celebrate my birthday and tell them we were expecting our first baby. What should have been a wonderful night was ruined by our incredibly rude, pushy and down right mean waiter. At the end of the night, both couples were reaching to get the check, and the waiter actually held on to it and asked each of us what we would tip before he would decide who to give it to (and sadly, this wasn't a cute joke on his behalf - he was dead serious). There's other stuff - gobs of lipstick on my glass, bad and expensive food, but to me the waiters, on more than one occasion, have ruined this place forever. Even the management ignored me when I told them how disappointed I was. If you have a special occasion, please go somewhere else where your evening won't be ruined.

• Pros: view
• Cons: service, food

05/19/08

Gorgeous view, great dinner.

by tattertots

I was hesitant about this place because of all the bad/mixed reviews below but was pleasantly happy that i had a great evening.The BF made reservations for dinner on Saturday. We were seated quite promptly and had a very friendly waiter who had that right mix of being attentive but not coming back every minute to check on us. We had a nice booth in the back but still had a view of the valley from across the room which was lovely. Not fancy fine dining but business casual atmosphere; saw a wedding and sweet 16 party. Note that the Castaway is owned by the same company as the Odyssey in Granada Hills. I learned that the best entree to order is NOT on the menu; definitely go with the chef's special. BF had the peppered steak with mashed potato & steamed veggies. I tried a piece of that steak and it was done perfectly. i had the crusted halibut on a bed of asparagus topped with a medley of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. The fish was absolutely delicious; melts right off the fork and was so savory. Nice place for a romantice dinner. Would definitely come back but based on reviews probably not for brunch or the buffet, just dinner.

• Pros: View, chef's special
• Cons: Pricey