Pacific Dining Car

10/21/09

Classic Steakhouse Feel

by Sheauen at Citysearch

I cannot explain how excited I am to live in a city where you can get a perfectly aged and cooked steak 24 hours a day. PLUS if you eat there they have a free shuttle to all the Downtown entertainment venues, pick up and drop off. And its a good place for star sightings.

Donald Sutherland sighting aside, I do want to balance my review with both pros and cons.

Its a steakhouse. Its old school. You don't get hurried out in favor of seating another party. Granted its not usually packed. I never found the wait staff absent or non-attentive, just discreet and unobtruscive. It's one of those places where they seat you, take your order, ask if you need anything else, bring that if it applies, and leave you alone with your date, family, business partner, etc. If you should need service, it isn't hard to flag down someone who can get your waiter to you, or a busboy to refill your water.

Its pricey. Don't expect to come here and spend less than $50 a person. its a steakhouse. Its a good steakhouse that dry ages their prime beef. You're getting what you pay for. Its a special dinner kinda place. Its not your weeknight dinner kinda place.

Their breakfast is good. I'd skip their afternoon tea though.

I've had the crabcakes and the shrimp with no problems. I have never ordered their fish, mainly because its a steakhouse. I don't order steak at McCormicks, I order seafood there.

Its an old schoo menu. I don't think its changed much. Its not fasionable cuisine. Think Humphrey Bogart...not George Clooney.

Its charming, I'd be sad if it ever closed. Nothing but good memories so far.

• Pros: Old School LA, Convenient to Downtown Venues
• Cons: Old School Food, Pricey

02/25/09

I was so disappointed...

by MMiller101 at Citysearch

I am just retuning from a dinner at the Pacific Dining Car restaurant and was extremely disappointed.

? Our server lacked adequate communication skills. He never made eye contact and was generally creepy. It is very difficult to hear him. He speaks too quietly and you have to ask him to repeat everything.

? If there were specials, we did not hear about them.

? Many of the people at the table had never been before. As we ordered out steaks, he made no mention of the various sauces available. Personally I forgot until the steaks arrived. At which point I asked Alex, because he was the only one around, for sauce which he brought promptly.

? Our waiter served our food. We had asked for a baked potato with everything on it. The potato was served plane?no toppings and no toppings were offered by our waiter. Alex, noticed that the potato had nothing on it as asked if we had ordered a plain baked potato?we said no and he promptly brought the toppings. If that is how things typically work, the waiter should have said, we will be right over with the toppings for your potato.

? Our waiter never checked back with us to see if our food was good, cooked right, etc. We did not see him again until he brought the dessert menus and offered coffee.

? We had to ask that the crumbs be removed at which point the waiter proceeded to swipe them on the floor. Alex did come by a few minutes later to get the rest of the crumb with the proper equipment.

? One of my guest had a gift to open. We had not really decided about dessert yet. As the person started opening the gift?paper half torn off?the waiter came over and said something like, ?Your not having dessert? and picked up all the menu.

I was so disappointed.

09/30/08

Wheel and deal between bites of prime-aged beef at this historic steakhouse.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Open since 1921, this railway car recreation has always been popular with local politicos. A cozy maze of rooms provides plenty of nooks and crannies for plotting and planning over a steak-and-eggs breakfast. Thick, juicy steaks cooked over a mesquite fire are the main attraction. Start with the classic shrimp cocktail, four mondo shrimp with a zesty cocktail sauce, or a garlicky Caesar salad. The gargantuan cowboy steak, a flavorful rib steak, is charred on the outside yet rare inside. The baseball steak (a two-inch-thick cut of top sirloin), Delmonico (bone-in New York strip) and buttery filet mignon are other well-known cuts. Although side dishes merely distract from the sheer joy of red meat, if you must, order the onion rings, thinly sliced and cooked till just droopy, or the overloaded baked potato, dressed tableside with sour cream and chives. And if you have room after all that, try the piping hot souffle--just make sure to order it at the beginning of your feast.

06/25/08

Not recommended

by whisky2a at Citysearch

I enjoyed this restaurant in the 70's and 80's before I moved from Los Angeles. Recently I found myself staying overnight downtown. I decided to return to the restaurant for old times sake thinking that L.A. icons like this never change. Big mistake. Our party of three noticed only four other tables occupied where 20 years ago it would have been packed. We thought this a bad omen, but forged ahead anyway.

It sure ain't what it used to be. Price to food value very poor. A wine list with very few bargains, most bottles priced over $100. I ordered a bottle of red. My wife wanted a glass of chardonnay. We had already sent the wine list back, but the waiter suggested the Berringer house chard and we went with it. Should have asked the price. I thought maybe $8.00. Would you believe $23.

The things I do for nostalgia. Never the Pacific Dining Car again.

12/02/07

NIGHTMARE AT PDC!

by guidry at Citysearch

First service is really bad, have to agree with prevoius post,food was served not the way we ordered and it took ever for our steaks and we spoke to the restaurant general manger he was not helpful or understanding!

• Pros: none
• Cons: evertthing

09/30/07

GOOD STEAKS!

by ocbhq at Citysearch

Steaks here are good but for overall steak and service i prefer the palm in west hollywod here in la area,while service can be slow here at times especially if you dine in the bar area when it is busy,RIP to bartender Rafael.

• Pros: steaks
• Cons: service if real busy

08/26/07

Horrible place to eat !!!

by trsasalt at Citysearch

This is the second time I have attempted to have a decent meal at the Pacific Dining Car with total disappointment. I was always told how great this place was and how large the filets were, but to my dismay, the filet was a basic cut ... nothing spectacular at all. I ordered the filet and lobster and the lobster didn't even come with drawn butter. I agree with another review that I read when the person stated that the waiter was absent for the entire meal because that is exactly what I experienced as well ... in fact, I had to ask if the meal came with bread because after I sat down I sat there for almost 20 minutes before anyone even came to my table. After my total disappointment with the meal that cost me $80.00 w/ tip I then had to pay $4.50 for parking when the parking lot was almost completely empty. What a crock !!! I would be even more upset if my company hadn't paid for the meal and i had to pay for it myself, but I can assure you that noone from my company will ever dine there again and I work for a fortune 100 company .... not recommended and not in this lifetime !!!!!!

• Pros: None
• Cons: Parking, service, atmosphere

07/01/06

Waste of time and Waste of money!!!

by mcurrry at Citysearch

after waiting close to an hour for my steak, the rib-eye arrived barely cooked. i had to saw through the uncooked flesh to get a raw sinewy piece of meat. i would have have told the waiter to fix it, but he was absent for the whole meal. not only was he absent, he was snooty. i have worked in restaurants for years- and i dont often complain, but in this case i feel it would be wrong if i didn't share this terrible experience with potential patrons. i would have understood the lack of attention from the staff if it was busy, but my girlfriend and i were the only people in the restaurant at 3:00 pm on a saturday afternoon. this was my only experience at this restaurant. i hope it is not normally this awful, but i will waste my time and money elsewhere.

• Pros: complimentary bread, the ability to walk out the door
• Cons: restaurant uses the same wallpaper they used to line my grandma's coffin

04/26/06

Yum! Yum!

by poolshark at Citysearch

Very nice atmosphere and a very relaxed dining experience. Always great food and ample servings.

• Pros: great food, nice atmosphere, no cel phones allowed
• Cons: expensive, valet parking

04/11/06

Steak ok, Fish never

by james_tish at Citysearch

For just over $100 per person you'll have some fabulous wine, great service and some pretty average food. Chef knows how to plate and make food look attractive but if you expect a fabulous steak that makes your mouth joyful, it's a risk. And I would certainly never again order the fish. For $40 a la carte you'll receive frozen sea bass (properly thawed perhaps) and then the sides are a la carte. Of course it has to be $40 in order to price on parity with the other mains.

• Pros: always get a table, great wine, cozy
• Cons: over priced, bad fish, not exceptional