Wilshire

08/04/2008 Posted by winey1

I love to just sit out on the back patio, share a bottle of wine and a few appetizers...perfect way to spend an early Sunday evening. Was there last night, had a GREAT bottle of Italian red from Puglia and a dish of the mac n' cheese and all I can say is it is the BEST mac n' cheese I've ever had!!! Totally mellow, romantic, easy going vibe....love this place!!

Pros: great patio, interesting wine list

Cons: a little pricey

06/22/2008 Posted by lulula

i had to write a review especially after reading the last few . i am a local in sm and went last week for a business meeting. the cocktails though $15 were the size of a big gulp and were unique and tasty. we had a great, professional, yet funny waitress (adrienne? spell), the appetizers were delicious and our main courses were the same. we were told the portions were small, but i have to say for a fine dinning restaurant ,i did not feel that way, we all left very satisfied and had a GREAT restaurant experience

Pros: food,service,patio

06/12/2008 Posted by LAnewby

The ambiance was great. However, the food items were nothing special. The steak was rubbery. Definitely recommended if you're going for drinks and appetizers, but definitely not recommended for dinner.

Pros: ambiance

Cons: food had zero taste

05/08/2008 Posted by jocelynes21

First off, for our party we rented out one of the smaller patio areas (thinking we had our own patio - maybe I misunderstood.) We just had a long table set up by the back bar.. big deal. The heaters were so close to our table, we had to ask them to move it back otherwise I have no idea how they expected us to jump into our seats?!! Secondly, the food was disappointing! Nothing was spectacular - I'm talking about 10+ orders. Every steak was overcooked. Braised short ribs that everyone praised about in other reviews were SALTY! Miso cod was bland. I have to say though - the Thai Snapper had an impressive presentation since they brought out a whole fish deep fried. Drinks were yummy, a bit pricey ($15). Third complaint we brought in our own cake as we were celebrating a birthday - manager of some sort beckons me over and asks who I gave the cake to and not to worry and that they will locate it?! And then lastly, I was told they'd have music after 10 in the patio, turns out music plays only inside (in the front bar) so our guests were just hanging around the back patio and so we finally relocated to Holly's next door for some music. Waiter kept telling me 15 more mins and they're going to pump the music outside - never happened! All in all, it's a date spot but not for a party unless you're older and want a mellow place. Be forwarned this place is a cougar den and a hot spot for trout's to take their young dates to.

Pros: ambience

Cons: mediocre food for $$$

05/07/2008 Posted by sirbig88

I was recently there on a Saturday night to celebrate a friend's birthday. First, the positives...we sat in the very charming outdoor garden area and the service was pretty good. That's about it for this paragraph. The food...terrible! Everything was loaded with salt and I must have drank 5 cups of water with my meal. I ordered the filet (fyi - the smallest "8 oz" steak I've ever ordered)...it was dry, definitely not "medium", and tasted like it was sprayed with some sort of artificial smoky flavor...just gross. Everything I tried from other plates was also very salty. My margarita even tasted like it had a shot of salt at the bottom of it, which I still don't understand. Also, very expensive for the poor quality of food that is served. That gross steak I described earlier was $35 (a la carte). By the way, don't let the servers fool you...they they everything is "incredible". Also, at $15 a drink, the tab really adds up. Bottom line...nice ambiance, but save your money and your appetite and treat yourself somewhere better.

Pros: Ambiance

Cons: Everything else!

04/21/2008 Posted by scottykam

I went to the Wilshire recently with a large group and have an amazing experience. We were promptly seated, our waiter was knowledgeable about the menu and offered us suggestions. As far as appetizers go, the Hamachi is unbelievable and the Scallops were really good as well. I had the Braised Short Rib for dinner and it was so tender that I did not use my knife to cut it. They have a Red Snapper that they lightly flour and fry (the whole fish) and the presentation is a definite conversation piece (it was tasty too). The whole fish was lightly fried and it stands up on its own on the plate. I had to leave before dessert, but it looked real good. We also had a minor issue with an entree and one of the managers came by and very discreetly asked if we wanted a replacement dish. It was handled with complete class.

Pros: Food, Ambience, Service, Parking

Cons: Nothing!

02/29/2008 Posted by tina2008

I'm surprised to see that other reviewers were unhappy with Wilshire's service. I was really satisfied. Service was great, the food delicious and the atmosphere is what made me come back on valentine's day. On Valentine's Wilshire looked beautiful, the candles, fire place, cozy patio, goldfish pond make it such a hidden romantic-zen place, if you will. I had the duck confit and green bean salad, it was so delicious! I also got seconds on white wine Pinot Grigio glass. Dessert was my favorite! I got the ice cream sampler (pistachio, german chocolate, coffee and mint chocolate chip homemade flavors!) Our waitress was very pleasant and seemed to be around whenever we needed her services, very attentive! Overall, I love Wilshire I'm definitely going back.

Pros: Excellent food and ambience!

Cons: street parking is limited, count on valet

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

11/24/2007 Posted by marpop

I would not recommend choosing this restaurant over many of the others that cost about the same - this is after all, an expensive restaurant. If a couple wants to have appetizers, drinks, desert, etc. - then you can bet that the bill will be over $100 - and if I am going to spend over $100 on dinner, then I want it to be special. This is not a very special place in my opinion. The crowd is pretentious and homogeneous. The menu is very blah (reminds me of those steak houses, where you have to order your sides ala carte (cream spinach, garlic potatoes, etc.)). The lemon souffle was delicious though - no denying that! You will probably get a decent meal here, but don't expect it to be one of those high-end, trendy, one-of-a-kind places... it's somewhat average in that regard.

Pros: parking

Cons: price

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

10/21/2007 Posted by ugenie

Our experience at Wilshire was average when you consider the value. The products, Black Cod, Heritage Pork Chop, Prawns, Hamachi were good but the execution came up short as all of items were served luke warm and a couple were poorly seasoned (over salted) and menu prep lacked imagination. Food was also slow coming out of the kitchen. My impression is that Wilshire is trying to be a big league restaurant with minor league talent...ala Miami Dolphins. We had a couple of $13.00 a glasses of Chardonay that were just OK. Our server was friendly and everybody we encountered on the service staff made us fell welcome. The only exception to this was when we did ask to see the wine steward and he or she never visited our table (more of the Miami Dolphin's). Last, the restaurant seemed to be very slow last night with many empty tables at prime dining time 7 - 9.

Pros: Service

Cons: Food & Wine

10/19/2007 Posted by mld1994

The decor is beautiful, and I had a very tasty and unique drink made from Ketel Citron with freshly crushed ginger and mint. WOW! My friend and I wandered through, looking the place over and opted for the rear bar over a real table. Despite asking the first person we saw if we could seat ourselves and if food was served in the bar (yes), we sat there for 10 minutes before we were approached and then told that the bar menu was available, but the full kicthen closed in 5 minutes. The server then hovered as we tried to read the menu quickly, but had she come over sooner that would not have been an issue. We chose to order from the bar menu so we could have a few minutes to decide. We ordered three items, all unusual offerings that were presented and prepared well. BUT-we were never offered another round of drinks, and we were annoyed by people smoking two tables away. The new laws in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica are the main reason I choose to eat in those cities, but the server seemed (or claimed) not to know anything about them. She asked, "We usually ask that they wait until people are done eating, is it bothering you?" I replied that it is against the city's laws and yes, it is bothering us. (That's why we asked if you allowed it) I know it's hard to approach customers with a problem, so maybe a manager could take care of it. (in other words, yes I expect it to be stopped, which she didn't seem inclined to do) So anway, the place is pretty and the food is good, but the level of service did not match the elegance of the atmosphere (price was matched to elegance, of course). I would not mind paying the prices for the full dinner, if the experience were more smoothly enjoyable.

Pros: beautifully designed, unique food and drinks

Cons: service does not match pricepoint