Bin 8945--CLOSED

11/02/2008 Posted by foodiesocal

maybe because cokehead owner David Haskell snorted all the profits up his nose. Good riddance. Next time keep your ego in check and the portion sizes not laughable and maybe you can call yourself a restauranteur. What a joke. I can't believe I got ripped off so bad.

Pros: wine list, service

Cons: everything else

02/02/2008 Posted by skcos

though the food was good - the portions are too small for the money - MOST IMPORTANTLY - after dining with friends and clients, we all shared the billed. My card was charge the entire price of the meal for all 7 people and the OWNER has been unkind, unfriendly, mean, rude, and unwilling to help sort my deal out. I strongly suspect there is something untrustworthy and urge cash only with this place.

Cons: OWNER is RUDE - staff often 'too good for you'

01/05/2008 Posted by irish0305

I love this place. Its a bit pricey and the portions are small, but the atmosphere and friendly service more than make up for it. Refreshingly bright and knowledgable wait staff, delicious food and wine. I was so impressed I went back the very next night. The owner is a gentleman and he's passionate about his food and wine. He stopped by my table both nights and even sent over complimentary dessert. Wonderful place. Highly recommended. You feel like family there.

Pros: service

Cons: some portions were small...esp. the gnocchi

08/07/2007 Posted by winedndined

Let's start out with the good. Decent location and nice server. Ok, that's it. Food is mediocre at best. I mean you're better off going to an Olive Garden or Red Lobster. Portions are ridiculously small, especially for the price. We came to enjoy a special event and left feeling hungry and frankly ripped off. Imagine an appetizer taco, which is the size of a tortilla CHIP. Don't call this a taco. I can't even remember the other items, since they were so mediocre. Outside parking staff trys to cheat you by overcharging too. If you have several hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket, do yourself, go get a real meal somewhere else and donate the rest to some worthy cause rather than feeling ill afterwards.

Pros: Hmmm... sorry, can't think of one

Cons: Way too much money for bad food and an average restaurant.

06/26/2007 Posted by thom1961

They don't listen or care about the fact that all of L.A. considers their portions a joke. I don't know why they are so rude as well. I've eaten there twice and spoken to friends who have also eaten there and everyone says the same thing. They are way over priced for what you get and they seem very happy that they are ripping you off. Both times i've gone there I've had to leave and go to another restaurant to fill up! The wine started out very affordable when they first opened but now a so-so glass of anything will run you $14! Not worth it.

Pros: A nice setting, too bad they don't get it.

Cons: service and ridiculously small portions.

06/26/2007 Posted by asifuentes

Good food, itty bitty portions, long wait between ordering and serving - 1 hour. Expensive dinner for two was $200

Pros: Wine selections

Cons: Food prices high considering the extremely small portions

06/22/2007 Posted by thegull

Well....apparently the owner is very good at reading his restaurant's reviews on this City Search website...good for him really as it shows he cares what his customers think. So....after reading our review (6/22), he calls my friend (who'd left her phone # from reservations made) and said he was sorry for the negative experience we had and actually hand delivered to her an envelope wiht $40 in it to refund us the amount (?) we were overcharged. According to David, the owner, though we ordered the two-person portion of the Rib Eye steak dinner, we were served a one-person portion and were charged for the two person portion....okay....all is well now and we wanted to thank the owner for his courteous way of handling this and we felt it was only fair to share this happy ending....we do wish Bin 8945 well.

Pros: Owner cares about his customers experience

Cons: Seems that the restaurant is committed to serving expensive, small portions

05/30/2007 Posted by calmbh

Went for the first time a couple of months ago with a friend who's a chef who worked at Eos in SF. We did the Bin Tasting with wine parings. While somewhat pricey, it was a great way to get the full experience. We both loved it, and my friend felt that AOC is the only thing in town which comes close to this experience. I have also dined at Providence and Grace, and felt it to be on par in terms of quality and consistency in most of the dishes as Providence and better than Grace. Took my girlfriend back to Bin and she loved it as well. We went to AOC a couple of weeks ago for my birthday and were VERY disapointed, and wished we had gone to Bin. So-- GO TO BIN!

05/29/2007 Posted by mgtn

I was recommended this restaurant by friends who had eaten there soon after it's opening. My guests and I were disappointed with the size of portions, particularly the meat entres and the gnocchi was way overcooked and stuck togther in one big ball. The staff were friendly but un-enthusiastic when explaining the ingredients and preparation of the dishes when served. The restaurant does have an extensive and impressive wine list. Go for the drink but not the food.

Pros: Friendly staff, Great wine list

Cons: Food, value

05/23/2007 Posted by lbloch

The attitude we received from the serve staff and owner set up an expectation that the food must be so amazing in order to live up to the hype they created. We were greatly disappointed. Even for tapas the portions are miniscule and the prices rediculous. I have never left a restaurant with such a feeling of being cheated...there is nothing positive I can offer about eating here and the owner needs to learn how to run a business.

Pros: Location

Cons: Service, prices