Beso

12/18/09

Decent food and average service

by weho333 at Citysearch

I've also had decent food at Beso. Forget about the celebrity stuff, it's more of just a nice modern restaurant that has great decor.

• Pros: Upscale atmosphere
• Cons: Pricy

11/21/09

Sick as a DOG!!!!!

by HungryandThirsty at Citysearch

I had dinner here two days ago and am still recovering. Ordered the taco platter for an starters and the tuna for dinner. Something didnt taste right with the seafood taco from the beginning. The seared tuna was just so so.... About 4 am, up it came and 5 am, 6 am, and 7 am., About that time is started out the other end. Still recovering from the food. I will NEVER eat here again. Please consider yourself warned. I give them zero stars.

• Pros: i am still alive
• Cons: horrible food and over priced

11/05/09

Complaints to the Chef. And Celebrity owner

by MealSchpeal com at Citysearch

Dear Beso,

I dined in your new Hollywood restaurant and toward the end of dinner, I would have enjoyed nothing more than to present myself to the chef, remove my trousers and force him to Beso my *** with a pinch of salt.

It is common for a celebrity to open a restaurant that she “does not want to be one of those celebrity restaurants” only to have it then follow the script as closely as a teleprompter. Naturally, the scene was great. Lots of the requisite pretty people trying their hardest to look casual and fabulously well designed interior trying its hardest not to look ethnic. Who could ask for anything more? From a bar. From a restaurant, one could, and indeed should, ask for a little extra.

We were seated 30 minutes late even though our table was “being set” for at least 15. I assumed that the rage in Hollywood has become hiring bus staff that move like glaciers. But then, my partner in dine was bumped at least a dozen times by various employees who were moving around far too quickly to avoid obstacles and wore the dedicated expression known to waiters (and evidently glacial bus persons) that discourages stupid customer requests such as: “May I have some more water?” Where were these people when we needed a table? They could have bumped other diners clean across the dining room and then reset the table like a champion cup stacker.

Then came the food. How did thou gag me? Let me count the ways:

* If one charges US$14 for a tablespoon of guacamole, one should probably lace it with illegal narcotics or gold flakes or something. There is no such thing as a U$14 tablespoon of guac. Or was the price in Pesos? Damn. I should have looked.

* Being white and stupid, I sometimes can’t tell between products of Indian and Mexican DNA. But I can certainly tell between their food. Why serve Nan bread at a Latin-themed restaurant?

* Grilled shrimp should require neither a cleaver nor a personal crab claw to enjoy. All it should require is a little prep work in the kitchen. Anything else isn’t kosher.

* Skirt steak is skirt steak. It’s either raw or burnt. When did people start getting the impression that skirt steak was Filet Mignon? I guess when it started costing US$29.

Overall, if I can say one thing to help out your future bloated customers it is this: LAY OFF THE SALT! I seriously thought that I was going to shrivel unless I got some water pronto but, of course, no matter how prominently I placed my empty glass, no one could be bothered to refill it. I looked for salvation in the remnants of the Nan bread which seemed to have (only) 4 spoons full of salt sprinkled on but definitely could have used an intravenous drip after finishing my skirt steak. It may have skirted on many things but covered the old Sodium Chloride as thoroughly as a long denim skirt covers an Orthodox chick.

If I were smarter and more driven, I’d open up a bottled water stand on your sidewalk. Then I’d have the most profitable 9 months in business history.

• Pros: Scene
• Cons: Mostly.

10/17/09

Glad I went once, but probably not again

by balletbrooke at Citysearch

from the hype that I heard about this place when it opened (probably from the Eva Longoria interviews) I fully expected GREAT guacamole and MEMORABLE tortilla soup. Guac was nothing special, and tortilla soup was miniscule, served in a huge bowl, had too many tortilla strips and was very thick. Service was very spotty. Better to go there if you want to see and be seen.

• Pros: attractive decor, good people watching
• Cons: overpriced, very mediocre food

08/14/09

Rules for eating at beso

by RatherBCamping at Citysearch

Rules For Eating At Beso

Bar

1. Order a drink from the specialty cocktail list

2. If at all hungry, order the skirt steak tacos and the margarita flat bread

3. Get to know the bartenders. They're a cool group of people. I'm sure I've met them all, one is a girl. They are super friendly

4. Come early if it's friday or saturday. It's very hard to get a spot at the bar after 9 sometimes. The surrounding lounge is cool, but it's not the same experience. You can see everything up at the bar (your fun surroundings). And the cocktail servers while very nice, don't have the time that the bar staff has to talk to you.

5. Have fun. It is la and it is a high profile restaurant, but speaking for the people who work here, it is the easiest place to fit in and just enjoy your time.

Restaurant

1. Come hungry. There are so many things on the menu that are worthwhile, but you also have to save room for desert. The churros are my favorite.

2. Trust in your server's ability to recommend food even if you're not a first timer. In my experience, they know their stuff and seemed always willing to go the extra mile.

3. If you like wine, find the wine guy there. I went there one time and he wasn't working, but he's very knowledgeable.

4. This place gets super busy on the weekend so act accordingly the week before and reserve a table. Walk-ins seem to happen, but it's easier that way. Sometimes it is more fun to get stuck at the bar though.

5. Bring a camera or a pen and paper for an autograph. There are celebrities here every time I come.

Last time I was there, I saw Eva Longoria actually go over to random tables and talk to people. It was very pleasant to see that and she took a picture with other people who just walked right up to her. I love this place

08/14/09

Long Overdue Review

by coppercoin at Citysearch

Every time we go to a show, since wicked (saw it 3 times), my friend and i have to go to Beso.

The bartenders remembered us the first time we ever returned which is impressive in itself, since this is a busy are and the theatre crowd must be coming through here every day. It seems like every time we arrive, there are droves of other people waiting to be seated which more than likely are coming here for dinner and then off to the show afterwards.

Our experiences here have all been wonderful. We talked to one of the servers, even though we sat at the bar, who had a lot of funny things to talk about after explaining one of the new items on the menu that she had delivered to us. We always order the blackberry collins and the tequila spa. There are other things on the menu, but those seem to suit our tastes perfectly.

Hollywood and Los Angeles in general need more place like this one. It feels like home for many reasons besides just nice people and good service. We will continue our tradition of dinner at Beso before every show because every time we come in they treat us like we're really important to them.

Thank You Guys,

Penny

• Pros: Food, Drinks, Bartenders, Servers

08/14/09

Nice time

by Jonesyboy at Citysearch

didnt have any food so i cant give it 5 stars but we had a great time we ordered drinks which were really good and the music was cool and different. i had a great conversation with the bartenders and a manager. it was very busy but it was early so thats probably why. cool place though

• Pros: Drinks

08/14/09

Pretty Good

by DirtyLarry at Citysearch

I enjoyed coming here. The reviews are mixed but it's definitely worthwhile. Keep up the good work

• Pros: Cool spot

08/14/09

Fun

by protonmol at Citysearch

It was a girls night out. My friends and I picked this place because 2 of them had been here before and the rest of us hadn't so. They said it was fun and when they mentioned the upstairs it was already a done deal. We ate down the street at katsuya which was ok. I wish my friends that had been here before told me about the style of food. There is literally something here for anyone no matter what they crave. We looked over the menu and asked the cute bartenders about it who were very helpful. They make great drinks too. The drink list here has stuff ranging from girly types of drinks to stuff that has absynthe in it. Tried that once somewhere and never again. We were so happy with everything we ordered.

Up at kiss lounge the music got kind of loud but it was really fun. They didn't have the same drinks as downstairs but it was still fun anyway. We did retreat to the downstairs bar which was closing but we could escape the packed lounge.

Great time in general and more than you would expect from a place like this

• Pros: Everything
• Cons: none

08/14/09

This place is insane

by xmdesigns at Citysearch

Beso was one of my best experiences.

I came from the east coast to visit a friend of mine. She suggested that we come here, but like most of the people I hang out with we only go to dive bars. I didn't think I would enjoy a place like this at all. You hear things like its owned by that desperate housewives chick and its in hollywood so it must be a stuck up kind of joint. I did promise my friend that i would go wherever she wanted though so we came anyway. We went straight to the bar and thats where we ended up eating because this place was filling up quick fully booked for the night and we were lucky to get the seats at the bar that we got. We got our drinks fast and people behind the bar were busy, but still found the time to check on us. The food came out fast. We didnt order a steak or anything like that. It was one of those pizzas with shrimp and sausage or pepperoni and tacos. I hate to admit it it but i would actually go back there. I t was great people watching the food was great, the drinks were great. She even got me to order something of the drink menu which I never do. I'm just a whiskey guy but they had a drink made with gentleman jack honey and grapefruit I think it was!

My experience was completely unexpected and when I'm back in town I'm coming here

• Pros: Atmosphere, staff