Rush Street

10/20/09

Horrible waitstaff, even worse hostess

by brutusvladimir

I agree with everyone who has complained about the service. Been there 3 times -- restaurant, patio, and lounge upstairs -- and the service has been horrible or mediocre at best. Rude staff and even worse hostess. Despite ordering appetizers, drinks, entrees, and desserts, we were told to leave because we had been there over 2 hours.

Why are people still going here when the service is so awful? There are lots of places in LA and Culver City w/good food and good service. Don't waste your time here w/ok food and horrible service.

• Pros: valet right in front
• Cons: everything else

10/06/09

Appealing look

by KathyNicholson

Great place for a birthday; decorated really nice, drinks are good, they are accommodating (at least for my party). Food isn't so great if you're planning a dinner there. It's overpriced and small portions. The best there is probably the macaroni and cheese (who knew!).

The upstairs is beautiful. LOVE how everything is set up. There's an imaginary dancing area (meaning, wherever you wish), patio area, and pole in the middle of the room. hhmm... HAVE FUN!

• Pros: Great atmosphere
• Cons: The food

07/04/09

all show and no substance

by rubytorr

I agree with others who say that the staff are certainly not service-oriented. Bartenders act as if they are too good to acknowledge and serve you. Servers can be all right, though it's h it and miss. We enjoyed our blonde, tatted girl who actually gave a darn about the puddle of oil floating atop one of our dishes, and the hostess that night was very welcoming. A few of the younger male bartenders behold attitudes which will certainly hurt them in the long run, as we will certainly not return primarily because we will not give up our hard-earned salaries to poor quality.

• Pros: extensively good liquor selection
• Cons: arrogant bartenders and greasy food

06/04/09

HORRIBLE Customer Service and MANAGEMENT

by monosson

This place has a deplorable front of house operation and no grasp on basic customer service standards. My friends and I reserved a table to watch the Lakers game and have dinner. We spent several hundred dollars. As we were paying our bill. The host approached us and said "I need this table. You've been here for a while. The Lakers game is over. It's time to go". I told him this was ridiculous and he became argumentative. Several people from our party wrote in letters to complain. The General Manager called me and told me the host said he offered our group a table upstairs. (A total LIE)! The manager then apologized and offered nothing. He also lied and stated that he left a message for my other friend who wrote a letter of complaint. Not worth stepping foot in again.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Customer service from management

05/25/09

Only Went For Drinks

by lenkarm

My friend and I went here for drinks and ordered pizza only to be informed that the bartender had not gotten our order in before the kitchen closed. The manager apologized and comped our next round of beers, which was very thoughtful. The music inside was a bit loud for my taste, but going out to the patio was an easy solution.

• Pros: Good Patio
• Cons: Loud Music

05/21/09

Way too much hype

by mimiela

Well they do have a great turkey sandwich but I was not impressed with the stripper pole hidden in the back of the restaurant. The place echoes at lunch when no one is there and they refuse to do anything different to your order - like if you ask for light salt in the food they say no, if you ask for kethcup not mayonnaise they say no - I am not kidding about this. My father in law cannot eat salt due to his health and they refused to leave any ingredient out of their food - like cheese. At night - although crowded not a whole lot going on.

• Pros: Great Turkey Sandwich
• Cons: atmosphere, echos

04/27/09

Looks Interesting but, Bad Service

by YPowell

Was very excited to check out the Restaurant with a friend, but, the minute we sat down at the bar, we were greeted with a scowl from the Bartender. We tried to cheer him up by making a little joke to lighten up the situation, but was treated as if we were bugging the heck out of him.

I Did not get his name, but this is no way to treat a customer. I just wanted a drink and some food. It's Sat. night.

Food was ok tasting, portions are huge, which is good for some folks. Service at the table was friendlier, but waiter was not around much. Very loud music.

Don't have high expectations. It's only a so-so place.

• Pros: Interesting cocktails
• Cons: Horrible service

02/12/09

Never again....

by craigiejones

It's a shame. This could be a really great place. But the best atmosphere and food can't make up for horrible service. (not that it has the best food or atmosphere either)

Went here for a friend's b-day. As a large party, they told us a that a fixed menu was required, and the non-alcoholic drinks would be free. Fine, fine. Got there and the "fixed menu" was essentially various plates of sliders and other appetizers you could find at TGI Friday's. Yuck. Bill came and we had been charged for all of the sodas. Argued with the "manager" for a little while and he graciously agreed to comp us those, but not without some serious attitude. (why would we make something like that up? Anyway, we spent a bundle on bottles of wine and cocktails.)

Determined not to write it off completely, we headed up to the lounge to grab some drinks. Was ok for awhile, then it got way too crowded and the music was questionable. Wanted to leave, but the waiter who had been serving our table was nowhere to be found. (and he had our credit card) Looked around for awhile, no sign of him. Asked a couple other waiters/busboys if they could find him. No Dice. Finally, went in search of a "manager" and asked if he could help. He assured me he'd find him. Literally, 20 minutes after our initial request we got the bill. Apparently he had been hanging out with some other bar patrons and was MIA.

Rush Street, get your act together. Run a tighter ship. Get all of your staff on the same page, and only hire folks who have some kind of experience and actually want to be there. I'm a westsider and am all for making Culver City a cooler place to hang, but this is a weak attempt at best.

• Pros: Eh?
• Cons: Service, staff, food, choice of music.

02/02/09

Fun place on a Friday night!

by ychoi12

I'm not sure what the other reviewers are complaining about, but I have never had a problem with Rush Street and I've only gone on Friday and Saturday nights! If the service was a little slow, it's because the place was so packed it was difficult to walk through, and I'm sure each server had a bevy of tables to take care of. I'm baffled by people complaining that they weren't taken care of immediately. Clearly the staff isn't just taking care of one table so they won't be there every 10 minutes to cater to each person. But my waiters have always come back, asking if we need anything else and being charming, to boot. And if I needed something, calling out to my waiter has always brought one immediately over. Maybe having a sunny disposition makes a difference? As for Guinness, I'm an avid G drinker and I don't have a problem with the pour. Not many places outside of the UK do know how to pour a Guinness, so I simply wait 3 minutes to let my drink settle before taking a drink. Which is actually what I'd do even if the pour was correct. Problem solved.

I also love the food and the desserts are AWESOME. Baked goods... Yumm.

Try it with an open mind and be a little peppy when talking to waiters! :)

• Pros: Great dessert, waiters are charming and attractive, cute restaurant
• Cons: It's a little loud, can be crowded and you're going to have to wait if you don't make a reservation

01/27/09

Poor Service

by califoodi

I've been to Rush Street 3 times.

- August 21, 2008 I went with a large group on a week night for happy hour. No complaints. Good food, drinks and service.

- November 28, 2008 I went to Rush Street with one friend. Granted, it was a busy night. We were able to get a table on the upstairs patio. We waited 20 minutes and no one even came by to give us menus. I went inside to try and order drinks from the bar. The bartender told me that I couldn't stand where the waiters place orders. That was fine, so I walked over to the other side of the bar where she proceeded to ignore me for the next 10 minutes. After 30 minutes of being ignored we left and went next door to Gyenari's and had a great time with good food and prompt service.

- January 26, 2009 I went to Rush Street with another friend hoping that my last experience was a fluke. On a Monday night at 5:30pm, it was not croweded at all. We were seated immediately downstairs and given menus. 15 minutes later no one came by to find out if we were ready to order, take our drink order or even offer us water. Then another party of four was seated right next to us and their order was taken with water on the table within 2 minutes. We picked up our stuff walked next door to Gyenari's and had a good time.

Take if from me, skip Rush Street and go straight to Gyenari's, the waiters are attentive and polite. The food is good and they have a nice assortment of specialty drinks.

• Pros: Good Appetizers
• Cons: SERVICE!