The Rooftop Beverly Hills — Restaurant in Beverly Hills

UPDATE: Still management never returned my mother’s calls, were never available to talk and never returned email. Who runs a place like this?

June 22, 2023 After eating at the Beverly Wilshire's Cut, the Beverly Hills Hotel's Cabana Cafe and The Ivy my mother and I were looking forward to spending our last night in Beverly Hills at what we assumed would be another amazing restaurant: the Rooftop by JG. Their sister hotel we stayed at, the Beverly Hilton, recommended this restaurant; therefore, we expected great service and unparalleled views. We were excited to end our mother-daughter trip on a high note literally above the city.

Our experience, to put it in Hollywood terms, is this: I can tell you that on looks the Rooftop by JG is an Angelina Jolie because of the views and beauty of the place but on the inside it is run like it's Joan Crawford's version of Mommy Dearest so expect neglect from management and food that is not of good quality or flavor but has a price tag like it should be at Cut, a Michelin Star restaurant. Do NOT get the lobster roll. As my mom said, "It has an odd odor and flavor and it was difficult to taste any lobster in it; I barely ate one bite and the rest was untouched." Ask for a manager and see what happens, but hey you're reading the review so let me give you the 411: you get absolutely nothing but total neglect as the manager is "too busy" even with a 3/4 full restaurant to stop by and talk to their guests.

They have a weird policy for tables with a view. On the Open Table app it showed totally booked except for one table with a view at the time we wanted (sunset). And this particular table required a "fixed price" of $380 so we booked it to not miss out on this experience. However, when we arrived there were a lot of tables open and with views like ours. What we learned is if your bill is less than the $380 after cocktails, appetizers, main courses and desserts for two people, then expect to eat the difference.

The manager decided they would not come to our table to discuss our experience. Since there was around a hundred dollars in difference from the fixed bill amount, we told the server if she could get the manager to at least let that be her tip that would at least be better than paying the $380 AND her tip. So, she got a hundred dollar tip about.

And BTW-The server was fine, no issues with her other than she could not get the manager to talk to us, but is that really her fault? The drinks were very good too. The bartender, server and hostesses were all wonderful; the service review is based solely on the management's neglect. But management and the kitchen, these areas are important and need work. Never in my whole life when I or my mother have asked to speak to a manager has the manager been dismissive and unavailable; we were shocked.

To Management: I would not normally waste more of my time and energy on a review for a restaurant that already zapped my enthusiasm about it except that you all really upset my 70 year old mother; she felt taken advantage of and she even called to talk to a manager but again management was too busy to talk to her. So, she sent an email detailing these issues to the manager named Amanda after still being unable to speak to any manager today (at the restaurant AND the hotel). We will see what happens.

*I am happy to revise my review depending upon any future interactions management has with my mother; if this review stays the same you (the potential customer) are then aware that management continued to be...

I'll start with the pertinent cons and then get to the pros... First of all, this was our third stay at the Waldorf, which includes countless times eating at the JG Rooftop restaurant, having room service and poolside food. During our visit last fall and a year ago, the food was beyond amazing! Everything was a unique, extraordinary, explosion of flavor, that left you satisfied but craving it again months later. It was exactly the quality we have come to know and expect from the Waldorf hotels we've visited. This week however, we were extremely disappointed with the food. We had our hearts set on the previously incredible avacado toast, and within the first bite it was evident it was not the same. It was plain avacado with a few sprinkles of chili flakes and sunflower seeds, no flavor mixed into the avacado. Last year it was bursting with the perfect blend of sweet, spicy and salty flavors, smokey toast that was actually toasted, and a huge mound of avacado. HUGE! This year there was barely a smear of avacado to cover the top of the soggy, barely toasted bread, that was missing any smokey flavor. It was a huge disappointment as nothing was the same, but more so that nothing had any flavor. I ended up asking our wonderful waitstaff to bring me lime, chili peppers, sugar, salt, and Tabasco to attempt to give it some sort of flavor. It helped, but for the prices, I shouldn't have to bring my own culinary knowledge in to "fix" the lack of flavor. That's part of the experience that we are paying for. This wasn't the only menu item that went down hill either. Basically everything we tried was the same experience, boring and bland. We asked our friendly waitstaff what happened, only to discover they had a change of chefs, and it all made sense. Same menu, different chef, and apparently one who believes that food should be bland. Because that's the current theme... flavorless, or such slight flavor that you have to strain your senses to try and find any semblance an herb or spice. Which leads me say, the food is extremely over priced, bland, and small portions. Even the salads were a disappointment. As a vegetarian, my salad is most often my meal, and their $31 salad was barely enough greens to constitute a snack. Vegetarians need more veggies to constitute a meal, as we don't have the meat as a super high source of calories. Furthermore, they have very limited and boring vegetarian/vegan options. That's a huge disappointment in and of itself. When we stay at a hotel such as the Waldorf, we don't want to have to search for other restaurants to find food that has flavor. We're fine paying for exceptional, but average at a high price is enough to piss anyone off. This wasn't just our opinion either as we heard the same from several others staying at the hotel as well. I'm sharing this in hopes for change prior to our next visit. Because if it's the same again, I doubt we'll return.

Pros: Nice waitstaff, some exceptional, others average. Luxurious ambiance, gorgeous views, customer service that is most of the time extraordinary, sometimes there's a weak link and it's back to average or worse. Tasty drinks. They try to make things right if something isn't right, *try being...

View - 10 Drinks - 10 Food - 2.5 Service - 5

Great view BUT very disappointing food. Our server was either badly trained or she was a substitute that night. When we asked for suggestions, she drew a blank. Next question was: What time do you guys close? I am not sure, replied. One of the drinks we ordered was a hot cup of bourbon with honey. It was far from HOT, specially given it was a cold night up there, when I asked for it to be warned up, the drink came back in half. I did not complain, I made no comments but I did take it as a sign. Moving Fwd... Do not order the so proclaimed eggplant dinner dish unless you like your food very salty. Food presentation gets a 10, taste gets a 2.5 My client had the salmon. It looked great but he made no comment how it tasted. We had 3 appetizers. Two dinner dishes. 4 drinks and one sparkling water.

No WOWs on the food. The drinks were excellent! Keep the bartender. Fire the assitant chefd. Of all the things I ate not one dish was memorable. Excuse me! The eggplant was because hours later I could still taste the salt in my mouth.

Don’t be fooled by the pictures you see.

I made my reservation and entered my notes via OpenTable. I called ahead of time to make sure they had read my requests. They said yes; however, when I got there I received completely the opposite of what I had requested - table location and type of water at the table. (It was not a busy night, just lack of attention to details). So I interrupted my conversation with my client to re-adress things that I had already written to them. After spending $300 for 2 plus $15 on parking with validation, I left with a very salty taste in my mouth. My suggestion: Go for the drinks. Food is mediocre. If your hungry don’t expect great tasting food.

It was very disappointing to find the Waldorf Austoria experience not living up to iits name in...