Grand Casino Bakery & Cafe — Restaurant in Culver City

I called on July 3rd asking if they would play the Argentina Vs Ecuador game on the next day July 4th. The person who answered my call said yes. We were 4 adults and 2 children. He explained that it was first come, first served and that sometimes for events like these people tend to come earlier than when the game starts. The game was at 6 pm, so I told one of my friends to get there early. (The time recommended was 3/3:30 and if by 5 pm all members of the party weren’t there, spaces were going to be given away to other people)

We were coming from a long distance. It was also explained and requested with a humorous tone "to come hungry" meaning to consume. I immediately understood and we both laughed. My other two friends got there earlier than us. One of my friends got there around 3:30 and the other around 4. My family and I arrived at 4:30 pm. This restaurant has a menu online that I have attached to this review where they advertise Quilmes beer among other alcoholic averages for $3.50 during Happy Hour EVERY DAY from 3-6. I have attached the receipt.

This restaurant has communal tables, which means you can be subjected to share your table with other people. The first incident I found out of place was from the waiter to one of my friends. My friend got up to get a dozen facturas Argentinas (Argentine pastries) from the bakery, so we could share later. The waiter came and in front of everybody, including strangers that shared our table embarrassed my friend telling him that "next time he needed to order the pastries with him or order more than $30 to be able to watch the game. I asked him what was the problem, since whatever he didn't spend on "food" we were spending on other items. He changed his demeanor and apologetically said that it was a requirement. I did not want to argue so I agreed with him. Then the bill came and we discovered that there was an error. I called him over to the table and asked why he charged all the bottled Quilmes beer regular price. Now very rude attitude aggressively took the receipt from my hand and taunted me saying " So, let me see, how many beers do you want me to charge you then" Obviously we never paid attention to how many beers we drank before 6. This is part of the job of an honest waiter to charge accordingly.

I then proceeded to ask for the manager because I did not like his tone and aggressive behavior. He responded "There is no manager" which to me was very unprofessional.

Then I proceeded to get up from my seat and I was approached by someone. (This was the worker that talked to me on the phone) He explained that the website has inaccurate Happy Hour items. When the waiter had also advertised verbally the special. He explained the happy hour special was only for draft beer and showed me a different menu than the one that was on the table when we arrived. He offered an apology to give me a discount for next time. I refused and at that point, I also was not expecting a change in our bill; I was upset mainly by the disrespect and false advertisement. I was born in Argentina and I have been living in the US for 23 years in all those years I have never experienced such disrespect. As someone who has worked in Argentine and American restaurants, I know the reputation of Latinos not leaving good tips, or not consuming enough to the business expectations and I consider all those when I consume and tip. It is not okay to stereotype and make Latinos feel uncomfortable because this can create a discrimination profile in how a food industry worker perceives and greets potential customers.

To the waiter: You only got a $20 tip because we appreciated you bringing our food, As for your way of doing it in my opinion you shouldn't work in the food industry if you have no patience or no professionalism to serve.

To the owner: I hope you take this as constructive criticism, reconsider your choice of servers, and take my advice in changing your online menu and the ones placed on tables, so people don't go for your happy hour special and then are told that those...

This place is not authentic and they discriminate their customers

I took my little family to Anime-Con in downtown Los Angeles on July 4th. Even with my partner’s challenge, we decided to leave the event early to Gran Casino for the Copa America game of Argentina… It was a restaurant on our way to Venice Beach to watch the 4th of July fireworks. A couple of friends showed up on our behalf due to the fact that the restaurant representative recommended that we show up early (First Come First Serve) … Not only 2 of our friends showed up early, but so did we and half of our table was already yielding to a group of fans on the opposite team while the rest of the restaurant was empty. We arrived half an hour before kick off time and 1.5 hours before the end of happy hour… Obviously I wanted to treat my friends with drinks while I ordered food for my family. Not only did the server never come to our table for our requests, but had the audacity to complain to one of my guests who bought treats from the same restaurant and publicly humiliated him. Our server had a grin face towards Argentinians, so it begs the question, why is he working for an Argentinian restaurant?! My partner called the day before trying to make a reservation in hopes that she can share her culture to me, our family and friends, but I left with a bitter taste of the experience and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to come here. I got overcharged by $90 dollars that I did not want to dispute to avoid conflict within my party. Our server was rude to all of us and waited up until 2 minutes after happy hour to serve us again after being absent for almost 40 minutes, and to my surprise that all of our drinks were charged after hour prices even when we ordered many drinks before the 6pm time frame… I’m sure everyone has a different experience within restaurants, but for an Argentinian restaurant who are discriminative towards Argentinians should probably change their...

I found the place on Google maps and sought only to go, have a cup of coffee, journal, and enjoy the day. What I experienced was deeply disappointing and demoralizing treatment from my server (I think it was Manuel). I didn’t notice the café was Argentinian—if I had looked I probably would have avoided it because I’ve been to Argentina and I know how racist they are toward black people; but i didn’t notice and went anyway, and I was blindsided by how egregious and painful my service was.

I was not greeted, then when i found someone to speak to I was asked “what, is there not open seats out there?”, when I responded I wasn’t aware that it was an open seating style, I was then pointed to a seat that was out of view from the street. I asked to sit at a different spot in the sun and given a smug and passive aggressive “okay”. I was then spoken to flippantly like it was the biggest chore in the world to get me a cup of coffee, I was rushed to order, I wasn’t served water, and I kept having to get up and ask for a refill while this same server was warm and accommodating toward other guests. Another server (I will protect their identity) confirmed that they saw the mistreatment and agreed that it was race-based discrimination.

What was supposed to be a quick pit stop for me turned into an ugly experience that I have to spend a day or two shaking off for no good reason other than some guy I don’t know decided he didn’t want to treat me like a human...