Los Altos Grill — Restaurant in Los Altos

THIS REVIEW IS STRICTLY ON MY BAR DINING EXPERIENCE.

"Tis 5pm on a Sunday evening -- and we walk into the restaurant, greeted by Max (whose name we learned of later) who acknowledged our reservation. We expressed our desire to dine at the bar, alas there was a wait. Max aptly suggested that there was a party sitting at the bar waiting for a table, and perhaps we could do a swap -- we gladly obliged. Within 5 minutes, we were seated at the bar.

The "sideway" experience began from here. We were not properly served until about 12 minutes into being seated -- relatively long by my standard. When we were acknowledged, we were asked what we wanted to drink -- but we were not presented our menu.

We ordered a bottle of Schramsburg and we also asked a bottle of red wine that we brought to be opened to breathe. The bartender let me taste and poured the first glass.

About 10 minutes into our experience, we hailed the bartender to order grilled artichokes and shrimp cocktail both of which came out within 10 minutes -- good. Our champagne glasses and water glasses were never filled, and the bartender did not bother to check how our dishes were.

About 30 minutes into our experience of enjoying the appetizers, we again made the effort to hail the bartender, and ordered the filet and a side of kale salad. The bartender did not bother to ask how we'd like the steak cooked, but we also forgot to let him know how we'd like to cook, so...let that slide. And I proactively asked the bartender to pour the red wine that we brought, which the bartender obliged.

The steak and the kale salad came out -- and the steak was too salty for us to consume -- it was not as if the meat was overly seasoned, but it was at the level that the steak was fully coated in a layer of salt.

We again had to hail the bartender to let him know of the issue, who addressed and obliged to rectify the issue. The manager came by to also let us know to rest assured that our steak is being worked on.

The steak came out and it tasted pretty good -- definitely rectified.

The bartender never came around once to check on our food, fill any of the empty wine glasses, or make an effort to interact with us. And at this point, I was pretty disappointed with the lack of professionalism by the bartending staff and the initial taste of the steak dish.

The bartender informed us that there were two desserts available which we declined since we had plans afterwards, and asked for the check. The check came -- no "thank you", no "I am sorry for the mishap on the dish" -- the bartender just went on about his job, which I guess is noble, but I was not happy that we received the appropriate level of service.

As we walked out, we talked to who I initially thought was the host, Max, who introduced himself as one of the managers, and I let him know of my dissatisfaction with the bartending staff. I promised that I'd write on the specific elements of dissatisfaction during our dining experience and here I am.

Having a good dining experience is relative, subjective, and nebulous. But what I experienced at Los Altos Grill was ignorance and lack of care by the bartending staff. The bartending staff may not have intended it, but I am sorry to say that the experience we had was nothing more than subpar. I have cemented my conclusion that I will not be returning to the restaurant, at least to dinner at the bar -- and an experience like this does not erase a sour taste in my...

This place is AMAZING! There's not much to not like about the place, which is probably the only negative, as it's always packed! We made a reservation for 8:15 last night, but their reservation system just means you get to the top of the list, not that they will have a table waiting for you. I didn't mind so much, but it would have been nice to know that ahead of time so we could have made an earlier appointment. We ended up waiting about 30-40 minutes after our reservation to be seated. The staff at the front were very apologetic and kept giving me updates, even though I didn't come up to them which I thought was superb of them. The manager that night eventually came up to us to apologize and offered a free appetizer while we waited. She gave us two orders of the artichokes and we ate them outside while we waited. The artichokes were delicious! The added flavor by grilling them was awesome and coupled with the dip they provided made for quite the appetizer.

Once seated, the service maintained its awesomeness. Our waitress was very friendly and was always checking on us to see if we needed anything. One thing to note is that this place doesn't charge a corkage fee, so bring your own wine! We ordered two more apps, deviled eggs and the cornbread. You must get the cornbread! It's to die for and quite possibly the best cornbread you'll ever have in your life. The deviled eggs were also memorable.

My wife and I split the Hawaiian rib-eye, which was more than enough for us after all those appetizers. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and the marinade they used was wonderful! Mashed potatoes are just mashed potatoes, right? WRONG! These were so soft and fluffy and went great with the steak. The greens were also included as a side and was prepared nicely as well. We had a group of 6 and we got to try the prime rib and beef back ribs. Both were wonderful and the beef back ribs were just as good as I remember them being when I came here the first time.

I didn't think I would have any room left in me for dessert, but we ordered two plates for the group, the banana cream pie and Orero ice cream sandwich. WOW! If I didn't have any room before for dessert, I surely made some! The Oreo was so good ,although a bit too rich for me. Full disclosure: I'm not a huge fan of overly sweet desserts, but this one was nicely balanced out by the ice cream. The banana cream pie was much more on the lighter side. The cake portion was pudding-like. The crust was made up of chocolate, which went very nicely with the cake and banana.

Overall, it was a great meal. Well worth the wait. The only minor complaints would have to be the wait time and high level of noise. It was definitely not enough to make it a negative experience though and we will...

RULES RULES RULES. Long review ahead.

First, I want to say that we were aware that having a large party would not be possible at this location. My coworkers and I have been here a few times in the past.

We had a party of 5 that was going to eat dinner - on their website, they do not take reservations of parties of 5+ online. Naturally, we went to the restaurant and asked if it was possible to be seated. We knew there would be a wait, so we were seated about 30 min after having a drink at the bar. We had another coworker come after we were already seated but they were not going to have dinner - they just wanted to stop by and have a drink and then head out. Immediately after he was seated, the manager came to our table and basically regurgitated that they cannot accommodate 6 people at a table. "You were told that we do not sit parties of 6." - talking to us like we were children, honestly. We said that he was not going to have dinner just have a drink (which he already ordered and was waiting for). The manager said "we can give you 5 minutes." So, once my coworker got his drink, he had to guzzle it down and leave. It was EXTREMELY embarrassing for all of us at the table, especially for our coworker who had to leave. We asked why this was a rule and we were told that "our plates are large and if there are 6 people, there won't be much room and it makes the whole experience uncomfortable."

I didn't know restaurants were allowed to dictate our individual level of comfort...?

We stayed for dinner as we had already started to order - the food is consistent/decent. But when we were done with our dinner and dessert, the manager came up to us AGAIN and said that they had a reservation waiting and we had 5 minutes to finish up.

Seriously?

I understand that this restaurant is attempting to maintain their regular clientele, maintain some level of exclusivity, and maintain some type of experience/comfort level. But the fact that they told another coworker of mine that they don't "box [their] own fries to go because they'll get soggy and customers have complained" is absolutely wild. That's what happens when you box any fried item - it naturally gets soggy. So, honestly, I cannot tell if the restaurant is bending way over backwards for every single complaint they get, or if the regular clientele complains about every little thing and getting their way, but we will not be coming back to this place. The lack of flexibility was abhorrent.

With that said, we can't remember our waitresses name but she was absolutely phenomenal and very sweet. This review has nothing to do with the service she...