Blueys Mar Vista — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My partner and I had discovered Blueys less than a week before our August 10th visit and had already become regulars after two wonderful experiences. The atmosphere and food had completely won us over, which made our third visit all the more heartbreaking.

The Good: The restaurant itself has a great vibe, and up until this incident, both the food and service had been excellent. Even on this visit, the fish and chips were mostly delicious, and chef Sammy was absolutely gracious when we eventually spoke with him.

The Disappointing: Our server Rosa's behavior was unprofessional from start to finish. When we mentioned our common food sensitivities to meat and shellfish (standard dietary restrictions, especially in LA), she immediately became dismissive and moody. Rather than checking with the kitchen about cleaning the grill, she initially refused outright until we politely asked her to actually inquire with the chef.

The Unacceptable: When we noticed some bitter-tasting bites in our fish and asked about the freshness (a completely reasonable question for any seafood dish), Rosa took it personally and told us, "You guys should not eat outside." When we asked her to explain this shocking statement, she doubled down, saying we had too many "complaints and needs" to dine out. This kind of response to basic dietary accommodations and food quality questions is not just unprofessional--it's offensive.

Food sensitivities are medical needs, not personal preferences, and asking about fish freshness is standard practice for any responsible diner. Chef Sammy's kind apology helped somewhat, but the damage was done. We went from being enthusiastic regulars to questioning whether we'll ever return. For a restaurant in a competitive market like Mar Vista, this level of service failure is particularly disappointing.

Bottom Line: Great food and atmosphere can't make up for staff who make customers feel unwelcome for having basic dietary needs. Proceed with caution if you have any food...

Since Blueys has opened, I have enjoyed dining there as well as getting items to go 5+ times a month. You could say I am a regular. Unfortunately today an interaction with the manager of the Mar Vista location changes that. I ordered a burrito to go, my usual breakfast burrito, and then got caught up on the phone speaking with a friend in distress. Once I grabbed by order, I decided to go ahead and eat it there after all. This was not a trick to beat the line, simply the circumstances of the morning. I was told by a server that I could not be provided with a plate and utensils because I decide to dine in after all because it was "frowned upon". I asked to speak to the manager who simply said it was "policy" - what you order is what you get (to go vs. not) and it cannot be changed. I asked is he recognized me as a regular customer and would be consider changing it today, and he said "no it's policy and it will remain."

Frankly, this kind of black and while thinking, and lack of ability to approach circumstances as we encounter them in life with nuanced thinking is lacking is many segments of modern society, but it particularly stung here considering the frequency with which I dine here and the manager's inability to look at a particular instance and make a judgement call that accommodated a regular customer. I simply asked for a plate and utensils after all.

Outstanding food is everywhere in LA, but outstanding service is not. Too bad today I was shown what they care about and it's not their regular customers. Managers that follow policy above everything without looking at the details of particular situation -that is sad!

There are SO many good restaurants on the westside - I will in the future plan to give my business to places like Lodge Bread who over the past five years have consistently provided incredible food and service, never coming across like they were too cool and their lines were too long to remember who butters their...

I liked the atmosphere, cute patios back and front. Inside was spacious, but it’s really loud. The food was decent. Lavender tea latte I ordered was pretty good as well, but those drink prices on the menu have to be fixed or need more explanation by the cashier when ordering . So Lavender Tea Latte on the menu was $4.75, so you think you need to pay only $4.75 right? but without any explanations, they just charged $5.75 instead of $4.75 Looks like no one complained about it before,but how could I know that there’s different prices if only one price is on the menu. We didn’t know that there’s different sizes for lattes. We thought they were only one size for every drinks. They should delineate the price on the drink menu at the beginning. If not, it’s like they are hiding the price. The cashier lady at that time did not seem like she really cares. Not even trying to help us. Only she said was , okay so do you want the small size instead? So that’s really disappointing because she could have said to us instead of saying that, the latte on the menu is the small size. Understand that you get confused, I can give you a dollar back for this time, or something! And I also ordered one fresh squeezed orange juice, it’s $7.67 . It came out really a tiny glass … Overpriced . The busboys came to clean the table so often, which is good, but while enjoying chatting with friends, so many times they came back to our table and asked us they can clean the table didn’t make us feel comfortable. It feels like they wanted us to leave...