Dunsmoor — Restaurant in Los Angeles

This review mostly is for the Manager on duty, Alex.

We were a party of 8, all going to Dunsmoor because of a birthday request from someone who wanted to go there specifically because he loves a burger and saw it on the bar menu. We didn't realize we wouldn't be able to order it at the table because it is a bar item only (just the dumbest rule out there, btw) until the hostess filled us in. I very calmly and quietly approached Alex, asked if he was the manager, and he confirmed he was. I explained that we had 8 people coming here because of the bday boy who wanted to try the burger and so nicely asked if there was any way we could order one for him and if he could bend the rule and send one over to our table. Here was his response, verbatim:

Alex: "Definitely not" Me: "You couldn't just do that for him as we are about to have a party of 8 here" (and thought, and also are about to spend about a grand here). Him: "Nope! Its a bar burger and its only served at the bar"

He was the epitome snarky and pretentious, offering ZERO customer service skills or kind explanation of why. He just shot me down, with a chip on his shoulder and sent me immediately into a red-faced rage. Something you'd see on some SNL skit of the LA manager who cares less of his job and is just there to collect a check. I was so angry the entire time I sat there and I attempted to convince our entire party to leave because of him, we all already valet'd our cars and it was going to be a major hassle. If he simply would have explained in a mild manner the reason for it, NICELY, I would have absolutely been ok. It was his attitude that just really got to my core.

The meal was about 75% enjoyable as far as taste and presentation. Our server was very sweet. The sommelier was also nice. The music was ridiculous for the atmosphere... blaring hardcore 90s rap and we could barely hear ourselves. Oh, and the birthday... they dropped some desserts at the end and some lady yells out as she walks away, "happy birthday" literally as she is walking away. No candle, nothing special... such a special moment.

I'd like to personally thank Alex for ruining my night. Everyone at the table knew I was so upset and I just began to drink wine to get in a better mood because of it.

I couldn't leave any sooner, and to top it off, they add a 4% charge on the bill to cover their employees health insurance. AND, the valet ticket, which has a QR code on it so that you can scan, pay and have your car ready (which I actually was happy about and thought was efficient and cool) DIDN'T EVEN WORK. I go out to collect my car, no car. Valet is staring at me and says, "oh, that code doesn't work".

Get me my car and get me out of here already!...

Best steak I have had so far in 2024. Definitely a top 3 steak I’ve had in my life.

I came here on a Thursday night and sat at the counter where you get to see them cook over open wood flames. Very cool experience. The only thing is that it gets pretty toasty sitting there.

I started off the night with the baby albacore dish and it was phenomenal. The albacore was nice and cold and had a delicious lemon yuzu flavor to it. It was topped with crunchy onions, green onions, and lemon zest. This dish was extremely flavorful but also very refreshing. You have to start off your meal with this dish.

The cornbread and caesar salad came after that and they were both good, but nothing about those dishes really blew my socks off. I was expecting to love the cornbread much more, but it was just pretty good. I’d say it probably needs more sweetness cooked into it instead of poured on afterward. The ceasar had some strong flavored greens in there that I wasn’t particularly fond of. I really did like the dressing and the little crunchy crouton bits though. I still enjoyed both those dishes.

Then came out the ribeye and the cheesy potatoes. My goodness, that ribeye was cooked to perfection. Had such a delicious outer crust while still being the perfect amount of medium rare in the middle. I also love flaky salt and they give you a side of that to sprinkle on. Like I said, this is definitely a top steak in LA. I thought the cheesy potatoes would be more cheesy, but I still really enjoyed the soft creamy potato texture with that subtle cheese flavor aftertaste. It paired very well with the flavorful steak.

I then finished off the night with a deconstructed grapefruit cake/pie. The flavors were subtle but still sweet. They caramelized the top of the grapefruit cake which was a nice texture addition. The crumble pie crust at the bottom was so good as well to add into every bite. I’m very glad I went with the fruit desert as opposed to the chocolate one because I felt like this was a refreshing finish to the meal and not too rich. The Meyer lemon ice cream was also a great addition to each bite with the grapefruit cake.

The service here was fantastic and our food came at a very reasonable pace. I cannot recommend this spot enough. Will definitely be back...

TLDR: easily one of the top restaurants in LA.

My husband and I go to a new restaurant every Friday night for a few years now, and Dunsmoor is one we have been raving about ever since we left, well, even while we were there!

The service was attentive, friendly, consultative, we felt cared for and the staff truly seemed to love and take pride in the restaurant.

The restaurant itself is beautiful, no detail missed, it was a beautiful atmosphere - we sat at the chefs counter by the fire and I would definitely book that spot again. The staff at the counter were friendly and it was so cool to watch them make this amazing food.

Before diving into the other food I need to give a shoutout for the ribeye. I am a steak and Italian red wine girl, if a good steak is on the menu, I'll always order it. I have not had a steak at any top steakhouse from NY to LA that had this woody, smoky, complex (in a good way) flavor. This was one of the most beautifully cooked steaks I have ever experienced - shoutout to Abraham (I hope I'm getting their name correctly!). My husband rarely orders the steak and we both couldn't shut up about how good it was. I love bone marrow and this one was beautifully flavored and really added to the steak. Okay, I'll stop talking about it, but seriously just order it .

Food: Asparagus - cooked perfectly, the egg yolk and cheese gave a lovely savory flavor (highly recommend)

Softshell Crab - was crispy yet delicate, I'm not big on softshell crab and even I loved it (highly recommend)

Ribeye - *see above (beyond recommend)

Grits - the shrimp butter gave a perfect flavoring, and the consistency was very smooth, I ended up using the spoon to eat all of it (highly recommend)

Drinks: Chianti was a fantastic addition to the meal, love the delicate stemmed glasses

Pilsner was crisp and enjoyable

It was a nice touch and made us feel so welcome that all of the staff at the chefs counter said goodbye as we left .Thank you so much Dunsmoor for an amazing meal, we already can't...