Golden Bull Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My friends and I dined here last night and had a horribly unpleasant experience from start to finish. When we arrived, the hostess named Sydney, was very rude. We asked to sit inside and had proof of our vaccinations as we are travel nurses, to which she responded, “Wait over there and I’ll check to see if we have anything available.” By wait over there, she meant wait outside… OK. If you don’t want our money, just say that.

That should’ve been our sign to dine elsewhere, but we stayed because of the great reviews. Sydney then told us there was a spot for us, but didn’t even check inside. We were seated at a back corner table outside. Luckily, it was heated as it was a chilly LA evening, but we were still cold. Nevertheless, we sat down. Then she said, “There’s a 90 min meal time.” Other parties were seated around the same time and were not told the same information. They were able to enjoy their meals and leave without being harassed.

For starters, my friend ordered the pork ribs which were WELL overdone to the point of even chewing it was hard and not tasty at all. My other friend ordered the half of chicken which was bland - virtually no seasoning. If we didn’t have BBQ sauce at the table, it would’ve been inedible. Another friend ordered a salad, which she said was decent. And finally, I ordered the Salmon with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were good; the creamed spinach had all cream and no seasoning. The salmon was only edible with the chimichurri sauce- which was not authentic at all. I also ordered the Paloma cocktail. The mezcal was cheap. I’m aware of good mezcal as I spent a month traveling through Mexico last year tasting various tequilas and mezcals. It had a horrible after taste and left much to be desired. Thankfully, the waiter removed the drink from the bill.

The under seasoned food coupled with the rudeness of the hostess (who was Black, by the way - all of my friends and myself are Black as well) was extremely off putting. The meal was not worth the $270+ at all. Then the waiter kept staring at our table all night as if he was just waiting for us to be done. If you don’t want to cater to Black patrons, or don’t know how to treat us like regular human beings, just say that. We did not expect to receive this type of treatment in LA as we were nothing but courteous and respectful during our entire visit. We will not be back and I will continue writing reviews to warn other POCs (People of Color) to avoid this establishment...

Despite the glowing reviews, our experience at The Golden Bull wasn’t as great as expected.

We needed to reorder a few times because our server came back to tell us they were out of the steaks we ordered. My daughter and I ordered the prime rib, and moments later our server came back to tell us that they only had one prime rib and it was an end piece. We opted to order a NY steak each, and again the server came back to tell us that they were out of that steak as well, so we both ordered a filet.

Our reservation wasn't late, so there's really no reason a steakhouse should be out of standard steak items by 7:30. The server came back and asked if we wanted to add the Yorkshire pudding that would have come with prime rib (and they were out of) and while this sounded like it would be comped, it was not and it appeared on our bill.

Our steaks were not cooked to order. My son ordered a medium rare steak - requested more on the rare side - but it came out medium. My filet was ordered medium rare but was very rare. The Yorkshire pudding was cold, and the mashed potatoes were a very odd processed texture. My wife enjoyed her steak frites.

Dinner was to celebrate our son’s birthday, and we added that detail when reserving, however there was no mention of his birthday or any dessert provided as many restaurants will do.

In the end, no real reason to go back or recommend it to others. Rather, I'd recommend that others avoid Golden Bull and go with...

We have walked passed by this restaurant for years but never had the chance to dine-in until now. Golden Bull (est 1949) is a fine dine in restaurant located along West Channel rd in Pacific Palisades. They are known serving up fine fare including steakhouse favorites, fresh seafood, and veggie-centric dishes. We came here on a sunny late afternoon as a large group to grab drinks and food after walking at the nearby beach. We were warmly greeted by a female staff and was seated at their outdoor patio on two separate middle tables. We asked the manager/lead host, if we could concatenate the two tables since we’re a large group. He adamantly said we certainly cannot do that. Furthermore, he informed us that there’s a restricted dine-in time limit. In that moment, our group felt that the mgr had to obviate the need from servicing our group. Thus, we informed them that we no longer interested and departed the restaurant. We had a high expectation from this restaurant from the start but sadly we’re very disappointed. I guess a large group such as ours was not ideal for the Golden Bull. Overall, it was disheartening experience for a first...