NORMS Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I was pleasantly surprised by my experience at Norms. I generally think of this chain as a depressing place retirees go for dinner at 4pm, and drunk youths go when the club lets out because it's the only place still open.

I was wrong, and I'll gladly go back.

The menu has been paired down and revamped in the 20 years since I went there as a 20-something partier myself. There were the standard breakfast and lunch diner options, and some very interesting, unusual options as well. I actually had a hard time choosing. I had the El Benedicto breakfast, and it was delicious! The egg was sunny side up and a little too runny in the whites for my liking, but it was fine. I asked for the hashbrowns well done, and they were, though they were still too white on the inside. I don't recall what the other members of the group got, but they all enjoyed their meals.

The service staff was fantastic. I don't remember the first young man's name who took our drink order, thoigh he was very friendly and nice, but a man named Juan took over for him, and he was great. He was warm, friendly, helpful, and efficient.

I deducted a star for the atmosphere because, while they have clearly updated the look of the place and did a good job, it was noisy and hectic. There were bus boys working their butts off, which is great for table turnover and getting people seated, but they zoomed their carts past us so much, the people sitting on the aisle were afraid they'd get hit. It was hard for them to relax. Also, some of the carts were filthy, which was very off-putting in a restaurant setting. It makes you wonder what the back of house looks like.

There was also someone there who apparently thought it was fine to just dump whole containers of dishes out, making a very loud clattering sound every few minutes. It was jarring and made conversation more difficult. We were seated on the other side of a partition to the kitchen, so I'm sure that didn't help. It may have been better farther away, but it's not a big place so I don't know about that. Between that, the music blasting from the kitchen, and general restaurant noise, we had to work hard to be heard. If we go back, I'll ask to be seated away from the kitchen even if it means we have to wait longer.

All in all, it's good and I...

Only reason they're getting a star is because we got (somewhat) of a refund. Entering the restaurant, immediatley the place is dark and dirty with a homeless person laying on the bench next to the entrance. Majority of the diners were elderly, which makes sense only seniors would like food of that quality.

For 2 people, we each order the steak and shrimp plate which comes with our choice of side with a soup and salad. My side being french fries and the other persons side being a baked potato.

We're served our soup, the gumbo and clam chowder. Surprisingly these were the best part of our entire order. Followed by our salad which is clearly from an old bagged salad you get from a grocery store. The leaves wilted and soggy lazily drenched in a huge serving of dressing.

When served our entrees we are extremely disappointed as our plates look nothing like they do on the menu. For one, we were served DIRTY old baby carrots instead of the broccoli pictured on the menu. Next, instead of a baked potato my guest was served two small nasty looking boiled potatoes. CLEARLY not a baked potato. Our server never told us they were out of baked potatoes and didnt offer to change the side in the first place. My own side, the french fries, were flavorless and stale, obviously old fries. Our steaks also very different to pictured on the menu, very thin for a NY strip. Lacked any flavor and had weird discolored spots.

Unhappy with the quality of our meal we asked to be charged for what we ate. Our server brought over an upset manager who couldn't believe that we didnt like their food. (really?) At least we were comp'd the steak shirmp plates but were charged $12 for the soup and salad which seems really excessive for bagged lettuce and reheated soup.

This was our first time visiting a NORM's in over 10 years. We used to have good memories having the whole family go for dinner and enjoy quality food. Its astonishing how drastically their standards have dropped and left a sour taste in our mouth for the NORMs brand. Dont plan on visiting one ever again. AVOID...

More than 10 years ago, my friends and I used to go to this Norm's on Sherman Way and Woodman every single Wednesday. Religiously. Life happens and after a decade or so, friends relocated, some sadly past away, so the tradition died. But the memories remain. And funny thing about it as that every time I pass by that Norm's I cannot help but think about our good times, of course, but also about the excellent service Carlos provided. He is embedded, without knowing, in those memories. We would always ask for Carlos to be our server. When they would sit us somewhere else, we would wait for a table to be available in his area. The reason why we always ended up at Norm's every Wednesday was because of Carlos. We knew he would go above and beyond. It's as if he takes pride in what he does. Strange nowadays, when most servers are "just there to do the job". I was there last night, 24th of December 2022 at around 8pm with my wife and a friend. It was like a flashback. The first thing my wife and I said was: "Where's Carlos?". Even though we were sat somewhere else, I was happy to see Carlos once again. Still serving the same area, and still the great server. Even though he didn't work our table, I was happy to see other people getting helped by him. He probably doesn't even recognize me, but we surely recognized him. Thank you Carlos. So, if you are in the San Fernando Valley, hit this Norm's and ask to be sat at the back of the restaurant. You will see the windows at the back of the restaurant as soon as you walk in. That's his area. You won't be...