Pacific Dining Car — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Today my lunch was eaten in an old 1920's dining car and I must admit that today dining was good...damn good.

My party of three including myself arrived on a whim off a bender and nearing a crash at around two or threeish in the afternoon or something like it or close to I think. Luckily for our driver there was a valet happy to take over all responsibilities that come with holding a person's keys while he stumbled behind us as we neared the entrance before stopping to do the last of his eight ball of 'Mexican B-12 Arm & Hammer cocaine' he had purchased only hours earlier while shooting Billiards sloppy and sipping Whisky neat at Sluggos.

The only place with a sign so loud on the eyes a weray travertine the side of the biggest would be sluggos:

Sign reads:

SLUGGOS ! A social banquet hall and Billiards club for gentleman. Members only!

Behind the door we struggled to keep up right and moving down the row of booths and tables following close behind a Mexican wearing a tux and using vanacuilar from 1923. It must have been the sweet-stomach-aching smell of expensive cuts of beef and freshly caught bottom feeders that kept us going all of those...close to twenty steps to our table.

We piled into the curved booth around a pristine arrangment of stuff for us to eat with and looking like bullets filling an illegal banana clip mag about ready to get to some of the ultra violent if someone doesn't get to us first. We were hungry and--

An assortment of freshly baked breads came down from the heavens and onto the white table cloth that finally made sense to me as to why it was there looking so perfect in the first place;

"To hold the bread."

Replied the waiter to my question that I apparently had not been thinking but rather loudly hashing out to the air, walls, waiter and whoever else might want to spare an ear and have a listen.

I responded with a look directly at him that said everything and sounded like nothing. The rest of the table chucked their orders out and sent him off and running to the races of trying to be the first person ever to please a guy who is coming down hard and fast off Mexican Blow without causing too much of a scene on the way.

If we were at 'Sluggos' they'd a just brought over one of their ladies of the night to embodi everything that would be required of a lady to earn the last three words of her name and swallowing the problem as it came.

I called it a breath of fresh air when the waiter brought back another solution to this addict on his last legs and sobering up in front of us all. If I should remind; were equally in pain and fighting to maintain some proof that humanity still existed in us from how hungry we all were. That breath of fresh air and answer to everyone with a question smelled like beef.

God our meals tasted good and swell that Night! Top notch! Tip or the top place to grab a bite and moment of clarity or just a bite and a moment.

So much better than 'Sluggos' that's...

During my first visit to PDC, I enjoyed one of the best meals ever - crab cakes, broccoli and potatoes au gratin. I've been 3 times since, and - hoping to replicate the first blissful experience - placed the same order each time. Sadly, all three of the follow-up meals fell far short of the first. Although the crab cakes have been consistently great, the potatoes were bland and tasteless. During my last visit my Broccoli was well below room temperature. When I told the waiter, he kindly took the plate, then brought it back shortly thereafter with the broccoli about at room temperature. So I asked him to heat it up again. He brought it back - still not hot - but I gave up and ate it anyway.

At about $100 for a complete meal - it seems reasonable for everything on the plate to be great - not just the crab cakes. And at the very least, I'd like all of my food properly heated - including the $15 a la carte side dish of broccoli.

On the positive side, it's open 24 hours, the ambiance is novel and enjoyable, the service is always exceptional, and the brownie sundae is one of the best I've had.

Given the pros and cons, my overall rating teetered between a 2 and 3 - until I remembered the valet parking. There is a parking lot, right outside the restaurant. I've never seen it full, yet valet parking is required. On top of the $100 meal - parking your car will set you back another 8 bucks. Basically you drive in, pass several empty parking spaces, to get to the valet guy, who you then pay, to drive your car back to one of the spots you just drove past. Refusing to support this ridiculous arrangement, I circle the nearby streets - for as long as it takes - until I find a metered...

I am writing to edit my review. I came in for the baseball steak special, made the reservation and came in excited to have a full meal. I planned on having the steak then moving on to an entree. I was seated near the kitchen wish wasn't an issue, but there was an odd smell I couldn't place my finger on and was never able to before I left. My server came up, my receipt said Jose but I never got his name. He took my order and asked if I wanted any sides. I said not at the moment. My server says nothing, and when I repeat not at the moment, with more severity he repeats nothing. I ask to keep the menu and he leaves, and this is the last time I see him until I ask for my check. I didn't feel like a valued customer anymore, I felt awful for sitting there, like I was unwanted in the establishment. My steak came and I know what a top sirloin takes and feels like, but what I got felt more like a chuck. I had physical difficulties cutting through it, raking the silverware trying to get through the beef. Never saw my waiter again until I was finished, and by then I didn't want to be there anymore. There were no questions as to how the meal was, just if I would be ordering more. I was not. I asked for the check, I paid and left. Two stars, if only because I had fond memories of eating here before this last time. It was my last time, I will not...