Robert's Russian Cuisine — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I am visiting LA and was really excited to try this place, as there is no Russian cuisine in my home state. I wish I had read the reviews beforehand. We walked in and waited to be greeted — the waitress came and showed us the table. When we tried to sit down, she rudely said no this is not it and showed us another table & didn't even escort us to the table. I have never experienced such a disgraceful welcome at a restaurant in the USA and I was really shocked. The waitress was very unhappy and doesn’t understand that respectful communication & gestures are the bare minimum for service industry workers. (I say this as a service industry workers myself) She didn’t give us ample time to think about our orders & after the 5th time she came around, my partner asked for 5 extra minutes to make a decision. After 15 minutes, a different waiter came to take our order. We ordered borscht, khinkali and an entree. I almost laughed at the sour cream that came with the soup. It was served in a small plastic container — just barely enough to fit a tea spoon. The soup was not hot enough and lacked flavor. The meat in the Combo Plate #1 looked like it had been cut into small pieces and thrown onto the plate. The rice was too scant. The presentation was bad. Not worth the price. There were holes in the khinkali, causing the juices to leak onto the plate. The taste was decent but the price was too expensive. Also, I thought we would be offered water while waiting for food at the table, but our glasses stayed empty. PSA If you speak Russian, cover your ears because there are old men inside shamelessly sipping beer and talking dirty. The clientele is clear and that's probably why this shop is still in business. Choose where you pay your money for a quality service and stay away...

4/07/21 Dull food, overpriced. LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS ! I ordered grilled eggplant (Armenian style), khinkali (1/2 of a portion) and lamb chop kabob with potato. Eggplant was tasteless and so cold (had to wait 15 minutes to be able to eat it). The khinkali was a complete disaster ! Even during the Soviet times there were more meat in khinkali than they had put it here. Also it tasted like some pink slime and not a real meat. Lamb chops were the winner, tasted good. Kudos to the grill master. The check was $42,50 which, in my opinion, is too much for that QUALITY of the food. The main issue was not even the food: I had sat outside (they have 4 or 5 tables). There were nobody else there. As soon as I took a seat the owner, some staff members and another guy from their neighbor business took a table right next to mine and started smoking. OMG ! The smell was just horrible. I moved and they knew why, the waiter asked and I explained ... but moving to another table did not help. The wind was blowing all that smog right towards me. And they continue smoking one after another one like nothing had happened. Sick, disgusting and nauseating ! I did not complain but, as I’ve said already, they knew cause when I was leaving one of them left a remark admitting their fault (but in a sarcastic manner)... I know this place for a long time. I remember times when all the tables were taken and you had to wait. Not anymore, I came here a few times lately, always empty. And I’m not...

I am absolutely livid about my recent online order from Robert's Russian Cuisine. I cannot express enough how terrible my experience was with this restaurant. Firstly, the salad Olivier was an absolute abomination. It was the worst Olivier salad I have ever tasted, and I've had many. It was more like a bowl of porridge with a sour taste and a strange smell that made my stomach turn. I am appalled that Robert's Russian Cuisine would even consider serving such a dish, let alone charging their customers for it. And if that wasn't bad enough, my second order of pelmeni was equally as disappointing. I paid almost $20 for 10 cold pieces of pelmeni. I cannot even begin to describe how angry and frustrated I am with this experience. How can a restaurant that specializes in Russian cuisine serve cold pelmeni? It's unacceptable, and I feel like I wasted my hard-earned money on this order. I want to make it very clear that I will never order from Robert's Russian Cuisine again. This was a truly terrible experience, and I feel like I've been ripped off. I hope that others will heed my warning and avoid this restaurant...