The Arthur J — Restaurant in Manhattan Beach

We picked this restaurant because it was the best steak house, we could find close to LAX. On the positive side, the dining room decor was great, and the hostess was fantastic as we arrived about 15 minutes late for our reservation. She was able to help with parking and got us seated right away. The wine service was also very good and professional. However, the wine list shines with higher priced bottles $200+ and has scant choices in the $75-$150 range.

The food was ok, it is nothing that is going exceed expectations. If you are going with good company and do not have more than casual dining expectations this place will be more than adequate. However, if you tilt more on the Foodie scale it will be somewhat disappointing. A previous review pointed out that they could have cooked this meal themselves. That’s the way I felt.

My prime rib was of a generous size but tasted like something from Country Buffet. My wife's steak was ok but again there was no wow factor. I think at this price point there should be some of that wow factor. Otherwise we will just go to Ruth Chris or Fleming’s for a chain experience. The hard product could be better but again it is adequate.

Service was very mixed. Since we had a flight to catch, we requested that all our dinner items come at the same time. Should be simple right, at least for a higher end steak house but this request was ignored or forgotten. Next, when our steaks came out, no one came to check how everything was for over 10 minutes. We needed salt and pepper, would have been nice to have much sooner. Obviously, our server was either over loaded with tables or indifferent. These missteps happen at any restaurant and although they take away from the dining experience, they are not a big deal.

However, disappearing after receiving the check was not a good look especially when we had a flight to catch. However, bonus points for receiving the check at all. After a good amount of time I had to walk my check up the front hostess. She was great as before. Apologized for the experience and said she would get payment taken care of right away. Then one of the owners returned the payment and basically said "here you go". No sorry you had to wait too long to settle your bill and thank you for coming in, we hope to see you again. I told him he should at least thank us for coming in, but he looked exasperated.

I will say that the Sommelier did go over and beyond. He helped us out the front door and took a minute to just listen. He was great.

So, overall not a great experience at this price point and I have definitely had much better-quality beef at other establishments. Again, I...

Service was good. Very respectful and polite waiters/waitresses. However, I was there only to be with the family, and from food the only thing I cared was fries and mac&cheese for my autistic toddler who is a very picky eater, and they brought it so late that I didn’t have the time to feed him properly. While I was convincing him that it was the fries he used to eat at home, they were gone. So we came home with him half hungry and too late to cook something for him to eat. Knowing him, I knew he wouldn’t have a good sleep and would wake us up all night, which he did. The food was ok, not to die for. I could make better beef stroganoff. The salad was really good though. Good that we took some home made food with us that I knew my son loved. It took some time to convince him to eat, as he was resentful with me for not letting him stay at the beach as it was getting dark. Knowing that, knowing how picky eater he is, I wanted his food first rather than him sitting and watching others eat while he was hungry. Instead, they brought the fries at the last. I just wonder, how long it takes to make fries and why it would take so long for them to cook? So, just minutes after they brought the sides, just when my son decided its time to eat, we had to start to wrap up. So, before I could convince him to get food, and just when he started enjoying it smacking, we figured out all the fries had gone, others ate them, and there was no time to order again. My son looked frustrated while everybody was leaving the table. Just the look on his face broke my heart. It is very difficult to raise an autistic kid, and when you think you could get away getting some food at the restaurant which by the way has above average prices, it doesn’t happen. I would grade the overall experience not good. If we weren’t promised that the sides would be big enough to share, we could have ordered extra sides and I could take some with me for him to eat later when home. This is unacceptable for an...

I’m adding this new review to my last re irw:

Had an AWESOME meal there this week! Best veal part ever - great marg - great Caesar - great people - high energy fun all around - perfect locals spot - don’t tell anyone about the veal park - soooo good, pretty too!

Good to Great" ... we had a really nice and fun meal at The Arthur J this weekend ... I will say the people and staff were A++++++. Our waiter, check in , greeter, seater, SOM with great wines, all were A++++! The food was "very good", just not amazing .... it was very expensive and I have no problem with that, but for 3x the normal other great restaurants fit foodies, this place should blow you away ... and it is very good, just should be GREAT. Oysters ... ok, didn't get any real horseradish like we asked for and the mignonette and cocktail sauces were "meh" ... oysters, ok, could be fresher tasting. The ribeye, very good ... but a little chewy, could have been more marbled and better ... a few too many bites we couldn't swallow, too chewy, but good. And ... in this day and age, when other great restaurants blow you away with amazing ways to end your meal, great pastry chefs, and creative desserts, the best thing we could do was have an "ice cream sundae" ... sad, but no pastry specialness, no budino, no pot of chocolate, no amazing way to end a meal, tears ... So, again ... great people, good steaks and sides, a fun experience, kind of big steak house meets casual Manhattan Beach .... we go often, and we go a lot, but we should would like for the 3x we pay to have an AMAZING experience on the food side, up the steaks a notch or 2, get those oysters a tad tastier and give HORSERADISH and GREAT cocktail and mignonette, and yes ... hire a ridiculously good pastry chef .... we still love you guys, just looking forward to the time walking away full, including a desert, and an OMG wow night! If this wasn't a home town fave, I'd give it a 3 star ... but I love you guys and look forward to my...