El Segundo — Restaurant in Norwalk

Is it possible to give it ZERO stars?

So where do I start.... We made a trip from Danbury to Norwalk on a very favorable recommendation by a friend of my husband (Mike Easter). If you read his review, you would want to visit as well. Our visit was drastically different than his. It was as if we went to two different restaurants. We arrived at 315pm and were told to find our own table. We chose a table that was directly in front and in full view of the open kitchen. After about 10 minutes a waitress dropped off menus at the table and walked away. We were given a lunch menu and a dinner menu. After another 15 minutes she returned to take our order. We were never told if there were any specials. We asked if we could order off the lunch menu since it was 340pm and the waitress said that was fine. The waitress seemed nice and friendly, unfortunately that would be the last time we saw her. The food came quickly except for my husbands meal. The food seemed fresh but we were under whelmed by the portions. After approximately 20 minutes and everyone else finishing their meal, my husband’s meal still had not arrived. During that time no one had come to our table. We did see our waitress leave the restaurant with her purse and not return. So with no further sign of our waitress, I hailed another waitress. The other waitress came to the table and I mentioned that we were waiting on my husband’s meal. Her immediate response was that everything is cooked fresh and comes to the table as it is ready, then quickly walked away. She was very dismissive and made us feel bad for asking. About 2 minutes later she returned and quickly mentioned that our waitress did not put in the order for my husband’s dish but she did and it was being prepared now, then quickly walked away. Five minutes later a gentleman that was dressed nicely and who we assumed was the manager, walked to the table and quickly dropped (threw) the two small empanadas in front of my husband and kept walking. He did not speak one word to either my husband or me. My husband mentioned to me that the dish was supposed to include Tostones. About a minute later the same gentleman again just threw the dish with the Tostones near my husband and walked away as quickly as he had appeared. At this point in our meal everyone had finished their food and my husband had just received his. My husband began to eat but was quickly disappointed in El Segundos version of empanadas. The empanadas were hot since they had obviously just come out of the fryer but the inside was dry and the contents were unidentifiable. After one bite he picked up his food took the two steps to the bar and put the food in front of the same gentleman and told him to take it back. My husband requested that the dish be taken off our check and our check be brought to the table. Five minutes later a waiter (third member of the waitstaff) arrived with our check and was “apologetic”. He stated that my husbands dish was taken off the check and if we wanted to order desert it would be free of charge. Since it was too little too late we decided to pay the check and leave. Our check was $82 which was for two sandwiches, a salad, a side and two glasses (small rock glasses) of sangria. And this was the lunch menu.

As we arrived and as we left it was clear that the focus of the restaurant was the outside tables full of young people consuming alcohol. All of the energy of the restaurant was on the outside patrons not the inside patrons. I want to mention that we were one of TWO tables sitting down inside. We will not be returning and I definitely won’t be recommending this restaurant to...

I’ve heard of El Segundo before and loved their diverse menu. I had made reservations for a party of 9 for a Sunday brunch. We sat at 2 different tables outside which we did not mind. There was enough distance and enough tables outside. There were tables that were unoccupied. We heard music playing. As soon as my table sat down, we ordered bottomless mimosas. Our waiter was amazing. The second table we were with, did not have the same experience. We were all laughing and talking. We were all so happy and excited to see each other since the pandemic started. My table was on their 7th round of mimosas when we noticed the waitress from the other table did not want to serve the table what would have been their 5th round of mimosas. My friends calmly asked to speak to the manager. The manager came out stating they were already on the 5th round which was false and stating the table needed to “calm down... chill out”. As a manager to such establishment ... really in any establishment, you would think a manager would know how to approach people. Working in any field you know how unprofessional it is to someone to chill out or calm down when 1. They are not loud 2. They are not disrespectful and 3. They have not even started to get their point across. He proceeded to tell the table they had reached a high alcohol level, of these group of women, NONE were not asked to use a breathalyzer... HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?!? When asked if they’re not being served because they were laughing too loud, he said “yes”. So why were they not asked to keep their voices down or to tone it down a bit. Although .. WE WERE OUTSIDE WITH MUSIC PLAYING. They refused to serve anymore bottomless mimosas, WHAT IS THE POINT OF BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS IF THEY ARE NOT BOTTOMLESS. I was extremely disappointed on how the manager handled this situation and how disrespectful he was to group of such DIVERSE WOMEN. I could not believe the insensitive and disrespectful comments A MANAGER would make. . I will make sure to post comments and make it known TO EVERYONE I KNOW ON ALL PLATFORMS how unprofessional this location can truly be. I hope they hire a staff that is more culturally sensitive and aware since having such a diverse menu. In these times, it is sad to see people getting treated so unfairly and given such sad excuses as to why they are being treated...

El Segundo As a resident of Norwalk in one of the buildings nearby I’ve always wanted to love this place but the service is just SO bad. The food is delicious and the drinks are pretty good. My issue is with the staff and the service.

It’s amazing how attentive service can really make or break an experience. Whenever I’ve gone I’ve sat outside on the picnic tables. Don’t expect to have your water, Diet Coke etc. refilled or for anyone to come over and ask if you want another drink. I’ve come with friends, with family - it’s always the same inattentive experience.

I’ve honestly only ever had one drink here because they never come over to ask if you would like another one. This has consistently happened the last 4 times I have been here. The service has consistently been disinterested, inattentive, and distracted. They prefer to stand around in a group and talk to each other rather than service customers. I literally have to walk up to the staff EVERYTIME to get menus and ask for outdoor seating. After a long week at work it’s just not a comfortable place to hang out or relax.

Side note - the owner did show up and the two women were serviced VERY quickly by not one but two waiters.

Over it and won’t be back. Sorely disappointed. Service...