La Brasa — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

UPDATE! Due to the below review, the owner called me 10 minutes later to let me know that my reservations were cancelled. He stated that Christina may have been wrong in the way she treated me, but he could not honor my reservation because I had already given him a 1 star review. Honestly, I’m ok with that. I would rather spend my money places where I’m valued as a customer. There was so many alternative ways this could have been handled. It’s unfortunate. Best of luck to them!

Original Review: Kindness and customer service could go a long way here. I have a birthday coming up and I made reservations here. I personally went up there to see what area/room would be suitable for my party size. The hostess and myself booked the room with the curtains. It has more of an intimate vibe which is what I was looking for. Fast forward, it is now 3 days before my dinner; and because I like to plan ahead, I went back up there just to make sure that my reservations etc. , was still good. Upon arrival, my husband and I sat there 5 minutes and was never greeted by anyone. They did not have a host that day. I will be honest, I was not dressed in after 5 attire so there was no sense of urgency in helping me. After we waited and still had received no help, I finally walked to the bar and asked the bar tender if I could look at the section I reserved so that I could compare it to the Gasha room. He told me yes. I proceeded to walk back there, and while my husband and I was looking at it, we were greeted rudely by the manager, Christina, who in so many words told me that I couldn’t have that room because there was a $800 minimum, as if I couldn’t afford to pay $800. She assumed I couldn’t, I guess. I then proceeded to tell her what room I had reserved, and she talked over me, wouldn’t let me complete my sentences, rushed me out the Gasha room, and also told me that someone else has reserved the room that I reserved. I told her that it has to be a mix up, and she said no, my party size (12) wouldn’t accommodate me in the room I reserved. We then walked over there to count the seating out and it was 12 seats. She told me that the table and 2 chairs off to the side is for water, not sitting…she was finding every excuse to not honor my reservation. She was extremely rude and unprofessional. She told me that she was busy and would have to talk to the hostess that made my reservations and walked off. Looks can be very deceiving, if only she knew… I truly believe that your character is how you treat people. With her character I do not believe that she will stay in management for long. I’m not confident in her calling me for a follow up about the status of my reservations that was booked way in advance; and even if she did follow up, her attitude and unprofessionalism isn’t something that I foresee myself or my guest dealing with. It is unfortunate that I will probably have to cancel my birthday reservations here. I was confident until I had my encounter with Christina, who lets it be known that she’s the manager… But even managers have managers, as she is managing someone else’s business. I will be following up on this matter via email. I will also be leaving a review wherever I can because the treatment I received from this so called manager was...

I had high expectations for this restaurant and was not overly impressed. The atmosphere appears nice but it’s too dark to see your food. For the cost, I expected higher end service and higher quality food. My wife and I have a 1 year old so we do not get out that often and when we do, we want to try amazing food and have amazing service. My wife is also Peruvian so we always try Peruvian food in cities we’ve lived in or visited. We started with the Korean Kalbi Tacos as appetizer and, spoiler alert, this was the best thing we had on the menu for the evening. I also tried the Mezcal Old Fashioned which tasted far more sweet than expected.

We shared the dinner combo platter consisting of seabass, pollo a la brasa, and Peruvian ribeye with two large sides for $85 (unless you order a premium side, then it costs slightly more but server did not inform of this until after bill arrived and inquired). Our sides chosen were the Garlic Mashed Potatoes and the Broccolini. We also added small orders of Naan and Rice & Beans to try. We were given one steak knife to share.

The ribeye was overcooked and sent back. During the remake of the ribeye, I sat at the table without a plate to enjoy portions of the rest of the entree and sides. The steak returned properly cooked but smothered in too much sauce. The sauce tastes similarly close to A1 with added spice for a slight kick, nothing amazing. The pollo ala brasa and seabass were good but definitely not the best we’ve had at other restaurants for similar prices. The mashed potatoes were okay, relatively low in flavor but good in texture. Broccolini was good. Rice and beans lacked flavor. Naan was bland.

Dessert options skipped - no traditional Peruvian desserts. Tres Leches and Churros for Latin oriented options. Crème brûlée and decadent cakes for other options. With the lack of impressment from dinner, we skipped dessert.

Sadly, unless we want a lunch snack of Korean Kalbi Tacos, we most likely will not be returning. It was nice to have a date night but definitely not worth the near $200 spent (20% gratuity still given for service).

Side notes: A separate server than ours told my wife to “watch it” when she slipped on her way to the restroom instead of making sure she was okay. Tables for two are also really small and table cloths get easily stuck between you and the chair when sitting down, pulling sauce off table and spilling all over your pants. If you want larger table, reserve space for 3-4 and say the others canceled so you have...

Unfortunately I’ve given this place three tries and will not be returning due to the poor service. Super disappointing as their food is amazing and I’ve heard wonderful things about the owner. Not sure if they’re hiring but as a former waitress, they should be. Their staff is extremely inattentive, as I arrived at 7:45 and I was not even given water let alone addressed until 8:26. That’s over half an hour without water. I should’ve just gotten up and walked out however the rest of my party had already ordered a round of chambongs before I arrived. We did not receive those until just before getting our checks at 10pm, after asking three times with multiple servers if the drinks were coming soon. Ours was nowhere to be found majority of the time so we kept asking random people passing by. While the food here is incredible, two of my three visits I have had to address a discrepancy with my bill. Once being last night, as I ordered a frose only to be told over half an hour later they were out. I was still charged. After requesting to have the charge removed from my receipt, our waitress disappeared yet again. It was excuse after excuse with her. At one point she claimed their owner, James Vu, had her taking care of tables that weren’t even hers, so it wasn’t her fault we had been waiting so long. I found it very unprofessional and odd that she would be talking ill of her employer like that. I have heard wonderful things about the owner and have returned multiple times to give this place a chance, but after spending almost 3 hours here for just 1 drink, a shot and some appetizers, I don’t think I’ll be returning. I’m not sure if the servers here assume my friends and I will not tip adequately because we are a younger group of professional women, but as I mentioned before, I have previous experience as a server and will always treat my waiters wonderfully with at least a 20% tip. Last night was the first night I didn’t feel right even giving that after our server complained so much. It made for a very awkward dinner experience, and on top of that due to her inattentiveness I never got a to go box so I couldn’t even enjoy my food at home that had become cold by the time I was halfway done eating. Perhaps she was having an off day, but I still feel like bad mouthing your employer in front of customers is a bad look. The event they had going on last night was inviting, well put together and fun but she used that as a yet another excuse for her...