Crimson — Restaurant in Santa Monica

My wife and I LOVE this place! Such a great place to go out to dinner off the main strip in Santa Monica. With that said, I had such a surreal experience with ordering delivery I am still in shock.

We set up delivery from grub hub ordering two entrees and a side of Tzatziki. One entrée was ordered with rice, the other with salad. This review focuses on the customer service I received but on a side note, they put the warm meat on top of the lettuce if you order a salad instead of rice, wilting it by the time it gets to you. This is also an establishment that is better to visit in person as the food is usually cold by the time it gets to you. They are usually quite busy and may experience a backlog that drives this.

When we received the food, both entrees had salad when one was supposed to come with rice. The wife wants rice, I am not one to question. I called the restaurant to see if they can have the driver bring the side of rice, the manager informs me this is not possible. I could either pick it up or they could give me two free pastries on my next visit. Perturbed they could not fulfill the instruction in its entirety as ordered I opted to drive to the restaurant to pick up the rice. The place was busy. Very busy. The manager had the rice ready for me, offered me a free pastry for my trouble which I declined, and I made haste leaving the restaurant as I wanted to get the food back as quick as possible for my partner to enjoy. I made it halfway to the door when behind me I hear a sarcastic and shrill “BIYEEEEE, HAVE A NICE DAAAAY” from the direction of the counter. Stopped in my tracks, not quite believing what just took place I turn and grimace while staring toward the counter. A young man, mid 20’s, in thick rimmed glasses apparently was disappointed in my gratitude and wanted to make it known to me. I approached the register engaging in the following dialogue:

Scene: We open 10 min to closing at crimson, excitement in the air. All the tables are full! Successful food service in action! A disappointed customer lumbering toward the counter, defeated by what seems to be a slighted employee. 5 despondent customers wait by the counter seemingly for pick up. Customer: “Did you really just give me a sarcastic goodbye?” Employee: “Hey, I just said bye” Customer: “My order was screwed up and in turn you are going to treat me this way?” Employee: “I don’t have to talk to you. BYE, BYE, BYE” (hand raised in my face while dismissing me) Customer: “What is your name?” Employee: “I don’t have to give you my name.” (walks away) -end scene-

I have taken the last hour searching for some reason behind this interaction and I can only assess that this is an employee who is looking for a fight with customers. Even when I was walking up to the counter to pick up the rice he was getting into it with another customer telling her he could not help her. I am not one to judge a person as there had to be a driving factor. Bad day? Something going on personally? I have no idea. No matter what is happening in this young man’s life there was no reason to treat a patron this way. There are two sides to every story so take it for what it is worth, but I would rather not see Crimson eventual loose its appeal and meet the fate of becoming an electric bike shop as has been the path of so many of our popular restaurants in Santa Monica. Chalk me up as an “angry customer” if you will but consider what type of situation would drive someone to put the energy into writing a review such as this.

To the owner of Crimson, for all your patron’s sake. Re-assess your customer face staff. Take real stock of who you have at the counter. It will help your business in...

Don't bother: Overpriced, rude staff, mystery pricing.

terrible customer service

It's ALWAYS overpriced, but the food is usually so tasty I look past it. Today it reached the point of no return.

My colleagues and I visit at least once a week, but today I tried something new and ordered the Mediterranean salad with falafel instead of chicken. Since the menu clearly says, "vegetarian lovers can also add falafel to any salad," I expected to be charged $14.50, the price of the salad with chicken.

I was confused when instead the receipt said the salad was $15.50.

I asked the staff why it was more expensive and she told me it was because the falafel is $2 more. Since that math didn't add up ( $14.50 + $2 = $16.50), I asked for clarification. It was then that someone else explained the "base" salad is $13.50. And that falafel is $2 more.

The "base" salad is not listed on the menu. Nor is there mention of falafels having an upcharge.

How is a customer to know any of this? At a minimum the menu needs to clearly label an added falafel is $1 more than the price of chicken. By only saying "add falafel" it sounds like an even trade for the chicken.

I continued to discuss this at length, asking how I was supposed to know about the unlisted price and your staff repeatedly said, "it's just the price."

Not a single one apologized for the confusion, instead, they were argumentative. I asked to speak to the general manager and was told they "would tell the owner." But that doesn't resolve the issue.

I was shocked that the menu isn't accurate and complete with full pricing. And stunned by the terrible customer service. This is unacceptable and very poor business practice.

Additionally, our table didn't have the usual flower pot containing flatware and napkins. We had to interrupt the people at the next table to get some from them.

A little while later, a staff person collided with a customer, causing the customer's water to fly all over - landing on my feet - and splashing all over the floor. The staffer didn't apologize or offer towels to clean up. They just walked away. This sizable puddle was right in front of the water station, and smack in the middle of the path out the door. At some point, a staffer put a "wet floor" sign about 2 feet from the puddle. Not on it, to block the puddle. 2 feet from it. We watched for 15 minutes as staffers tiptoed around the puddle. At one point, 5 of them stood behind the counter, talking to each other. No one did anything to address the wet floor. Finally, when we left, we told someone at the counter about the hazard and she said, "Oh, I'll have someone clean that up."

The people on staff today had no respect for customers.

There are plenty of dining options along Ocean Park, I encourage you to visit others where you'll have quality service and a...

Crimson is good but not great. I'd give it 3.5 on 5 stars but that's not an option.

Pickup takes over 30 minutes, so this is not a quick pickup. Also note they levy a $0.99 online order fee.

I went there a second time. This time to try a Sesame Falafal Wrap. They give you a choice of Lavash, Spinach Tortilla or Wheat Tortilla. I opted for the spinach tortilla, which is a wheat tortilla with a little spinach in it.

The wrap comes with romaine lettuce, broccoli, corn, red onions, cucumbers, & rose sauce + sesame dressing.

It would've been great, except the dressing is super sweet. I am sure some guests like their wrap to taste like a dessert, but that's not this reviewer. A request for management if they listen, please indicate in menu whenever an item includes more than 1 tsp of sugar. I'd have opted for the spicy falafel wrap like last time, but didn't realize the sauce would be so sweet. It kind of ruined what would've been an otherwise a decent wrap. It tends to overpower the palette.

On the brighter side, the portion sizes are decent. I opted for 2 sides at a discount when you buy a wrap, for $2 each: Grilled Veggies (done just right, with a little salt and what may have been olive oil) and Babaganoush (smoky eggplant dip). They throw in some pita as well. I liked both the sides. The banaganoush is excellent, very fresh, savory and felt high quality. The pita is pillowy soft, which indicated freshness and a great accompaniment to the sides. Finally the grilled veggies (onion, yellow and red bell pepper, zucchini and yellow squash) came with a wedge of lemon and that was all you needed to taste the juicy yet perfectly grilled veggie.

Service has always been pleasant, except they forgot to add to the utensils.

For $21, this is a tad on the expensive side for a wrap and 2 mini sides, but in a pinch before you get hangry, a decent option in the sunset park neighborhood. I wouldn't go there specifically for a meal, but maybe if I am feeling lazy and don't feel like driving, this is a decent...