Paul Martin's American Grill — Restaurant in Thousand Oaks

I love good food and enjoy going out with friends in Westlake and all over the world. We dine out at least 2 nights a week. I usually don't take time to post a bad review, mostly because it's low level energy which doesn't serve me and usually falls on deaf ears. With that said, I was excited about my reservations at Paul Martin's last night but was quickly disappointed at the overall ambiance, lack of upkeep, wait staff service and some of the food dishes. Let's face it, going out to dinner these days can be pricy. I'm rambling...

Let's get to the meat of it... First, the restaurant wasn't overwhelmed, front and back of house was at 70% and it looked like they had adequate staffing with food runners and servers in full display. Our server may have had 5 tables. When I arrived, it was still light out. This is always a problem for restaurants who have not given proper attention to the overall upkeep of the venue, furniture, etc. First thing I noticed was rips in the chairs at check in. There were other noticeable concerns like the menu had been written on in pen, But I digress...

I like to be fair in my review so this will include both sides of our evening. We ordered the Steelhead Salmon En Cassolette and their Asian chicken noodle salad. The server had a smile and was polite but seemed to be unengaged the whole night. Her service does not reflect the entire wait staff and as we have retail businesses, we always take into account each server is human and can have an off night. The food was delivered promptly with salad hitting the table first. Bravo! Wine was served. Our food runner was wonderful, we shared niceties and he paid compliments. Once our Salad was served, our waitress didn't return to check on us. The noodles were chewy and a bit hard, almost not cooked. The chicken was flavorless, chewy and seemed to be a few days old from the fridge. At least 3 times, our waitress passed by our table without looking or stopping. At one point, she did look at me but kept walking. I tried to get her attention but she kept moving. The salmon was presented again by our young food runner who was very polite. And the salmon was delicious, buttery, flakey and almost melted in our mouths. But still, no waitress. Finally she stopped by when we were almost done. I asked if she wouldn't mind letting the chef know about the noodles and chicken. She nodded and said sure, I'll let him know. She picked up my plate and vanished. I was hungry so I ate most of my salad as we were on a date and didn't want to make a big deal. We had both noticed the noodles and chicken but that was fine, we were having a great evening. When the server returned, it was clear from my partner's plate she did not eat any chicken or noodle. The server asked if she was done and removed the plate. Still no apology or mention about the chicken and noodles not being eaten.

We were still enjoying our evening so no need to call the manager or disrupt our evening. I asked if they served expresso and vanilla ice cream. If you knew me, you would know what I was about to order. I asked if could have an Affogato and our server responded, ya, with vanilla ice cream? And she left. She returned with a coffee cup with vanilla ice cream and what was supposed to be expresso mixed. This is absolutely not the way an Affogato is served. It tasted like coffee and ice cream.

As I mentioned, this is not being shared lightly, I take the time to express clearly what happened in hopes it will have a positive affect or outcome. There are plenty of wonderful choices when it comes to choosing a dining experience these days. And when it comes to spending my money, those restaurateurs who take personal pride in everything from ambiance, and staff training to plating and even restroom cleanliness always get my attention. This was written out of respect to everyone in the entertainment field and not as a slam. I am not angry nor am I looking for...

With an extensive wine and cocktail list the entree selection was a lot easier to tackle. You think who orders Fried Chicken at a nicely appointed restaurant? Well it's one of their specialties. It takes a little longer since it's made fresh put worth the wait. For Wednesday night at 7 p.m. the place was well attended. Although we do not have a reservation we were greeted a friendly and good-looking young man that sat us immediately. The buttermilk fried chicken comes with a generous portion of chicken pieces, mashed potatoes that are just like homemade, and a yellow corn side dish with some type of a sauce that I did not quite get the name of. For the fish tacos you have a choice of steelhead salmon or blackened halibut. My friend chose the salmon and raved about the tacos. Garrett was our server and he checked on us often. He was very accommodating and attentive. The only concern was that because the chicken dinners take a little longer the fish tacos were held back. A waitress brought the dish out and apologized because she thought our other food was already served. She apologized for bringing it out sooner then the other dishes. In essence this means that the fish tacos would have been sitting underneath a hot lamp. We were not asked if we wanted to wait to be served together or if we wanted the food brought out as it was ready. Either way if we wanted to wait we wouldn't have wanted the tacos to sit there under a hot lamp but made fresh closer to when chicken dinner was done.

Overall it was a lovely experience and we look forward to...

I will no longer dine here. A friend gave us a $200 gift card for my husband's retirement. My husband and I dropped in for some cocktails, an app, shared a meal and then had dessert. The bill was $88. We used our gift card and had a balance of $112. A few weeks later, we returned for dinner. When the waitress returned after trying to use it, she stated that there was a zero balance. We were perplexed. So we looked online at the card usage and saw that it was used on two other occasions. It was not us since the card was in my husband's wallet. We alerted the waitress that she should alert her manager because someone clearly wrote down the gift card number and used it internally. The waitress stated that she could not imagine that any staff would do that and suggested instead of talking to the manager that we contact the customer service email on the back. We did. Initially, they responded, thanking us for the alert, and they would get back to us. They did not get back to us. While we are out of the $112, it is truly not about money. It is about the fact that if someone would steal the balance of the card (probably instead of when a guest used cash so they could pocket the money), then would they use someone's credit card? I am more concerned about the company's apathy towards the potential internal theft occurring and their inadequate response to a...