S.Murry has a coworker who recommended the Stinking Rose for her visit to LA.
MY FIRST TIME: I visited the Beverly Hills location, a staple in Los Angeles, for the first time last February with Tosh and her friend for a Garlic-crusted Prime Rib All-girls Valentines Day. We had sweet mojitos in their dark, cozy bar before being seated. Since it was a holiday weekend, it took a while for us to park, be seated, and get our car from the valet. Notice I didn't mention our food. That's because it came out in a reasonable amount of time and was delish.
ON VACATION: During a vacation to San Francisco, Chris (the boyfriend) and I walked over from our Financial District hotel and ordered two glasses of the garlic-infused wine. GR-OSS. The white wine seemed to have some kind of oily film floating on top and definitely has a garlic flavor. Chris liked it, but it wasn't my thing, so I ordered my go-to glass of Cabernet. Since it was just lunch, the restaurant was pratically empty and our service was prompt. However, something in the form of garlic wine, steamed mussel, garlic mashed potatoes, or chili made me EXTREMELY SICK. It was probably a fluke, but I would not go back to this location.
ON RECOMMENDATION: S. Murry has a coworker in Atlanta who recommended the Stinking Rose when she mentioned she was making her LA debut. So naturally, we had to make a pit top. After all, the BH location didn't get me sick. So I made a reservation using Opentable.com for a Friday night at 7pm. We had been out all day, and opentable.com had no issues changing our reservation to 7:15, 7:30, and 8:00pm. Since it wasn't a holiday, we were seated immediately and placed in a cozy booth for two under a mural. Our server took our drink orders (mojitos, as required) which were actually brought out promptly and we sipped and tasted warm bread with chopped garlic. Our server considerately informed us that he was serving a party of 80 in the adjacent room and appreciated us being ready with appetizer and entree orderes. Both seafood lovers, we ordered a small dish of mussels (SEEN ABOVE) which came out steaming hot and sizzling with wine and soy sauce. I guarantee these mussels were the largest and the plumpest mussels we have ever seen. S. Murry went for the recommended 40 CLOVE ROASTED CHICKEN (seen below) and I ordered the GARLIC CRUSTED BABY BACK RIBS. Both selections fell off the bones with tender garlicky goodness and were served with garlic mashed potatoes (of course!) We ordered a side of creamed spinach to share, which I ended up monopolizing. Through all of this, our server found the time to check on us and ensure we had everything we needed. Need I remind you he was serving a part of EIGHTY in the next room? Most servers would have abandoned us with that workload. We tipped accordingly.
Ultimately, this restaurant isn't new. Many in Los Angeles have given this place a shot and love it for all its novelty qualities. It's a staple. The food isn't expensive for L.A. standards (entrees priced from $20+), but is also a casual dining restaurant without much celebrity appeal, so you get what you pay for in that regard. However, for a Beverly Hills spot on good ol' Restaurant row, the food is excellent and the service consistent and impeccable. I would definitely recommend this location.
MY FIRST TIME: I visited the Beverly Hills location, a staple in Los Angeles, for the first time last February with Tosh and her friend for a Garlic-crusted Prime Rib All-girls Valentines Day. We had sweet mojitos in their dark, cozy bar before being seated. Since it was a holiday weekend, it took a while for us to park, be seated, and get our car from the valet. Notice I didn't mention our food. That's because it came out in a reasonable amount of time and was delish.
ON VACATION: During a vacation to San Francisco, Chris (the boyfriend) and I walked over from our Financial District hotel and ordered two glasses of the garlic-infused wine. GR-OSS. The white wine seemed to have some kind of oily film floating on top and definitely has a garlic flavor. Chris liked it, but it wasn't my thing, so I ordered my go-to glass of Cabernet. Since it was just lunch, the restaurant was pratically empty and our service was prompt. However, something in the form of garlic wine, steamed mussel, garlic mashed potatoes, or chili made me EXTREMELY SICK. It was probably a fluke, but I would not go back to this location.
ON RECOMMENDATION: S. Murry has a coworker in Atlanta who recommended the Stinking Rose when she mentioned she was making her LA debut. So naturally, we had to make a pit top. After all, the BH location didn't get me sick. So I made a reservation using Opentable.com for a Friday night at 7pm. We had been out all day, and opentable.com had no issues changing our reservation to 7:15, 7:30, and 8:00pm. Since it wasn't a holiday, we were seated immediately and placed in a cozy booth for two under a mural. Our server took our drink orders (mojitos, as required) which were actually brought out promptly and we sipped and tasted warm bread with chopped garlic. Our server considerately informed us that he was serving a party of 80 in the adjacent room and appreciated us being ready with appetizer and entree orderes. Both seafood lovers, we ordered a small dish of mussels (SEEN ABOVE) which came out steaming hot and sizzling with wine and soy sauce. I guarantee these mussels were the largest and the plumpest mussels we have ever seen. S. Murry went for the recommended 40 CLOVE ROASTED CHICKEN (seen below) and I ordered the GARLIC CRUSTED BABY BACK RIBS. Both selections fell off the bones with tender garlicky goodness and were served with garlic mashed potatoes (of course!) We ordered a side of creamed spinach to share, which I ended up monopolizing. Through all of this, our server found the time to check on us and ensure we had everything we needed. Need I remind you he was serving a part of EIGHTY in the next room? Most servers would have abandoned us with that workload. We tipped accordingly.
Ultimately, this restaurant isn't new. Many in Los Angeles have given this place a shot and love it for all its novelty qualities. It's a staple. The food isn't expensive for L.A. standards (entrees priced from $20+), but is also a casual dining restaurant without much celebrity appeal, so you get what you pay for in that regard. However, for a Beverly Hills spot on good ol' Restaurant row, the food is excellent and the service consistent and impeccable. I would definitely recommend this location.
Forty clove Roasted Garlic Chicken... with all 40 cloves up in there!! mmmmm
Garlic-crusted Baby Back Ribs and creamed spinach in the background