Maestros
Beverly Hills

Where do I begin? Maybe with MEH…

We chose Maestros for our wedding night dinner because of the history and rave reviews but we experienced the exact opposite of what had been listed on yelp and other various review sites. Which lead me to believe that many of the reviews had been changed.

HIGHLIGHT : Live music
Love going anywhere with live music, both nights we went ( will explain more in a moment) the music was incredible and made the poor service bearable because at least we could listen to some awesome covers for 20 mins while waiting for someone to come by and take our drink order….

Wedding night – Was extremely busy which was great, especially for a Monday night. Full of business people, cougars, celebrity agents and Beverly hills residents .
No one paid attention to us, you could tell we were wed that day because I came in wearing my wedding dress, holding the ring boxes ad bouquet. We were first seated alone outside on the balcony, which was nice but away from the music and we were alone! As a couple in our late twenties/ early thirties, we want to be in the middle of all the excitement. We moved inside, to a table that was too small for our stuff we brought, let alone a full meal for two and drinks.

WHAT WE ATE:
Sautéed Shrimp – Was good nothing exciting but sautéed shrimp isn’t usually that exciting so no complaints there
Caesar Salad – Don’t bother, Caesar dressing didn’t taste traditional no hints of anchovies, no fresh grated parmesan offered, no table side creation ( which I would expect at a restaurant of this caliber)
Filet 12oz – Mike had the steak and loved it, cooked perfectly and was tender
Alaskan King Crab Black Truffle Gnocchi – I had this, I absolutely hate when pasta/gnocchi/mac and cheese that’s been topped with a crust, it took away from the flavor of the king crab ( what little flavor of crab there was) and was way too overpowering, every bite all I got was bread crumb.

DO NOT ORDER AN OLDFASHIONED IF YOU LOVE OLDFASHIONEDS, I had one sip and was super disappointed, they top it with soda (which you sold always ask the dining guest first for their preference AND there was no alcohol in it, I was a bartender for 10 years, I know when I’ve been short poured or if a drink is not made correctly)

All Mike ever drinks is Double Top Shelf Vodka and Sugar-Free Redbull in a tall glass. – They don’t give you the can so don’t bother asking for the whole can, and when he asked for it on the side, they gave him a shot glass full of redbull….Really? A redbull shot? How does that even make sense to any experienced bartender? I’d rather have questions asked to me when I’m ordering so they get it right than have to return the drink and get eyes rolled at me for wanting it right.

I had my Old-fashioned pushed to the side of the table waiting for our server to come over, I timed it 25 mins, until I had to ask her for a different drink as it wasn’t what I had hoped for, as if I was a burden to her, she took away my drink and returned with a Pomegranate Martini I ordered, which was delicious but not worth another 11 min wait.

When it was time for desert, I ordered a warm chocolate cake. If you have ever been to Cactus Club in Canada, think Lava cake but bigger, and drier. It was horrible. Along side the cake our server gave us another cake (because apparently we are fat) to congratulate us on our wedding. Sweet gesture but completely ridiculous. Mike doesn’t eat dessert and we had already ordered a desert, not sure why she thought it was a good idea. I think that if someone is celebrating something other than a birthday, such as an anniversary or wedding, the thing to offer them is a complementary glass of cheap champagne or sparking wine, especially if your dining guests are drinking alcohol.

So summarize our first experience, it was only okay and nothing special. I really wish we didn’t spend our wedding night there are it took away from the magic of the day a bit and wasn’t worth the $700+ we had spent.

Four days later, we decided to give Maestros another try. Mike explained that he was unhappy with our previous service when booking our reservation but that we wanted to try on a different weeknight to see if it was just the night that made everything difficult. We sat in the same area, as I wanted to hear and see the band. People watching this night was pretty much the same sort of crowd, lots of people having dinner meetings, which is weird to me as it is very loud there (not a bad thing, the music is wonderful).

WHAT WE ATE:
Fresh Oysters on half shell, Snow Crab Claws, Crab Cocktail and Caviar – All plated on one of the ice towers, the presentation was stunning and the seafood was delicious. My favorite was the Crab Cocktail as the crab was super sweet.
Caesar Salad– Mike had it this time, he was equally as disappointed as I was (during the last dining) and only had two bites.
Filet 12oz – Mike had the steak again because he loved it and it was cooked the same this time, beautifully. He was very happy with his choice.
Lobster Bisque – I had the lobster Bisque, I will have it again. Was smooth, creamy and delicious, I loved the little hidden gem chunks of lobster. Mike doesn’t usually eat too much seafood but enjoyed this a lot. I actually wanted to get this the night of our wedding, unfortunately the server that night had described the bisque to be similar to a tomato soup (what?) and I decided against ordering it. Big mistake as it is my favorite thing I’ve had at the restaurant.

I stuck to Pomegranate Martini and Mike had his usual Double top shelf vodka and sugar free redbull (this time we asked for the vodka on the side and the redbull in a tall glass as they aren’t allowed to serve the can at the table)

Service this time was a lot better. More attentive, due to the fact that Mike complained about not having any attentive service the previous visit. I did how ever take a very long time to wait for a server when we had empty drinks, we had to flag her down each time we asked for something. Something I also noticed that happened a lot at this restaurant is the servers don’t ask how everything tastes, from the food, or drinks. This frustrates me because it makes it seem like we are being complete dicks coming out right and saying “excuse me I don’t like this” etc.

I will say, during both visits, the best staff were the hostesses and the buss boys. I’ve never seen such beautiful young women greeting guests with such genuine attitudes. The buss boys were on the tables quickly and were standing by keeping an eye out for as soon as there were empty plates.

Overall experience was only O.K.

I’d say a 4/10 and mostly due to the excellent music as well as that Pomegranate Martini.