Gaucho Grill

Was a bit hesitant to come here after reading about poor service on multiple reviews. I enjoyed the Santa Monica location for over ten years and now that it's closed and I live in Long Beach I decided to give this one a try. I had reservations at 7:30PM. After the hostess told me we were next at 8:05PM I watched her walk right past us and seat the couple who walked up ten minutes after us? Luckily the bartender was very friendly and she made our wait much less painful. After waiting almost an hour we were finally seated.



I thought I'd use my $25 certificate I had purchased from restaurant.com and was told that "my manager decided not to accept those tonight". I thoroughly checked Gaucho's website and the terms on restaurant.com and there was no mention of this anywhere nor was it posted anywhere. After speaking with Kimberly our server (who was very nice) we learned that the manager himself made the decision. I guess he couldn't be bothered with taking two minutes to call in the certificate and abide by his restaurant's agreement.



The food was good but the portions were much smaller than when we used to go to the Santa Monica location. We ordered the beef empinada which was very tasty. Not overcooked and just right! My strip steak was cooked just as I ordered it and was very good. My fiance's grilled salmon was really good too. No complaints on the food.



I'm still debating on whether or not I'll go back. I'm still burned up about purchasing a certificate and not being able to use it. It's not about the money - it's the principle!