What happened to Doughboys?

I love doughboys. Or I guess I should say I used to love it there. The food is great. There are very few things I have not enjoyed here. The blueberry flax seed pancakes, after-school special and banana pancakes are the real reason I come here though. Anyway, after my experience today I felt compelled to post something because my service was so appalling. I ordered a drink and my glass came covered in red gunk. Considering they have a B health rating I was nervous that it was a used glass and that it hadn't just bumped up against something. I waited almost 10 minutes for our waiter come back and finally I went inside and asked for a new drink and cup. He brought out a plastic cup, slammed it down in front of me and stated that nobody had used this glass! He then continued to ignore us for the rest of the meal. Someone else brought out our food and he never once came over to ask how the food was or if we needed anything. We did- refills. He grabbed one for my roommate but not me. He then disappeared for another 20 minutes when he finally came out and we had to ask for our check.

This place has become so trashy. They have become so lazy. As someone else has pointed out they have had graffiti on their windows for months now. I won't be going back to Doughboys because it's just not worth the bad service. I'm just going to have to learn how to make those flax seed pancakes.

How about you chowhounders? Do you have Doughboys service nightmares or great experiences? Maybe, I've just gotten a few bad ones.

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area

Need restaurant suggestions for fun birthday gathering, Weho/LA area

I was just about to suggest Cha Cha Cha. Best place to go for a birthday! You can order pitchers of sangria and eat amazing food without having your friends hate you for breaking their wallet. Lala's on Melrose is another great option as well. $13 pitchers of sangria and entrana (steak) for $14! Can't beat it.

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area

Chicago Style Popcorn?

Hey chowhounders.

When I lived in Chicago one of my favorite places to go was Garrett's for their amazing caramel and cheddar popcorn. In NY, Dale and Thomas sufficed but I have not found a great popcorn place here in LA. Any suggestions on places to go? I really need my caramel popcorn fix.

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area

What's the worst (nice) restaurant you have been to?

No doubt it's Da Silvano! I have never been so taken advantage of in all of my life. I have eaten at some of the best restaurants in NY, LA, Chicago, London, etc and never had an experience like I did here. My parents were visiting and I wanted to bring them someplace with a great NY scene. We ordered a bunch of fantastic appetizers like the grilled vegetables. I believe the plate was $18 and actually worth every penny. However, when they brought us bread for the table my dad made the mistake of asking for a big of parmesan. They brought out a nice piece of cheese that we all nibbled on and used in our pasta as well. When the bill came we saw they charged us $36 for the parmesan! That was more than the cost of our pasta entrees. They didn't like that we wanted cheese so they took advantage of us. What kind of Italian restaurant charges for parmesan at all? Certainly not Il Mulino, Del Posto, Il Giglio, etc. This place has clearly only done well because they treat celebrities like royalty and regular patrons like crap. They should be ashamed of themselves. Don't go here!

PickyEater81 in Manhattan

Frozen Yogurt (soft serve) Where?

Is there any place that isn't in the valley or west LA? Anywhere in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc? I love frozen yogurt and the only non-pinkberry place by me is Toppers on Beverly Blvd and it's nasty. Only carbolite yogurt. Where can I just find some simple froyo like columbo?

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area

Fun Kosher Restaurants?

Hey chowhounders!

I am counting on you to tell me some unique and interesting Kosher restaurants. I know that Prime Grill is a Kosher steakhouse but I was thinking a little more outside the box. Any Kosher pizzerias? Kosher Chinese?

Much appreciated

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area

Another outstanding Yatai Experience

While I agree with you that Yatai's food is fantastic the service is horrible! We sat down and waited 10 minutes for our waiter to approach us. When he finally showed my friend and I both ordered beer and sake and our other friend ordered water with lemon. He brought out her water (with lime) but not our drinks. After waiting another 15 minutes we finally asked him where our drinks were and then he fetched them.

We were ordering in stages as it's tapas and they kept trying to clear our plates and have us leave rather than ask us if we would like anything else. We kept having to ask them to leave a menu and made it feel like we were imposing on them to keep ordering.

The food certainly makes up for the terrible service but if you are an impatient individual who despises inattentive service you should stay away.

If you do make the trip, try the spicy tuna roll wrapped in soy paper. Best spicy tuna roll in the city. Same with the tuna on crispy rice. Better than Sushi Roku, Koi, Katana, Izaka-ya, etc.

Enjoy and good luck!

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area

Sonora Cafe- Don't go!

I went to Sonora Cafe the other night because it's near my apartment and I pass it all the time. I love trying new restaurants and am not afraid of spending money on great food. I enjoy Mozza, Koi, Il Sole, etc. However, last night the money my friend and I spent for what we received was appalling. My friend and I both ordered two cocktails and an entree. I had enchiladas that were no better than the Amy's organic ones they sell at the grocery store, I walked out of there having spent $65 for two drinks and an average enchilada! I do want to be fair and say that our waiter was fantastic. He was very kind and helpful. If you are going to charge those kinds of prices though you've gotta have something more to write home about than just good service.

PickyEater81 in Los Angeles Area