Beso Restaurant

Confused as to why so many people have written one and two star reviews. My husband and I had a great experience here with my parents and inlaws. I disagree with all negative comments except for the darkness of the restaurant. It was quite dark... We had to use our phones to read the menu.

FOOD-everything we ordered was great! Braised pork and skirt steak were my favorites. Wine list was extensive- pricy.. But hey... You're in the heart of LA, I didn't expect anything less!

SERVICE- extremely attentive and pleasant. We were seated early and our waiter checked on us frequently. The water glasses were constantly full which was great since it was a hot day!

Don't listen to the other reviews and try this place!

An open letter to Eva Longoria...
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Beso's two star rating on Yelp perfectly encapsulates our dining experience: "Meh. I've experienced better."
How best should I explain it? Perhaps it's unfair to compare this place to, say, Alma De Cuba in Philadelphia (that place is THE BOMB). But then again, why shouldn't I make the comparison? At the end of the day, we didn't feel like this place was worth the price for sub-par food.

Three of us decided to check this place out with a $60 for $30 Groupon - don't judge; Tuesday night is one of their slow nights.
For starters, there is a slightly intimidating bouncer at the door. At least, he seemed intimidating -- until we walked right by and opened the door ourselves. So much for "show of force" (LOL...)

The place was pretty empty when we walked in - just a smattering of guests / guests of management? The interior decor is incredibly dark, which wouldn't be a problem until you realize it is entirely closed off to outside view. I get it, it's located in a slightly gritty part of Hollywood, but I couldn't shake the unmistakeable feeling of being inside an upscale warehouse.
As we were escorted to our table, we walked past a disproportionately large tank of ice, with a slightly smaller amount of lemons - which was covering three tiny fish. At least the eyes were clear.

We ordered an extensive spread - two appetizers, a beer, a caipirinha, and three entrees. Almost every item left us wanting - either for sweeter cachaça, more tender short ribs, a better-seasoned jidori chicken, or a less "gristly" ribeye.

It's no wonder that the place was half empty during dinner service.

Sorry Eva, you may want to call Steven Starr for some tips on turning this place around.

Good place for a date night. Love the ambiance of this place. The food was good.

Went here for my Bday. What can I say, the ambience was a sight to behold!

The food was good. Not exceptional, but still enough to want to try the other items.

We tried the avocado dips. I actually enjoyed the other version over Eva's. Still tasty though.

We tried the trio of tacos as well as one of the entrees. Their banana's foster dessert was so yummy too! Our waiter was such a treat as well. Always making sure we were ok and he was cute to boot lol.

Anyhoo had a lovely time here and would love to come here for drinks.

Besos...no kisses for you. I really wanted to like you Besos...but I only have 2.5 Stars for you.

I have been wanting to try Besos for awhile and was excited when I saw it on Groupon. The Groupon was that for $30 you get $60 of food.

The best thing about this place was the ambience inside. It was elegantly decorated with huge beautiful chandeliers. The setting inside was dark and romantic. Beso's ambiance was perfect for a date, but a little hard to see inside. However, I suggest that they spend less money on the fancy decor and more on a good chef.

The first thing I didn't like was that the menu is limited. I prefer restaurants that have a lot of choices or at least more than a page. Secondly and most importantly the food was mediocre at best. Even with the Groupon the food was not worth the money.

We started with the Beso's guacamole which was just ok, I wouldn't order it again. It tasted bland and flavorless. I also ordered soup and salad. I got The Fresh Farmer Market salad which had Arugula, grapefruit, jicama, hairloom tomatoes, and citrus vinaigrette. And Eva's Tortilla Soup which had chicken, sour cream, queso, fresco, and onions. It looked a lot better than it tasted and the salad was mediocre. My friends ordered the salmon, mashed potatoes and steak. Everyone at the table didn't really like their food.

We found most of the food was bland and flavorless. The biggest disappointment was dessert which is usually my favorite! We ordered the churros and they were so bad that we sent back immediately. They tasted like fried flour but lacked cinnamon and sugar. I will eat almost ANY dessert and I usually like everything. The lack of flavor was a huge disappointment. I know Eva Longoria owns this restaurant so I was surprised that the food was not better. In addition, the customer service was poor.

As for the Parking, it was very difficult. I found a lot a few blocks down and ended up paying $8. You're lucky if you can find street parking or you can valet for $13.

The one nice touch was the doorman. He was very nice. However, the food was definitely not worth a trip back.

A beautiful and romantic restaurant in the heart of Hollywood, made reservation at 6:30, got there a bit earlier, there were many ppl waiting outside already? That's interesting, they opened at 6 sharp, requested a booth in main dining room in the back, dim, cozy and intimate, but I liked the booth upstairs better, more private and quiet.

I am not much for Latin American food, the flavors are nothing like mexican, they just tasted weird to me. The complimentary bread or pancake was delicious, very soft, great with house made pesto spread. Had a Beso margarita to start, a very strong drink, hubby had red wine, he never drinks as much as I do!

Appetizer:
lobster quesadilla: tiny bits of lobsters stuffed in 2 slices of quesadilla, they were fairly delicious. The portion was ridiculously small for $14.

Entrees:
Whole Branzino ( Mediterranean sea bass): they could do filet or whole, I preferred whole. The fish was very tender, but flavorless, the sauces came with it were not so good, strange flavors.

26oz ribeye in medium rare: first one came out medium well, had to ask waitress to take it back, second one came out in perfect medium rare, but the cut was not good, too much fat, I guess for $38 only, they can't really use very nice cuts for a 26oz steak.
They use grass fed all natural beef, which is great!

Dessert:
Churros: they were not crisp enough, they were actually so mushy, very bad.

Had two more vodka drinks and a 20 yr tawny ($15) to finish our meal. The service was very good, but the food was below average. Maybe I am just not that into Latin American food? Tab was $215.

The bar and lounge area is very nice, I think it's better to do lounging than dinner there, I loved the mixology, they make strong and tasty drinks, $14-15 each, a little steep, but it's normal for Hollywood.

Ps. Valet $10 in front of restaurant.

This is a review for the bar only. I was not hungry but wanted a drink. The restaurant is gorgeous just like its owner (Eva L). I ordered Raspberry gimlet and my friend ordered Vodka and lime (whatever the name was). I really felt that their quality got better than before. The drink was strong and flavor was great. The bartender was cool, and we had a fun conversation.

I've dined here, and that was before I started yelping, and felt that it would be too outdated to yelp my experience. But since they made us great drinks and provided a great service, I would like to come back here very soon, and check and see what the restaurant offers.

My lamb was delicious but my wife's paella was very mediocre. The cocktails were flavorful but weak. The choco-flan dessert was neither chocolate nor flan and totally bombed.

Lilliana and the rest of the service staff were excellent but without our Groupon, dinner would have $134. $134 for one wonderful and one mediocre entree, two weak drinks and a disappointing dessert. I heard several tables mention that they had discounts and I think that may be how Beso is surviving but that'll never work long term. I watched the table next to us leave with half of their meal still sitting on the plate. The long term solution is to change your kitchen staff.

A few other details
They have an attendant in the restroom. Of all the places where I don't want anyone watching or listening to what I'm doing, the restroom is the place. And it makes me sad for them. "So, what do you do for work?" "Well, I listen to people pee all day in the men's room in Beso." How sad. If you want to avoid the attendant head upstairs. There's a tiny, unattended restroom up there.

They do have a TV, tucked way in the corner, near the bar. But when I asked the bartender if we could change the channel for a second he responded as though I'd politely asked him to set himself on fire. He stammered and said something about the manager and the Pope and how they would both have to be contacted. I found the remote myself and somehow we managed to overcome this insurmountable obstacle. But it was one more lame incident in a restaurant that seems to be gaining a reputation for it's lameness.

2013 #105 / 365

This was my first time here and i enjoyed my time... The atmosphere is very calm an relaxing definitely can be a place where you go for a date or even a double date to just relax and grab a drink and bite.

Chorizo and shrimp flat bread $14 is a must.it is pretty filling if one person wants it as a meal .. We did it as a appetizer, it was super yummy, warm and fresh ... Lumps of shrimp and chorizo.. Expect one shrimp on my slice was not peeled and that tasted horrible in my mouth

Garlic mashed potatoes $8 it is a pretty decent side order.. Veryyyy yummy and creamy... The skins were inside and i love it that way.

Caesar salad $10 very basic salad.. Lettuce, cheese, sauce and croutons but i enjoyed it a lot. I ate it as my side instead of the yummy ones, trying to chose a healthier option ...

26oz. Ribeye $38. This was a nice piece of steak.. It was too much fat for me. I personally don't like my meat so chewy. But definite must

Our waiter louis was on point very helpful and didnt rush us.. We used a group on and he had no problem redeeming it..!! Great customer service

A small negative is that the menu is a bit small, there are not that many options

After getting the $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate my boyfriend and I decided to try this place out even though it only has three stars and it seems like it's either a hit or miss.

PARKING: We did valet, it was about $10 and we were too lazy to look for parking and it's pretty stress free.

ATMOSPHERE: Definitely the reason I bumped them up to 4 stars. It's so romantic with vaulted ceilings, hanging chandeliers and dark lighting with candles at every table. The bar area was trendy with low chairs and the dining room, which also leads upstairs, was spacious and open.

I didn't really like where we got seated though because it was tucked inside a little so we didnt get the vaulted ceilings but from where I was sitting I could still see it. There are also booths that line the side of the restaurant for groups of 2 or more.

This would definitely be a good fancy date place or a birthday dinner for a group of girls (or guys) who want to dress up. I'd say the clientele were couples probably mid to late thirties and all were fairly dressed up.

FOOD: We got the shrimp and chorizo flatbread and the chili rubbed skirt steak.

FLATBREAD - So they give you complimentary flatbread that comes with your meal and it's AYCE!! The waiter kept bringing us more and more with the side of red bellpepper sauce. It's kind of hard to explain but it's soft with a slight crunch on the outside, it's salty and buttery and they grill it so it has a bit of a tortilla taste to it. It was good. Like pita bread but flatter and not quite as chewy. The chef grills it to order so it usually comes 5 min after you order your food.

SHRIMP AND CHORIZO FLATBREAD - Also good, but basically a pizza. The sauce and cheese made it look like a pepperoni pizza because the chorizo was sliced super thin and round. I honestly didn't notice any shrimp...? But it was a good dish - but maybe next time we will get a different appetizer since we already have flatbread.

CHILI RUBBED SKIRT STEAK - It's enough for two people if you order another dish and eat flatbread. The sauce was kind of a tangy bbq sauce and the tortilla fattoush was super tasty. Basically like a corn salsa but the tortilla chips were crunchy and not soggy but not hard either...very good. For those that cant handle spicy it was slightly spicy but not too overwhelming, I was able to handle it.

CHURROS - This was probably the least favorite dish. It was a little too eggy, but when we dipped it into the caramel and whipped cream that came with it, it definitely added to the flavor. The dish comes with 4-5 churros so it's plenty for two people.

Overall - if you have the restaurant.com certificate or come with someone who's paying then I'd check this place out for a birthday dinner or date. Great atmosphere and the food is above average, so while the pricing is a little high with the certificate, you could potentially only pay like $16 per person for two dishes and dessert.