Was looking forward to this because of the historical aspect and architecture of the old fire station. Did not live up to expectations, though. For a Saturday night, the place was fairly empty and yet it took over an hour to get my meal — a cheeseburger.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
dphii
We very much enjoyed our visit to Engine Co. No. 28. The vibe was good, and friendly. The booth was comfortable and the ambiance was very laid back. There were few diners the evening we were there and the service was excellent. We both enjoyed our meals, but would like to have seen a bit more variety on the menu.
JenniA
The restaurant wasn't busy and it took a long time for the server to take our order and for our food to arrive. Our food was mediocre. Average bar food. The only good thing was actual restaurant that was a converted firehouse. It was a unique atmosphere.
Sebastian
Valentine's Day dinner We visited Engine Co No 28 for Valentine's Day and had a wonderful time. While the food did take a little longer than expected, it was understandable given the occasion. However, once it arrived, we were delighted with the quality and taste. The service was also excellent, adding to the overall enjoyable experience. We'll definitely consider returning for future special occasions.
Although we arrived late for our reservation we were still accommodated. Arriving at 6:55 we were seated by the security guard, our waitress came beyond our table about 5 minutes after we were sat. It was a prefixed menu, so we ordered everything immediately, and then we waited for almost an hour. We waited exactly 48 minutes before we flagged down a member of the waitstaff. The same security guard that sat us came and checked on us we relayed the same thing, no drinks no food for almost an hour. An hour after placing our order our drinks (Side Car, Salty Pear Martini) arrived. 10 minutes later our first course arrived almost an hour and a half after we placed our order. The tuna tar tar was the star of the show absolute best thing we had . The filet were served hot, but given the quality it was obvious these were pressed filets. The mashed potatoes were watery, and no horseradish to speak of. As a compromise for waiting we were given additional drinks which would be fine if we could have enjoyed them. We requested our desserts to be boxed to go as we were getting sleepy. Overall would never come here on a holiday again.
Sam E.
Came to this restaurant looking for a nice dinner date around DTLA. What I didn't realize was that it's a converted fire station. So cool! They even have the original ceiling and some of the fireman's poles inside the restaurant. The menu is pretty eclectic with a mix of surf & turf. We started with the "Black Iron Shrimp" - jumbo shrimp with garlic & crostini appetizer. The shrimps were perfectly cooked with a garlicky tomatoey sauce and came with 2 crispy crostini and jalapeños. It was fun to eat and pile the shrimp onto the crostini. The next thing that caught my eye was the charred Romain hearts salad which came with shitake mushrooms, artichoke hearts, grilled chicken, and a balsamic glaze. Love the idea of grilling the salad, it added a nice charred flavor. All of the different ingredients really blended well together and made for a great, hearty salad. For our main course we shared the sea bass which was a whole fish ladled with a nice caper cream sauce. Came with roasted potato, asparagus, and yellow squash. The fish was fork tender and tasted very fresh. The cream sauce was Lucious and tangy and brought the whole dish together. Overall, it was a great dinner. Service was quick and efficient and the wait staff were really good with clearing our plates and refilling our drinks. I was surprised they weren't more crowded, this place is a gem!
Randi Susan Klein
I had lunch at Engine 28 yesterday with friends. It was so much fun. The décor was elegant. The food was good. The service was superb. The neighborhood is hopping. What a great place to meet friends for lunch, dinner or happy hour. I cannot wait to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
D M.
Food and service are very underwhelming. Came in with a large group of 20 people and the place was dead on a Saturday night. It took 1.5 hours to get our food and about an hour for the main course to even get ordered!! The food portions are quite small. For the price, not worth it.
Randi Susan K.
I met friends at this restaurant for lunch this afternoon. It was the perfect place to be on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. It is in the heart of DTLA. Therefore, notwithstanding the cool weather today, the neighborhood was hopping. The restaurant is gorgeous. High ceilings and elegant décor. The plates even had a nice touch. My friends and I had a great time. The food was great and the service was superb. We will definitely be returning.
Worse beer list than your average stadium with non on tap and half the cans sold out (and come on you're an old fire house and going to serve Coors and Corona? Modelo in a high end place without a glass so I'm drinking foil?) inattentive/disappearing service; rin an empty restaurant with plenty of availability sat next to kitchen door and server station. Very disappointing. However, AMAZING appetizers: spicy mac and cheese balls, hummus (and who ever raves about hummus??), roasted brussels, and cauli warrant ordering seconds. Entree fried chicken sandwich was meh, too wet even without the aioli, and side salad was way over dressed. Apps save the place from being a two star overall, all four of us raved about those. Sit at the bar and order a scotch neat and an appetizer, or skip it. Save yourself a ton of money.
DonnJulie
Excellent food and service. Lunch date morphed into a 3 hour reconnection conversation with an old friend. We were neither hurried or bothered by the excellent and empathetic wait staff. We'll be back. Highly recommended!
Amy Williams
Historic place with very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Staff was VERY good but unfortunately short staffed. Not their fault at all. My meal came very late and I ate when my guests had already finished. Our waitress made it up by comping a free drink which we appreciated. Great place but please staff up to help your team and make diners experience better.
Alex T.
We were staying across the street and, once we found out this was an actual restaurant and not a fire station, decided to try this unique place. The inside is gorgeous and very peaceful. It's cool to see the redone firehouse while you wait on your food. Menu was diverse but not too wild so there's super fancy stuff all the way down to a burger and fries. We got the hummus for an app - best we've ever had - along with lamb chops and truffle ravioli. Finished with bread pudding and some wine. Total bill was extremely affordable for LA. I would highly recommend this to anyone in the area looking for a good date night spot or a peaceful area to get a nice meal in.
Delicious food and great service!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Was looking forward to this because of the historical aspect and architecture of the old fire station. Did not live up to expectations, though. For a Saturday night, the place was fairly empty and yet it took over an hour to get my meal — a cheeseburger.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
We very much enjoyed our visit to Engine Co. No. 28. The vibe was good, and friendly. The booth was comfortable and the ambiance was very laid back. There were few diners the evening we were there and the service was excellent. We both enjoyed our meals, but would like to have seen a bit more variety on the menu.
The restaurant wasn't busy and it took a long time for the server to take our order and for our food to arrive. Our food was mediocre. Average bar food. The only good thing was actual restaurant that was a converted firehouse. It was a unique atmosphere.
Valentine's Day dinner We visited Engine Co No 28 for Valentine's Day and had a wonderful time. While the food did take a little longer than expected, it was understandable given the occasion. However, once it arrived, we were delighted with the quality and taste. The service was also excellent, adding to the overall enjoyable experience. We'll definitely consider returning for future special occasions.
Although we arrived late for our reservation we were still accommodated. Arriving at 6:55 we were seated by the security guard, our waitress came beyond our table about 5 minutes after we were sat. It was a prefixed menu, so we ordered everything immediately, and then we waited for almost an hour. We waited exactly 48 minutes before we flagged down a member of the waitstaff. The same security guard that sat us came and checked on us we relayed the same thing, no drinks no food for almost an hour. An hour after placing our order our drinks (Side Car, Salty Pear Martini) arrived. 10 minutes later our first course arrived almost an hour and a half after we placed our order. The tuna tar tar was the star of the show absolute best thing we had . The filet were served hot, but given the quality it was obvious these were pressed filets. The mashed potatoes were watery, and no horseradish to speak of. As a compromise for waiting we were given additional drinks which would be fine if we could have enjoyed them. We requested our desserts to be boxed to go as we were getting sleepy. Overall would never come here on a holiday again.
Came to this restaurant looking for a nice dinner date around DTLA. What I didn't realize was that it's a converted fire station. So cool! They even have the original ceiling and some of the fireman's poles inside the restaurant. The menu is pretty eclectic with a mix of surf & turf. We started with the "Black Iron Shrimp" - jumbo shrimp with garlic & crostini appetizer. The shrimps were perfectly cooked with a garlicky tomatoey sauce and came with 2 crispy crostini and jalapeños. It was fun to eat and pile the shrimp onto the crostini. The next thing that caught my eye was the charred Romain hearts salad which came with shitake mushrooms, artichoke hearts, grilled chicken, and a balsamic glaze. Love the idea of grilling the salad, it added a nice charred flavor. All of the different ingredients really blended well together and made for a great, hearty salad. For our main course we shared the sea bass which was a whole fish ladled with a nice caper cream sauce. Came with roasted potato, asparagus, and yellow squash. The fish was fork tender and tasted very fresh. The cream sauce was Lucious and tangy and brought the whole dish together. Overall, it was a great dinner. Service was quick and efficient and the wait staff were really good with clearing our plates and refilling our drinks. I was surprised they weren't more crowded, this place is a gem!
I had lunch at Engine 28 yesterday with friends. It was so much fun. The décor was elegant. The food was good. The service was superb. The neighborhood is hopping. What a great place to meet friends for lunch, dinner or happy hour. I cannot wait to go back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Food and service are very underwhelming. Came in with a large group of 20 people and the place was dead on a Saturday night. It took 1.5 hours to get our food and about an hour for the main course to even get ordered!! The food portions are quite small. For the price, not worth it.
I met friends at this restaurant for lunch this afternoon. It was the perfect place to be on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. It is in the heart of DTLA. Therefore, notwithstanding the cool weather today, the neighborhood was hopping. The restaurant is gorgeous. High ceilings and elegant décor. The plates even had a nice touch. My friends and I had a great time. The food was great and the service was superb. We will definitely be returning.
Restaurantji Recommends
Worse beer list than your average stadium with non on tap and half the cans sold out (and come on you're an old fire house and going to serve Coors and Corona? Modelo in a high end place without a glass so I'm drinking foil?) inattentive/disappearing service; rin an empty restaurant with plenty of availability sat next to kitchen door and server station. Very disappointing. However, AMAZING appetizers: spicy mac and cheese balls, hummus (and who ever raves about hummus??), roasted brussels, and cauli warrant ordering seconds. Entree fried chicken sandwich was meh, too wet even without the aioli, and side salad was way over dressed. Apps save the place from being a two star overall, all four of us raved about those. Sit at the bar and order a scotch neat and an appetizer, or skip it. Save yourself a ton of money.
Excellent food and service. Lunch date morphed into a 3 hour reconnection conversation with an old friend. We were neither hurried or bothered by the excellent and empathetic wait staff. We'll be back. Highly recommended!
Historic place with very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Staff was VERY good but unfortunately short staffed. Not their fault at all. My meal came very late and I ate when my guests had already finished. Our waitress made it up by comping a free drink which we appreciated. Great place but please staff up to help your team and make diners experience better.
We were staying across the street and, once we found out this was an actual restaurant and not a fire station, decided to try this unique place. The inside is gorgeous and very peaceful. It's cool to see the redone firehouse while you wait on your food. Menu was diverse but not too wild so there's super fancy stuff all the way down to a burger and fries. We got the hummus for an app - best we've ever had - along with lamb chops and truffle ravioli. Finished with bread pudding and some wine. Total bill was extremely affordable for LA. I would highly recommend this to anyone in the area looking for a good date night spot or a peaceful area to get a nice meal in.