The most overrated restaurant in LA; this was a huge disappointment. Anyone who says that dining at Manuela is a good experience has obviously never had a decent meal, and I’m sorry.
Starting from the wine- they list their Pinot noir as from Willamette valley, CA! Anyone who knows about wine obviously knows the Willamette Valley is Oregon. In any case, the wine was horrible. I politely sent back the wine and they didn’t send me the replacement glass until after we had finished our first course. The replacement wine was no better but at least they listed a Mount Etna wine as from Sicily.
It took close to an hour to get our main courses… our server was notably absent during this period, she didn’t check in on us or have the courtesy to say the food would be out shortly. When the two plates finally arrived, the side of snap peas was missing. We had to wait for our server to come over and check on us for us to notify her this plate was missing. She wasn’t aware, nor did she apologize for the delay. The food was mediocre at best-I have nothing positive to say about this.
The best part was when the bill came, the server added the $46 scallops to the cheque! When I questioned her about it she said oh that was on from the prior table. Again, no remorse. What if they had ordered a $300 Bottle of Barolo?!
Sure the ambience is pretty, but absolutely not worth the horrible food and service. If you care about eating well, don’t waste your time. You will be much better going to Wurstkuche or better yet eating at home.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
Carrie W
We waited 1 hours for the steak, and the eggs are cold. The steak portion is so small, it is definitely not worth $46. Will not recommend this place and will come back. Very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Mark Mac
I will try to keep this short, the restaurant is beautiful makes you feel like you're eating in a garden but service was barely there. Refills for your drink will take atleast 20 minute and for the food? We waited MORE THAN HOUR! for our appetizer to arrive and almost another 45 MINUTE for the main so by the time the food came you already lost your appetite! And for them to ask if we want desserts? No thanks I don't wanna wait another hour for it. The only thing that we did like was the cream biscuits and the rest was sub par where they focused on the looks of the plate but lack of taste to even excite a basic palate
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Data V1
There was a strange spice in the food. The flavor was very unbalanced. All of my guests got sick when they got home. I think they had an off day.
The only thing that saved this place was the service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
Lott Luo
the food is just mediocre popover benedict is over cook and dry
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
pauline h
Manuela is a really busy spot. I was meeting someone there who got stuck in traffic and ended up 30m late for our reservation. Hostess was very nice, reassuring me they would hold my table, but she couldn't seat me first and let me start with appetizers while I waited because their servers only put the whole order in once. She said I could order a snack at the bar... Except there was no space available at the bar. When my friend arrived and we were seated, everything on the menu looked good. We ended up ordering cream biscuits, shrimp and grits, French toast, and roasted sun chokes. Cream biscuits were amazing - the crisp top and soft and moist separable layers inside. The shrimp was delicious but the grits were too thin. I think the broth that came with it changed its texture and made it a bit watery. The French toast was fine but not especially memorable. The sun chokes were quite good, nice crunch and flavor. Additional warning - they do use paper-based containers, which is usually a good thing... But by the time I got home, I saw that the containers soaked up the broth and the grits, as well as the oil used to cook the sun chokes. If you need any food boxed up, make sure it's not liquid or oily.
Vegetarian options: I love Orange salad so delicious
Zhou Selina
There were plenty of seats inside the restaurant, but we were told to wait 20 minutes, sat down and ordered our food and then waited at least another 20 minutes for it to be served. We ordered the Shrimp roll and smoked pulled roll but the taste was mediocre, the shrimp were very small and the other roll was breaded and dry like a boot. All I can say is that the taste of this restaurant is not good enough for the price, and as first timers we were expecting to be disappointed in the end.
Josh Cohen
Food was solid! Service was clearly struggling (cocktails took ~25 mins, some of the party had to leave ~2 hours in when mains still hadn’t finished coming out and we had an event to get to, etc). Main warning, and reason I’m writing, is that the 20% service charge for parties of 6 and the blanket 4% staff service charge are exclusive from each other! Unfortunately a pretty disappointing dinner.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Juan Andres Espinosa Torres
Manuela has a great ambiance and excellent service, but the food is disappointing. The rustic decor and outdoor seating create a nice setting, and the staff is friendly—they even gave us a glass of wine for our anniversary. However, the food falls flat. We ordered the cornbread, chicken, cauliflower, scallops, and cheesecake, and while nothing was bad, it was all bland and forgettable. Given the uninspired flavors, I wouldn’t recommend Manuela for a memorable meal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Corn Bread
Janice Bae
While the venue is really spacious and well decorated, I'd overall not recommend this place. The prices are way too steep for the quality of the food and slow service. The food took 45+ min to come out and wherever we'd ask for things or check on it, the server seemed more annoyed than willing to help.
None of the dishes were very good, yet were all very pricey. Some of the appetizers were better tasting, but the portions are miniscule. There's also an additional 4% surcharge outside of gratuity that's automatically added on, which we did not appreciate.
Overhyped mediocre brunch spot. Good sunny egg~ 😄
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
A beautiful vibe and great concept but the food was overly fatty and made me sick for three days afterwards.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: French Toast Blueberries Almond Frangipane Passion Fruit Whipped Cream, Laughing Bird Shrimp Aguachile Cucumber Avocado Radish Serrano-Lime Benne Seeds, Arugula Salad, Corn Bread, Arugula
Mediocre food for
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Food food
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Grilled Yellowtail Castelvetrano Olives Red Onion Celery Aioli Lemon
The most overrated restaurant in LA; this was a huge disappointment. Anyone who says that dining at Manuela is a good experience has obviously never had a decent meal, and I’m sorry.
Starting from the wine- they list their Pinot noir as from Willamette valley, CA! Anyone who knows about wine obviously knows the Willamette Valley is Oregon. In any case, the wine was horrible. I politely sent back the wine and they didn’t send me the replacement glass until after we had finished our first course. The replacement wine was no better but at least they listed a Mount Etna wine as from Sicily.
It took close to an hour to get our main courses… our server was notably absent during this period, she didn’t check in on us or have the courtesy to say the food would be out shortly. When the two plates finally arrived, the side of snap peas was missing. We had to wait for our server to come over and check on us for us to notify her this plate was missing. She wasn’t aware, nor did she apologize for the delay. The food was mediocre at best-I have nothing positive to say about this.
The best part was when the bill came, the server added the $46 scallops to the cheque! When I questioned her about it she said oh that was on from the prior table. Again, no remorse. What if they had ordered a $300
Bottle of Barolo?!
Sure the ambience is pretty, but absolutely not worth the horrible food and service. If you care about eating well, don’t waste your time. You will be much better going to Wurstkuche or better yet eating at home.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 1
We waited 1 hours for the steak, and the eggs are cold.
The steak portion is so small, it is definitely not worth $46.
Will not recommend this place and will come back.
Very disappointed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
I will try to keep this short, the restaurant is beautiful makes you feel like you're eating in a garden but service was barely there. Refills for your drink will take atleast 20 minute and for the food? We waited MORE THAN HOUR! for our appetizer to arrive and almost another 45 MINUTE for the main so by the time the food came you already lost your appetite! And for them to ask if we want desserts? No thanks I don't wanna wait another hour for it. The only thing that we did like was the cream biscuits and the rest was sub par where they focused on the looks of the plate but lack of taste to even excite a basic palate
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
There was a strange spice in the food. The flavor was very unbalanced. All of my guests got sick when they got home. I think they had an off day.
The only thing that saved this place was the service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 1
Service: 5
the food is just mediocre
popover benedict is over cook and dry
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
Manuela is a really busy spot. I was meeting someone there who got stuck in traffic and ended up 30m late for our reservation. Hostess was very nice, reassuring me they would hold my table, but she couldn't seat me first and let me start with appetizers while I waited because their servers only put the whole order in once. She said I could order a snack at the bar... Except there was no space available at the bar. When my friend arrived and we were seated, everything on the menu looked good. We ended up ordering cream biscuits, shrimp and grits, French toast, and roasted sun chokes. Cream biscuits were amazing - the crisp top and soft and moist separable layers inside. The shrimp was delicious but the grits were too thin. I think the broth that came with it changed its texture and made it a bit watery. The French toast was fine but not especially memorable. The sun chokes were quite good, nice crunch and flavor. Additional warning - they do use paper-based containers, which is usually a good thing... But by the time I got home, I saw that the containers soaked up the broth and the grits, as well as the oil used to cook the sun chokes. If you need any food boxed up, make sure it's not liquid or oily.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Vegetarian options: I love Orange salad so delicious
There were plenty of seats inside the restaurant, but we were told to wait 20 minutes, sat down and ordered our food and then waited at least another 20 minutes for it to be served. We ordered the Shrimp roll and smoked pulled roll but the taste was mediocre, the shrimp were very small and the other roll was breaded and dry like a boot. All I can say is that the taste of this restaurant is not good enough for the price, and as first timers we were expecting to be disappointed in the end.
Food was solid! Service was clearly struggling (cocktails took ~25 mins, some of the party had to leave ~2 hours in when mains still hadn’t finished coming out and we had an event to get to, etc). Main warning, and reason I’m writing, is that the 20% service charge for parties of 6 and the blanket 4% staff service charge are exclusive from each other! Unfortunately a pretty disappointing dinner.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Manuela has a great ambiance and excellent service, but the food is disappointing. The rustic decor and outdoor seating create a nice setting, and the staff is friendly—they even gave us a glass of wine for our anniversary. However, the food falls flat. We ordered the cornbread, chicken, cauliflower, scallops, and cheesecake, and while nothing was bad, it was all bland and forgettable. Given the uninspired flavors, I wouldn’t recommend Manuela for a memorable meal.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Corn Bread
While the venue is really spacious and well decorated, I'd overall not recommend this place. The prices are way too steep for the quality of the food and slow service. The food took 45+ min to come out and wherever we'd ask for things or check on it, the server seemed more annoyed than willing to help.
None of the dishes were very good, yet were all very pricey. Some of the appetizers were better tasting, but the portions are miniscule. There's also an additional 4% surcharge outside of gratuity that's automatically added on, which we did not appreciate.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 3
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