Jenifer C.
Yelp
I had really high hopes for Crossroads Kitchen, but was disappointed. I made reservations the day of and was able to get a 7:30 slot, maybe this should have been the first warning sign, that all slots in the 7 hour were open. We chose to eat outside because the weather is gorgeous in LA right now. We arrived 5 minutes early and were promptly seated. Here is where the problems begin, we were brought to a table outside with a white table cloth with no other table settings. Sorry but most upscale or fine dining restaurants have a full table setting upon being seated. Ok, I'm being picky....but then our table cloth was covered in dead gnats. The hostess glanced at the table and definitely noticed and sat us anyway. We proceeded to use the menus to try to scrape off the dead bugs. Both our server and the bus staff witnessed this and did not offer to change it. I know the bus staff noticed because they started changing the table clothes around us. I get that the table is outside, but maybe they should set the tables at guest arrival. Again, there was no real table setting. Our server was friendly enough, but I still didn't get upscale/fine dining vibes.
We ordered the fried olives, the linguine with scallops and the piccata with impossible chicken. The fried olives arrived first. They came with a type of aioli dipping sauce. Both the olives and sauce were salty. Yes, olives should be salty but the sauce should help cut through that. I had a similar dish at another restaurant that had a honey whipped vegan ricotta which paired nicely with the brininess of the olive. This dish wasn't awful, we ate it, but it wasn't good either. The linguine was decent, but nothing spectacular. The piccata was way too salty. Thank goodness I ordered it with the mashed potatoes and they served it with half a grilled lemon to cut through the salt. The meal was mid at best. I appreciate the innovative dishes Crossroads has, but they missed the mark.
My real complaint is the ambience. Why tout yourself as upscale/fine dining when the patio is really lacking in any ambience. I honestly think it might get you more customers if you did not advertise as such an establishment.
The patio was lacking, there were no string lights or mood lights. There was no music, no plants besides what was outside and part of the commons. Me and my daughter kept looking over at the patio of Kings Fish House longingly, as it was lively with music and lights. I even said to our server, maybe there should be some music outside and she told me it was a Caruso thing and they couldn't. Which is weird because there's soft music playing throughout the commons and there was music at kings.
All in all I really wanted to love this place, I really want to support vegan restaurants, but I won't be back and I would not recommend it.