Gabrielle B.
Yelp
I've brought my best friend and MIL to this restaurant and appreciated each previous occasion. However, the aforementioned friend inquiry via phone call reservation for an indoor, padded seat, table preferably close to the bar. At first, I had mentioned that I would prefer a booth-like setup, but was told that "bigger parties are provided priority."
Why do my friend and I arrive for dinner service and each booth supposedly reserved for "bigger parties" is given to parties of 2-3? The hostess had questioned my reservation, whether it was an indoor or outdoor tabletop/booth, but magically remembered details of my phone call reservation inquiry when her manager failed to apologize regarding her hostess' team for the poor seating arrangements for dinner service.
It's a shame that an established restaurant at the front of a lucrative and affluent locale can't manage its dinner service with their L.A. transplants and bottle-blonde hostesses.
It's also a shame that the manager had initially blamed my misconduct of setting a reservation not as "early" compared to the 2 people parties in booths reserved for "bigger reservations."
But shoutout to Olive Garden in Palm Desert and the sweet old lady who had celebrated my BIRTHDAY with a sweet treat. Not that Porta Via could ever care it's your birthday dinner. Portal Via could never provide substantial customer service without charging you an added service tip so their transplant staff can actually upkeep their bottled blonde roots, gaslighting, and telling you that their service is a product of your failures contributing to a restaurant that is NOT MY PROBLEM TO RUN.
To the hostess: what you ate, your leftovers were stuck in your teeth as you asked me if my reservation was indoor or outdoor. But magically you remembered the details of our phone inquiry when the manager grilled you about it. Hilarious. 10/10 do yourself a favor, LA has plenty of these classifications of contemporary restaurants.
Live, Laugh, Love
Status update: there's another customer not too long ago who had mentioned that the manager had publicly humiliated her friend for her BIRTHDAY DINNER regarding her private areas. With this in mind, the manager is evidently a birthday hater, don't go here if you really love your birthday!