La Rive Gauche

Just wonderful hidden romantic spot with great French food. I had the onion soup and shrimp with mushrooms, delightful. My wife had the the salmon with dill sauce. Service was perfect a delightful evening.

With just a little bit of love and updating this place could be great, but it’s stuck! Went there for a family dinner a couple of weeks ago. The same piano player has been there for the last 20 years and he hasn’t improved — way too many wrong notes. I had the country pâté and it was not only decidely bland, but came with a large gray hair in it. One of the specials was Coquille St. Jacque, which I love, but this was simply bay scallops in hot cream served on a scallop shell. No piped potatoes found the edge, no rich creamy sauce topped with a sprinkling of cheese and finished off under the broiler. It was disappointing. My husband had the filet steak and I have to say that was very well prepared. Of course their signature soufle is still their main claim to fame and it is very good. Service can be a little brusque, particularly when you’re the only party in the place and you get the feeling that they’d like you to hurry up and leave. We brought our own wine and paid corkage and at first the waiter seemed a little disparaging toward the fact that we’d brought our own, but then he realized it was a very good wine and was more inclined to compliment and chat. Bottom line, it’s not high on my list for return visits.

I love this place! My family has been coming for years on holidays and special occasions. All of the sauces are amazing. They spend days making them. I particularly like the salmon with dill sauce and the shrimp la rive gauche appetizer. The rolls, salad, and soup that come with the dishes are great too. Well seasoned and tasty!

I don’t understand why the low ratings from others. This is a great, unique experience. Great food, great piano man and perfect service. All entrees include soup and salad. The celery cream soup was delicious. I had the shrimp with mushrooms and my husband had the new your strips very good. The menu doe not carry vegetarian but they made a great pasta primavera. The desert was the most delicious grand manier soufflé!!! I highly recommend it!

I was hired to work at this restaurant last New Year’s eve. I tried on the number of occasions to get paid and never got paid. On top of that when I dropped a dinner roll on the floor in the kitchen the owner picked it up and put it back in the basket. Enough said

Their eggs benedict is awesome as well as their linguini garlic cream pasta with chicken special they had today! Delicious, cute ambiance and very good prices! The bread and soup were great as well. They probably need to advertise their restaurant better, we had no idea they existed until Groupon.

The story goes back many years when we went to dinner with friends and chose a bottle of wine for $ 32.00. The waiter told us they were out of that wine but would give us something comparable. The bottle he brought was fine but when the bill came it was $ 30.00 more than the bottle we ordered. After guessing that it was just a misunderstanding we came back a second time months later and the same thing happened.
We have not gone back for about 15 years. Last week I found an ad/​coupon in a local Palos Verdes Magazine for La Rive Gauche and we decided to give it another try. The ad stated HAPPY HOUR TUES. — FRI. 3 — 7PM. Appetizers $ 6 — $ 8, House Wine by the glass $ 5 Call Drinks $ 6.50. It also stated Complimentary Dinner, Buy 1 dinner and 2 drinks and receive Free dinner. We figured the food nor the service wasn’t bad, not great, but not bad the first time so we would try it again. We arrived at 6:30 and got seated immediately. There was only 1 other table of 4 seated on a Friday night so we wondered. The waiter gave us menus and I asked to see the Happy Hour Menu. We were told Happy Hour ended at 6:00. He brought the owner over (Jacques) who again told us Happy Hour ended at 6:00PM. I showed him his ad and he told me he did not proof it and the ad was printed wrong and he wasn’t being charged for the ad. I told him about our experience 15 years earlier and he said he purchased the restaurant 10 years ago. He said he would honor the $ 17.00 free meal and gave us the regular dinner menu. Well, not really a surprise, they had no meal on the menu for $ 17.00 but he said he would give us $ 17.00 off our bill. I told him we were there for a nice evening so whatever. He asked us if we wanted to order one of their great soufflé“s for $ 23.00 because it took quite a while to make. I told him that after we order appetizers and dinner, and the meal does come with soup and salad, we never are hungry for dessert. We had dinner which again at best was just OK and asked our waiter for the check. He said our soufflé’s are almost done and I told him we did not order one. He said Jacques was going to comp it. Well, Jacques brought us 2 because it seems they come in pairs. They were again OK but tasted more like a scrambled egg. The bill finally came and he did not deduct the $ 17.00 but charged us $ 23.00 for the soufflé’s and deducted $ 23.00 for something I told him we did not want in the first place. The bill was $ 170.00 for 3 of us which wasn’t terrible but not worth the unpleasant experience. The service was good but I’m sure that’s because there were a total of 11 people at one time in the restaurant over the evening. The table of 4 left the same time we did and told us their experience was just as bad.
I am proud to say we will never, ever go back to La Rive Gauche.

I came here on a date, and I was very impressed.
This is a beautiful tucked away place, very classy and romantic. Gentlemen…if you are looking for a place to impress your lady, this is a great choice…
Also a great place to POP the question. The night I was there I saw a gentlemen do just that. it was lovely.
Ah …nothing like seeing couples in LOVE…
FOOD IS delicious dont be intimidated by french food… the waiters are Not snotty and are happy to help you with selections. I have been here several times… and when I leave my little bubble of the OC… THIS is a place I like to dine… check it out. you will not regret it. Au-​Revoir! And Merci

Last time I was here was in 2010. I decided to try it again. I am GLAD I did! I love this place! Had the duck salad, quiche, escargot for lunch. Perfect place! Perfect ambience! Perfect service! Perfect Music! Ample parking! What more can I say? I loved it so much, I decided to go back for dinner. Hands down the best French Restaurant in the area. It has class! Learned a bit about its history and it made me appreciate this place even more! Looking forward to going back. Our server (Kidi) was an absolute doll! Thank you Kidi for your hospitality!

Went back for a second visit. Unfortunately, it was sub-​par. First was served a Pinot Noir Glass of wine that tasted like it was opened several days ago. Then had a New York steak ordered medium rare that was sever medium well with burnt edges. The sauce was excellent on the steak, but the steak itself was small and way overcooked.
Our first experience here was way better; unfortunately I was quite disappointed in this visit. Not sure if we will be back.

Returned to the restaurant after twenty years and thought we would try lunch. And now I know why it has been so long. The food was terrible. My salad had lettuce that was brown and soggy and there were more apples than «chicken curry». No one seemed to care about our concerns.

It’s been many many years since we ate here do we decided to try it again. its old and in need of updates. the menu old and dilapidated. the soup and salad were terrible. the dessert was bad. but, the steak was very good. in the waiter kept trying to upsell wine big time. and it was a way over priced. the only reason I gave them 3 stars but because of the steak. everything else was terrible. will not be going back anytime soon.

We had not been to the restaurant for years and decided to try it on a Friday night. It is clear that time has passed by this old icon restaurant. It needs updating and a new fresh menu. The service was timely and the waiters were polite but need to be told not to reach across patrons when serving. The soup and salad were nothing special but the scallops were good and the Orange duck was as well. The restaurant appears to rely on a very senior crowd. The overall experience was okay but at the same time a bit sad to see such an icon of Palos Verdes in decline. I hope they can see their way clear to freshen up the menu and the facility.

This place used to be so good when I was younger, but even a couple years ago it was already heading in the wrong direction.
Its a shame, because I used to look forward to coming here, and everyone would order their fantastic onion soup and work hard to save room for some wonderful dessert.
None of that is true anymore, and after two incredibly disappointing visits in three years, I don’t think I’ll be coming back anytime soon.

We celebrated my mom’s birthday here. Everyone loved the food, which was cooked perfectly. The sauces were savory without being over powering. The vegetable soup and side salad with house made raspberry vinaigrette were the perfect start to our delicious meal. We also had an outstanding napoleon instead of birthday cake that was light with just the right amount of sweetness.
The owner himself served our party and gave us some interesting tidbits about French food. He was very charming. The service was as excellent as the food.

I have been here a handful of times. The place seems like it used to be high end and is one of the few restaurants in that area. It seems like they stopped trying. The place itself is dusty and dingy and in need of a facelift.
I’m willing to overlook a lot for good food but unfortunately, the food here is sub par. Any French place should have excellent French Onion soup right? The soup here was terrible and flavorless. The rest of my meal followed suit.
I won’t be back and am sad about that. This place could be amazing if they upped their game a bit.

I came here last night for the prix fixe Valentine’s Day menu. I had Unilocal amnesia and forgot to check before agreeing to this place.
The restaurant is old (decorated in the 70s with utensils/​piling table cloth/​chipped or broken hurricane lamps on the tables) and tucked away in a strip mall in Malaga Cove. There is no view of the ocean or any feel of a seaside restaurant.
It was kind of odd that the restaurant has an assortment of aging 4^th of July and party décor hanging from the ceiling. It’s obviously been there for more than a year since all of it is filthy and falling apart.
The food was bland and had little to no flavor. I never use salt or pepper in restaurants but it was badly needed this time.
This restaurant (based on observation of a semi full seating area) caters to their very elderly patrons and their dietary needs.
The servers did their jobs well. They were attentive and got the food out and cleared the table at a decent speed. They could be more friendly. As the group was leaving no one said, thank you for coming, or have a nice evening, or Happy Valentine’s Day.
Steer clear of ordering drinks here. The bar uses well with no option of upgrading to higher end products.

The Valentine’s Day dinner menu was ok. The food is adjusted to help those suffering from hypertension, renal failure, diabetes, & weight management. Everything needed butter, salt, and pepper. The population of the restaurant’s clients are elderly Palos Verdes locals.
The wine list is terrible. BYOB

I read all of the Unilocal reviews AFTER I bought the Groupon but before I went there for dinner. Fortunately, most of the problems noted did not occur. As we were the only guests there — 7pm on a Friday night — service was not a problem. (more diners arrived later before we left). We ordered a glass of house wine and a bottle of French beer. The food was good — between the two of us — soup, salad, duck, filet, and tiramisu. The entrees came with some vegetables — potatoes, beets, green beans and carrots which were attractively arranged on the plate. The carrots and green beans were tied up in little bundles using green onions. The duck was tasty. The filet was cooked properly — medium rare — but they cut it in half and inserted some slices of brie which did not add much to the overall taste — maybe blue-​cheese would be better. There were no surprises on the bill.
All in all, a pleasant dinner at sunset at a table that was mostly outdoors with peafowl roaming the parking lot squawking loudly.

Truly a 5-​star meal.
As one who loves rich French cooking, I was in paradise here.
The décor was definitely vintage, but rather charming to me. Even better is the fact that La Rive Gauche, in peaceful Malaga Cove, is less than 10 minutes from home, and parking is free & plentiful.
I was an early dinner diner, when the late afternoon sun was still shining bright, so had the place to myself for most of my meal. My server and I ended up chatting as I ate (about everything from peacocks to polar bears… true), which was quite nice. I should have invited him to sit down at my table!
About the food:
I chose from a few entrees that looked interesting, in the $ 30 range… scallops, shrimp, and filet. Ended up with filet, and the server recommended I try a cream sauce.
The entrée came with soup and salad. The soup was good, of blended veggies.
I also polished off a piping hot dinner roll, on which I spread as much of the big hunk of seasoned butter as I could manage. Sooooo good.
The salad was comprised of simple greens with a tasty dressing. And there was a lot of the dressing, the way I like it.
The filet was amazing, as were the accompanying veggies & roast potatoes.

My server insisted I have a glass of wine, and somehow I ended up with a huge bottle of Perrier as well.
I was so stuffed when I walked out… a five-​star food coma.
Those two beverages added $ 16 to the cost of the meal, for a total of 50 bucks before tip.
Well worth the price, and I am going back soon for the scallops.
La Rive Gauche also serves lunch on certain days, which sounds good. Better to feast on such rich food as early in the day as possible, I think.