Engine Co No 28

Service is not worth a shit and the food is ok. They don’t have a lot of breakfast options for vegetarians although they were nice enough to accommodate my meal requests by substituting the meat with veggies. Cute little dinner with a bar… I ordered eggs and potatoes and biscuits. The biscuits look like the ones you buy at 7 – 11 (very cheap and pretty gross) but everything else is decent. Meal was $ 12 which is to expected for airport food, overall not a horrible experience.
As for the service: I have been sitting here for 30 minutes, clearly done eating, waiting for my check and not one person has come to my table. Meanwhile, standing directly in front of me, two of the staff are standing around talking and completely ignoring all the customers. Good thing I’m not rushing to my flight otherwise I’d have to leave without paying.
Get it together. You’re job is to wait on tables and not to run a gossip column in the corner.

Great place to drop in, quench your thirst and put out the fire, especially if you’re at the bar. Dropped in before our trip to Kauai to get things started while the ladies were out perusing the shops.
Been to the one in DTLA and while we did not stay to eat here, our bartender was attentive, fun and jealous we were heading to paradise. Prices for drinks are slightly higher than other places but for the atmosphere and vibe make it casual to hang out.

This is the fifth or sixth time at this restaurant. The experience is always the same. Mediocre food. Overpriced even by airport standards. And horrible slow service by seemingly dreary staff not well trained or remotely interested in doing their job. I’d rather eat at Carl’s Jr. Next store. My recommendation: don’t eat here.

Simple… easy. sit at the bar for fast service. open at 530 am for breakfast If you’re on a layover or stuck before an early flight. Be aware, the food is just that… fuel…dont come here looking for a culinary experience!

At 6 am service was a bit slow. The food took quite some time to come out. Food was good but not stellar. Will probably not return.

As far as airport restaurants go, Engine Co is a good choice. The wait is usually fairly short, and the food is ok. Breakfast is the weakest link, but it’s a solid choice for dinner. I’ve eaten here about 5 times in the past year, and I can recommend the burger. However, once the menu strays into a specific style of cuisine (Mexican, seafood, Italian, steakhouse etc) things quickly fall apart. Stick to diner classics and you’ll be good.

The crab cakes almost make it worth the trouble, but the service at this place is awful. The servers are absent and clueless. We haven’t seen our server in 30 mins. She gave us crap for not asking her to split the check when we all arrived at different times and ordered separately.
Avoid it.

Absolutely the worst service I’ve had in a «nicer» airport restaurant. I had to wait to be seated whike the kitchen guy entertained the hostess with tales of his motorcycle.
The server wandered around aimlessly while my wine sat at the bar. Finally the bartender must have felt my longing glances and brought it over to me. I asked for water. …never received it. Had to flag her over to put in my order as she was just standing looking out the window.
Calamari was ok, the only reason for 2 stars. Service is horrid.
Even if you are flying out if gate 82 or 83, worth it to skip this place.

I’m sure my review would be much more fair if they actually delivered our breakfast, which we ordered 30 minutes ago. The only fast employee here is the bartender. The servers seem very nice but stressed out, which makes me wonder what the heck is going on in the kitchen?
Do not waste your time here. You will wait for no reason. Go to a café where the team has their act together.

Thanks for the worst breakfast sandwich I have ever had.
The take out café took 15 minutes to warm up the worst breakfast sandwich I’ve had in a long time.
Applewood smoked bacon! Don’t make me laugh. More like 1 measly strip of gristle which was COLD. The bread was old and the egg cold also. You do realise when you heat sandwiches you are supposed to serve them hot!
Obviously the sandwiches were 11 bucks each as well with a nice big space for the tip, which I wish I could take back as the service was TERRIBLE.
I give you 3 months. Other customers complaining while in there also.
RIP OFF

2.5 stars So much promise…
Of the favorites list I wanted the meatloaf but had to go with the chicken add they’d sold out. Meatloaf was $ 19 for something you’d pay $ 14 for at a regular diner, but a few others have dinged this place for its prices.
Chicken arrived looking a bit dried out and pretty small. Not even a quarter portion of chicken. Potato was good but lukewarm so I sent it back for a nuke. Spinach was wilted just right, but the gravy was a brown pot of salty sauce.
Service from Yulianna was almost non existent… no water refills, no checking on my me after the potato incident. I was there just before closing but there were plenty of customers around. Just plain poor. She barely got a tip.
(Next door at Marmalade Café had tuna melt etc. for $ 13 but I was on business so I was ok with the company paying a bit more.)
Close to United gate 83.

Definitely the typical overpriced airport pitstop. Great atmosphere with a well-​stocked bar but you may want to ask for drink prices, as most are not listed on the menu.
My husband had the ahi sandwich with fries and I had the seared ahi salad. The sandwich was not bad, and the fries were crispy and seasoned well. My salad though, ugh, not good at all. Dressing was way too acidic and bland. Barely any seasoning on the ahi itself (except for pepper) and as you can see in the picture it was very grainy and unpleasant to eat.
Our bill was $ 73 with tax and tip (15%ish) for a glass of wine, beer, and our entrees. The server was friendly enough, but never checked on us until the end of our meal. It seemed like he just wanted to turn the tables and make a quick buck.
I guess we knew what to expect so can’t really put all the fault on them. Next time, fast food might be a better option. Sigh…

If you are looking for good service don’t go here! We waited 25 minutes for our server to come and take our order. My vodka soda $ 16.75 are you kidding me? Then my ahi salad which was supposed to be a salad looked like an appetizer just on a little bed of lettuce. Our sever was NOT attentive at all, asked for a menu and completely forgot had to ask twice. Then we were waiting to leave and cash out (I ask for the check before we get our food) we get our food, no check! again have to ask for the check. Our server drops the check doesn’t come back. We wait 10 more minutes, meanwhile our flight is boarding so I had to walk up to him to pay our tab. Doesn’t say thank you, no nothing just swipes the card and gives it back to me. BAD SERVICE!

PRICY PRICY PRICY!!! This location had good enough food and it definitely caters to the delayed flights and screwed airline passengers but you pay a premium for it. The best part is they have local brews… so that made it a little better.
This place is even worse because you pay a ton of money for a Burger… the idea of value is nowhere near their vocabulary. They should be ashamed they took the name of a fire company which serves the public.
Locations like this… and pretty much every other in the airport remind me of how bad the airline industry is… they get you from start to finish, take your drinks and make you pay stadium prices because they have you locked into the area.
If you leave then you might not make your flight.

There are so many options at the airport which sometimes makes it harder for you to decide. I was on my way back home and I was sitting in the airport for 4 hours. All I wanted was some breakfast. I was on my way to at least find a Starbucks and I passed by Engine co. 28. I looked at their menu and I said this is perfect. I got a breakfast platter which had bacon, potatoes, eggs (however you like them) fruit and a biscuit. The prices are a little steep but if you want a good breakfast at the airport and not that fast food stuff that’s the place to go.
it’s only on the United side of the airport though… unless you don’t mind taking a walk. I was lucky enough to already be flying United so I didn’t have to leave my gate. They have a restaurant to sit and eat. if you walk down a little further (like two feet) their Togo store is next to it. Anything on the menu in the restaurant will be wrapped up for you.
they had plenty of breakfast items to choose from so I’d give it a try!

I guess it’s my fault for not checking beforehand, but who the f has $ 18 bloody marys??? Please, riddle me that. It’s an airport where everything is overpriced, I get that. But $ 18??? I don’t think we even had any alcohol in our «doubles.» There are fancy clubs in New York City with lines around the block where drinks don’t even cost $ 18 a piece. What a scam.
Oh, and the food sucks. The meatloaf sandwich is especially disgusting. It should be renamed «tiny medallion of cold meat with weird hard sandy crap sprinkled in it.»

Matt B. and I flew to Greenville, South Carolina recently, and our trip started with what seemed to be an unusually smooth passage through LAX. The security line was short, and the agents so charming that I asked Matt, «What is this alarmingly pleasant TSA experience?» We got to our gate so early that we decided to sit and eat dinner at Engine Co. No. 28. The Unilocal reviews kind of threw me off, but the food ended up being pretty satisfying.
If you’re in Terminal 8, Engine Co. is one of your only real options for a sit-​down meal. It was right by our gate, and we found seats easily. Service was friendly, not as quick as it could’ve been but fine enough. Matt had a glass of cabernet and I had a 22 ounce pour of Stone IPA. Not bad for an airport drink.
The food was nothing special, but it was much better than it had to be. I had the turkey club, which was perfectly serviceable, and Matt had a cheeseburger, which he enjoyed. Each entrée came with a side, and we shared fries and potato chips, both of which were addictively good. I’ve had worse fries at like dedicated gastropubs.
Of course, our fairy tale LAX experience ended in disaster when we arrived at our gate twelve minutes before departure, only to find that it was closed and we’d missed our flight while sitting a hundred feet away. So I’d recommend Engine Co. if you want food in this terminal, but don’t relax too much. You can always depend on United to ruin everything.

I had the cold meatloaf sandwich with a side of fries and coleslaw. The food was actually pretty good, though pricey even for airport standards. Even though it was slow, the service was… meh. My food and the food of my friend came out at different times, to the point where she had finished her food by the time I got mine. They were also a bit slow with refilling water. Please… no jokes about the drought…

More like a 3.5.
I had a fairly long wait for my flight so I ended up dining here since it wasn’t too far from my gate. The food itself was fine. I actually thought the classic burger was pretty tasty and the fries were also good. I also ordered the chicken fingers appetizer, which were much tastier than I expected. Maybe it was the way the breading was, but either way it was a pleasant surprise.
The real beef here is the lack of coherent service. Yeah it’s an airport restaurant, and yeah it can get busy, but the service was definitely lacking. The hostess was on her way home (?) so she just told me to wait for a seat that opens up as she walked out of the restaurant. I ended up grabbing my own menu, rolling my luggage over and sitting on a table that wasn’t cleaned for 10 minutes until I flagged someone down. It also took forever to get someone’s attention. They didn’t seem understaffed and the manager looked busy as hell, so something was missing. Either way, they need to try and get the whole service thing down.
Otherwise the food was fine and I was relatively pleased with my meal.

Came here for a quick dinner before our flight. It was decent.
1. Hippie burger: Not bad! Hit the spot. Nothing truly unique about it, but things tasted fresh. The salad was a bit sad though, looking as if it were randomly tossed onto the plate.
2. House Club Sandwich: I enjoyed my sandwich. Just a class BLT type. The fries were good and crispy. Only issue is that they were overly salted.
Service was fast. Dining area feels private compared to others at the airport. Pricing is not too bad. I’d recommend this place if you have a long wait for your flight.