LA Grand Event

I use to eat here all the time when I worked in downtown Los Angeles. They have the best penne mediterranean chicken. Never tried anything else on the menu because the penne was that good. Lots of flavor for a reasonable priced dish.

LA Grand Event is an event not worth your time.
This is one of those downtown restaurants that caters specifically to the lunch time corporate crowd, offering a somewhat mid-​range respite from the high-​end Water Grill’s and the low end Carls Jr.‘s that make-​up downtown’s lunchtime dining scene. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work out.
LA Grand Event is open for breakfast and lunch from 7am to 3:30pm on weekdays. Closed on weekends. So it’s pretty useless to the downtown resident anyways, but honestly, I’d prefer if it was open even less.
Since LA Grand Event is just a short walk from my place, I passed by it one week day during lunch hour and a sign outside caught my eye with an advertisement for a special called «Fisherman’s Delight» which according to the sign consisted of shrimp, cod, scallops, and calamari. My belly on empty and my curiosity on high, I decided to go in and check it out.
The interior is interesting, not particularly designed, but has a sort of old-​time city feel to it… my first impressions were good. It was fairly busy, business suits and corporate types filled most of the tables. I was seated at a small table near the window and had a look at the menu, although I had my heart set on the «Fisherman’s Delight». My exploration of the menu reveled that LA Grand Event was a bit more pricey than what I typically budget for lunch (I like to spend under $ 10). Panini’s start at $ 8.25 and most entrees are about $ 12. The menu is pretty boring too, with no particular culinary focus… a smattering of this and that. Paninis, lasagna, kabobs, fajitas, burgers… bleh. A jack of all trades is a master of none, right? I was hoping LA Grand Event would prove that tome wrong.
My waiter seemed some what absent, and took my order without so much as a smile. After a nearly unacceptable wait in which i sat alone and watched the business types talk shop, my «Fisherman’s Delight» was brought to me. The presentation didn’t do much to excite my tastebuds, but at least I was hungry so I dove in… Dove in to some of the most bland, boring, straight from the freezer-​section seafood I’ve had in a while. The cod was nothing more than fish sticks, the calamari were those little rubbery perfectly circular onion rings I remember from Olive Garden, the shrimp were small and few, and the scallops were simply disgusting. I did my best to choke it down, along with the equally boring cucumber salad, and when I was done I pushed the plate away, placed my silverware and napkin atop it, and proceeded to have Instant Message conversations on my Sidekick… for about 45 minutes.
It seems my lovely waiter forgot about me. Or perhaps just didn’t care about me since I was just a party of one and couldn’t match the tips of the large business groups that he was taking care of. After about 10 minutes I started to get antsy. After 20 I was pissed. After 30 it was just hilarious. The guy literally just dropped off the crappy food at my table and then pretended as if I was invisible. He walked by me several times, he took care of larger parties right next to me, yet paid me no mind. I also noticed that other parties had received a small basket of bread or breadsticks before their meal. Strange that I never got that. Only for parties of 4 or more I suppose. Around 35 minutes into my wait for my nasty food to be taken away from in front of me, a waitress walks by and says «Are you finished?». I respond politely (remember at this point I’m just laughing at the absurdity of the situation), «Yes, check please, thank you.» And she proceeds to walk away. A full 10 minutes later my original waiter returns and without a blink of the eye takes my dish and puts the bill down on the table.
I’ll leave it to your imagination the type of tip he received.
If you happen to be a glutton for punishment and in the need for bad, overpriced food and terrible service the next time you go out to lunch in downtown Los Angeles, by all means check out LA Grand Event, due to its location in DTLA it’s very transit accessible.
Transit access: Metro Red/​Purple and Blue lines, Metro Rapid lines 714, 720, 740 and 745, all local lines with numbers 1 – 99 and their limited-​stop counterparts, and all express lines numbered 400 – 499; all LADOT DASH lines downtown except D and all Commuter Express lines numbered 400 – 499 and 534; Antelope Valley Transit Authority Line 785; Foothill Transit Silver Streak and 400-​series busway express lines; Montebello Municipal Bus Lines 40, 50 and 341÷342÷343, Orange County Transportation Authority lines 701 and 721; Santa Clarita Transit Line 799; Santa Monica Big Blue Bus Line 10; and Torrance Transit lines 1 and 2.