Staying in Gaslamp District - What is the one restaurant I HAVE to eat at? (San Diego: buying, restaurants)

[hitman619]

Rei Do Gado Brazilian Steak House on 4th ave is one of my favorite spots
Good Food,cute waitresses,decent wine selection all good!
Rei Do Gado

[MovingAloha]

Originally Posted by hitman619

Rei Do Gado Brazilian Steak House on 4th ave is one of my favorite spots
Good Food,cute waitresses,decent wine selection all good!
Rei Do Gado

I believe I have been to this restaurant several years ago, and it was absolutely wonderful. As usual with Brazilian Steak Houses, way too much meat for me, but their vegetables were outstanding!

[earlyretirement]

I just noticed that Quarter Kitchen went out of business. When did that happen? Have they replaced it with something else?

[hitman619]

Originally Posted by MovingAloha

I believe I have been to this restaurant several years ago, and it was absolutely wonderful. As usual with Brazilian Steak Houses, way too much meat for me, but their vegetables were outstanding!

You have to love meat to eat here!
I try not pig out when i go there but i can't help it.

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

I just noticed that Quarter Kitchen went out of business. When did that happen? Have they replaced it with something else?

yep! the Quarter Kitchen is gone
I guess the service went Hell there.
I remember last year i recommended them to friends of the family and they came back from there and cussed me out.
Their biggest complaint was the service

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

I just noticed that Quarter Kitchen went out of business. When did that happen? Have they replaced it with something else?

Earlyretirement,

Hyatt bought that hotel formerly called the Ivy in 2009. Quarter Kitchen was part of that but didn't change over until the past year or so.

Its called Katsuya now and the hotel was rebranded Andaz.

[hitman619]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Earlyretirement,

Its called Katsuya now and the hotel was rebranded Andaz.

Have you been there?
How is food and wine?
Edit: and service

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

Earlyretirement,

Hyatt bought that hotel formerly called the Ivy in 2009. Quarter Kitchen was part of that but didn't change over until the past year or so.

Its called Katsuya now and the hotel was rebranded Andaz.

Hey Shmoov,

Yeah, I stayed in the hotel last May after the change over but Quarter Kitchen was still there after the hotel got rebranded. I flew to SD to close on my house and stayed there. I really liked the rooms at the Andaz. Very modern and spacious, they included several things in the price of the Suite I got and the service was really great.

I had a pretty good meal there last year at Quarter Kitchen and it was a beautiful restaurant. So I was just curious when I saw it went out of business. Have you tried the new restaurant that replaced it? Is this the Phillippe Starck Katsuya? If so, it should be good. I ate at one in LA last year. It was very good but very expensive.

Originally Posted by hitman619

yep! the Quarter Kitchen is gone
I guess the service went Hell there.
I remember last year i recommended them to friends of the family and they came back from there and cussed me out.
Their biggest complaint was the service

Hey hitman. Yeah, I liked that place. I also recommended it last year to a friend and they enjoyed it but they did say the service was VERY slow but they liked the food. Too bad about it gone..I thought it was a pretty cool place with good food.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

It was very good and yes, a bit on the prcey side, but never felt like it was a rip off. Food quality is about on par with Nobu. Key word here being 'experience', not bottomless pasta for 10 bucks or "this place sucks, I get better value at Red Lobster" crowds.
Visually and conceptually , its a Starcke establishment (like the LA joint) and fitting for the hotel which is modern, sophisticated and chic. Just think LA cosmo.

I am lucky enough to have been to some of the best dumpy ethnic restaurants and finest Michelin restaurants in my life. THis is not the latter by any means, but you get what you pay for with the whole package which is part of the dining experience. I have had sushi of equal quality elsewhere in SD, but again, the dining experience here really sets it over the top and Starcke is no chef, just a desginer that had a really cool concept for a restaurant.

Honestly, even in Vegas, these concept restaurants really cater to folks that are looking for 'dining out' experience because quite frankly you HAVE to go to LA or Vegas for this kind of dining.
Nice to see here in SD and the service was top notch.

We ate both 1/4 kitchen and the Ivy lounge on the roof. Service was lacking there and still does upstairs. We didnt experience this with Katusya. Service was what we expected which was clinical and professional.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

It was very good and yes, a bit on the prcey side, but never felt like it was a rip off. Food quality is about on par with Nobu. Key word here being 'experience', not bottomless pasta for 10 bucks or "this place sucks, I get better value at Red Lobster" crowds.
Visually and conceptually , its a Starcke establishment (like the LA joint) and fitting for the hotel which is modern, sophisticated and chic. Just think LA cosmo.

I am lucky enough to have been to some of the best dumpy ethnic restaurants and finest Michelin restaurants in my life. THis is not the latter by any means, but you get what you pay for with the whole package which is part of the dining experience. I have had sushi of equal quality elsewhere in SD, but again, the dining experience here really sets it over the top and Starcke is no chef, just a desginer that had a really cool concept for a restaurant.

Honestly, even in Vegas, these concept restaurants really cater to folks that are looking for 'dining out' experience because quite frankly you HAVE to go to LA or Vegas for this kind of dining.
Nice to see here in SD and the service was top notch.

We ate both 1/4 kitchen and the Ivy lounge on the roof. Service was lacking there and still does upstairs. We didnt experience this with Katusya. Service was what we expected which was clinical and professional.

Great! Thanks for sharing Shmoov. I think I'll add this into the rotation for my weekly "guys night out dinners" with my buddy. We always like trying a new place each week we've never been to. The ambiance should also be GREAT if it's a Starcke project.

Most of these higher end type places are expensive but honestly I'll never complain about restaurant prices in San Diego again. We just spent 2.5 months in Europe with a few weeks traveling in Switzerland. Man oh man are restaurants in Switzerland expensive! Even dumpy Chinese fast food type places that you can find in ANY city in the world for cheap prices were like $30 a dish in Zurich. McDonald's extra value meals were something like $16 US each to give you an idea (not a fan of McDonalds by the way). Plain pizzas $30 each and higher end restaurants were insanely expensive. I'm VERY happy to be back home in San Diego and won't complain about prices here again.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Katsuya is a mildly interesting sushi/Asian fusion restaurant from night club promoter turned entrepreneur Sam Nazarian. They are up to 8 restaurants now stretching from South Beach to Houston and now to San Diego. I like Katsuya in LA, but I've never mistaken it for a top flight sushi restaurant. If you are in the mood for sushi or Japanese go to a sushi or Japanese restaurant. If you want something a little different, Katsuya is okay.