Fraiche

I saw this place on the food networks "Best Thing I Ever Ate" when Giada said her favorite dessert of all time could be found here. Since the show, the place has taken on new management. I came in town from out of state to visit friends and decided I had to try this place. I couldn't wait. It looked beautiful when I arrived, but was told they weren't serving anymore (about 9:30 pm, the website and window said 10:30, with the bar open until 12am) I said I just wanted dessert, so the host said we could do that and seated my friends and me. There were these two stuffy french men who came from the kitchen (The new manager staff) and approached our table. They just stood there. Starring down at us. One finally asked if he could help us. I asked for a dessert menu, and he said "I'm done." with his french accent. In his Rock and Republic jeans. It was just weird. We all starred at him blankly and he replied, "The kitchen is closed." I just said, "We were told we could still get dessert?" THEN he slyly walks off. A lady comes to our table and was extremely rude. "Our kitchen is closed, you can get drinks at the bar, but you can't sit in the dining area." As if we just waltzed right in and sat ourselves down?? We were told we could get dessert!!! So awkward. Well, we finally made our way to the lounge and were served our stinking dessert. WHICH was good, but rather small, and I couldn't even pay attention to the food because of the french managers peering at us the rest of the night. How strange. more

Too bad because I liked brunch here. more

Go for the Farro salad and the fish. High quality wine menu! It's so typical for people to complain about service at a French restaurant. Pros: Monkfish "Francaise" more

This is the third time my Wifey and I have tried this place. May NOT be back. Let me just say, the food is VERY good. But why did I smile at the Manager (dude in suit) while we were sitting at the bar and get a snarl?? Why did it take shouting and waiving my arms and asking the bussboy to tap the bartender's shoulder to get a second round. When it took us 15 minutes to get the first. Why spend money in a place that feel as gracious as a towyard downtown at 3am?????? Can't survive on GOOD food alone. Maybe a staff meeting would help. It should go like this: "Smile, and say hello." Oh. , and "Hey guys welcome, what can I get for you?" good luck Pros: Food-------Flatiron Steak WOW Cons: STAFF more

Heard it through the grapevine. Terri, the hospitible and charming Maitre'd that everyone raves about, is finally out. The rumor is that he was forced out by the other owners because of his attitude. No longer at Fraiche, no longer at Riva. Its about time! I live around the corner and have boycotted the place since my first dissappointing visit. I am excited to go back as I remember the food being excellent. Pros: owner is out! Cons: owner was there for too long more

we came to this place for the happy hour which according to their web site goes till 7pm. then waitress said this is a misprint and the happy hour just finished at 6:30 pm. we asked her then if we can seat outside and she said 'sure, this part is for the bar patrons. we picked up our stuff and went to the patio just to find out that all seating was already taken. couldn't the waitress tell us this beforehand? the place is easily visible from the bar. then we asked to seat in the dining are and we found out that the outdoor chairs and cheap and uncomfortable. the waiter was running through the evening special, and even though we soon after had out menu's closed he went on taking the order from a couple that arrived after us and were still perusing through their menu's. i had the lamb bla bla bla, which was equivalent of a simple lamb stew. the meat was old and everything was overcooked without any distinct taste. i would avoid this place since for the same or lesser price one can have a much decent meal and service at the few surrounding restaurants. Pros: location, patio seating Cons: poor service, uncomfortable chairs, mediocre food more

Great restaurant - but you spelled the name wrong, Citysearch. FRAICHE (same meaning, different language). more

It's a Friday evening and we happened to order the fondue at the bar 10 minutes later our table was ready... HOWEVER the food we ordered at the bar could NOT be taken to our table! WHAT?!? The drinks can but not the food. So we basically had to walk back and forth to the bar and our table eating he fondue and our appetizers in a 5 star restaurant. All the while the manager and bar manager was laughing at us walk back and forth!!!! At least go to the back and laugh at us!!! Unacceptable!!! Negative 5 stars for me! more

The title says it all. A group of us went for dinner here a few weeks ago and I have to say we were disappointed on many levels. While the ambiance is nice, the food was quite average (especially for the price) and the service was horrible. From the moment we sat down we had the feeling that they wanted us to be done with our meal and move on as quickly as possible to make room for the next customers. The waiter was overly attentive to the point of "used car salesman" status... pushing overpriced drinks on us and hovering to refill our glasses after every sip. I told him we were in no hurry, and in fact had been looking forward to a relaxing evening. Didn't seen to make any difference and they were dropping off the main course before the appertizers were even half finished. Very tacky. When told we weren't interested in dessert our waiter got very huffy and dumped the check off without another word. I wrote to the restaurant manager via their website to voice my concerns. As others have noted, no response was forthcoming. My advice... stay away! Save your money for an eatery that has respect for their customers. Pros: Location Cons: Pushy service and overpriced more

For those of us that appreciate good food and live in the Culver City area, we now have a restaurant that is first rate in food and has an edgy, but adult setting. I love fish, but it is tough to find chefs that consistently prepare it correctly. I've eaten at Fraiche on many occasions and often order one of the fish dishes. I've never been disappointed. Also, their pork chop is "to die for." My wife always saves room for the deserts, which are also first rate. The place is a sanctuary for good food. Pros: Perfectly prepared meals Cons: Phone well in advance for a reservation more

We really enjoyed a recent dinner with friends at Fraiche. The service was excellent and our server was very patient with our many rounds of appetizers and cocktails before dinner. Everything was excellent but the mong fish was extraordinary - first time visitors much try it. Signature cocktails, oysters, and the steak tartare stand out among the highlights. We will be back soon. Pros: Mong fish, cocktails, overall dining experience Cons: Misleading happy hour times more

A word of warning: Fraiche advertises a happy hour on various lists as being from 5:30-7, then you arrive and find it ends at 6:30. Unethical? You decide, but you should know. It's too bad that a place with good food thinks of its customers as suckers. more

Have been here a couple of times now and I can truly say this restaurant is great. The atmosphere is vibrant and full of life. The food is superb. The service is casual and unobtrusive. This is no Providence or even Hatfields. However Fraiche provides good food and an amazing wine selection at reasonable price. The staff all have smiles on their faces and the pace of the restaurant sets a great tone. I would recommend this place to anyone. more

well, it is clear from reading the reviews here that the owner is a bit of a despot--he seems like he has been mistreated in life and wants to make everyone else--including his staff miserable. Not only is he miserable, but he also is paranoid and petty--choosing to respond to things on this site trying to make himself look like some kind of innocent victim...when 40 or 50 people complain about you--its probably true. I know for a fact that he treats the staff with the same type of disrespect, and when you get mistreated at work and feel beat down, you get scared and you can't do your job. This misery and displeasure is then communicated to the patron. Do you want to eat the misery of someone else's toxic work environment? In time, the market will decide whether this place stays in business or not. If there are enough self-hating, groveling people out there to continue to accept, tolerate and ask for mistreatment when they are dropping hundreds of dollars, then it will. The food is really not terribly creative, nothing new or exciting here. El Bulli it aint. Not even Hatfield's. Its simply "a'ight" And the slew of 10 5-star reviews at the very beginning of the string here are SO CLEARLY fake. Please...so clearly written by the same person more

Good place to get a drink. more

I REALLY wanted to like this place. In fact, I was so eager to like it, that I gave it THREE chances. I am a local (within walking distance) so I was very eager to love this place and have a regular restaurant to bring guests. Visit #1: The food is fine if not a little bland, certainly nothing to write home about. The service was pleasant but inattentive and forgetful. Things came out early and late and in the wrong order. It was quite expensive considering. On the plus side, I was impressed with the bar and the clever cocktails and the restaurant itself looks great. Visit #2: The food was not impressive, once again. I was packed into a bench seat and plates were crammed onto our tiny table. I sat, claustrophobic, with sweat dripping down my face until I asked the waitress to do something about the AC. Visit #3: Left before ordering because our patio table was crawling with ants. When I asked if we could change tables, the waiter informed us that the manager said there were no tables available. I said I'd be happy to stay where I was until something opened up, but they said it's this or nothing. So I left and vowed never to go back. Three strikes, right? With so many great restaurants in LA, what's the point? more

My wife and I ordered each a different course prix fixe meal. She got the 4 and I got the 6; the server said it was okay to get different courses. 20 minutes later the manager said we cannot order like that even though our server said we could. We reordered and then our first course from the first order came on the table and they TOOK IT BACK!! I wanted to take my wife and leave!! Our server with a tattoo on her breast was the worse and the manager was not better. This ruined out NYs dinner! DO NOT GO HERE EVER. Who takes back food when you are hungry and it is the restaurant?s error??? I only give this place 1 star! And, the amount of food is fit for a little toddler not an adult! more

Went on New Years with my spouse and another couple and ordered off of their Prix Fixe menu. We received each course and then the TINY entrees; the taste was subpar. The couple I went with said the entrees are double the size; I was extremely upset that the menu didn't say smaller than usual portions; we paid for full orders and received half of their usual order. On top of that, I can say we had the worse server (Caroline). We were sitting at our table for about 20 mins before she came to greet us. She stood in the front just looking into space for most of the evening. She came by only once to ask how everything was. We received our dessert (my spouse makes better desserts) and was looking for her to order coffee, but she was nowhere in sight; we waited for about 10min and ate it. AFTER we were done with everything, she came up and asked if we wanted dessert and I said no thank you kindly. The bus boys did a great, and deserve the tip not the server. To top it off, I called and spoke to the hostess Vanessa and I kindly asked to speak to a manager and she said he was at another table and could not speak. I asked if I left my name and number if he could call me back sometime by 2am (it was about 9:30pm) and she said Bruno cannot do that. If you can?t make time on New Years or not to talk to a customer for maybe 5 mins over 4+ hours to at least to say I?ll call you back at another time, what kind of service. Then again, this was what the hostess said about Bruno, but maybe he would have called back. From this $300+ meal, the portion size, and the server I can?t rate this experience more than 1 star, if that. This wasn?t even a subpar experience. If you don?t mind poor service, VERY poor, small portions, subpar taste, and decent atmosphere then go here, but I suggest Gynerai across the street any day!  They have SUPER service, good food, GREAT ambience and it?s just a better place! Pros: I'm thinking...humm...the atmosphere.... Cons: service, portion size, value, and taste more

If you like going to a place for just the ambiance, people watching, and trendiness then this is a place for you. However, if you care about food quality and good service, then look elsewhere. We waited 2 hours after being seated for the food, the waiter tried to push us to get more food then we wanted, and 4 out of 7 of us had stomach aiches throughout the night. The pasta's were extremely mediocre and lacked a balanced and complete flavor profile (quite bland and whatever flavor was there faded on the pallet very quickly). The people that got the steak had good things to say about it, but that is about the only good thing. more

I have read the past negitive postings and I disagree 100%. First of all, let me mention the hosts...I was warmly greated and immediatley seated. My boyfriend and I sat at the bar and the service was exceptional. We had a progressive dinner and amazing Chateau Margaux wine. The pastas were perfect and I was pleasently supprised regarding the bartenders quick skills. We are planning on returning this evening. I will repost if my experience changes. more