Love Life, Hate Kittens

I have never gone back to a same bar more than 3 times. In my mind, there’s always bigger, better, newer, fresher.. you get the picture. With a much talked about new bar/restaurant down the street from work, I was excited to see if it could earn a place permanently in my ho-tation. Upper West. Don’t let me down.

………famous last words.

Yo. Pop quiz. If you order the “Seared ahi tuna loin with wasabi cilantro mayo, mixed greens and mint chile vinaigrette” what do you expect to get? A salad? An entree? If you said two slices of sashimi smashed in between 3 pieces of thick bread. You win. This was the Big Mac of tuna sandwiches minus the juicy beef patties. Who the hell double decks a raw tuna sandwich (no one). This was really gross. In fact, I took all the tuna out and just ate the tuna…. all 3 tiny pieces. 

And it came with coleslaw and chips. What are you KFC?!

*breath*

We also had to send some french fries back because they were too mushy. The waiter was like, “Oh, when you cook the fries, it tends to get that way 4-5 minutes after they leave the kitchen. It’s just the way it was cooked. It doesn’t stay crispy.”

Um. Cool story, bro. 

Aside from a couple obvious missteps in ordering, I had a fantastic time. Service is fantastic. The space is really pretty. It’s completely open. This place was MADE for parties. Airy, lots of glass and wood. I love wood. Yea, that’s what she said (shutup.) The owner was really nice. He took the french fries off the bill and took really good care of our party and SANG Happy Birthday. So. Bad. Ass.

Being that it IS down the street and I AM all about the pretty, convince me to have a 2nd go at it. :(

Upper West

3321 West Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 586-1111
www.theupperwest.com/