Wacky Wok is a Gem while C & O Cucina is a Disaster “Marina del Rey/Venice area (7/10)
Two Restaurants minutes of each other in Marina del Rey/Venice-
The first one, Wacky Wok, is a hole in the wall in a little strip mall right near Abbot Kinney and Washington. This establishment has been there for over 20 yrs and for good reason. The food is exceptional and fresh; the service is very good; the prices are very affordable and the customer service is excellent. Located at 2805 Abbot Kinney Blvd #F, Venice CA 90291 Phone: (310) 822-7373. Highly Recommended.
Unfortunately, The C & O Cucina was a huge disaster! We had been to the original C & O on Washington near the beach before and this time tried the Cucina closer to Lincoln and not far from the Wacky Wok. We were craving their garlic rolls to start but they came out stale and lukewarm. We asked for a new hot batch but yet again, they came out the same. The fried calamari was so bad we had to send it back. It seems like this place is trying to cut corners as there was so much breading and only calamari rings that you knew were frozen. When I had them in the past at the original restaurant, they were fresh, lightly fried and had all the squid parts including the tentacles. Not this time! Well we for sure had to have some luck when it came to their specialty of the house, which is pasta, right? No such luck. I had to send my entrée back as I asked for light sauce. My pasta came out overcooked and very mushy while drenched with sauce. The other entrees my wife and father in law were so mediocre but they ate some and left the rest not wanting to go to the trouble to send anything back.
Two other key points are we came in for lunch a bit after 2:30pm and were the only ones in the restaurant. One would expect good service but our waitress disappeared and the manager, Domingo, at that time decided to eat his own lunch. We were just going to dine as this was not a restaurant review but I had to post this horrific experience. To show you the legitimacy of this write-up, the C & O Cucina has made history with our publication as the first and only restaurant to be given a terrible review. Our aim is to provide positive PR as you can check all of our other stories. When it came time to pay, I provided a coupon that I had which entitled $25 to come off the bill after you spent $50, which we did. The staff didn’t know about this coupon and tried to figure it out. Domingo actually got up from his lunch but was so clueless and wasted 20+ of my time. My wife, one year old baby and father in law waited in the car and thought something was wrong but it was only due to the fact that they wouldn’t honor this valid coupon. I was persistent especially after the terrible lunch and service we had as Domingo called the other restaurant to try to figure it out. Finally, another manager named Brian came to the rescue. He figured it out quickly and revised the bill with our coupon. We were so disappointed and frustrated.
I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt so I called the next week and spoke to the General Manager Jeff Kelly. He was friendly on the phone and listened to my complaint. I told him all about what happened and also mentioned that Brian was a big help and could vouch for what transpired. He apologized and said he would make it up to us and send me something in the mail as he asked for my mailing address, which I provided. About 2 weeks later, I received a letter in the mail from Jeff thinking he was sending us some kind of offer to comp our next meal. Why else would he ask for our address? The letter reads, and I quote, “ Thank you very much for bringing the service and food issues during your visit to our attention. While we do try very hard to insure our staff is trained properly to handle our guest’s special requests sometimes our efforts miss expectation. It is instances like this that make us better and we appreciate your understanding. Please let me know when you will be coming in and I will make an effort to be here so we can meet and I can thank you in person” signed Jeff Kelly.
I couldn’t believe what I just read. The GM wants us to come in after this horrible experience so he can thank me? I had to call him to see if this was true or he was taking care or helping out with the bill. All was true and he had no interest except to thank me for coming in again. I told him no thank you. Why would I come back? When there is a problem, it should be made up to the customer. A simple gesture to invite us for dinner at no charge would have been sufficient and we would have been satisfied.
I told him I really had no interest to come back and nobody should be treated like this. I highly recommend staying away from the C & O Cucina.