Sunday, June 2, 2013

Public (at the Hollywood Roosevelt)

A couple months ago, I bought a Travelzoo voucher for Sunday Brunch at Public, one of the restaurants at the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel.  I had visited the hotel for a Christmas party a couple years ago and loved the old Hollywood flair.  I was excited to see what they had to offer for brunch.

The voucher included the brunch buffet for 2 and a bottle of Prosecco (sparkling wine).

The only hurdle we had in the entire experience was making a reservation.  The restaurant accepts reservations through OpenTable.  Yesterday, I went online to make a reservation for brunch today at noon, and OpenTable told me that no reservations were available within 2 hours of my requested time.  We decided to call and see if we could make a reservation over the phone.  We called around 10:50am yesterday (a Saturday), and it went to voicemail with a message saying to leave a message and they'd call us right back.  We left a message with our phone number, and at 8pm last night, they still hadn't called us back.  My husband tried calling last night, and it immediately went to voicemail.  He hung up, called right back, and finally got a live person on the phone.  In the end, they were able to make a reservation for us to have brunch at noon as we requested.

The reservation issue was really the only complaint besides how slippery the tile floors in the restaurant are.  Ladies, make sure you have traction on your shoes.  I was wearing kitten heels, and I almost fell about 3 times when I stepped on the parts of the floor composed of little, tiny tiles.  Eventually, I had to make a point not to walk naturally on those sections of floor and to firmly step down with the ball of my foot instead.  I always prefer carpet when I'm wearing heels.

We arrived about a half-hour early, but they had no problem seating us right away.  We had a table in the back by the windows.  I liked that it was out of the way.  There was a long delay before our waitress visited our table, so long in fact that another waitress came over to tell us what was included with the voucher and show us where the buffet was.  She also got water for us.

The buffet had a nice variety of food.  Everything from fresh fruit to eggs cooked with veggies to delicate little desserts.  Everything was good.  I particularly liked the yogurt and granola parfait, the meat and cheese selection, the fresh fruit, the chocolate dipped strawberries and the mini-cupcakes that had a whipped cream frosting on them that tasted like strawberries.  My husband particularly liked the lemon tart and the fresh fruit.

The Prosecco was okay.  I wouldn't order it.  We probably only drank half the bottle.  There was also watermelon and grapefruit juice up at the buffet, but we didn't particularly love either one.

I really liked the atmosphere at Public.  It has the old Hollywood classic glamour, and at the same time, it seems rustic and earthy with all of the plant life.  We both really liked visiting the hotel.  It was fun just to have an excuse to walk inside again.  There's so much history here.  If you're visiting Hollywood, or if you live in L.A. and want to step back in time, I suggest meandering off Hollywood Blvd and into the front door of this historic hotel.  You can wander around the lobby and walk up the stairs.  Take a peek outside by the pool and maybe order something to drink at the bar.  But, this isn't a review of the hotel...

I don't think I would come back to this particular brunch buffet.  Other restaurants that have brunch buffets have omelet stations, waffle bars, and overall, just more selection for about the same price as this brunch buffet.  That said, there was plenty offered here for a very filling meal.  It's a little overpriced for what you get, but everything is delicious, and it's the atmosphere is wonderful.

Happy eating!

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