Sophia's California Bistro

I took my meal at the bar/lounge, and was pleasantly surprised by both my food and the service. First, shout out to my server, bartender Domingo (according tot he receipt). He was incredibly attentive and socially intuitive, which is the only way I can think of to describe him. He seemed to have an instinct to gauge exactly how much interaction his customers want, and he provided the exactly perfect amount. This meant he was social with those who wanted the interaction, and he politely stuck to only what was necessary for those who did not want so much social interaction. Regardless of whether he was engaged in conversation with the socialites or respectfully leaving the less social alone, he was attentive and quick to respond to each customer's needs just the same. After dining at a number of hotel bars, I can say with confidence that this is rare (the same can be said/applied to regular restaurants as well). He was great, and I could see myself coming back because of him. Now for the part that you are probably waiting for - my review of the food. I was a little disappointed when I looked at the menu because I didn't see anything that I wanted right off the bat. There were some salads, but after being disappointed so many times by salads at hotel bars, I passed. There was a sandwich, a burger, and pizza, but I really didn't want anything with bread. I landed on a Chicken Penne Alfredo, and even then, I wasn't thrilled about having something potentially heavy and creamy. However, I was pleasantly surprised when my food arrived because the entree was not heavy or overly creamy at all. Additionally, there was so much food in the entree that I actually felt like I got enough food to justify the price tag on the dish, which is so much better than when you pay a pretty dollar for a meal and it is the tiniest portion.

Don't come to this place!!! It's really bad service! And mostly the management is lazy and nasty :( can also as that about the kitchen.

Brunch review..... Parking was easy. Had about a 5 minute wait to be seated since several tables were leaving. They have a good food selection that isn't just limited to breakfast foods. They have an omelet bar and menudo, I didn't try either, and chicken strips and fries for the picky eaters aka kids. I had some of the lemon tart and it had great flavor along with the rest of the food. Probably would never be my first choice for brunch.... But the food was good and the service was attentive.

Not bad for the price plus mimosas. There's crab legs, clams, shrimp, omelette station, chicken fingers, fries, Mac and cheese, menudo station, eggs Benedict, fruit, yogurt, Spanish rice, braised beef, chicken dumplings (not good), chocolate fondue, plus cakes. Service was slow at times and you have to go get your own coffee. Mimosas are premixed in a pitcher but mixed well. They do have the bottle in case you want it made differently (weaker, stronger or just champagne). Automatic gratuity, $16.95+3.56 (21% gratuity) +1.53 (tax) =$22.04 per person

Amazing food. The service was also excellent. Loved the seafood and the omelet/pasta bar. Everything was so tasty. They kept the mimosas coming even before the current one was finished. Mimosas are included in the brunch, by the way. The spread of food was really impressive from fruit to seafood to a chocolate fountain. I would definitely recommend this place. The hotel is also beautiful. The restaurant is a great compliment to the hotel stay. Will definitely be back!!!

The guy I'm dating's aunt was in town for work in Anaheim. He lives in Santa Monica and is fairly new to SoCal in general (keep this in mind throughout the review). That being said, his aunt asked him to pick a restaurant somewhere between Anaheim and Santa Monica, and of all the possible lovely locations to choose, he looked at a map and picked the immaculate city of... Whittier.Yes, Whittier.Not Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, or even Huntington Park. Whittier.For his aunt. Who has never been to California. Scenic, fragrant, lovely... Whittier.When I heard he'd picked Whittier I wanted to punch myself in the face, but by that time everyone had their directions in hand and were en route to the planned destination.Whittier.We walked right in and right out of the original place he picked out. I won't review it since we never sat down to eat there, but it was basically a sad, low-rent version of Denny's.In desperation, I walked up and down Whittier's lovely "main street" (read: many boarded-up buildings and wifebeaters) looking for something somewhat respectable to take his prim and proper visiting Delaware aunt. I ended up stumbling bleary-eyed into the Radisson to ask them where the classiest restaurant in Whittier was, and they pointed behind me... to their restaurant. Which, attached to the lobby, looked like the Garden of Eden compared to everything else I'd seen in the area. The hotel staff was helpful and put in their $0.02: "Of all the places to take his aunt to in Los Angeles, he picked here?? WHITTIER?!"Long story short, we redirected his aunt to the Radisson where we sat down to eat. As the only patrons. For 3 hours.Bread: 5 stars! My favorite part of the meal! Soft and fluffy with a nice light, crispy crust.Service: 4 stars. There were 4 waitstaff and 3 patrons - us. Every time I took a sip of water, it was immediately refilled. Literally. The poor waiter literally hovered by the table and came back 3 times before we decided what we wanted to order. All the waiters seemed very anxious and said they just got a new menu 2 days ago, which is probably why they weren't familiar with anything on it. Either that or we were the first customers they'd ever had to serve. Ever. At least they tried, A for effort?Accuracy: 3 stars. 1 wrong salad dressing (ranch instead of vinegarette) and 1 wrong side (mashed potatoes instead of creamed spinach). I must repeat: We were the only ones eating in the restaurant for 3 hours and... they didn't get our order right.Speed: 2 stars. The bread and salads came out quickly but the main courses took about 45 minutes. Did I mention we were the only people in the entire restaurant a.k.a. extension of the hotel lobby?Presentation: 3.5 stars. Everything was nicely decorated with sprigs of fir/xmas tree. We didn't ask.Taste: 2 stars. I had the ribeye w/creamed corn and asparagus w/hollandaise sauce ($30), my travel buddy had the filet mignon w/honey glazed carrots, creamed spinach and free accidental mashed potatoes ($28), aunt had some sort of chicken dish with bacon and avocado with a baked potato and sauteed garlic mushrooms on the side. If you like fat, grease, and butter, this is the place for you! The mashed potatoes were more butter than potato, the creamed spinach was more cream than spinach, the asparagus was more hollandaise sauce than asparagus, and the creamed corn was more cream than corn. No joke. My ribeye was 1/4 fat, 3/4 meat. Served in a pool of butter. The aunt reported her chicken dish was okay, the travel buddy appeared to like his filet mignon (it looked less fatty than my ribeye), and I did my best with my meat.Dinner came to $110+ which his aunt generously covered. Not worth the food, the drive, or even the nervous laughter we shared as we ventured out hesitantly into the parking lot post-dinner.If you're looking for the nicest restaurant in Whittier to go to, this is your place. This is the ONLY place. Hence the 3 stars instead of 2.Moral of the Story: If you live in Santa Monica and have an aunt visiting town staying in Anaheim, do NOT make plans to meet her in Whittier.

Took 45 minutes to get our order. And they still got it wrong. We came for Mother's Day so we had the kids with us. They charge gratuity for 8 or more people.

Wasn't happy with this place. The staff was nice enough but no one once came to our table to offer us refills on our water/soda. The food, eh. Nothing was labeled so we had to open every container to see what was inside. Neither of us like seafood and we both got what we thought was chicken but ended up being fish. We felt bad wasting it.

I was expecting an upscale meal since the place appeared to be expensive. What we received was just okay. The food was tasty, but mediocre and it made my hubby and I sick. We both were nauseous, and lethargic. It hit me before we left the restaurant, and him an hour or so later. He was sick throughout the night.I had shrimp quesadillas, and an apple walnut salad, he had a rib eye and tomato basil bisque. We stayed at the hotel for a week, but ate out after that.

No. Menu was not visible. So we went outside the hotel for food. Maybe update the menu and do a pdf.?