El Cid Restaurant

El Cid in Silver Lake is a cool bar and dance venue with a unique, intimate vibe. On the night I visited, it featured a country theme, though this might have been specific to that evening. The venue wasn't crowded for a Friday night, but there was a good energy, with people dancing and enjoying the music.The bar area has a rustic charm, and the staff, especially the bouncers, were very welcoming. Adding to its character, El Cid is said to be haunted--a worker mentioned hearing knocking during late hours when the place is empty. Overall, it's a fun, quirky spot for a casual night out with an intriguing edge.

So...I visited back in July 17th for the Carter Vail show. But I just visited this Yelp page just to see how it was doing and I was kinda appalled by the recent one star reviews, because...in some of the reviews they're lying. (Like them having a "big empty gated/fenced parking lot"....they don't and that's why you had to find street parking, get outta here with your entitled self.)Security was friendly, actually had a conversation with them while waiting in line to get in. After getting in I was greeted by Stevee who was so nice and energetic. Got a drink from the bartender, Mitch, who did their thang and me and my friend went in. So staff was great! Design of the place is very unique. And it's a lot bigger than how you'd think it would look from outside. Show started promptly, no issues with sound, and it was just a fun time.After the show, we went to the courtyard and took a photo with the artist. A really good experience. I could see why up and coming artists book shows here.

headlining band got cut short, bouncers were rude, the crowd AND the bands were abruptly shooed out of the venue at 9:30 because they had another event booked after with a separate coverweird and bad!

It's a great venue for concerts. I was there when Stela Cole headlined and I had a blast. The acoustics were great - sounds didn't saturate in just one corner of the room. The performers are on an elevated stage and everyone else is on the dance floor. Folks were kind enough to give each other space.Parking is a bit difficult but you can easily find little alleyways nearby within walking distance of El Cid.Didn't try the food but the bar is a bit limited - they don't make cool girly drinks like mojitos, but their bites and finger food looked interesting.It's a pretty venue with stairs and steps, so for the mobility-impaired, keep that in mind. A guy in a wheelchair was with us on the dance floor, which I thought was cool because it meant that management wanted to be inclusive and made accommodations for him so he could enjoy the concert too.

Came all the way from Long Beach/OC just to have the headliner cut off halfway through their set due to poor planning on the venues part and security kicking everyone out at 9:30. There were sound issues all night, causing further delays for the bands, you had to basically shuffle through equipment just to get to the bathroom, and then when they pushed everyone out like cattle, I asked security if they were closing early, for them to tell us they booked another show and "unless you're buying another drink, you gotta go" And to add insult to injury, the drinks were overpriced and the food wasn't good, with the croquetas being the most passable. Such a shame to see the performers being mistreated when they work so hard to put on a good show for their fans.

Some of the rudest staff ever and cut off the headliner even though they promised the band a certain amount of time. This is the third time I've been here for a show and it's the third time I've had an exceedingly terrible experience. If you don't want psychic damage then stay away from this place fr lmao

I haven't been here in years; but it left an impression on me and I plan to visit again soon. What I remember is that we enjoyed the food, the entertainment experience. Though if I recall the service wasn't so good. The atmosphere was nice.

The show and performers is the only thing worth here. When you reserve the show it states a pre-fix menu is the option, but come to find out some tables were getting items not on the menu. Apparently the waiter thought it best to not show us the menu to be able to order other appetizer options to supplement the very sad "gazpacho" which tasted like Mexican restaurant salsa of which we came to find out chips and salsa are on the menu so no way that was gazpacho and a salad of bagged arugula with slice of Orange. We added calamari and gambas which were better tasting but the appetizer options which they want to just slap the tapas name on it were far from real Spanish tapas options.The entrees were also a joke. We ordered paella and steak. The ribeye was bland and they tried to make up for it by adding some salsa verde on top of it and hiding the potatoes under the steak. The seafood paella was the biggest scam - made with the wrong rice so it was just a doughy clump of mess served almost cold because it was pre cooked and scooped onto the little paella pans where it clearly wasn't cooked since it had no crunchy bottom layer, the mussels and clams clearly not cooked with the paella and just placed on top to make it look nice and they then added some gambas a la plancha on top to make it more seafood tasting. To make it even worse they waste adding a bunch of wedges of lemon on top to hide even more how bad it is.Then the dessert - flan, chocolate cake or chia pudding as options. We avoided the pudding because don't want to know how they made that given the paella experience. The flan was so bland and just a clump of custard with very runny caramel - most definitely not made there. The cake was comical, the minute we all saw it we were like "is that Vons chocolate cake?"Lastly, the venue itself looks in disarray. Bathrooms were visually clean but once you went in floors were all sticky.

I just want to start off by saying everyone has different experiences. Some nights are great, fun and memorable and some not so great but it's about how you want to experience it. All these negative reviews seem like personal attacks and if you really want to know how it is here then come experience it for yourself. Wether you're a customer or a performer. My personal experience from all the times I've been here has always been good. All the people who work there have been nice, the food is super duper good depending what you like, and they have a good selection of drinks. Yes, the restrooms are Hella small but not impossible to go do about your business (hopefully they change it soon)All the performances, dj, and band sets have sounded great and I will continue to keep coming back to party on and create more experiences. ((:

The one star is being generous. What a joke of a concert venue. How are you going to cause delays for the acts then cut their set early? Not only that but push everyone to the patio then shortly after usher them out completely because you double booked the venue?! Treating paying customers like an inconvenience and treating the acts that brought in those paying customers like squatters is such a weird way to run a business. I know I will not be attending anything hosted there again, and honestly I will be warning any acts I'd like to see to steer clear. The music was great, we enjoyed what we did get to see of the show and I look forward to seeing these bands again in a better/more professional setting.