Wave Restaurant & Bar

I’ve walked pass this place a few times but finally dropped in the other night. I tried the gummy worm martini. It was pretty bad but had enough alcohol in it that I eventually didn’t care. I also ordered the tuna panini which was amazing! It’s by far the best tuna sandwich I’ve ever had. It came with a side salad in a vinaigrette. I gave it to my friend since I hate that type of dressing and it was too late to ask for a different type. The staff was friendly but somehow dissapeared when it was time to get the bill so I paid at the bar.

The place is fine with me. I had the shrimp-​vege salad with citrus dressing and it was very good. I didn’t feel like drinking and tasted my friend’s Gummy Martini. Yes. that’s right. The drink was out of this world. Sweet and sour with a gummy worm waiting to be fished out. I totally regret not having 2 for myself, but I was designated driver that day and already had my morning cocktail. This is my 3^rd visit and every time I enjoy myself for a light brunch meal while resting our toes before going on a shopping bender. The wait staff is always friendly and the service is great!

Wow only in LA can you find a bar in the middle of the mall… their service is a little slow but their drinks are strong and delicious… I also tried their chocolate cake which I assume has been sitting out all day because it was dry… but the decoration is very trendy…

Did I just get tipsy at the Beverly Center?
I did.
Funny all the negative reviews of this place. Yes, it is a bar in the middle of the Beverly Center. When I googled this place, surprisingly it was listed on a gay website as one of their favorite «lingering» places in West Los Angeles/​West Hollywood area. Coincidence the bartender was gay? Methinks not.
First off: Props to the Unilocaler that took me out and introduced me to a snazzy little drink called a Kir Royale, because that’s what I ordered. Directly next to me my bestie had something called a Moulin Rouge, and our other friend had a Caramel Apple Martini.
I’m upping the star rating for the Wave based on the extremely awesome bartender, who kept the drinks coming and poured us free shots which I still can’t figure out what it was, just know that it was the key to the reason why I suddenly felt sloshed right after drinking it.
Say what you want about this little place, but as for me, I had a great time. Even had a dashing conversation with the woman next to me, who proclaimed she came often to have some wine before she shopped (reasoning that she feels less guilty when she’s out shopping). Granted, this isn’t where you’re going to find me on a Saturday night, but for something random to do on a Thursday, it suited the night just fine.
It’s funny, like so many of us I’d been to the Center several dozen times, and was always curious about who exactly drinks inside a mall???
Uh, apparently I do now.

came to beverly center to do some last-​minute christmas shopping with a friend and her family. her mom offered to buy us lunch and a drink at the wave so of course i obliged. once we were seated next to the «kitchen» (which was not hidden very well) i decided not to order anything cooked considering it consisted of a microwave and a sink. so i went for the prosciutto caprese toast appetizer which a monkey could probably make. it was tasty but the tomatoes were not the freshest. my caramel apple martini was yummy but a little too sweet for me. my friend’s mom ordered a tuna melt but they failed to put cheese on it. my friend’s sushi looked pretty pitiful. prices were definitely not worth it… and there wasn’t even a gay sexy santa as i was promised!

Sigh, yes, the Wave. Since I work at the Beverly Center I actually get a 20% discount on anything, including liquor. But even with that I rarely go. I did find the staff to be pretty good the two times I’ve been. However, the food was totally whack. My quesidilla tasted totally microwaved.

This place is awful. I was optimistic since it was not in the dreaded «food court» and also because it was in the Beverly Center. But whoa, was I ever disappointed.
The service was sub-​sub-​par; everyone was clueless. We waited too long to be served once we were seated.
After taking our order, we never saw our waitress again until she delivered the bill. My iced tea had about two pieces of ice and was warm and sad.
As food came out of the «kitchen,» the servers just wandered from table to table asking each party if the food was theirs.
My sushi roll had clearly spent much of the day in the fridge drying out.
The quesadilla was like something that had been frozen and then briefly placed in a warm sandwich press.
The drinks were the only thing even close to average.
The only indication that the staff had any common sense was that no one ever asked «how is everything?» because they know everything sucks and don’t want to be reminded.
I would never, ever return here. Do yourself a favor and steer clear.

Wave is the little bar/​restaurant/​lounge in the middle of the Beverly Center you probably associate with Hunky Santa photos come the holidays. Or, at least I do ;)
After a few hours of serious shopping, Carrie R and I decided to skip the usual Rubio’s fish taco routine and give this place a try. The menu seemed promising with lots of snacks, salads and sushi, especially when I spied the Crab Quesadilla with what was described as «mixed crab.» We asked our server what exactly the crab was mixed with and he explained it was a combination of crab with a «c» and krab with a «k». At more than ten bucks, did they really need to scrimp on crab and shrimp?
Well, evidently the answer to that question was a loud, resounding, YES. We decided to live dangerously and split the questionable crab quesadilla and a shrimp salad. We were told it was the best salad on the menu, even if they were out of the greens it was usually made with. The salad came, and they’d scrimped alright. The few measly, overcooked shrimps had been strategically sliced and laid flat on the greens to make it appear there were twice as many than there actually were. And the quesadilla. Well, it was made with somethin’ alright, but it didn’t taste like crab or even krab. After a few bites, we settled our check and headed up to Rubio’s.
If you want to eat the at the mall, stick with the food court or one of the restaurants downstairs and save Wave for waving and winking at nearly nekkid ambiguously gay Santa after Turkey day.

I was gonna actually be productive tonight. But I don’t feel good.
So instead I’m going to review the most useless eatery in the city.
Yes. It is possible to get drunk at The Wave. But why? Why get drunk in the middle of a mall? I mean, get drunk at PF Changs downstairs, or Grand Lux if you MUST be «at» the mall. But right in the middle, by the escalators? That’s where you wanna drink? Really?
$ 9 for a shot of Patron. That’s obscene. What am I paying for? The ambiance of a MALL? (I was drinking on my pickup shift at Macys a few years back. I had a wicked hangover and wanted to indulge in some hair of the dog. Instead I passed out behind the Estee Lauder counter, snoring loudly. Then I was sent home. But I digress…) Other than inebriating the mall staff, why do OTHER people drink at The Wave?
The food, by the way, is awful. So is the staff. I was hungover, and this was a couple of years back, but I remember the bartender being a complete asshole. One of those guys who, when you ask for a menu during your paltry half-​hour lunch break, after sitting at the bar for 10 minutes, gives you a pissed look and says «You’ll have to wait a minute ok?» Later when I requested my Patron he didn’t say anything, but didn’t bring it. When I flagged him down again (he was too busy chatting with his friends and watching a game at the other end of the bar) he said «Well I didn’t see any id.» When I put it on the bar he actually stared at it and held out his hand implying it was useless unless I actually handed it to him.
I have NO idea what his attitude was about. I literally showed up, sat down, spent most of my half hour trying to get a menu, food, drink and check and drove myself nuts trying to get ANY of these things handled in a remotely convenient or plausible time frame, all amid this bartenders EXCEEDINGLY rude attitude and poor service.
And, it’s The Wave. Midday. There were like 3 people in the whole place. Come on now.
The food was bad. I ordered a quesadilla and by the time it was in front of me it was a dry cold-​ish tortilla, with hard congealed cheese and some dry chicken. And the guac was fully brown on top. Come on. Scrape the top off before you serve it. Pretend it isn’t 12 days old.

Ok, like Amy said…“just go to the Wave and get wasted!.” lol It’s sooooo not the place to go for grub… but drinks, yeah, I can see the point of wetting the palate in between shopping stops…
The food just sucks… I mean, ick. Not that it will kill you and the salad the guy next to me ate looked pretty darn good (and he ate it all!)…but the stuff we ate? Not so much. The Crab Quesadilla is not really «crab» at all! It’s a mixture of Crab and KRAB… with a «K.» Like the Beverly Center can’t spring for ALL crab? Come on now. We had that and a Prawn Salad… and again, they couldn’t spring for a whole piece of shrimp. lol They had the audacity to slice the poor little guys in half length-​wise so they LOOKED like shrimp but were flat on one side! Sheesh. Oh, and the iced tea is more like slightly tea-​flavored tan water… more water than tea.
But hey… like I said above… go for a drink! Stop by and watch a football game on one of the plasmas. Or better yet… get sloshed and go sit on the sexy Santa’s lap over the holidays! Alcohol and a scantily clad hottie in a Santa hat… what could be wrong with THAT combo?!

Explored every nook and cranny of The Beverly Center and still can’t find anything to buy? Everything looks good on the mannequin, but makes you look fat? Don’t get mad, just go to the Wave and get WASTED!!! The best EVER!!! Conveniently located in the heart of the mall…