Sometimes an Eater just needs to get something off his or her chest, so let us be your sounding board. Enter the Eater Complaints Dept. where you can vent, vent, vent and never be kicked off the boards. Got something to say? Hit us with it.
From: [an eater]
Date: Monday, May 5, 2007
To: eater complaints dept.
Subject: Complaint's Dept.: The Edison
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I'd love to start the Edison backlash. I was lucky to get there early on a weeknight once. I thought the space was gorgeous, and that the place had a great atmosphere. The drinks were amazing, if incredibly overpriced. I was a little ticked off at the $10 valet, but I got over that quickly enough. The crowd was a pretty diverse range of Angelenos, with only a middling douchebag quotient - still much higher than the surrounding downtown area but much lower than the D.Q. on the Sunset Strip or on Cahuenga. By the time I left that day, the line was around the block and the number of Hummers and Mercedes G-Class SUV's at the valet stand was staggering.
Then I tried to go on Saturday night. I even went a bit early, to make sure there were no hassles in line. At 9:00 on a Saturday, there was already a line. The hostess was not letting anyone in who did not have a reservation. WTF? Since the Edison isn't yet serving food, that seemed a bit paradoxical to me.
Host: "Do you have a reservation?"
Me: "Uh, no... I'm just here for a drink, not food."
Host: "You need a reservation in order to enter."
Me: "But you're not serving food."
Host: "We're a lounge, not one of those clubs on Sunset. We don't cater to walk-ins."
Me: "But it's a BAR. I just want to go in and grab a drink."
Host: "If you want to call and make a reservation next time, we can let you in."
Me: "I have never heard of making a reservation to get into a bar."
Host: "Well, we're not an ordinary bar."
Me: "Look, this is downtown, not Hollywood. There are a lot of people in the neighborhood who are going to be alienated by this sort of thing."
Host: "We're not like Hollywood. We'll let normal people in, they just need a reservation first. I'd love to help you, but we're booked tonight. Think of us like a very fancy restaurant. You need reservations, you can't just walk in."
The worst part of it was, the line was around the block at this point and I guarantee you 75% of the people in line didn't have a "reservation." But, instead of broadcasting their policy to everyone in line, they made everyone wait the 30-45 minutes until they got turned away at the door.
What the hell? The whole point of downtown was that it WASN'T Hollywood. And yet the door policy at the Edison is ridiculous. Downtown was a great opportunity to shape a new vision of L.A. nightlife, and if we're not careful it's going to be every bit as douchey as the rest of L.A. It's time Downtowners stood up to the ridiculousness. In the meantime, you'll find me at Library Bar. It's awesome and completely attitude-free.
