Twin Palms Restaurant

Such a horrible experience. Where do I even start?!!? I was invited here for brunch. We had a reservation for our medium sized party of 9 with several children. The place wasn't crowded at all but we still had to wait over 30 minutes for anyone to come and take our order, get us water or even extra napkins for the little ones. Most of us ordered coffee. When it finally came there was no cream, sugar or spoons. We asked for them but they never came! Once we did order we were made to wait another 45 min. When the food came most was cold and tasted mediocre at best. The wait staff was dull and unresponsive. Management was arrogant, not caring that we had small children begging for food. No one would even come by with crackers, a piece of fruit or apologies for the long wait. On top of that when the bill came we had extra charges for things we didn't eat. I hardly write reviews but felt I needed to about this place. I haven't received service this bad in a while. Not worth your time or money!

I invited a party of four out to this restaurant, after hearing about its reopening.  We all remembered the good food and good entertainment in a pleasant atmosphere.  We were all surprised to find everything has changed.  The owners are new, highly arrogant and have nothing to do with the old.  The menu is all new and much slimmer.  

Everything that was ordered by everyone at our table was mildly 'okay', if not terrible.  The calamari was so bad we had to send it back.  The buratta was just okay but nothing I would reorder or recommend to others.  The pizza... the dough was delicious but there was something wrong with the ingredients... it just tasted like a disaster.  We had to remove all the cheese, sauce, and toppings to eat it.  I ordered the 'local halibut' which was frozen and poorly prepared.  The outside was mildly burnt, while the middle was raw.  It was very strange how the the fish seemed very dry until you got to the middle, which was probably because they put a frozen piece of fish on a slow burning fire, without thawing it first.  We also got the Salmon, which was also poorly and unevenly cooked.  The 72 hour pork butt was a waste of 72 hours it supposedly took to prepare it.  The beet and garden salads were unimpressive but edible.  Service was on the slow side and not very attentive.  The server took our appetizer order and disappeared for 20 minutes until they were ready... did not take our drink or dinner order.  So we had to have our appetizers without anything to drink.  We asked for bread in the beginning, but got it half way through dinner. I asked for some more and it never came.  The music level was just above the comfortable level to have a conversation with anyone at your table... they had a band performing and it would really be nice if they would have lowered it a bit so people could enjoy it as background music, not as if we were at a rock concert.

I spoke to the manager about my issues and the quality of the food.  She was very arrogant and unapologetic for the service and food quality.  She told me that everyone has different tastes and that everyone else loves their food.  Looking at reviews on this site, I have proof that my experience is not unusual.  It's very sad to see that the new owners took this business and are throwing it into the trash from the beginning.  They are getting lots of customers who remember the past, only to get disappointed by the present.  What a waste.  I encourage everyone to try any of the other many restaurants in Old Town Pasadena.... even the worst of them are better than the new Twin Palms.

I don't know where to start.  EVERY SINGLE DISH WAS TERRIBLE.  My friend and I were very hungry after a lovely spa day, where the spa manager suggested we try Twin Palms.  She said it was open again and another spa guest was very excited...so we gave it a try.  

While the formal dining area looked ok, the huge tent we sat under had a very casual feel and all the diners were very casual - in shorts and t-shirts.  It's not what I expected to see.  The live music was very good - mostly Sinatra - and definitely gave a more upscale vibe than the appearance of the place.  The waiters were dressed in all black professional attire; bussers had on tight blue jeans and black shirts. What?  They offer a lounge w/ bottle service but I'm not sure why anyone would pay to hang out in this place.  It would probably be more fun if they had only bar food and had a big party, offering dance lessons.  

*Ambiance - weird, confusing, and too damn bright!
*Service - very average; we didn't like the food and the waiter didn't even blink
*Unimpressive wine AND cocktail list.  
*Chewy calamari'os w/ gooey tentacles inside (order it and you'll see what I mean)
*Beet salad and crispy cauliflower were both ok
*Whole roasted fish - TERRIBLE - small, soggy, boring, flavorless, blah blah blah
*Crab pepper pasta - tasted like crab + pepper + pasta  - not blended, watery sauce
*Presentation - like a high school cafeteria - just dump the food in 3 lumps on a plate
*Dessert - cookie plate was ok (except unidentified fancy fig newton and s'mores with no gram crackers or chocolate; store bought French macaroons; crème brulee had a great flavor; however, if you closed your eyes and ate it, you wouldn't know it was crème brulee.  

Don't waste your money here - unless you want to listen to live music and have a drink or two...