Ventura Restaurant Guide

The food was excellent. Service rating is low because server appeared to be a busboy instead of a trained waiter, perhaps because they were under staffed. He did not serve like an experienced server at an upscale restaurant. Downgraded ambience because the entertainer was so loud we could not carry on a normal conversation. We probably will not return.

I would have loved to rate Prime as a 4 to 5 star restaurant (I would rate it 3.5 stars if possible). This is our third time dining at the Prime, and they are improving, but still have a way to go. We enjoyed the 4-course meal off the special "Chef's Preview" menu, and thoroughly enjoyed each course. Service was above-average. Most of our needs were promptly attended to, except we had no silverware when our entrees arrived. Our waiter quickly arranged for silverware.

The one criticism I had was the pricing on the special menu. It appeared we were charged about $10.00 more than what was stated on the menu. When I questioned our waiter, he explained the entrees we had chosen were priced higher than the menu price. I could have argued the point, but decided not to ruin a very pleasant evening.

Food was not hot
Food was not what was described on the menu
Circus-like atmosphere
Long wait times
Unorganized staffing
Indifferent owner
Many negative reviews

The guy that wrote the first review has a vengance streak, he's posting the same review all over the internet.
Don't let vengence dissuade you.
I was there for the first time last week. Food was good, service was good. Exceptional? No. Worth a return visit? Yes.
There were six of us at dinner. From what I could observe the problem seems to be consitancy. Of the six meals, one was done really well, one was not so good, four were a notch better than average to two notches better than average.
It was worth the money, but it's not a gourmet experience. Hey, it's a steakhouse - it's not San Ysidro Ranch.
Will I be back? Yes I probably will.

'Forced to pay for food we sent back and never ate!"


Just an awful experience!

Went there with my gal on a Saturday night for a nice romantic dinner. We had reservations for 7 PM.Our waiter was nice, but the service was a bit on the slow side, I figured this was due to the weekend crowds—but the food was sub par.My dinning partner ordered a mixed drink, which was ok.I ordered a Seven and Seven in a tall glass, but they brought out a short glass which tasted like whiskey and soda water. I told the waiter about it and he said “no problem- I remember you did order a tall.The replacement drink was all booze and no Seven, which would please a lot of the heavy drinkers in the place, but I prefer a nice mixed drink when I order one. I decided I’d just stick with ice water.Looking at the “special menu” recommended by the hostess, I chose the PRIME four-course meal with Prime Rib as the main course. My gal also picked the four-course meal but went with grilled chicken and creamed spinach. They brought us some bread slices, which were great.No one had asked if we wanted more bread or more water. The first course came out about fifteen minutes after we ordered- for me it was Tuna Tar Tare- not bad. Hers was some shrimp. The salad for me came out after another ten minutes. I had a wedge, which was not a wedge, just a slice of lettuce. My partner had some soup, which was the best part of the meal.Once those were done, we sat for half an hour with no one checking on us.The owner was busy fawning over a table of people to the right of us.At that point I figured that it would be best to go elsewhere but it was my gal’s first time and the reviews seems to reflect a great dinning experience from others.After forty minutes from our initial order being submitted, a server showed up with our food and quickly left, never to return.I had ordered an end cut of Prime Rib, but this piece of meat looked like a bar-b-qued pork shoulder. It was slightly warm, dried out and tasteless. My partner’s chicken was cold, old and dry. Her creamed spinach had un-melted cheese inside.We pushed our plates aside and waited for someone- anyone to come over and check on us. After ten minutes of staring at the staff, a different young gentleman came by to ask if we wanted doggie bags. I said the food was terrible, tasteless, and cold. He asked if we wanted him to reheat it!He removed the food and headed to the back. The couple at the table next to us said their food was cold and tasteless as well, but they weren’t going to say anything until they heard me complain.Our server came by and asked what the problem was and I told him. He said he’d take care of it. I said I would be happy to pay for the drinks and the two courses that we consumed. He said he agreed with that.Upon his return, he said the owner refused to only charge us with only what we ate, and that we would have to pay the whole bill, including the food that we sent back!I went to talk to her ( her name is Jan) but she refused to only charge us with the items we consumed, but did offer to give us a free meal the next time. I said the food was so bad, we would never come back. I again asked her to charge us what we ate, but she flatly refused and claimed they could not resell the food and that we had to pay. She said no one else was unhappy with the food. I told her to ask the table next to us as they had the same complaints. She said she was “not going to go there”.Then she said she was going to have to ask me to pay the bill and immediately leave her restaurant. I said I had no bill yet! She claimed it was on the table, but it was not. The server had been holding the bill. I paid and we left.

Stay away from PRIME !!