by Jeff M. on The biggest surprise about XIV wasn't that the food was actually inventive and high-quality, it was the genuine care and attentiveness of the service. I was blown away by the kindness and talent of everyone I dealt with in planning a surprise-birthday party dinner for 12 recently. The result was a spectacular, memorable evening. The manager invited me to come in during the afternoon a few days before the event. She guided me with skill and good humor through selecting an 8 course dinner ("this is more special, get this", "this is just OK, I'd pick something else", "no we don't mind splitting the desserts half this and half that") , then handed me off to the sommelier to make champagne and wine choices. I had a specific (not lavish) budget, and they totally respected it. I was expecting some dismissive attitude--not a trace, just really nice people who seem like they're in the hospitality business because they love it. They were actually eager to accommodate gifts being delivered, and even distributing flowers to the ladies at our table ("we'll keep those in the walk-in refrigerator for you, just nod to the wait captain and we'll bring them out" and they did!)...everything was really as perfect as it could be. Night of the dinner, our guests were to arrive before the birthday girl who was turning 70. They were well looked-after by an attentive staff; all our friends reported they were shown to the fireside table right away and offered a drink. We were a high-energy, lively crowd and were very well served by a main waiter, the sommelier himself, and 3 or 4 additional staff. The crazy thing was, at this hip and admittedly not cheap place on Sunset, there wasn't a trace of attitude served with the food--the entire staff down to the water-fillers were all incredibly nice, engaged, really encouraging us to party up and have a good time. And we did! The manager helped me discreetly collect everybody's valet parking stubs so I could take care of them...my vegetarian sister-in-law was pleased with REAL veggie options to each course...we were really taken care of with a high level of service and genuine friendliness. XIV is really a beautiful room, with a pretty diverse crowd, cool open chrome kitchen, lots of good-looking staff weaving among the tables, and a backlit bar. XIV offers a cool Sunset Strip location with celebrity-chef flavor, and makes it easy to enjoy a comfortable, easygoing and slightly decadent atmosphere. After nearly 4 hours the guest of honor felt truly honored, everybody was well-fed, and I'd recommend XIV very highly.
by Ray Champagne on I have never gone in here and not come out with something. or two somethings. or three somethings, plus another something that i am planning on buying next time i'm in. though they usually have the vinyls i am looking for, the one time they did not, my name was written down and they said they would hold it for me and call me. therefore, my only complaint is when a week and a half later (they said by the end of the week), i happened to be walking by and decided to stop and see if the vinyl i was looking for was in. it was. so i just bought it there (along with another one), curiously wondering why i wasn't alerted yet. then (literally) not even fifteen minutes later, i get a phone call saying its in. err...i was just there, and i already got it, i said. okay great! that was settled. of course i'll still go back....so no hard feelings. just a bit of confusion and doubt for a moment. i
by Marvin S. on I like this place. I Dj'ed here on Friday Jan 25th for Feel Good Fusion. It was fun, the crowd was 18+ (which i didnt really like) but besides that they were feelin the music. The staff gave me pizza and non-alcoholic bevs to keep me from leaving, but besides that, we had a blast. alot of my buddies showed up and ended up becoming this hip hop event. but i needed to leave early. i didnt like the environment. it was just weird being outside smoking and trying to focus on the scratch showcase/battle coming up when some little cute girl comes up to me and ask's, "Are you the guy that my friend is holding these drinks for?" and i replied, "No i dont drink." and she says, "well wanna come inside and talk to us anyways?" and i giggle, and see the x on her hand and say, "Naw im sorry, my boys out here with me and were about to get on stage, as much as i'd love to chat with you, id be rude to my homie." then i go back to my friend. It was funny because they were waaaay in the front at the entrance, but when we were on stage, they happened to come a whole lot closer. hahahahahaha Damn groupies. lol and i got to serve DJ's asses to them during the DJ Showcase... hahahahahahhaha thenj we slithered through the crowd and left. i just needed to get out of there. hahahahahahaha shout out to Dj's Denkym and Showcase, and to BBoy Starskee and CJ.
