Anaheim White House

06/23/2008 Posted by hubriis

We made a reservation months in advance for ten at the White House for our annual convention in Anaheim. Granted, we were a large group but honestly, I did not leave with a great impression overall. We entered a 12' x 12' room off the staircase, gorgeous and well-appointed but positively stuffed with two long tables and the accompanying parson chairs completely filling the small room. Two problems emerged rather quickly: 1. The small room, filled with twenty diners plus wait staff, because inhospitably warm and the air conditioning could not keep the room properly cooled. 2. Once all twenty of us were seated (our own party of ten and the other table of ten), there was no room for the wait staff in-between the two tables and there was no room on either side, either. We tried to make a go of it and realigned our table so that two people moved to each end of the table with four on each long side. No luck, still no room to maneuver. At that point, with menus being utilized as fans, we asked to be moved. We ended up moving to two separate tables of five within the same room in another area of the restaurant. The room was noticeably cooler and the evening began to progress from there. My beau and I split the Escargot con Aglio e Erbe and green salad to start. The salad was lovely, but the escargot was a standout - amazing, lush buttery sauce with a wonderful herbal complement. I then had the Vitello con Funghi - the veal melted on your mouth and the cognac, sage and Morel mushroom sauce was divine and oh-so-savory. The food almost made up for the initial issue, but unfortunately the superheated, overstuffed room left a pall on an otherwise nice experience.

06/09/2008 Posted by fullertongal

My husband surprised me on our anniversary by taking me to the Anaheim White House. The building was very quaint and felt very warm and inviting. I had the Caprese salad to start and it was amazing. The mozzarella cheese tasted like it was straight from Tuscany! I ordered the short ribs and my husband had the special, the short ribs and lobster tail. They were both delicious. I had the souffle for dessert, it was the perfect ending. The food and excellent service made for a perfect anniversary. I would go back any day.

Pros: Fantastic food and service

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

04/18/2008 Posted by SocialSpiral

Last night, we drove up to the valet, and were overwhelmed with the impressive, glowing two-story mansion with the contemporary canopy. Romantic lanterns lead the way from the valet to the entrance of the home. A twenty-five foot American Flag waiving on the front lawn... seemed symbolic: Heritage, history, setting the standard. Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by three people, and we were taken to our table upstairs. I had never experienced a two-story restaurant... or old mansion for that matter! They had so many private rooms, some for families, some for business. We sat in the Roosevelt room, intimate and cozy. There were mirrors and and paintings on the walls. I think it was actually one of the original bedrooms of the house. Our service team was extremely professional, and not pretentious. They were almost like butlers :) We had their lobster ravioli appetizer. I almost ordered an entree of that stuff! It was honestly the most amazing thing my family and I had ever eaten!! I had also ordered their rib-eye steak. The juice literally came out as I pressed my knife against it. The server mentioned that the steak was a la cart, so I ordered a side of augratan (sp) potatoes and asparagus. Outstanding! I was excited to experience this European style of presentation and service. Lastly, we had the jackie o dessert assortment. If you ever go in a group of four or more, order this! You have never seen or eaten anything this impressive! It was like ten dollars per person, but pricless for the fact that my mother will never forget each detail of the dessert!!! That to me is VALUE. Our server had a European accent. He said he loved working at the White House because 7 different languages were spoken by the employees, each contributing beautiful elemenst of their culture to the dining experience. Thank you, White House! I am so grateful, that I want to make sure the world hears about you! Ciao!

Pros: I think the cliche, "Not just a meal - an experience," started because of this restaurant!!!

Cons: Not open for lunch on Saturdays

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

04/17/2008 Posted by restaurantfreak

Never in my life have I been treated as such royalty. The white historical manor, sparkling with white lights against the evening sky posed as a stunning backdrop as we sipped champagne in the garden and waited for our table. The maitre'd seemed to genuinely care about us (and he was gorgeous too!). When he directed us to our romantic table by the fireplace, he actually took the time to get to know us a little, but was never imposing. The server was knowledgable and very helpful in guiding us through the wine list and exquisite menu. Our dinner was an elegant creation of culinary bliss.

Pros: ambience, amazing food, stellar service

04/07/2008 Posted by salesmanger3633

THIS PLACE IS SET UP TO DO ONE THING - EMPTY THE WALLETS OF CONVENTION ATTENDEES. The food is just okay. You can make better Italian food by bringing stuff home from Whole Foods. The $65 surf and turf special gives you a small piece of average beef and a tasteless piece of lobster. Their goal is to sell up charges in the guise of table service. Once they have sold all the up charges at the table, the service disappears. How convenient. They will ask you what kind of water you want and not tell you or your client guests that the cost will show up on your bill as $8 to $10 per bottle. (They are big on pouring water.) It is so transparent that selling over priced up-charges is the goal of their "service". By the way, if there ever was professional service at this restaurant in the past, it exists no more. When paying $120 per person, you should expect professional waiters. Instead we got poorly trained boys - amateurs. I have been coming here for over 25 years and I will not return again. My complaints about the food and service fell on deaf ears. I am still waiting for the promised follow up phone call from someone "who was authorized to address my concerns". BOTTOM LINE: The performance of this establishment embarrassed me in front of my clients. I saw the looks on their faces: mediocre food, mediocre to poor service and a rip-off price tag. And it appears the restaurant just doesn't care. After all, it's about emptying wallets.

Pros: Beautiful building.

Cons: Convention attendee trap to empty your wallet - poor food value. very uneven service

04/07/2008 Posted by executive1

If you want to be frustrated, delayed, humiliated in front of your customers, and spend a LOT of money-go to the White House restaurant. If you have nothing better to do after your meal then wait 1.5 hours for your check that has a 20% tip already added and pay $15 per bottle of water - this is your place. If you want a waiter who is stoned out his mind and brings another tables food then makes you wait for your meal that eventually shows up cold - then make reservations now. If you want to sweat the moment you sit down and ask 4 x to have some air then get there as fast as you can. If you want a manager that speaks virtually no english and disavows any authority to help you during your culinary crisis - call now. My customers were very understanding but as always, they were miffed that the dining experience, arranged by me, was more like the worst rectal exam you could imagine. Here is what I perceive. The conventions are all around and there is a bunch of places within a few miles of the hotels. The suckers like me who host dinners for their customers get herded to these places with no real knowledge of the tactics. It's my fault totally. I have read the reviews and now realize the White House should be named The Screw-you- buddy I-have-your-money-House. B bye. My phoned complaints to management only yielded clucking chickens in the background and platitudes. I had 7 people and my bill came to $1200 with one bottle of wine and some chilled fillet with a giant, stupid cracker sticking up that looked like the ruins of the twin towers. Go to The @#$% House-grab your ankles and grease up cause you'll feel just a little pressure....at first.

03/28/2008 Posted by Juan11

I must take time to write this review which is the least i can do as a thank you for the wonderful service & great food, yuo know ? there are restaurants where you go and think it was a good experience but the white house is by far a lot more than that, they have friendly yet professional servers & the food amaizing, my uncle is a very difficult person to convince of a good restaurant, but he said he would definetely come back to the white house restaurant & recommend it to friends & family.

Pros: Great overall

Cons: None

02/22/2008 Posted by Teggers

Imperative note! This restaurant does not practice professional courtesy to their clients best interest. From my personal experience as a first timer. I booked reservations one month in advance hoping to impress my friends, a party of four. When we arrived there was a 20min wait with no lobby, or seating area. The waiting was to be expected as it was the obvious Valentines Day deluge. As we stood their admiring the opulent decor and dinning rooms we were all impressed. Needless to say, we did not have this experience as it was not offered to us or an option. Unexpectedly, they escorted us to a tired old tent outside and 6 feet from the busy street traffic. When I asked our escort if we can be seated indoors, he replied it would be an hour wait or more. So for the sake of making a scene we reconciled to the situation at hand . Sadly, the tent was the antithesis of the decor in their indoor dinning experience. Aside of the forced heating vents, loud street cars, bedraggled tent, other disappointed faces. The food was good to fare. In conclusion, we paid the same price as those seated in the White House opulent dinning rooms. Note: We were offered free desert as compensation, and later told by the management, "Next time please speak up." Sadly, this is their way of exercising professional courtesy to their clients best interest. Total price for our table, plus tip was $410. To avoid this scenario happening to you, always demand in advance that you will not accept the tent experence.

Pros: Waiters, parking, desert.

Cons: Location seat not guaranteed

02/18/2008 Posted by soltor

The food was great and it was decorated very nicly.. i like to eat something that looks good too the service was good...the food portions are very small but it was OK...the price was expensive but I like to try different places. I definitely want to try this place again with some of my friends... They only thing that bothered me was the mandatory valet parking...

Pros: good food, I like the room decor, great service

Cons: bad location, expensive

02/18/2008 Posted by mtntrekker01

PLEASE read this, if you are considering dining at this restaurant! Decor - Awful. Besides being over the top gaudy, it's old, tired, and dirty. The seating is extremely cramped. You will be dining with strangers. We sat under a 50's style box speaker that was blown. "Don't Worry Be Happy" (seriously Bobby McFerrin at a rumored-to-be nice restaurant!) Prices - Ridiculous! You can eat at ANY place in Hollywood, Beverly Hills for less. The portions are minuscule. I can understand refined dining, but you will leave hungry (unless you can afford 2 or 3 entrées. Service - The service is really good. Our waiter was only thing decent in the whole place. Maybe he should be cooking the food (more on that later). When I requested my money back after returning the food the manager refused to refund our drinks and pathetic appetizers. The bill was over $70 for 4 drinks and 2 appetizers. Entrées are over $40 at least. He explained that there are people who will cheat the restaurant for free drinks. By that argument he is inferring that I was one of those people. Food - Here's the deal breaker. They try to overcompensate for the terrible food with presentation. Every dish we saw including our own comes with a 1 foot tall breaded tower thing which you must take down to see the person you're dining with. I suggest putting it on the floor next to you to minimize table clutter. The assorted vegetables look EXACTLY like what you get in the frozen section of the supermarket. I think they were frozen, they claim they make them everyday (either way they taste like frozen vegetables). The breaded stuffed chicken was not made to order. The manager said well it was cooked in the lunch period that day. $38 for reheated chicken...yikes! The short ribs looked and tasted like stew meat. The manager replied yeah that doesn't look good, this is an "anomaly". Mind you this is what they suggest as their specialty.

Pros: Our waiter was great.

Cons: everything.