Rating: 3.75 cows
Every restaurant has its own personality, but there are definitely archetypes out there which bring familiarity and comfort. There's the family restaurant with kitschy crap all over the walls. There's the Chinese restaurant with pink tablecloths and semicircular brass-colored sconces. Steakhouses have one too: red naugahyde booths, dark wood paneling, low lighting, and the conspicuous absence of windows of any kind. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Taylor's.
Taylor's has been a Los Angeles institution since 1953, and the decor hasn't changed a bit since it opened. The seating area is cozy, and the 6 of us sat nicely around a circular table. It was dark, which can certainly be a good thing but this was teetering on the edge of what we thought was tolerable. We started with appetizers—the onion rings were edible but clearly frozen and tasted rather bland. The Ranch dressing was practically necessary here. The split-pea soup (of the day) and crab cakes were decent but certainly nothing to write home about.
The steaks were definitely very decent. They were cooked well; the chef clearly knew the difference between medium and medium-rare. The steaks were seasoned appropriately, enough to enhance the flavor but not overpowering. The steaks were sized adequately, but the flavor was lacking more than we'd like. It wasn't that they were bad, it was just that they weren't remarkable. The price was certainly good; the side dishes came with the steak so we certainly didn't break the bank. The wait staff was a little hard to understand, though they had clearly worked there for many years. Overall it was a good meal, but it's not a place that inspired us to really want to return. If you happen to live in the area though, this might be a great neighborhood place to stop by now and again.