Dal Rae Awards

Dal Rae Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: Dal Rae, which opened in 1958 (the sign out front gives it away), is a throwback to another era, and its longevity is our good fortune. While the décor has been updated, the restaurant still retains the flavor of the '50s (crisp white linen, copious country club wood and cozy booths).

Food & Drinks: All of the classic Escoffier-inspired dishes you came to love as a child when you were taken to a fancy restaurant are alive and well here. The restaurant’s seemingly endless menu is a veritable hit parade of Continental favorites. Retro classics come in the form of escargots bourguignon, lobster Thermidor with its rich cream sauce of mushrooms and onions, Prime New York pepper steak, and duck à l'orange. It is also one of the few places left where waiters are schooled in the art of tableside service, deftly creating everything from Caesar salads to steak Diane and cherries jubilee. Desserts follow the classics too, from crème brûlée to warm apple cobbler and New York cheesecake. The wine list is less impressive than the cuisine, but martinis were the drink of choice back when Dal Rae was in its prime. This old-school establishment --- truly a slice of American culinary history --- is worth a drive deep into the San Gabriel Valley.