Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express: A Victim of His Own Success

I had an great experience today at Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express. For those of you that are still living in a cave or packing a lunch every day, Gourmet Express is a new Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the Library Court Building on Sixth and Hope. It opened a few months ago to much fanfare. It's been a considered a big success for Mr. Puck and for the ongoing downtown LA renaissance and is one of the busiest lunch spots in Downtown for good reason. It's got a great menu with sandwiches, pizza, pasta and a few signature dishes, and they did a great job with the interior of the restaurant.

It's success; however, is where Gourmet Express fails in my eyes. You have a better chance of getting a free refill in Chinatown than you do of finding a table in the restaurant during the lunch rush. There is a table Nazi who busts people for trying to save seats and is an ominous presence pacing around the restaurant. He is quick to clear your plate and doesn't hide the fact that he wants you out of there shortly after finishing your meal. Post lunch conversation is not an accepted practice at the Express. So, not only are you worked up from having to fend off an intimidating foursome of middle-aged secretaries in matching white tennis shoes from the open table in the corner, but once you've settled in, you can't even really enjoy your meal because the table Nazi is watching your every move, urging you to take one more bite of your sandwich before you put it down.

Today was different though. Coming back from a tour, my buddy Dingo and I popped into Wolfgang's at about two o'clock. While there were still a surpring amount of people there, there was no line to order your food and a handful of open tables inside. Our orders came out fast and the food was fresh. I decided to get a little frisky and ordered the meatloaf. It came with a healthy portion of thin beer battered onion rings (why don't more restaurants carry these? Everybody loves them and I'd bet 8 out 10 people prefer them to the standard thick onion rings) and a red wine reduction sauce. I also got a side of mixed vegetables that was very fresh, crunchy and had an excellent garlic based sauce. The meatloaf was a hit. While I would have preferred a more traditional marinara/ketchup based sauce, the overabundance of onion rings more than made up for it.

There needs to be more places like Gourmet Express downtown. It's a couple dollars more expensive than your traditional lunch spot (I paid $11), but the quality of food and the ambiance of the restaurant more than make up for the difference. Ahh, but Wolfgang is a cruel man. He giveth and he taketh away. Today represented what I wish Gourmet Express truly was. Great food, available seating, no table nazi. It wasn't; however, reality. Unless you are willing to eat very early (I'm talking 11:30 not your traditional 11:50 beat the rush time) or very late (I'm guessing bunk patio seating next to the bus station opens up at 1:30) dealing with the zoo is pretty much a deal breaker during standard lunch hours. I know other people share my beliefs and probably avoid going to Gourmet Express as a result, but Wolfgang keeps packin' the place so I don't think he's overly concerned.

Rating: 9 out of 10