Safari Room, Mission Hills

So a while back, we were in Mission Hills, and I noticed that sign and immediately knew that this was a place I wanted to eat. This weekend, we went there for dinner. As far as decor, it was a little disapointing. They had the right idea--the walls are decorated with a variety of Zulu spears, masks and shields, and pictures of lions and stuff--but they didn't really commit to it. Most of the decor is on these ugly-ass white cinderblock walls, so it's not really a transporting experience. And there's TV's blaring the game instead of fake jungle music in the background, which would have greatly improved the ambience.

The place seems to have a regular clientel, mostly old folks that have probably been eating and drinking there since it opened. Some of the old ladies had big, boufant hair-dos. The waitresses were old, too--maybe in competition with the girls at DuPar's for the oldest wait staff in metro Los Angeles. The waitress came by to take our drink order after we were seated. She brought our cokes, then proceeded to ignore us. I suggested that maybe she had pegged us as poor tippers. We finally got her attention and ordered a meal, and she seemed very surprised that we were ordering actual food, so I guess I was right. From that point on, service was very good.

Food was not particularly good, which didn't really surprise me. Certainly wasn't the reason I went there, but you never know when you'll be surprised in these places. I did like the stuffed potato that came with my steak--much closer to my idea of a stuffed potato than the one at Damon's in Glendale.

Oh yeah, and there's also a very cool googie bowling alley down the street on Sepulveda.

The Safari Room

15426 Devonshire in Mission Hills