Ciudad

  • 4.33333 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
 
4.3 rating over 5 reviews

445 S Figueroa St ()

Los Angeles, CA 90071

(213) 486-5171

View Nearby Businesses »

View Hours
Description: Ciudad is a Latin American, Latin, and Mexican restaurant where most Menuism users came for fun with friends, paid between $25 and $50, and tipped more than 18%.
Tags: Downtown, Latin American, OpenTable, Reservations, Casual Elegant, Latin, Mexican, South American, Peruvian, and American
Stats:
  • 116 dishes entered by diners at Ciudad
  • 1 user wants to eat at Ciudad
  • 2 users love Ciudad
Tips:
  • Ciudad is located at the corner of “5th and Fig” at the base of the Union Bank building. To self park in the Union Bank parking garage, turn left off of Figueroa just after Ciudad.
  • Ciudad offers a free shuttle service to and from the Staples Center, LA Live: Nokia Theatre and Club Nokia, Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall. The free shuttle runs Tuesday through Saturday evenings, starting 45 minutes prior to show time, and leaving every 15 minutes through to show time. Please call for more details.
  • Happy hour takes place Monday through Friday from 4pm to 7pm.

From OpenTable: 

Enjoy upscale, modern Mexican food in a vibrant setting at Border Grill, the hip, urban cantina from Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, Food Network’s “Too Hot Tamales”. Presenting the bold foods and flavors of Mexico, Border Grill has established a new standard for gourmet Mexican fare. With a menu of complex authentic dishes based on the home cooking of Oaxaca and the Yucatan, Border Grill takes Mexican food to a whole new level!

Do you own Ciudad? Contact us to connect with your diners.

Reviews for Ciudad

Write a review
Ciudad

4.0
  • 4.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
+1 0
Helpful-counter-up-btn
Helpful-counter-down-btn
+1
1 Votes
 

Alfresco Dining in the Middle of Downtown at Ciudad

One of things I love about LA is our weather and how patio dining is something that can be pretty much done all year long and when the dining itself is due to happenstance because of my own forgetfulness, it’s a win-win situation. It was a Tuesday night and I was dragging a friend to a cocktail party at the Bonaventure Brewing Company. We arrive, only to find out that I had my dates mixed up and that the event was actually on Thursday. Go figure. Well, we were already parked and hungry, so instead of calling it a night, we opted for dinner across the street at Ciudad.

Cool weather, sunny skies and being able to watch the tall office buildings glisten from the sun’s rays as it set was the perfect reason to sit at the patio and as luck would have it, it was also Tuesday Paella night. Of course, we had to have that as our main entree and it also came with a crab cake appetizer, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, let’s talk drinks. My friend went for the White Wine Sangria and I chose the Minty Lime Cooler which was made with fresh mint, lime, splash of soda and touch of sugar. I actually had the Minty Lime Cooler for the first time when I went to the 2009 Planned Parenthood Los Angeles Guild Food Fare last March. It was refreshing and tart then and it was refreshing and tart now.

We decided to order appetizers to share and when we weren’t able to come to a decision between two of them, we decided to just go for it and order them both. First, we sampled their duo of Argentine Empanadas. One had a spinach, pine nut, raisin and Manchego filling and came with a salsa verde sauce. The other was a wild mushroom empanada with chipotle sauce. Both empanadas were subtle in flavor and as such, they both paired well with their individual sauces which had more of a kick to them, especially the chipotle sauce.

Our second appetizer was the Watermelon Salad with baby watercress, Oaxacan string cheese, pedro jimenez reduction, macadamia nuts and marash chili. At first glance, the ingredients may seem like they wouldn’t play together well, but amazingly they did. There was a nice interplay of flavors that included sweet, juicy, salty, nutty, a little bite from the watercress and a hint of earthiness from the marash chili, which make for an unusually different, but delicious kind of salad.

With the paella also comes a crab cake appetizer, which was quite tasty. With it being deep fried, it wasn’t greasy and the batter had a light, but crunchy texture to it. The crab itself may have been mixed with sweet red peppers and some kind of herb. Maybe cilantro? The crab meat had good flavor and was seasoned just right.

Now for the main event, the paella. Just an FYI, at $29, the paella is a fairly good sized portion. So if you’re a light eater and/or watching your pennies, split it with your dining parter. Add an extra appetizer to go with the crab cake and the meal can be quite reasonable. Now when it comes to how the paella tasted, it’s a solid dish. There’s nothing about it that was mind blowing, but you get a nice portion of clams, mussels and sausage and while the rice was saucy, it wasn’t mushy. The flavor was okay, but it really needed something else to take it up a notch. Perhaps, more saffron? Pepper? Overall, not bad.

Even with everything we ate up to that point, there was still room for dessert, especially since the Goat Milk Cajeta Flan mesmerized me when I saw it on the dessert menu. I was curious as to whether the goat cheese would cut into the sweetness of the flan. Without a doubt, it did. The goat cheese added just the right amount of pungency to soften; yet, not overwhelm the sweet caramel flavors of the flan.

To end, it was a nice evening. I definitely enjoyed the ambiance of dining outside amongst tall office buildings and both the food and service was good. A couple of things to mention is that Ciudad is currently promoting a 3-Course Steal Prix Menu, which is basically a 3 course meal that costs $24 for lunch and $38 for dinner. Also, as we were leaving, we were presented with a $20 gift card off of our next meal of $50 or more. I’m not sure how long they’ll be giving this gift cards away, but it’s certainly a nice incentive to return for another meal.

Dishes I tried:

Goat Milk Cajeta Flan

  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Even with everything we ate up to that point, there was still room for dessert, especially since the Goat Milk Cajeta Flan mesmerized me when I saw it on the dessert menu. I was curious as to whether the goat cheese would cut into the sweetness of the flan. Without a doubt, it did. The goat cheese added just the right amount of pungency to soften; yet, not overwhelm the sweet caramel flavors of the flan.

White Wine Sangria

  • 4.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Fresh and fruity

Minty Lime Cooler

  • 4.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Refreshing and tart.

Argentine Empanadas

  • 4.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

First, we sampled their duo of Argentine Empanadas. One had a spinach, pine nut, raisin and Manchego filling and came with a salsa verde sauce. The other was a wild mushroom empanada with chipotle sauce. Both empanadas were subtle in flavor and as such, they both paired well with their individual sauces which had more of a kick to them, especially the chipotle sauce.

Watermelon Salad

  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Our second appetizer was the Watermelon Salad with baby watercress, Oaxacan string cheese, pedro jimenez reduction, macadamia nuts and marash chili. At first glance, the ingredients may seem like they wouldn’t play together well, but amazingly they did. There was a nice interplay of flavors that included sweet, juicy, salty, nutty, a little bite from the watercress and a hint of earthiness from the marash chili, which make for an unusually different, but delicious kind of salad.

Crab Cake

  • 4.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

With the paella also comes a crab cake appetizer, which was quite tasty. With it being deep fried, it wasn’t greasy and the batter had a light, but crunchy texture to it. The crab itself may have been mixed with sweet red peppers and some kind of herb. Maybe cilantro? The crab meat had good flavor and was seasoned just right.

Paella

  • 3.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Now for the main event, the paella. Just an FYI, at $29, the paella is a fairly good sized portion. So if you’re a light eater and/or watching your pennies, split it with your dining parter. Add an extra appetizer to go with the crab cake and the meal can be quite reasonable. Now when it comes to how the paella tasted, it’s a solid dish. There’s nothing about it that was mind blowing, but you get a nice portion of clams, mussels and sausage and while the rice was saucy, it wasn’t mushy. The flavor was okay, but it really needed something else to take it up a notch. Perhaps, more saffron? Pepper? Overall, not bad.

Link To Review Email Bookmark and Share

Add a Comment

Ciudad

5.0
  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
+1 0
Helpful-counter-up-btn
Helpful-counter-down-btn
+1
1 Votes
 

Great Drinks, Ambience, and Latin-Inspired Food

This is a great place to go for either drinks or dinner! It is a very fun, artsy atmosphere (not pretentious though), a great place to get outstanding drinks and/or tasty, unique food.

The bar, with it’s outstanding Mojitos, Pisco Sours, and other latin style drinks, and it’s large selection of sipping rums and Spanish and Latin Americanwine, is definitely one of my favorites in Downtown.

The restaurant is very vibrantly and artistically decorated. The food is a wide range of Latin-inspired dishes that range from very good to excellent in flavor. My favorites are the Paellas and Moquequa, and the Carnitas and some of the seafood entrees are excellent, but I have had a couple entrees (like the Squash Rellenos) that were a bit bland. All the food is of utmost freshness and quality though.

They also have a great selection of tapas and small dishes, soups, and salads, as well as Spanish cheeses.

Dishes I tried:

Brazilian Seafood Moquequa

  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Wow, this is a great dish. It’s sort of like Paella, but it’s moister, almost soupy in texture, and it has a great lime-coconut flavor with mild spiciness. The seafood is very good.

Link To Review Email Bookmark and Share

Add a Comment

Ciudad

5.0
  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
+1 0
Helpful-counter-up-btn
Helpful-counter-down-btn
+1
1 Votes
 

Great LA tapas scene

Great place to have a little fun with friends/co-workers. Small seating, dowtown LA parking (so beware), great drinks

Dishes I tried:

Peruvian Cerviche

  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

OMG… it was truly delish! Around 12 women attended our luncheon, and we all shared dishes. Great variety and the drinks were well made also. Great find… must try.

Link To Review Email Bookmark and Share

Add a Comment

Ciudad

5.0
  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
0 0
Helpful-counter-up-btn
Helpful-counter-down-btn
0
0 Votes
 

Great food.

I did a progessive dining event downtown in which a few restauarants introduce a single course of what to expect for DineLA Restaurant Week. We were served Yellowtail Crudo with red jalapeno, lucques olives, seared garlic, Meyer lemon and smoked paprika. It was awesome and so refreshing in this hot weather. I will be visitng this place for Dinela week, I can’t wait.

Link To Review Email Bookmark and Share

Add a Comment

March 10, 2010

  • 2 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Disappointment

Went to Ciudad for Happy Hour for the first time on March 9th. My co-workers had been raving about how good the fish tacos were and how affordable the HH menu was. The host greeted us with a smile and said it was okay to push 2 tables…

read full review »

Ciudad is located near the cities of Civic Center Little Tokyo, Echo Park, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, and Koreatown.
People found this by searching for: Www.Lacuidadrestaurant.Com, Flan, Ciudad, Figueroa St, Los Angeles, Ca, Argentinian Empanadas, Downtown Los Angeles Restaurants Yelp, Ciudad Near Staple, Flan Cajeta, and Ciudad Restaurant.

Featured in Los Angeles

  • 4.58333 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Chosun Galbee Restaurant
  • 3.16667 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Casa Bianca Pizza Pie
  • 4.5 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Sushi Roku
  • 4.5 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Pitfire Pizza Company
  • 4.5 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Cravings
  • 4.5 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Ernie Jr's Taco House
  • 4.75 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Brooklyn Bagel Bakery COMP
  • 4.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Staples
  • 3.5 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Palermo Ristorante Italiano
  • 5.0 star rating
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
The Bagel Broker

Loves Ciudad (2)

Small_foodha_square
Doug_S

Burbank, CA
+7 useful

Small_foodha_square
shaner

Los Angeles, CA
0 useful

Wants to Try Ciudad (1)

Cxi0fk-p8r4ktmeje4bmuj
justin

Chicago, IL
+898 useful

Nearby Restaurants

Koo Koo Roo
American in New Downtown
Starbuck's Coffee
Coffee & Tea in New Downtown
La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill
Mexican in New Downtown
Cafe Prezzo
Italian in New Downtown
Johnny Rockets
Burgers in New Downtown

Link to Ciudad

Ciudad  Restaurant Reviews

Copy the link below and paste onto your website or blog to display badge.