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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Welcome to the Valley: Upscale Eatery Adjusts Prices, Selections to Fit Tastes

Welcome to the Valley: Upscale Eatery Adjusts Prices, Selections to Fit Tastes By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter The signature linen tablecloths at Prego’s Sherman Oaks Galleria location are covered with paper so kids can color on them. The reserve wines have been shipped back to Beverly Hills, and sandwiches are now served at lunchtime. No one at the restaurant is ready to trade in the carpaccio for SpaghettiOs, but there’s a decidedly different atmosphere in the making at the restaurant’s only San Fernando Valley location, a kid-friendly, casual approach that is more suited to the customers who come to the Galleria. Even the waiters have taken off their jackets as the famous Westside eatery has adjusted to the tastes of Valley residents since its opening just over a year ago. “There’s a lot of families, and the mall draws people who come to the movies,” said Leonardo Timatyos, general manager of the Sherman Oaks location. “So we had to make some adjustments to cater to people going to the movies. It was more of an eating destination than a dining destination.” Since he arrived in December, Timatyos has pruned the wine list, sending the more expensive bottles back to Beverly Hills and adding many more by-the-glass selections. He shaved the prices on the restaurant’s offerings by 10 percent to 12 percent. He has added a kids menu, specials that appear only in Sherman Oaks and installed a family-friendly Sunday Brunch that offers an all-you-can-eat buffet for $14.95. Such changes are not unusual for restaurants with multiple locations, said Merrill Shindler, a restaurant critic and co-editor of Zagat Survey. “Restaurants often make changes based on where they are,” Shindler said. “They were smart enough to change rather than saying we are one thing only.” Prego, which originated in Beverly Hills also has locations in Irvine, San Francisco, Rancho Mirage and the Howard Hughes Center. At first the restaurant came into the entertainment center as an upscale alternative to such eateries as The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s. Entrees averaged in the $23 to $25 range. The wine list included over 140 selections, more than 200 including the reserve wines. But most of the traffic at the Galleria, especially on weekends, is centered around the mall’s 16-screen movie theater. That brings lots of families on a budget and others who don’t plan to make an evening out of dining. They want a quick bite to eat before or after the movie. So Timatyos started cooking up a different recipe for the restaurant than the one on which the Beverly Hills location is built. “The prices that are in Beverly Hills or Irvine were not going to work over here,” he said. “Our check average is a lot lower. People are coming for pizza and a glass of wine.” The menu selection is pretty much the same as in Beverly Hills, but the portions are larger and the prices are lower. A Maria Elena Salad of mixed greens with pears, gorgonzola cheese and walnuts in a lemon vinagrette dressing sells in Sherman Oaks for $9.95. The same salad is about $12 in Beverly Hills. Another popular dish, Pollo alla Diabla, a mesquite grilled chicken breast marinated in spicy mustard greens, is priced at $14.50, down from the $17 tab on the other side of the hill. Most of the chicken and sea food dishes are now in the $14.95 to $19.95 range. And there are specials every night that are exclusive to the Sherman Oaks location. The margins are predictably lower as a result, but an increased volume since the changes have made up the difference, Timatyos said. This past Valentine’s Day, the restaurant served 670 dinners, a vast increase from the 450 dinners served the year earlier.

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