While driving down Rosecrans with a friend, I wondered aloud who might be moving in to an open restaurant space. Without missing a beat she said, “Whoever they are they’ll be able to knock out a lunch for twenty dollars or less within fifty minutes. Otherwise that space will be vacant again.”
It was a valid observation. Restaurants in office complexes have to take the schedules of office workers into account, because no matter how much you may like a long, leisurely lunch it’s a good bet that your boss doesn’t. These restaurants must also know how to cater business meetings, and would be smart to stock the bar well and keep some high ticket wines around for those days when somebody wants to celebrate a deal.
Most office park eateries decide to offer something for everybody and execute it fast, which is a winning strategy at midday. If they want to attract local diners or convince businesspeople to hang around after work, they have to have a little more going on in the evening. They have two clienteles, price and time conscious by day, less so by night.
McCormick & Schmick’s has been managing this balancing act on a daily basis for over twenty years. They’re part of the Landry’s group that runs over thirty different chains of restaurants that range from simple pizzerias to high-end steakhouses. Though McCormick & Schmick’s started with a seafood-centered menu it has evolved to a balance between meats and seafood. (Unusually, there are no vegetarian starters or entrees, and only a few salads and two sides don’t include meat or seafood.) There are a few nods to contemporary cuisine, but the focus is on the classics.
We visited once at lunchtime, once for dinner, and verified that they can indeed deliver a decent meal within twenty minutes of ordering. In separate visits we tried starters of fritto misto and buttermilk-battered fried lobster, and both times they hit the table hot and crisp but not over-fried. The fritto misto is a good deal at $14 for a plate of shrimp, calamari, carrots, and artichoke hearts in seasoned batter, dusted with parmesan and served with cilantro aioli and marinara on the side. It was a good-sized portion of seafood and vegetables for the price, enough for our table of four to share. The lobster bites were delectable and cleverly served inside a lobster tail, a presentation that concealed that there really wasn’t much of it. If you really like lobster and want a splurge then the $20 may be worth it, because the flavor is quite good, but this is a starter for two rather than four. The lobster sherry cream sauce that arrived with this was fine enough that we mopped up every bit with the warm sourdough bread that our server offered.
The cedar plank salmon was listed on the menu as coming with a berry reduction and roasted vegetables, but all we got were the fish and a few roasted potatoes. Potatoes are indeed a vegetable, but I had expected a bit more variety — the only green thing on the plate was a leaf of parsley. Both the salmon and potatoes were nicely done, but for a $27 entrée it was a letdown.
There was more happening on the plate with the stuffed salmon, which was almost the same price but came with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. The stuffing was composed of crab, shrimp, and brie, which was one ingredient too many given that it was topped with butter and chives. The brie added richness that wasn’t really needed, and I’d ask them to leave it out next time.
Our other lunch items were fish and chips, which were a large portion well executed, and a burger because I wanted to try at least one non-seafood item. It was an exceptional though very juicy burger that came out the medium rare I requested, and it was served with good house-made pickles and fries. It was so juicy that the bun disintegrated partway through the meal, and I might ask for that to be toasted next time so it will hold up a bit better.
On another visit we started our dinner with cocktails, a Kentucky Smash and a margarita variant. The signature drinks here are made with high-end commercial brands rather than boutique ingredients, but the juices are fresh-squeezed and well crafted. If you are one of those people who demand small batch everything this isn’t your bar, but that’s probably no real surprise because that’s Rosecrans outside, not Manhattan Avenue.
We ordered the “signature swordfish” that was simply grilled and served over roasted vegetables and a “shrimp trilogy” of shrimp fried, stuffed, and served scampi style. The shrimp was curiously unsuccessful. The stuffed shrimp were OK but not great, and the scampi were in a large pool of very salty garlic butter. The seafood was served with broccoli, carrots, and a very bland butternut squash orzo that was greatly improved with a few grinds of pepper. It was an unsatisfying dish since we knew the kitchen was capable of better. They proved that with the swordfish, which was nicely grilled and served over roasted fingerling potatoes. Cipollini onions, Brussel sprouts, and chunks of pancetta. If I was making this dish I might make the pancetta chunks smaller so they’d crisp a bit, but I wouldn’t change anything else because it worked.
With our main course we tried a Mer Soleil reserve Chardonnay that was fairly priced at $13 for a generous glass. The bottle list here is quite impressive, the glass list moderately sized but well chosen, and a wine lover can have fun here.
The portions here are generous, but we saved room for a hot apple pie with a walnut crust that was served with a huge scoop of cinnamon ice cream. This showed up so quickly and so hot that it had to have been microwaved, but it was still pretty good, with a tasty, flaky crust.
McCormick & Schmick’s offers classic items to serve a broad audience, and that’s a crowd pleaser in this location. They know their audience, and that’s a skill in the restaurant business.
McCormick & Schmick’s is at 2101 Rosecrans Avenue, corner of Nash in El Segundo. Open 11 a.m – 10 p.m. Sun-Wed, 11 a.m. -11 p.m. Thu-Fri, 3 p.m. – 11 p.m. Sa. Validated parking in adjacent structure. Wheelchair access OK (lift from street to door), full bar, $15 corkage. Menu at mccormickandschmicks.com, phone 310-416-1123. ER
