Last weekend my cousin Shaina and I went to Los Angeles for a long weekend. We packed in a lot during the weekend, which I will write about during my next blog. But I was so excited about this part of the trip, I decided it deserves its own feature. I recently got into the TV show Vanderpump Rules, and for those of you who don’t know, the reality show revolves around Lisa Vanderpump and her string of restaurants in L.A., the most popular being SUR. When my cousin asked me if I wanted to go to L.A., my only response was, “As long as we can go to SUR for dinner.” So of course that’s what we did.

When we arrived at the restaurant, I instantly recognized the hostess stand, as it is featured many times throughout the 10 seasons of the show. We were taken to our table right away and were seated on the covered patio. Our waitress came over right away to ask what type of water we wanted and if we knew what we wanted to drink. I already knew what I wanted to drink: a Pumptini, made popular on the show. It always sounded very good, so I was excited to try it. My friends and I tried to recreate it once, but I was sure the actual one would be better, and I was right.

Shaina and I looked at the menu before we came, so we already knew what we wanted. We decided to order a bunch of different dishes and share them all. The easy decision was ordering the Goat Cheese Balls, which are raved about on the show. We also ordered the crab cake, bread basket, sautéed shrimp and the truffle fries. All were delicious, but I think the crab cake stole the show.

After we were done eating, we walked around the restaurant to see the other dining areas and the bar, which is featured on the show all the time. It was so cool to see the restaurant in real life after watching it on the show for so long. I was sad that we didn’t get to see any of the celebrities featured on the show, but it was still worth the trip.

Next, we headed to TomTom, another bar featured on the show located down the street from SUR. We only went to TomTom to see the inside décor and to have a drink. TomTom’s décor was unique and aesthetically pleasing. The bar was pretty packed, but after a lap around we found a seat at the bar. We both ordered an espresso martini, which was good, but I wish I had ordered a fruity drink instead. Even though we didn’t see a celebrity at SUR, we at least did see Lisa Vanderpump’s son, Max, at TomTom.

Needless to say, this was one of the highlights of my trip, and I can’t wait to go back to both the restaurant and bar again.

— Mary Melnick, social media and editorial coordinator