Lara's Fine Dining - Richmond

I have been here for a second time to give it another chance, but decided to give it between 2.5 to 3 out of 5 stars. I'll start with the positives. This spot has a nice location, as this was by the Marina Bay. The ambience was very inviting and cozy.The decor and lights draw you in. There is a pianist there to play soft tunes, which adds to the inviting atmosphere and couldbe a perfect spot to celebrate any occasion. Customer service was great as our waiter was very kind and attentive. Now, thenegatives. Sadly, the food just could not match and complete this place of being a potentially great fine dining restaurant. Iordered a t-bone steak, medium rare. The steak was drenched in gravy, which didn't add anything as both were extremely bland.Then, the mixed vegetables obviously looked like they were taken out of a frozen package from a nearby grocery store. Noseasoning, very watery, and inconsistent temperature as if it was microwaved. Mashed potatoes had a powder texture as if it wasfrom a box. I hope the owner reads this and makes these necessary improvements as I want bay area restaurants to thrive.

I can't say enough how impressed I am with this place has the most clean friendly atmosphere I've ever experienced! The service is absolutely amazing here! When I first walked up the lady was extremely kind and gave us the entire tour of the restaurant andgave us a little Back stories and names of each rooms. We found an amazing seat by three open Windows next to a fireplaceoverlooking the water and sailboats absolutely breathtaking. We ordered the Catch of the Day and the crab shrimp raviolis and wecouldn't eat them fast enough so unfortunately I couldn't even take pictures. We tried several cocktails that were extremelyprofessionally made perfectly Blended. If I could give this place 10 Stars I will give it 20 Stars. I will definitely be comingback to this place as much as I possibly can I am new to the area and this is hands down my favorite place! Everyone here wasextremely professional and friendly when we came to dessert time they rolled up with an extremely beautiful well-designedorganized cart with all the options for desserts freshly made so you can see exactly what you're getting my mind was absolutelyblown at this point they also had absolutely great recommendations that I took each and every one of them and was extremelyimpressed with all of them. I highly recommend bringing anyone here from kids to family to loved ones you will not bedisappointed can't wait to come here at night before they have a beautiful light displays all around the restaurant. Also inthis review I want to give a huge shout out to our waiter Alex who was an absolute pleasure! This guy must live and breathe findon him because I was extremely impressed with his professionalism and presentation! He was able to give us the bestrecommendations some stuff was not even on the menu! This was our first time and this guy blew my expectations out of the water!

We stumbled across Lara?s for lunch when we went to the Richmond marina looking for a seafood restaurant. Wow what a find, the best clam chowder I?ve had in a long time, lots of yummy clams and not over powered with bacon. Soft shell crab sandwich wasdelicious as was the fish and chips, fresh fish with a light breading. Excellent cocktails and coffee to linger and watch thesailboats, definitely worth getting off the freeway and stopping at Lara?s. We?ll be back!

I went to share my half birthday with 19 friends. Great for large parties.. Gon and Gail were awesome... and Oscar made sure we were happy and satisfied. Everything was great. The song by the owner was a pleasant surprise

Love this hidden gem . Great views , good food , wonderful service . My dad loves the shrimp scampi ? The oysters are always super fresh ! And the cocktail sauce ???? theee best I?ve ever had !