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Luminarias Restaurant & Special Events Reviews

Luminarias Restaurant & Special Events

Luminarias Restaurant & Special Events

Monterey Park, CA
4.6 out of 5 rating, 22 Reviews
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Reviews

4.6 out of 5 rating
4.6 out of 5 rating
22 Reviews
91% recommend it
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  • Quality of service
    4.6 out of 5 rating
  • Average response time
    4.4 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.5 out of 5 rating
  • Value
    4.8 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    4.5 out of 5 rating
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Awards

22
  • Maria
    Maria Sent on 06/07/2019
    5 out of 5 rating
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    I very polite and professional and nice

    It was a nice venue just to much on my budge and looking for something different

    Luminarias Restaurant & Special Events's reply:

    Maria,

    Thank you for your feedback.
    We are a full service venue and offer customized menu options.
    please feel free to contact our special event professionals for details 323.268.4363

    Best Wishes,
  • K
    Kimberly Sent on 05/18/2018
    5 out of 5 rating
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    We had our wedding 2 weeks ago here and everything was perfect! The service staff and everyone worked really well with us. Maria did a wonderful job with working with us. She was very professional and flexible. I highly recommend her! One thing we were disappointed with was the food. For our food tasting we got the chicken Chardonnay, it came in a bigger quantity than what we got for the wedding reception and also it had asparagus and cooked vegetables. For the reception we didn’t get asparagus and only got a small amount of mashed potatoes and the carrots and green beans were hard and seemed uncooked. Everything else was amazing, we got the view & ensueño ballroom which had the most perfect views. All in all, we definitely recommend this place.
  • J
    Jairo Sent on 12/09/2015
    5 out of 5 rating
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    Great Facility with awesome views of LA.
    • illustration stars

    Are you interested?

    Send a message
  • Samantha
    Samantha Sent on 08/24/2012
    5 out of 5 rating
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    I liked the place when we went to see it, and they treat us very well. Debbie at the office was very nice all the time and helped us on our low budget, giving us options to get exactly what we want making it easier for us.
    They offer everything on a package so you can just go there and have a great time.
    The wedding for 50 people was on a promotion that day (2 weeks before the wedding) and costed 3,000 dls. We brought our own music, and it was a buffet (everything delicious) it included a cake that we were able to choose from 3 different cake shops and we could try them first.
    I recommend this place, but must say it was a saturday so it was full (they have a few different salons) and you could hear the other party's music and a lot of people on the ballet parking.... people everywhere!!!
    I guess that is normal when is more than 2 event salons. (I could hear music from the 2 next to ours)

    Debbie was a great coordinator and she followed us to the end. Thanks for That Debbie!!!
  • Cecilia
    Cecilia Sent on 06/12/2012
    5 out of 5 rating
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    I can't say how much we loved having our wedding at Luminarias. Margo was fantastic to work with! She was accommodating, flexible, and personable. Our guests enjoyed the food, ambiance, and professional staff. Teodoro, our point of contact that day, was also amazing. He troubleshooted and always made sure that my husband and I were happy with everything.
  • E
    Eric Sent on 06/23/2010
    5 out of 5 rating
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    Ask for Norma Chavez, she was very helpful and made our day go smooth without any issues. The event looked beautiful. We opted for our own linens and chairs, and when these items were brought to the reception, the crew and everyone worked well together. The staff was friendly and very attentive. I will have my venue here again if I had to do it all over. Within our family, it was the third wedding event wihtin the past 6 years.
  • S
    Smirna Sent on 11/11/2008
    5 out of 5 rating
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    this place gave me that "i'm home feeling" i loved it. the venue isvery clean. all the staff worked together to make my day just prefect. i totally recommend this place
  • L
    Lan Sent on 09/29/2008
    5 out of 5 rating
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    We had our wedding ceremony at Luminarias. The scenery over looking the city was magnificent. The staff was very helpful with my coordinators. The event coordinators were pretty flexible with additional chairs that were needed. We needed an extra 25 chairs half hour before the wedding and they were able to accomodate it.
  • H
    Hub Sent on 01/12/2009
    5 out of 5 rating
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    I've been going to Luminarias since I was a little girl. I have many wonderful memories, and now have been able to add that of my wedding reception. Fantastic place!
  • arlenebsw
    Arlene Sent on 08/15/2008
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    Luminarias' staff did an exceptional job organizing our wedding. There were many lose ends (which Luminarias ended up taking care of) and to top it off I show up late--no one noticed the lose ends thanks to the staff's response and professionalism.
  • Chivita
    Daniela Sent on 05/12/2008
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    wow what can i say about this place! it was the most amaxing reception area i had ever seen! i completely recomend the food!
  • C
    Carmen Sent on 06/18/2010
    4.9 out of 5 rating
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    Great location with a Spansih feel. My wedding was June 4, 2010. If there were other brides that day having their event, I didn't notice- I felt like it was my world that day- that's how it should be! Good food /good view/and good appetizers/drinks. Compared with several other quotes (at least 20 other locations I compared before deciding to go with Luminarias)- this place offers a good value for the money.
    The catering contact was Norma Chavez, very professional and friendly, makes helpful suggestions and was prompt to respond to my questions. She was a great wedding vendor. I am the second one of our close friends to have their reception there.
    Happy Bride Carmen married June 4, 2010
  • S
    Sandy L. Sent on 11/07/2022
    4.8 out of 5 rating
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    Amazing time

    It was a great experience working with the staff. Our planner was Maria who guided us and helped us plan our wedding step by step. A success. Would recommend this place
  • Lupe
    Lupe Sent on 09/14/2010
    4.8 out of 5 rating
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    Our experience with Luminarias was excellent. We were able to meet with them as many times as we needed to in order to get all the details right. Isabel was great in accomodating our requests. Everything went perfect with the venue.
  • M
    Martha Sent on 07/14/2014
    4.6 out of 5 rating
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    Michelle was a very helpful event coordinator. She worked with us and helped us plan the wedding of our dreams.
  • S
    Shi Sent on 07/12/2008
    4.6 out of 5 rating
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    We had our ceremony and reception at Luminarias and were very pleased with the results. The food was very tasty, the catering staff very professional and polite. Our guests enjoyed themselves and had nothing but good words to say about our venue.
  • Karina
    Karina Sent on 01/09/2017
    4.2 out of 5 rating
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    I would like to start by saying that most of my guests complimented me on the choice i made in having my reception at Luminarias. I personally loved the location and service I received that night. The views are nice specially at night, my photographer took me and my husband to the terrace to take a shot of the beautiful sunset. The food was excellent and mostly everything was as we had agreed during the planning with our coordinator.

    The only thing I was not completely satisfied was on the fact that there were not many choices of setting of the room. I planned most of my wedding and I had a vision for everything, from my signing table to my wedding cake table. The coordinator did most of the set-up and when I tried to request a change, it just did not happen. At the end. I had to conform with what was available although I thought I would have the choice to set some things the way I wanted them. When exchanging emails I waited for a response either because it was too soon to ask, and even when there were a few days before the event which made me have to conform to whatever outcome. I would definitely have my wedding at Luminarias again if I went back time, except I would request a change of coordinator that would listen to my requests.
  • S
    Jeniece Sent on 09/06/2011
    4.1 out of 5 rating
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    Reasonably priced, was just rushed since they didn't mention that there was another venue booked before our wedding and only had 30 mins to set up reception room after wedding ceremony.
  • M
    Michelle Sent on 02/11/2013
    4 out of 5 rating
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    My wedding reception was held at Luminarias back in August. Overall i was pleased with their services. My initial contact with Margot was great, through our first meeting in booking the place and setting up the details for the day. We also worked with Norma as well since Margot was going to be leaving the place. Both of them were very professional and accomodating to our concerns and requests. Our guests loved the appetizers (especially the stuffed jalapenos!) and the food and were very pleased with the waiter staff who were all so friendly and professional.If you are looking into booking a place that has everything in one, then this is definitely the place! This was the main reason why i chose this place. I had the linens, chairs, lights and cake all from the same place and that helped minimize the stress of looking for separate vendors. The only reasons why i didnt give them 5 stars was because of a few mishaps: you do have to follow up on a regular basis to ensure that everything is correct, the signs for the signature drinks were incorrect, and they switched a couple of the table numbers so we had some guests sitting in the wrong place. Definitely not a deal breaker and overall we were very happy with our choice of picking Luminarias. The place is beautiful and the people are very nice and professional.
  • B
    Elizabeth Sent on 04/21/2008
    4 out of 5 rating
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    For the price, this place was wonderful. We had our reception here and for 150 people it was under $5000. It included the room, wait staff, cash bar, all linens, plates, etc, food, appetizers and the cake. The only thing we didn't like was that it was in Monterey Park (all though it was by itself on a hill next to Cal St. LA and that there was three other weddings happening at this venue...that was weird seeing other brides on your day. But for us on a budget, it was great.
  • J
    Jason Sent on 02/05/2011
    2.8 out of 5 rating
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    We had our ceremony and reception at Luminarias this past November. It was a nightmare trying to talk and coordinate with the event staff. They wouldn't accept appointments and told us to just show up - they ended up making us wait in the lobby for over an hour before they forgot about us and started helping another group that just strolled in.

    The location is on top of the Monterey Park Hills and has great views in the reception area. They ended up pulling everything together for the day of the event.
  • B
    Esther Sent on 01/05/2011
    2.6 out of 5 rating
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    Special Events Office Staff:
    I had the pleasure of working with Ms. Margot Gallardo. She was always very accommodating and did everything in her ability to fulfill my requests. I suggested to her that the hideous wall paper in the Estancia Room (room where my event was held) be painted a neutral color in order to compliment the beautiful wood work and in turn, any color that your patrons would choose would not conflict with the wall color. I also suggested that the tacky gold framed paintings on the walls be taken down. These requests were fulfilled to my satisfaction. I also had the pleasure of dealing with Norma and another young lady with long dark hair whom I believe is fairly new. They too were also very pleasant and helpful.

    Quality of Food:
    We were pleasantly surprised during our complimentary food tasting. Not haven eaten at Luminarias in years, I couldn't remember what the food was like. We had the Luminarias Chicken and the Tequila Steak. Both were superb. Though, the day of the wedding, the Tequila Steak which was served, was not the same one that was served on the day of the food tasting. The one from the food tasting was served with a rich sauce. The one served at the wedding was not. It was served dry. None the less, it was good but not what we had ordered and were expecting.

    Catering service during the wedding:
    On the day of the wedding, I was approached by one of the servers asking me if I knew what each of my guests hard ordered. I told him that not without looking at a list I had at home! He said that I needed to hand a coupon to each of my guests which stated what each was ordering. I told him that I was never informed of this extra step so therefore there was no way that I could possibly do that. He said that it would make his job easier. I told him that this issue was NOT MY PROBLEM. That it was an issue LUMINARIAS staff would need to address on their own. Being the bride, I didn't see how I had to figure out this catering issue. He seemed flustered. I then suggested that each guest be asked what they had ordered. My suggestion was accepted. Other than this hiccup, staff was helpful and polite. I would especially like to send my gratitude to the Bar Tender. I do not remember his name. He was great. Talk about service with a smile!

    Restroom issues the day of the wedding:
    The restrooms were terribly dirty and flooded on the day of my wedding. Staff was informed various times but it took quite a long time to get anyone to fix the issue. I went in to check myself and got the bottom of my dress all wet. Not something you want happening to your wedding dress or happening at all. This was quite embarrassing as guests were complaining about the bathroom situation.

    Personal missing items:
    For my wedding, I used my own linens, napkins, charger plates, frames to hold the table numbers, easel, candles, chandelier decorations, etc, etc, etc. The following day when I returned to pick up my items, I noticed that my 14 frames which were used to number each of the tables and use to identify the gift and sign in table and an easel which was used to hold up my seating chart, were not among my things which staff had set aside for me.

    I asked one of the staff members which was there at the moment if he knew the whereabouts of my frames and he stated with a chuckle, that he had witnessed my guests take them at the end of the night. That struck me as odd because I know my guests would not do that. I shared this with my two sisters in law and my maid of honor who were the last people to leave the event and they stated that all the frames were on the tables. They specifically went table by table to make sure that no personal items were left behind and therefore noticed the frames. I communicated this to Margot and she stated that she would ask around and check to make sure that they were not stored somewhere. A week or so later, I received a call from her telling me that nothing was found.

    I am very sorry to say this but this leads me to think that staff took my beautiful frames. Forget about the fact that they were very expensive. ONE frame wasn't missing.......FOURTEEN FRAMES WERE MISSING. They did not belong to staff. THEY BELONGED TO ME. What a truly dishonest thing to do. I wish I could remember the name of the staff member who told me he witnessed guests taking them because I would like to address this with him and my maid of honor and sisters in law in person. I've been advised to file a police report and may just do that.

    To conclude my review, I will state that though my overall experience with Luminarias was 85% positive, I WOULD NOT recommend this establishment to anyone looking to hold an event there based on the dishonesty alone. Not to mention the unsanitary and unsafe restroom conditions! Integrity and honesty are of major importance to me when dealing with people at any level.

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