We Visited "Schwartz And Sandy's," The Infamous Scandoval-Owned Bar, So You Don't Have To — Here's Our Honest Review
It's in a strip mall, a pair of corn dogs will set you back $18 — and, at least on the recent weeknight that we visited, it was actually pretty crowded.
Hi, folks. And welcome. If you, like us, have watched an episode of Vanderpump Rules recently, then you are probably well aware of the current drama which involves Tom Sandoval, Tom Schwartz, one Raquel Leviss, queen Ariana Madix, galaxy lights, lightning bolt necklaces, and more!
Without going into too much of the aforementioned drama right now — we'll save that for another day — we are still here today to talk about Vanderpump Rules. And more specifically, one restaurant featured on said show and a rundown of its vibes. And that restaurant is the latest addition in the world of Vanderpump Rules places of business: Schwartz and Sandy's.
Business partners and names/faces of the establishment, Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz, opened this place (after months of waiting) in November 2022. And us being two people who live in Los Angeles and routinely rewatch old seasons of Vanderpump Rules like we do, we knew we had to check it out, especially after Scandoval broke. So, here we are, in 2023, finally driving to Franklin Village to let you all know exactly what this establishment is like in a post-Scandoval world.
Being unsure whether or not this place would actually have anyone inside, we opted to make a reservation because we simply could not imagine waiting for a table at a Tom Schwartz or Tom Sandoval establishment, you know? So, we ran over to Resy to secure our table, only to find out that they are currently asking for a $40 deposit PER PERSON to make a reservation.
Moving on. We swallowed our pride and made the reservation for a Thursday night at 6:15 p.m. We then discovered that the dress code was listed as "Business Casual," whatever that means.
Now, before we really dive in, let us preface this by saying we have seen at least 20 TikTok videos of people being shocked that it's located in a strip mall. Schwartz and Sandy's is, in fact, located in a strip mall in the (pretty hip, tbh!) neighborhood of Franklin Village. Across the street from this establishment is both a Gelson's (fancy grocery store) and the Scientology Celebrity Centre. What neighbors.
When it was time for our reservation, we walked right in and surveyed our surroundings. First impression: it was SUPER dark — but, unfortunately, also a bit of a vibe. The waiting area was definitely giving "psychedelic dive lounge," (the Toms' words, not ours) a theme we still didn't understand until we got there. Would've been nice to see it a little better, though.
It even had the legendary wallpaper the Toms obsessed over for way too long...
...some good ol' S+S merch which we can't imagine *anyone* wants to rep at this point in time...
....and whatever the hell this is.
Immediately upon entering, the first thing we noticed was that we were definitely not the only people there. In fact, we would have to classify this establishment at 6:17 p.m. on a Thursday night in late April in Los Angeles as "pretty crowded." And as the night went on, more and more people walked through the doors.
Before we took our seats, we were trying to take photos of basically everything in sight when a nice woman approached us and asked if we wanted our photo together. We said yes, obviously, and she graciously took photo after photo of us while asking us to "say Tom Tom!" To be fair, saying "Schwartz and Sandy's" is a mouthful.
After just a few minutes, the host brought us into the dining room and seated us in this very plush, very deep velvet booth that had room for at least four to six people. We were pleased with this seat. We love a roomy booth!
The dining room actually looked much smaller in person than it does on TV (a total cliché, we know!!!). On the show, it looks like a massive restaurant that turns into a club at night where you can dance the night away. In real life, it's more like a very small and intimate dining room with...maybe 25 tables? And a small bar area toward the back with around 10–12 seats. Still, the interior design and vibe were not nearly as tacky as we had expected. Did the Toms curate and design all this themselves??? Surely, that can't be true.
They also had this hanging grassy starry night feature (???) above one of the booths that twinkled and legit looked more and more like the night sky the later/darker it got. Did we understand the point of this within the larger (somewhat confusing) theme of the rest of the restaurant? Not really! But it was pretty to look at, especially after a couple of (overpriced) cocktails.
Within five minutes of being seated, our waiter approached the table to supply menus and welcome us. The menu design is what we like to refer to as "Microsoft Paint but with better vibes."
And here's the actual menu of food and drink options. It was smaller than we expected! Just one page that offers both apps, mains, cocktails, wine, and dessert. Our waiter informed us that the "Lobster Corndogs" and the "Chicken and Waffle Bites" were some patron favorites. TBH, we weren't thrilled with the options. Are people supposed to come here for food? Or drinks? Or all of the above? It felt a little like this establishment was having an identity crisis. (Just like one of its daddies, Tom Sand*val.)
We wanted to try at least one thing that had been referred to as a "favorite" so we placed an order for the Lobster Corndogs because it seemed funky and different. Now, at $18, we definitely expected more than two lukewarm corn dogs with a side of mustard, LMAO. But this is Los Angeles, after all, and a Vanderpump Rules-adjacent establishment to boot. We suppose this is par for the course. Still, they were not great, and we would not order them again. We could probably spend our $18 at the soon-to-be "Something About Her." :)
Moving on, we also wanted to try something a little different for the next choice. After all, we're here to live a little. So, for our second food option, we went with the "Mushroom-Gruyere Beignets" at a cost of $16. The beignets were also what we will refer to as "confusing."
The mushroom puree inside was good (esp. if mushrooms are your thing!), but the dough literally tasted like a beignet dessert you'd get in New Orleans. I am not saying we were misled, but we were disappointed. However delicious this dough may be usually, pairing it with a savory mushroom filling was certainly *a choice* and probably not one we would make again. And, as far we could tell, the "gruyere" element was just some tasteless sauce spread along the plate and not in the beignet at all. Potentially false advertising, dare we say it...
There was one saving grace for the food (that we ordered): the fries!!! At just $8, these shoe string babies were crispy and definitely the best value on the menu because you actually get a decent portion, much more than the morsels the other apps were.
They even came with "black cherry ketchup" which we were v skeptical about but actually really liked! Lara got some on her arm, as you can see here. We liked it so much that we even asked our waiter for a second serving so we could keep dipping our fries! (Why do fries never come with enough damn ketchup???)
NOW, for the drinks. Lara opted for "The Fresh Start" cocktail which is: vodka, green tea, cucumber juice, elderflower, lemon, and agave. It cost $15. Which, TBH, is pretty standard pricing for a specialty cocktail in the city of Los Angeles, BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT OK!!
And Shelby opted for the "Wendy Peppercorn" cocktail which is: mezcal, watermelon juice, nonino l'aperitivo, lime, agave, and topped with crushed pink peppercorn. It cost $17.
Here's us happily sipping our drinks regardless:
Since we had a little money left in the budget, we decided to order oneee more drink to share, the "Midnight Madagascar," which is: vodka, cold brew, espresso liqueur, sugar, and chocolate bitters. It cost $18.
With our bladders full of drinks, it was time to pee! We walked to the back of the dining room to a hallway with lighting on the ceiling that Schwartz literally described as "a portal to another universe" in a recent episode. Here's Lara taking it all in just like Schwartz and Raquel (Rachel) did on the show:
We also noticed that the bathrooms were gendered, hence the giant "F" on the door to the women's restroom. This was a little disappointing to us because we do love a gender-neutral option.
Once in the bathroom, it was very much just a bathroom except for three key things. First of all, they were playing spa music??? Like, music you hear when you walk into a massage place or to go get acupuncture. And on the ceiling outside of the restrooms, there was this big screen showing a blue sky and a bunch of trees swaying in the wind. Maybe we really did enter a portal to another universe? We can't say it wasn't relaxing! But was it necessary? Certainly not. The high budget and overspending that is described in Vanderpump Rules was suddenly making a lot more sense.
And finally, above the sink, there was this mirror with a million lights that kinda created an optical illusion and was perfect for selfies. So, we both took selfies in it, naturally. (We didn't even plan this! We're both just millennials, what can we say?)
After we emptied our bladders and moseyed on back to our table, our server brought us the check and then told us we could stay as long as we wanted. But then *literally* no less than five minutes later, the waiter came back and told us that our reservation had run out and we had to leave, LOL. So leave, we did!
After we were quite literally kicked out of the restaurant, we took a selfie in front of the Schwartz and Sandy's sign in some very questionable lighting, and that concluded our evening!!!
