Luminarias Restaurant

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I came here for a ceremony and reception one time and the outdoor gazebo area gave breathtaking views of the hills. It was a bit small, so you can't have a large wedding ceremony here, but the ballroom is different. It was a nice size and standard, but the location was pretty cool since it was on top of a hill.

We visited this site as a potential reception venue for our wedding. We found the indoor of the restaurant to be a bit too dark. The main ballroom is beautiful with breath-taking views. There is another small ballroom attached to it. It could probably be used as a cocktail hour room.

Beautifull place for your pictures. talk about settings specially at sunset overseeing the San Gabriel Valley. Plenty of great pics inside and out the reception area. The only thing is that it has various ball rooms so if your the type were you want for guest only it might not be for you.

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

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.

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!

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.

Good food. Great service. The girls in the catering office are not the brightest, and will not go out of their way to help you, though. I literally spent over 10 hours in negotiation with them. If you are spending a lot of money with them, make sure to get some extras. Ask for substitutions, free stuff etc. You have to use of their cake vendors, and they all suck.

wow what can i say about this place! it was the most amaxing reception area i had ever seen! i completely recomend the food!

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.

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.