Cool ambiance with an interesting menu. Excellent during live music nights.

I would suggest Ciudad to anyone! The food was phenomenal - I went with a group and we shared lots of small plates. The service was outstanding and atmosphere funky, but Latin.

Check this restaurant out if you are in the Downtown LA area!

Three foodies [one is chairman of an advertising agency, one is an entertainment co. executive, one a nurse]. Despite a reservation, and no one waiting, the male Host told us "wait at the Bar, no tables for 15 minutes." There was an empty table in the center of the dining room, and when I asked about it, he said we couldn't have it; after asking, "why not, it's empty?" he stammered and then begrudgingly seated us there.
After about 15 minutes, a waiter came over to take drink orders. He was unhappy, annoyed and didn't give a c---. The Sangria was $12.00 for a glass (and it tasted like sugary fruit punch). We ordered ceviche as one appetizer, and it was literally thrown by the server onto the table, it got mushed together with the accompanying items on that plate and some of it went over the plate; the server walked away quickly. My friend had the chicken stew, which consisted of a few small chunks of chicken sitting in an oversized bowl of what tasted like coconut juice (with no other flavor). One had a short rib of beef that looked like it had been frozen and reheated in the microwave; it was devoid of any moisture and it was hard and unsightly [kind of grey], sitting in a tasteless liquid. I had the chicken paella which consisted of about 5 little bite size pieces of chicken and what seemed like a sea of gooey brown rice. Would have sent the short rib back but our waiter was "gone" and no one else working at the restaurant would make eye contact [they clearly perfected this art]. I had to get up to look all over for our waiter for 10 minutes to get a check and get out of there.
I cook and love trying new restaurants. I am very understanding when something goes wrong in a restaurant, but I hate to say it; "this place really "stunk."

The interior has cool orange/red mood lighting and modern Picasso-esque murals. However, while the tables have nice white linen tablecloths they are covered by a piece of white butcher's paper like something from a pizza joint. It is a rather tacky touch to a restaurant of this caliber.

Aside from the table coverings, the food was great. The Argentine empanadas with mushrooms and Swiss chard were scrumptous. However, the star of the show were the short ribs. The meat literally fell off the bone and was covered in the most uniquely tasty barbeque-like sauce. The mashed sweet potatoes that accompanied the dish were smooth and excellent. My girlfriend had the Argentine gaucho steak which comes stuffed with carmelized jalapenos and roasted garlic and is served with a spicy herb chimichurri sauce. You will not be disappointed with either of these entrees.

Before you start your meal or if you just come for happy hour, be sure to order up a caipirinha or piscorita. They're unique and taste far better than your standard margarita.

The service was, well . . . lacking. It's not that our waitress didn't try, but it seemed that she was assigned to far too many tables. Perhaps if they hired some additional waitstaff then the waitresses could spend adequate time with each table.

All in all, if you can get past the lacking service, and the butcher's paper on the table, the food is unique, delicious, trendy, and modern.