100% disagree.
the best part of my meal at Craftsteak was the mushroom risotto.
I operate out of Whittier so pretty much everything is a far drive. I don't care how far I'm driving, as long as it's worth it (I've found excuses to go get Tito's tacos :X ). Jitlada was really the only one I could ever find any consistent buzz about, and I've always been hesitant because of issues you mentioned.
For purbeast0, that hasn't been mentioned so far: Raku. Japanese, off-strip, transcendent. If you want to be a piggy just show up and order a bit of everything or get the omikasi chef's choice ($60-90 pp). If you want to really baller it up, call a few days ahead and schedule the chef's seasonal special presentation 15 course deal for ~$200 pp.
