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Something's Fishy at Gladstone's in Malibu

In a scathing review published today in the LA Times, restaurant critic Leslie Brenner takes on a seafood institution known mostly for it's foil animal-shaped doggie bags and it's Pacific Ocean views, and tries to figure out why Gladstone's in Malibu has earned the title of Southern California's top-grossing restaurant. At what is ostensibly a commercialized mini-chain offering very standard seafood fare (and, in the opinion of Brenner's server on one visit, even some sub-standard fare) you'll get "huge portions of bad food at astoundingly high prices." And while the customers seem to be happily conned, the establishment is laughing its way to the bank. But Brenner isn't laughing; she rates the place "poor" and gives the impression something is fishy with Gladstone's rampant popularity...and it isn't the clam chowder.
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