Buena Vida Marisquería - Cartagena — Restaurant in Cartagena

My experience was not good. I don't understand how this place gets 4.8 stars on Google. I was so excited to have dinner here on my first night in Cartagena. I made reservations for the rooftop and when I arrived I was seated at the bar. Not even asked if that was okay. Just seated at the bar. First strike. When I was seated at the bar I was seated next to this lamp that was so big it took up the entire bar Space in front of me. I was very uncomfortable from the beginning. I ordered one of their "famous bowls" and I have no idea why they are famous for this. It honestly tasted like leftover Chinese food that I had in my refrigerator for a week. Whatever meat that was in that bowl (besides the shrimp) was so tough I couldn't even chew it. And The taste was very bland. It was like eating a bowl of mush. No Bueno! Second strike. The bartender was so busy making cocktails for restaurant patrons he checked on me ONE time during my dinner. I wasn't even offered a second beer. I understand he was busy making drinks for the entire restaurant, but when you're paying for dinner at these prices you honestly should receive better service. It wasn't the bartender's fault! It was Saturday night and he was making drinks for the entire restaurant. But the service was far below what I expected. Third strike! The entertainment they had was trying to play along with the other music that was playing on the speakers. It was very distracting and awkward. Fourth strike! My entire experience here was dismal at best. Especially the food. I have been traveling 3 weeks from Lima to Cusco to Quito to Bogota to Cartagena. This was probably the worst dining experience I had in three countries! I have worked in the restaurant industry for over 30 years. Both as bartender and server. Most of my experience in fine dining, and I know a bad experience when I see one... And THIS was a bad experience. The absolute worst I've had so far in South America. This is an honest review from someone who has a great deal of restaurant experience. I definitely do not recommend this place. There are so many other options...

Tourist trap and 100% Overrated. The reason for all the good reviews is because they hand you a card along with your check so that customers leave them a 5 star review which I find tasteless. If you're going to do that then you better make sure that the food and service is on point, and tonight it was NOT.

Stopped in here on our last night of our girls trip and what a mistake it was. We ordered the crab nachos, the tropical salad, the fish of the day, and 2 different rice dishes and the only thing we liked was the salad 🙄 The fish of the day (seabass) was so dry and was tasteless even with a squeeze of lime. The rices dishes were hefty portions but very bland. We are a group of girls that can eat and unfortunately we barely did.

After our food came out our server Luis G, was disinterested in coming back to our table. We barely touched our main dishes, had them wrapped to go, and left the bags full of the barely touched food on the street for someone in need to maybe have a go at it.

The worst part is that not only did our server NOT ask if we wanted to have the tip automatically added to the check, but he added the highest percentage. I am not a confrontational person at all. I don't like making a big stink especially when I'm trying to enjoy my last night on vacation, so I didn't say anything.

It's a slap in the face to be treated like a "dumb tourist" and then be told to leave a 5 star review.

It is LAW in CO for them to ask you whether or not you'd like to have the gratuity added to your bill. LAW. So make sure you check and speak up if they do.

Also, the saxophone player was TERRIBLE and so loud that it was impossible to have a conversation.

I would never recommend this place to anyone. If you want great food with HONEST and ATTENTIVE service,...

I didn't really had a good experience in this place, highly overpriced, the food isn't really good and the service highlights as bad.

First of all: the food. Nothing special, i had corn with shrimps and it was excellent, a solid 4.5 in flavor, a little bit smaller than i expected for the price, but it tasted incredible. Tacos where not good, flavorless and small, i tried the ribs one. Mexican pizza was terrible, flavorless, without cheese, nothing exciting or good about it but the jalapeno, which was so spicy that it took away the rest of flavor in that dish, i didn't even finish it. Drinks were surprisingly bad, though they seemed very attractive to the eye (i had a coconut michelada and a buena Vida michelada) they lacked flavor and had a Ton of ice, which also takes the flavor away. I also had the most expensive bottle water in all Cartagena.

Time of service was acceptable, between 40 min and an hour of waiting, which seems normal in Cartagena.

Service was ... Quite undesirable, the lady on the door was very kind, she told us that we could eat at the terrace together, and that her partners upstairs where going to be able to move chairs and tables in order for us to be together. Long story short the people upstairs didn't give a damn about it, they told us they could place us together so it was gonna be eating separate or don't eat there. The waiter that service me was good and respectful but the waiter who attended my friends on the other table was a bit rude. At the end we asked for the receipt and took them around 25 minutes to get it, so i went to the counter and pay there. The place has a great view and has the potential to improve food and drinks.

Prices are around 10 - 18 USD (around 55.000 COP) for the food, and the drinks are...