Sano´s Steak House — Restaurant in Ensenada

I’m not sure if it’s fair to rate the food as my comparable experience in other premium steakhouses is in the Los Angeles area. I must say, though that the menu is extensive and there’s a lot of excellent selections. In terms of food, I feel that there’s a little bit too much sauces in the food. That’s just a personal preference my biggest pet peeve that I hate when I order a rare steak and they brought me out a medium at best. Now if you were a steakhouse, you better get this request right immediately. In most cases I would send the steak back, but I was in Mexico and maybe Mexicans did not eat rare steak? My plate was about $50 so it wasn’t cheap in Mexican standards and I would say that although steak was a decent cut, I would place an almost at a diner/corporate restaurant level rather than an actual steakhouse. And I was disappointed for the main course. The atún sashimi appetizer had way too many onions and capers and sauce, which took away from the fresh taste of the sashimi. Again, I’m using Los Angeles standards versus Baja standards. As a comparable, I would say that it’s an excellent steakhouse for the Ensenada area. As far as service, I must say that they were on point and made up for the subpar meal experience. It was absolutely excellent, our waiter and the team were very attentive. The dining room was OK, a little clustered and our neighbors decided to hire the five piece roving musicians which didn’t allow for more of a private one to one experience with my wife since they were pretty loud. Again, this is Mexico, but if I wanted to hang out next to a five piece live band while I’m eating, I’d go to another restaurant on the tourist strip. The outside patio area, which is named something different seen more lively. Would I come here again? yes. Would I order the same things? Most likely but I definitely would be more in tune with the menu on how the steak is prepared and giving them directions to not add...

I made a reservation well in advance for inside seating and ended up outside on a cold New Year's Eve night. There were not enough outdoor heaters for the large area we were in, which made our experience very uncomfortable. The music was extremely loud and we asked that it be turned down three times and finally after reaching out to the manager it finally was. Waitress was very inexperienced and could not help us out with the menu questions. She kept trying to take our appetizers that we were not finished with and without asking if we were finished or not. 2 of our steaks arrived refrigerator cold and mashed potatoes were room temperature. I sent my steak back, the other steak was not eaten at all. The recooked steak arrived after everyone was completed with their meal. It was charred black filet mignon with no mushroom sauce and sides were very cold. Then the waitress asked if it was to my liking and I said no and she just walked away. The waitress charged us two bottles of wine, when we only ordered one. This made for us standing around in the cold again waiting for them to scramble and fix our bill. Then the machine to run the credit card wasn't working correctly. It just was not a great time and the management didn't seem to care.

We expected so much more from a Michelin restaurant and had brought friends with us since we have had such great experiences with Sanos in the past going back to the early 2000s. I know the experience could have been spectacular, but ours was not. I really had a problem...

Overall the food quality was good but too salty for my taste, it nearly ruined a great steak. Ordered a diner salad and they served me a salad dish for three people, with kale, cucumber and avocado. Not what I was expecting for a diner salad. Also, it can become a tourist trap if you're not careful when tipping. If the service is good I don't mind and usually will give them a good tip, but the service was too slow and you had to repeatedly ask for the same thing. The bigger problem is that in the US waiters are taxed for the tips that they allegedly make, therefore the 15% gratuity was born, in the US. In Mexico they are not taxed, so when they calculate tips by percentile, right of the bat you can tell they are taking you for a ride.

Prices are fairly compatible to Ruth's Chris, or Flemings, so the 15% can add up substantially. For a two person diner I almost ended up with a 48 dollar tip. I just don't believe that if I order the $1000 dollar caviar dish, that the waiter is owed $150 dollars just for retrieving the dish from the kitchen. But that's JustMe.

Note: Sano's...