Casa Prime Puerto Vallarta — Restaurant in Jalisco

Casa Prime Puerto Vallarta – The Sizzle Has Fizzled (for Now)

Casa Prime, formerly Sonora Prime, was once a top contender for our favorite steakhouse in the bay. It was our go-to spot for wrapping up the high season...a place where incredible cuts of meat and top-tier service came together to create a memorable night out. So when we made a reservation last week for a small family get-together, we were excited, even though we noticed the name change.

The Arrival: The restaurant still looks and feels exactly the same...sleek, lively, and welcoming. The staff, as always, were warm and attentive. We were seated quickly, drink orders taken, and the complimentary frijoles con queso landed on the table right away... a great touch to settle into the evening.

The Meal: We ordered the ribeye and the tomahawk to share among the five of us, plus two Caesar salads and nearly every side dish on the menu (except the grilled veggies). Here's how it stacked up:

Service: The team is excellent. Friendly, professional, and engaged. There was a slightly odd moment when a staff member interrupted a conversation to clear a plate, but otherwise, the experience was top-notch. ★★★★★

Ambiance: The energy is still great. It’s vibrant and stylish — perfect for a lively dinner with people you love. ★★★★★

Sides & Salads: Here’s where things started to dip. The sides, once a highlight, were good but felt a little underwhelming this time. Something was missing... that extra punch of flavor or finesse we remember. ★★★☆☆

Steaks (The Main Event): This was the big letdown.

The Ribeye: Flavorful but tough. For nearly $2000 pesos, it should’ve been a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth experience. It wasn’t.

The Tomahawk: Better, more tender, but still not on par with what you’d expect at this price point ($3,165 pesos).

Honestly, a seasoned steakhouse chef should have known the cuts weren’t up to standard... they never should’ve hit the table. ★★☆☆☆

Dessert: Most were decent, but the key lime pie missed the mark... the crust was way off. The manager tried it himself and kindly took it off the bill, which we appreciated. ★★★☆☆

Final Thoughts: While we could’ve made a fuss about the steak, we were enjoying our night and chose not to. But make no mistake...for a restaurant that built its name on premium cuts, this was a miss. We hope this isn’t a permanent dip in quality. Maybe they’re saving the best cuts for VIPs, or maybe it's growing pains under the new branding. Either way, we’ll be watching the reviews before we return.

We truly hope to see Casa Prime bounce back...it’s still got the bones of a great restaurant. Just needs to bring the heat back...

We had been looking forward to trying this place for a while & was a bit disappointed & shocked. It was our birthdays (my husband & myself) & wanted something special.

When I made reservations I informed the hostess that it was both of our birthdays & she confirmed that when we got there so we're were expecting at least a birthday song. We were disappointed that it wasn't even acknowledged.

The service was fantastic & the food was good but way over priced!!! We ordered the rib eye to share & it came with 2 very small sides (mushrooms & mashed potatoes). The rib eye came out on a sizzling salt block that was cooked perfectly & was delicious. The 2 sides were served in ramican size bowls & barely enough for two people to split.

We ordered a total of four drinks. Three alcoholic & one non alcoholic drink (diet coke). The two mojitos were good & the mango daqauri was good but small & served in a martini glass. (Smallest daqauri I've seen ever served in Mexico).

The dessert tray came around & we ordered the key lime pie & cheesecake. Both were excellent & good sized slices!!!

During our whole experience we felt rushed. The restaurant was not full or extremely busy so being rushed to order drinks, dinner & dessert was disappointing. We were looking forward to a nice relaxing meal. The music was way to loud & I needed to almost shout to have a conversation with my husband who was less than 2 feet from me. I'm all for nice background music at a soft volume but the higher the music the louder everyone has to talk so the whole place was extremely loud.

Now comes the shocking part.....the bill! Without tip it was $116.00 USD. With 15% tip was $133.00 USD. I have never in my life paid that much for 1 steak, 4 drinks & 2 desserts!!!

I was shocked to learn that the exchange rate they were using was 16%. 2.5% points lower than what the banks & gas stations were using. So that upped the price tremendously. The food & service was good BUT not that good for a single steak.

At no time were our birthdays acknowledged or celebrated which was a little disappointing considering that's why we went there in the first place.

The service was 5 star, the food a 4 star but the reason why I gave it a 2 star was because of the price, low exchange rate used, being rushed thru the meal, lack of celebration acknowledgement & overly loud environment.

Well, at least we can say we've been there but... will we go back..... Sorry,...

The service was excellent from the waiters to bartenders but food, atmosphere and value were ok to poor. I came for the Ribeye Cap but they were out by 7:30 on a Saturday due to “limited quantities” which I gave the benefit of doubt. The beef rib taco was way overdone and very dry as someone else reported about their meal last night. My waiter promptly got the manager and they brought me gravy but I said I wouldn’t be finishing it and the manager took it off the bill. Tip to manager that other restaurants offer accommodations like free dessert due to a poor experience but I wasn’t looking for anything extra. Due to a power outage the AC took a long time to restart and hadn’t cooled off the restaurant and I felt bad for the the waiters who were sweating more than me. The table next to me had come specifically for an item in the online menu but it wasn’t on the menus from the scanned menu at tables and they were very disappointed. I also noticed discrepancies between online and the printed menus provided. My ribeye asparagus was good but had a sweet sauce I was not expecting as this item was not described enough on online menu and not on printed menu at all. Cheesecake was fluffy and moist but had some herb taste almost like thyme. I’m used to NY cheesecake so again understandable about different experiences. Truffle fries and double shot Cucumber martinis wound up being best part of meal and so overall the food was OK. Value for price compared to high end NY steakhouses is good but can understand compared to PV local restaurants is high. My waiter asked me to complete an online survey to get a free desert next time in but just realizing now that he filled in ratings with 5 stars so it will be interesting to see if this comes up in any restaurant response that the reviews don’t match. Overall they have some things to work on to become a high end steakhouse worthy of their prices. I plan vacations around all divers food experiences so this review may sound critical but expectations are much higher given what Sonora is touting or...