La Costa Mariscos Fine Mexican Food — Restaurant in Bakersfield

I have only been here one other time and it wasn't someplace that stood out either way as being a go restaurant. But my friends were off work today and wanted to hook up for lunch. Our go to was closed for the holiday so we decided to meet at La Costa. I arrived a few minutes late and so missed the hostess, which I guess was on the rude side to my friends when they arrived. They had ordered drinks and guacamole before I arrived. The waiter brought their drinks shortly after I arrived and asked what I wanted, I said just water, which he said he'd bring back, but never did so my friend ended up giving me her glass. She had to ask for the guacamole that she'd ordered which in reality looked like he'd forgotten about. He brought the guacamole and didn't bother making sure there were enough chips. With "the salad wasn't supposed to be made with chips" Also no asking if I'd like them to make it like I'd ordered it. I told him that he might want to let the cook know, as I had specifically ordered that item special because I was eating very low calorie. His response was "then you shouldn't have that drink it has a lot more carbs in it than those chips" First of all how dare you even say that. Secondly you are wrong. I picked up the drink menu and started plugging in the drink ingredients into my carb app. Upon returning I asked him if he could get the quantity of the ingredients for me. He returned with a arrogant attitude starting to read them off. I asked for the print out. Which in reality my drink if I was going to drink it all was under 15 carbs and the pile of tortilla strips that I pulled out of the salad was well over 48 carbs if I'd decided to leave them in. I took a bite of my salad and the fish was rubbery. My friend who had some type of tacos pulled this vein/worm looking thing out which her daughter suggested was cheese, but upon putting it on her plate definitely didn't look like cheese. At this point I had taken my second bite of my salad and crunched into a tortilla strip and with the conversation about the whatever stringy thing that was in the other plate really didn't have an appetite any longer. My first thought was that it was a hair that had cheese on it, but when it was put on the plate, it wasn't a hair and it wasn't cheese and honestly have no idea what it was. I asked to speak with the manager and told her the situation and how rude the waiter had been and the service that we had gotten. She asked if I wanted another salad, which I told her no. She asked if I wanted one to go, which I said no. She asked if I would come back to the restaurant, which I told her no. She asked what I wanted which I said you really should fire him. Which she stated that they were trying to and had cut his hours but that it was a holiday so they needed to call him it. Wow you know you have a horrible, rude employee who gives lousy service and is rude and you want to fire him and have 4 customers that say they will not return to your restaurant because of their experience and you still want to keep this employee? Her response then was I won't charge you for your food or drink as I see you didn't eat or drink it and returned with another waiter, which was there to pick up our plates, give doggie bags to my friend and bring the check. I did ask that the original waiter return because I'd like to speak with him and felt that at a minimum he needed to apologize. He returned to the area 3 times, but not to our table. We got tired of waiting for the second waiter to return to pay our bill which we met on our way out. He stated that the original waiter would come over at some point which at this point who cared we wanted to leave. My friend did not receive her receipt and as we were saying our good-byes noticed that she hadn't gotten it so I went in to get it. Lunch was well over $100 for the 3 of them. There are plenty of Mexican Restaurants in the area and another La Costa in town. Please frequent one of them before you waste your money and time at...

Overall impression: Good food, feels slightly cramped.

The first impression of any food outing is where you stand to wait. Perhaps due to COVID-19 restrictions, there was only standing room in a small area mostly filled with chairs which made it difficult to socially distance from patrons leaving or arriving.

The wait, thankfully was not awful and the interior was a delight. Vibrant colors galore with a ceiling height to make it feel oh so spacious. Despite that, once we had our actual seating something about the environment turned cramped which is impressive considering the aforementioned ceiling height.

Wait staff was welcoming, good for conversation, recommendations, and also doing the wait staff thing. Prices felt high compared to other Mexican restaurants I've been to with similar sized portions. However, Mariscos did have a rather impressive menu variety.

I ordered the Asada Burrito and made it as wet as Bakersfield the evening I visited, which is to say, very. Food was brought relatively quickly and the drink menu was impressive as well. The massive portion size left me with a lovely lunch the following day, though the inclusion of a very dry looking... "Salad?" stayed on the plate as we left.

Good food, good service, beautiful aesthetic, but something just felt a little cramped about it all. 4/5 would visit again if my...

So I have always enjoyed La costas bar service and drinks. There is a great extensive menu on drinks and the appetizers are very good aswell. But I have ate at the restaurant side the last 3 times. The food lacks in flavor and just lacks that wow factor. I ordered chile rellenos, shredded tacos, tostadas, (which was soggy) and it fell apart. I had to eat it with a fork. The one thing that never dissapoints is the calamari fries, those are always delicious. What I was completely unimpressed by was the fact that if you ask for a spicier salsa, you get charged extra. Any Mexican restaurant you attend will always offer their patrons a mild and spicy salsa. But not here, that was such a let down. To top it off, it was just an unpleasant tasting salsa. So I paid for a side of salsa that was not only disgusting but the size of a large cup of soup. What was I going to do with a big ol salsa, I just wanted a quarter size to drizzle on my tacos. Why not offer a good salsa at a smaller size that the house provides, or even if you charge for it, whateverworks, but make it taste good. Just seemed like a gimmick to charge customers for items that most restaurants provide freely. It's definitely not fully authentic cuisine if that's what you're going for. But they do have a few items on their menu that...