California Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Bossier City

I went into this establishment on Saturday April 12th with my mom and we were immediately greeted by a security guard instead of an actual hostess. While looking to be seated, the security guard handed my mother and I two menus & said enjoy. We looked at him confused before I asked, “so do we just seat ourselves?” and he said yes, anywhere on “that side” in which he pointed to the right side of the establishment which consisted of a table of beautiful black women and a black couple seated at the bar. However, on the left side of the restaurant, there were multiple white families, but no black patrons. It seemed as if the restaurant was divided between the two groups. Before walking over to find a table, the security guard also mentioned that he would have to charge us $5 if we wanted to sit on the outside patio.

When our server finally greeted us and asked for our drinks, I asked for a margarita on the rocks, to which the server responded we would have to go to the bar and order our drinks ourselves and also pay at the bar. I was taken aback after hearing this as I’ve never been to a restaurant before where I was told I had to order my drinks separately at the bar. I then went on to order my meal and I asked for a side Caesar salad with ranch dressing instead of Caesar dressing. My server brought the salad out with no dressing and after asking for ranch dressing once again, it took the server over 5 minutes to bring me a small container of store bought ranch dressing. The romaine lettuce in the salad was also visibly old, yet they still served it to me. Once I noticed their ranch dressing was no longer homemade, I informed the server I did not want the salad. He then proceeded to take the salad back and a few moments later, he reappeared at the table stating the kitchen staff offered to remake me a Caesar salad for “free,” and I politely declined.

Finally, after finishing my meal and asking for the ticket, the server repeated and confirmed our order with us. While repeating the order, he mentioned the Caesar salad and stated “because yeah you did order the Caesar salad.” Immediately I go, “wait so you’re still charging us for the salad I didn’t eat nor touch?!” to which he responded “I mean yeah that’s why they asked if you wanted it remade because they said they would either remake it or if you don’t want it, you’d still have to pay for it.” I simply responded with “okay.”

This is my first time ever writing a negative review, which says a lot about the customer service at this establishment. In the past, I used to visit this restaurant frequently and loved it, but it is evident now they have gone downhill. My family and I frequent restaurants often and this is by far the worst experience I’ve ever had with a restaurant. Although my server and the bartender were nice, they were not accommodating at all due to the owner’s new policies. It’s extremely disheartening that this is a place I once used to rave about, and now I am having to do the complete opposite. I would rate the entire place 0...

Slow service, no service. I was there for over two hours and never got my order. Granted, I was with a party of about 34-45 people, but there were a few of us (at least 5 or 6) that never received our dinner. After two of the gentlemen at my table went and paid for their wives dinners and reported they didn't ever get their dinners I sat waiting, just to see if someone would come ask about mine. I gave up after quite some time, got up and asked for the manager. The person in charge came out, I let him know that not only did I not get my dinner, but the lack of service and checking on people at the table was lacking. I have had bad service before, but at least it was service. The waitress wasn't even checking on everyone at the table. We had to get her attention to place the orders, a couple of folks got theirs, another person stopped and asked about his...so he got his, but she didn't even ask us about our lack of food, nor could you catch her eye. I have worked in the customer service field for 27 years and this is the first time I have taken time to leave a bad review because it was a terrible customer experience...

First, the name is a little misleading. When I think California, I think wraps and vegetarian food topped with some form of avocado. Not so! Bottom line is good food, good service. The prices were about right. The grilled mahi mahi was fantastic. You're obviously not going to get super fresh seafood this far from the coast, but it was cooked perfectly. I had reservations about the crawfish cream sauce, but it was also very good. The servers were attentive without being intrusive. In the interest of fairness, the salsa wasn't great. The decor is a little outdated. The panelling is straight out of the 1970s. I'd recommend the owners decide if they want a restaurant or a sports bar and decorate accordingly. It's a little difficult to find from the street unless you're looking for it. There were only two other tables on a Saturday night. I think the aforementioned "California" part of the name might confuse people. Again, burgers and steaks are not exactly what you think of when you think California! Overall good experience and we will definitely go back. Highly recommend...