Brazas Cocina Latinoamericana — Restaurant in California

We came here on Saturday, September 20th to celebrate my brother’s 15th birthday and, unfortunately, the evening was disappointing from start to finish.

Despite making a 7:30 pm reservation, the hostess and manager seemed unsure where to seat us. We waited while they pushed together three small tables hardly the smooth welcome you’d expect from a higher-end restaurant.

The food looked beautiful, but that’s where the positives ended. We ordered pasta as an appetizer (my brother’s choice), but it lacked flavor and was completely unremarkable. The drink my server recommended was underwhelming.

For my entrée, I ordered the octopus. Presentation was gorgeous, but the texture was off, slimy on top and unpleasantly tough. After a few small bites and eating only the pineapple garnish, I told the server it was inedible and sent it back. I lost my appetite and declined a replacement.

The rest of the table fared no better: • My brother’s steakordered medium-well—came out well-done and dry. The zucchini that came with it was uncooked. We paid an extra $8 for a side, and honestly, Texas Roadhouse serves a better steak. • The mashed potatoes tasted sour and off. • My sister’s chicken flautas were bland, and the green salsa on top was oddly sweet—unusual for traditional Mexican cuisine. • My mom’s “shrimp al mojo” turned out to be more like shrimp scampi, and the shrimp were overcooked. • Only rice and beans were available as sides because the others had “run out.” • Even my daughter’s pizza was just ordinary; she barely ate a slice.

Service was equally underwhelming. Our server was polite but inattentive, and the manager refused to fully comp my entrée, claiming I’d eaten half (I hadn’t only a few bites and the pineapple). To top it off, a $30 gratuity was automatically added for a party of five. In my experience, that’s typically reserved for larger groups or true fine dining this was neither.

What was meant to be a special 15th birthday dinner turned into an evening of frustration and disappointment. For the price and reputation, we expected far better food, service, and overall experience. We left upset and will not...

I’ve heard a lot of hype about Brazas, and figured it was a safe bet to make reservations. Let me offer another point of view: it was a terrible idea to go when it’s busy, like for a celebration on Valentine’s Day. When we walked in, the host was turning away couples without reservations, but luckily, we made a reservation so we thought we’d be seated immediately. We checked—in, and were seated 15-20 minutes after our reservation time, and which was odd considering their 2 hour seating policy, and the fact they called to confirm, and warn us that our reservation would be canceled if we were 15 minutes late - so my takeaway is you can’t be late, but the restaurant can take their time, and keep patrons waiting.

After we got our table, our table cloth was covered with the spilled food of the guests prior. It was nasty, dirty, and none of their service staff addressed the fact we were sat at a dirty table until we complained.

It took our server, Danny, at least 20-30 minutes between each visit at our table. We waited to get our water, to place our order, and even had flag down other staff to get his attention. Our food arrived cold and had to be reheated, and our server didn’t give us a bottle of water like other tables had, so our glasses sat empty, and we ate dinner without any drinks because the service was absent.

Besides the wait for our reservation time, the dirty table, the slow/absent service staff, and the food served cold - people who dine at Brazas must pay some crazy fee percentage that totaled in a $7+ surcharge for paying with card (so you’re encouraged to bring cash). We spent over $200 for our Valentine’s Day Special, yet the food was underwhelming and service unfazed by their mistakes. It must be standard practice for patrons to have so many complaints, as the overworked service didn’t react apologetically, or take accountability. I think the staff is overworked and management is not concerned about guests’ experiences.

This was my first and last time trying out the hype of Brazas - and I’d strongly encourage you to...

By far, this is the worst experience I have ever been to a restaurant I called for a reservation for 2 and the gentleman said ok yeah we got you down for a reservation. I asked him if there was any booths available he said yes. So I said okay I would like a booth said he great we will have a booth for you guys. As we show up on a reservation day, we check in the girl at the counter. She just looks at us and doesn’t say anything until a couple minutes go by she magically see us. She then states do you have a reservation. I say yes we do. She says okay let me go ahead and check. She checks her tablet and says yes have one. I said yes we do and I also told her does it say there is a booth. She states no. So I tell her the gentlemen on the phone said he would give us a booth. She ignores me gives me attitude. Then proceeded to take us in the middle of the dining area on the table. I go ahead and tell her we specifically asked for a booth and guys said you would provide that and there’s booths are available tonight. Mind you it was a Friday around 6:00pm.. So I ask her will we be provided a booth. There was plenty of empty booths available. I told her these are empty why can’t we sit in there. She said oh those are reserved. I stated we have a reservation. I also stated it’s not my fault that your employee doesn’t know how to take notes for customers. She then proceeded to say let me get back to see if we can sit you in a booth with an attitude again. I stated okay sounds good. She comes back and says yes you can use this booth, but you gotta leave within 2 hours. I said alright. She takes the menus from us all mad. We sat down the food was not good at all. The waitress kept coming back and asking if we were good did we need anything. It honestly felt like they were rushing us out the restaurant. Everyone was very unprofessional. I do not recommend anyone coming here. The price isn’t a problem but the food is...