Cavalier Coastal Kitchen — Restaurant in Cambria

My girlfriend and I have been staying at the resort for a couple of days. Because we are invested in spending our time at the resort, and food options are scant in the area unless we drive to the Morro Bay Area, we have eaten at this restaurant five times since we arrived. In just a couple of days I have spent over $200 between my girlfriend and I here trying different dishes. I’m happy to say that the overall service at the restaurant for the most part is good, and I’d like to shout out Danny for being probably the best server I have ever had in my entire life. I want to highlight him. The restaurant staff is on top of making sure everyone has filled drink in front of them as well, and they’re all attentive and looking for things to do. The food was excellent the first four times we came in. I’m leaving a one star review because the server we had on our 4th and 5th visit ruined the experience for us. Because she didn’t seem interested in introducing herself, I don’t know her name, but the best I can describe her is having brown hair, bangs, and talked with an accent. On our 4th visit (yesterday) my girlfriend asked for condiments, and they never arrived. We were never checked on again until we were ready for the check. Today, coming in for our 5th visit, the same server greeted us. Off to a bad start already, she didn’t bring us the bread and butter that is usually how we start our meal here, and it wasn’t until a guy came by to refill our water that he noticed we still hadn’t had our bread. When she came back to ask us what we wanted, I asked for the ribeye on their premium menu, medium rare, and my girlfriend asked for the vegan shepherd’s pie. This was a recommendation from Danny from our first visit where my girlfriend ordered the impossible burger (which was fantastic) and she wanted to know what else could be made vegan. Our server interjected when my girlfriend was asking for it to be made vegan by telling us it was already vegan. Which it wasn’t. It was vegetarian and my girlfriend pointed that out to her right away. She seemed to understand. The menu clearly indicated this. So our server took her notes and somehow, some way, the shepherd’s pie came to our table with cheese in it despite us being very clear about our expectation. It was remade. However, this time when it was remade, it had about half the impossible meat that the last messed up dish had. We stopped fighting this at this point as it wasn’t worth it anymore. My “medium rare” steak arrived medium well to well done in parts and had a rubbery consistency. My girlfriend and I sat and ate unsatisfied and annoyed the entire time up until we were given the check and left back to our room. The first three experiences I had at this restaurant were fantastic, and if you get Danny (or anyone else really) as your server, I’m sure you’ll agree. This person, whoever her name is, totally screwed up. My girlfriend and I were intending to go back a 6th time right before we check out in the morning to head back to Santa Cruz, but I can tell you now that’s not happening. It’s too much money to risk being burned by second rate communication/improperly prepared food. We love the resort, but unfortunately if this is a recurring issue, it will be challenging to come here again due to the fact that the next stop with good food options is 25+ miles away. This may seem harsh because of the good feedback I gave, but I’m giving a 1-star review so that it has a higher likelihood of being noticed by whoever cares. You...

Here is my honest review—Terrible service and food. I took my family to the San Simeon Elephant Seal Vista Point today and came here to eat afterwards.

The minute we were sat, the silverware was rather dirty and not wiped well. Muck was still on the knives, so we just cleaned them with our napkins. They didn’t even bother to hand out spoons. My father did not even get a fork—and we’ll get to that fork issue later.

The bread was extremely sour. It was bread that had gone bad. It was so stale that it was crumbling like a cookie. We spit it put immediately.

Now, the menu—The only thing on the menu was the Christmas Dinner. So yeah all of us had the Christmas Dinner, which surprisingly had a wide variety of selections to choose from, that’s fair. My mother and my sister got the Chilean Bass, my father got a well-done steak, and I got the set with the roasted turkey with stuffing. The bass was flavorless and nearly raw, the steak did not come well done but rare instead, and my turkey did not come with stuffing. And the worst part of it was, the turkey was CANNED turkey. Yes, people. I can tell turkey breast and canned turkey apart. I am appalled as to how the chef got the job, because it clearly wasn’t his or her cooking skills. Also, the appetizers were pretty bad. Salads were extremely small, had barely any dressing, and were wilted. The soup was extremely watery and flavorless. And don’t even talk about the desserts-The meringue on the lemon cream was terrible. That was the worst meringue I’ve had in my entire life. My sister, who is not a picky eater at all, didn’t even touch the meringue again after just one bite. She hated it.

The service is awful. We asked for the fork three to four times. They claimed they were cleaning the forks, but they were able to hand out a couple behind us forks right after we asked for one. What was up with that?? Didn’t realize restaurants were allowed to display prejudice. Only half an hour later we were finally able to get the fork. They only had two people waiting tables. And one was a kid with a blonde perm. I thought it was a young woman, but it was actually a boy, whose voice hasn’t even reached puberty yet. Is he even of legal age to work there??? I’m confused.

I swear, someone needs to get Gordon Ramsay here because this place is awful. I feel like the people posting good reviews are either talking about the hotel, or they are friends with the people who manage this restaurant and were paid to write/asked to write...

My wife and I enjoyed our stay here. Many things were good and charming. Only a few things were quirky or wonky. Gather round if you would hear our tale.||First, the title of my review refers to the fact that Sands by the Sea is the older section of the Cavalier next door. Same management, same amenities, same scenic seaside location, same restaurant, same front desk. Just cheaper, older, and ever so slightly less convenient.||The motel style room that we got was ok. Comfortable, ok cleanliness, and well appointed with the standard amenities. TV, refrigerator, coffee maker, bathtub, etc. The furniture was scratched and worn. The beds were comfy.||We found the room a bit noisy, from neighbours upstairs and next door, and the traffic from Highway 1. It seemed to be a popular biker stop. Also, for the first 24 hours, we did not have WIFI although I reported the outage 3 times. We ended up walking over to Cavalier for WIFI access. There is a guest laundry but we found it a bit treacherous to access (since the most direct path past the indoor pool was closed). There was an ice machine, but it was not functional. Also, when we arrived, the front office for Sands by the Sea was closed, with a sign re-directing us to the Cavalier office next door. ||The property is spacious and beautiful! I can see why guests return here. It literally sits at the edge of the coast, and a park like area make it a resort. Firepits are lit at night. There are sports courts and playgrounds. Whimsical giant chess and checkers. Lounge chairs. Big seabirds constantly circle overhead. There are two nice swimming pools! The Cavalier coffee shop serves good food with good service. ||I think the location is perfect for access to local attractions while still providing an isolated resort like atmosphere. We felt that we got a decent bargain because we essentially got everything Cavalier guests got at a...