20 | Twenty - Westin Carlsbad — Restaurant in Carlsbad

Horrible service; no idea about the food. Let me elaborate.

We came in last Sunday around 5 PM, having read about the live music and the 20/Twenty Wine Down weekend specials.

We told the hostess that we wanted to sit outside and she said we could sit "anywhere" and gave us the Wine Down menus. (We would have been interested in other menus as well.)

The place was 90% empty and yet we were not acknowledged by any wait personnel at all. After 10 minutes, I went back to the hostess and told her no one had even offered water or said "Hello" or offered other menus. She apologized and told me that someone would be right with us.

We saw her in a discussion with a wait person who proceeded to talk to another wait person inside the restaurant.

After another 5 minutes, the hostess came out and apologized and told us we were supposed to sit in a different section of the nearly empty patio if we wanted to go with the Wine Down specials which included half off of certain bottles of wine. (Side note: my wife went to the bartender to order a bottle of wine because we could not get any service and was told that they were out of that wine. that is inexplicable since it was the first day of the specials and the place was empty so how could they possibly be out???)

The hostess told us that someone would be right with us again. We waited for another 7 minutes without getting any service and decided to leave.

You can look through the very few reviews that I have left to see that I am not a serial trasher of restaurants. This was bad enough that I feel compelled to warn others about it.

Update: I wrote a bad review a few weeks back and stand by the review for that occasion since the service was terrible.

the manager saw my review and sent me a gift certificate to use on another visit. It was genereous enough that we gave it another try.

We went for happy hour on a weekday and the bartender was our waiter. he was friendly and the service was great.

The happy hour food was great (and inexpensive.)

I would come back if I lived in the area and I upgraded my review from 1 to 3 stars. (1st visit should be a zero, but one is as low as you can go. 2nd warranted 4-5 stars so I'm averaging the...

We had a highly disappointing experience at Twenty 20 Grill on Valentine’s Day 2025. Although we understood the difficulty of making reservations on such a busy day, we were told that the restaurant was fully committed, with reservations not available until 9 pm. We arrived early and hoped to take advantage of open communal bar seating. However, upon arrival, the host informed us that all high-top tables were "committed," despite there only being two people sitting at each one. We were told we could ask other guests to share, which we did, and they graciously agreed.

While we were seated, we noticed several empty tables behind us, indicating the restaurant wasn’t fully booked. The restaurant was understaffed, and service was incredibly slow. I waited over 10 minutes standing directly at the bar just to place my order (drinks and food). The bartenders seemed overwhelmed, running around trying to juggle orders, making drinks, cleaning, and getting supplies from the back.

The real frustration came when we waited 45 minutes for our food and when it finally arrived, two of the four items noted on the menu on our sharable plate were missing, without any explanation. After asking, the host returned with a couple of falafel balls but no Muhammara dip, and offered no apology or concession for the error or lack of transparency. For a $29 dish, we received only half of what was promised.

Overall, the experience was marred by poor organization, visible staffing shortages, and a lack of communication. We were so discouraged that we chose not to address our concerns in person, but instead share this feedback in hopes that future guests won’t experience the same frustration. Unfortunately, this evening didn’t meet the standards we expect from a Westin Resort, and we hope improvements are made...

The hotel bar located inside the Westin Carlsbad Resort and Spa serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. We were here late night just before closing after we had a late check-in and the food was fantastic. Though we only ordering the charred octopus and a side of fries as it was late and didn't want to go to bed after eating too much. The charred octopus is a must get and highly recommended. To our surprise, i could confidently say, this best grilled octopus I've ever had.

Charred Octopus: Lyonnaise Potato Salad, Frisee, Neuske bacon, Lemon and toasted almond Romesco Sauce

Octopus is one of those things you either get it right or you don't. This was perfectly executed with the proper amount of bitterness from the char, while the octopus remained tender with the right amount of chew.

The frisee salad added a nice contrast of texture providing some freshness and crunch to the dish. One of the high notes was the Neuske bacon! it was nice and meaty, crispy and had a real depth of smokiness to it. You can't go wrong with bacon. The Romesco sauce also added a bit of creaminess as well as some nuttiness to balance out all the flavors of this dish.

LOX | Bagel, Caper Berries, Whipped Cream Cheese, Shaved Red Onion, Lemon

We ended up back here for breakfast and again the next morning and we were not disappointed. We had the avocado toast and the bagel and lox. Portions were large and flavors were well balanced. Sometimes when massive portions are served, its used to mask its downfalls but this was not the case. Despite being such a large serving, all aspects of portion and ratios were balance with nothing overpowering the other or having too much...