Señor Grubby's — Restaurant in Carlsbad

We ate here twice in the same day. I can say the vibe of this location seems on par with a struggling business about to go under. We decided to try their breakfast. It sounded good, but it was confusing. I really do not know why they would go "buffet" with things like silverware, butter, jam, etc. for breakfast.

The breakfast itself was disappointing. My eggs were over scrambled and the bacon was super old and nasty. The hashed browns and pancakes were good, but I was expecting something a little less generic chain restaurant from dining at a local eatery. Additionally, breakfast felt like they added it to create a new revenue stream. Though we were disappointed with breakfast, we figured it was likely not their forte as they are a taco shop and they probably have super rocking tacos.

This is where the "hopefully we won't have our food truck repo'd next week" vibe was really evident. We came back for tacos and they were out of a big chunk of their menu. No fish or seafood tacos of any kind. Okay, no problem. I ordered something else. We paid for fountain sodas. Almost all of what we would want to drink was totally out.

I can say two of the three tacos I ordered were really good. The smokey nopales sung out with the choir of black beans and cheese. The al pastor taco was pretty good. My pork belly tacos were not crispy enough and it was cut into big chunks that were overwhelming for the tiny tortillas. My fellow diner's carnita tacos were under-seasoned. The lunch was better than the breakfast for sure, but the whole experience was not worthwhile. Dining out is supposed to be a treat and not annoying.

I will say the staff was fantastic and incredibly nice. The bathrooms could have used some more love between meal periods, but were fairly decent. This place has a cute vibe, but did not match the excellent dining experience I had at other restaurants in the same area.

Also, the paper towels as napkins - I get it. I just thought it was weird and distracting to store the extra rolls on the mantle of the fireplace and then store parts of the trash can in the fireplace. Everything just needed more love - especially the employees. They were really doing their best with what they have. I really hated working in restaurants that were out of a ton of stuff - it was embarrassing and some folks did not...

I'm used to more of a batter-coded fried fish for fish burrito. Cuz I'm from the hood lol But they had I believe mahi-mahi that was beer battered but yet they didn't really bear batter all the fish that was in it. So it kind of was like having a burrito with dry tuna. But when we first walked in the waitress was ignoring us and so we waited probably at least 5 to 8 minutes maybe to be acknowledged which was by a man that was in the back probably working so he didn't know we were there. But the waitress was rude So they shouldn't bring their feelings to work. Especially females but usually they do a lot of times that's what I noticed but this all says we're really really good I want to say that lol I think besides the lady everybody else was being of good service and a nice worker and besides that it's clean and a nice setup. Maybe they need a bell in the front so that they can be notified when someone's up there and someone besides the lady can help people. Although I did see her very busy while we were sitting there eating our food and so no doubt she's working hard but she's not welcoming and I wouldn't go there again really. Because the fish burrito was not what I was expecting. I don't think they tell you that it's mahi-mahi in the burrito. But I can't remember. It tasted like dry tuna like big dry slabs of tuna and the burrito I had to put a lot of sauce on it to drown it just to add some flavor on it and burn my...

I met a friend for lunch. It was in a place between our places. She's in San Diego, and I'm in Laguna Beach. The name sounded cute, and we both like Mexican food. Nancy welcomed us with a great smile and was very patient with us. When we mentioned it was our first time, she made some great suggestions: the Shrimp Diabla and the Fish. We both chose the Pollo Asado, Hormone-Free Chicken with lettuce, pico de gallo, black beans, and our chipotle cream sauce. I don't do dairy, so I left the sauce out. One of my favorite things is a salsa bar, and theirs is stocked, so we picked the table right next to it. Oh, and they have bottled Pepsi; you don't see that often. I was not going to eat the whole burrito; I wanted to take some home—really! I ate the entire thing, with all the salsas and plenty of chips. The guacamole was good, but I would doctor it up a bit. I like spicy guac. I would return and try other menu items, such as the Birria, Pastor, and Ceviche. By the way, there is limited parking space behind the building, along the street, or at a parking lot around the corner. There is also a patio for those lovely, sunny SoCal days. You order at the counter, and they'll bring the food to your table. Enjoy the...