Urban Plates — Restaurant in Carlsbad

My partner and I wanted something fresh and healthy for dinner so we put in an order online for pick up. I got the chimichurri grass fed steak and she got the braised beef.

We weren't far away and it was ready by the time we got there. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes. When we got there, we were greeted very warmly by Aliett (I'm very sorry because this is almost assuredly not how her name is spelled). I saw a stack of desserts and asked my partner if she wanted any and she said no, but I really wanted the mango tart. Our gracious host offered it to us on the house, which I thought was very kind.

The steak was perfectly rare. So many places can barely get medium-rare done properly and even fewer can do a rare steak, which is the way I prefer it. The chimichurri was decent. It was a little oil heavy and the ingredients weren't very finely chopped, but overall, it tasted ok. The mashed potatoes were not great. They were dry and even though it was decently flavored, it was merely a step above boxed mashed potatoes. The gravy was probably the most bland I've ever had. It tasted like slightly flavored cornstarch and water. I'm glad I tasted it before I poured it on my mashed potatoes because that would have made them worse, if that was even possible. The tomato soup was fantastic. Simple, sweet, and savory. I prefer a less tart tomato soup so this hit the spot.

The braised beef was excellent. I only got to try one bite, but it was very good. It was flavorful and I'm thinking I'll get that next time so I can have more than one bite.

The mango tart was light and fresh. It wasn't overly sweet, which is how I prefer my desserts. I really dislike thick crusts and this was light and very easy to eat. I had a hard time sharing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this place. I'll be coming back if for no other reason than to get the braised...

I ordered 3 meals for a 4 pm pick up. At 4:05 pm I asked if they were running behind. They said take a seat and it will be right out. At 4:20, I asked for an update. No status update given. At 4:25 I asked for a manager. The manager said he couldn't find my fully paid online order and used my phone to write up a new order. I said I was disappointed that 25 minutes were lost getting to this point. He asked how I could be compensated. I told him that he could decide that. Then he told me they did have my order but it was stolen off their rack. Finally, somehow the order magically appeared, either from having been sitting around for at least 30+ minutes getting cold or maybe they whipped it up again (but it was cold so it was sitting around that whole time I think). The manager never did compensate me after I gave him the opportunity to do so. The bread was burned and the food was cold by the time I got home. Also the food leaked and almost fell through the bag but my husband saw it falling apart and warned me before it started falling out the bottom. If I didn't catch it at the last minute I would definitely have given this a one star. They got a lot of work to do to get...

The food here is really good, trust me, I’ve eaten from here a dozen or more times. It’s like a half baked souplantation, minus the soup. Half buffet style where you can actually customize your plate with different sides, toppings, and if you’re nice enough to the cooks they can whip up anything you order.

The only bad experiences I’ve had have been with food delivery services combined with the restaurant. It’s been two times I’ve had an order wrong where I added a side item to my order that wasn’t delivered. With no explanation. Other times we requested our salad tossed and it wasn’t. Whole entire entrees were substituted for different ones.

I love the place, the food is great, and I’ve kept quiet until now because I just want the restaurant to do BETTER. I don’t care about refunds, I don’t care about driving 30-40 minutes to get my order corrected. I. Just. Want. The. Food. Made. Right. The. First. Time.

It’s not worth my expensive time to go to doordash and ask for a 1-3 dollar refund. I would like my order to be correct. Especially when you end up spending 40-60 dollars before...