Vigilucci's Seafood & Steakhouse — Restaurant in Carlsbad

The Hilton Hotel seems to love to refer their guests here. I have no idea why, but I would not be at all surprised if there is some consideration for that.

This place is ever so average and the prices are insane. We went for dinner. Not one employee had a mask on. It appears they think it is only a mandate and not a law. I suggest practicing cooking and leave lawyers to practice law. We would have left but my grandson thought the place was pretty and wanted to stay--and it is pretty. It is beautiful inside and out. The booths are comfortable, but the indoor tables are so close together you can't hear your own table.

Parking is for a fee in a jammed lot, valet is used and I wish someone would teach at least one of them to drive a foreign stick shift without the sound of smashing gears. Sad.

The Hostess was very nice, we had a reservation and she got us seated straight away. She was very kind.

Our waiter was fine, but we rarely saw him, the runners doing most of the work and having to ask busboys to get us our server. Our server tried ever so hard to upsell us as much as possible. He suggested things not on the menu that are really sides to add and add and add and before you know it, he has sold you a 300$ plate but did not tell you. We did not fall for his used car approach and stayed with the menu. It all looked great, but very expensive, so we expected some fine Italian seafood and pasta. We were disappointed.

My husband had the best meal and he had no complaints. He ordered the Sesame-crusted, sashimi-grade ahi tuna seared rare and a garlic-chili jumbo prawn served over black organic rice and caramelized baby bok choy in a miso broth. It was finished with a drizzle of Thai sauce. My husband asked for it as rare as can be and it was. My grandson loved it as well. That dish saved the meal for them. It was very good. If only all their other food was like that.

My grandson so wanted spaghetti and ordered the Spaghetti Polpette. It was to come with prime meatballs braised in their own signature sauce. This was the worst of the dishes. My grandson is very shy and refused to send it back. The meatballs were cold in the middle and were ever so bland. I doubt they were braised in anything. It tasted like they made them hours before and just dropped them in the bowl with the pasta. Now, the pasta was cooked fine, no complaints, but the sauce tasted just like something you would get at a store in a bottle--as a matter of fact, it tasted just like Ragu sauce, the most inexpensive sauce you can buy in a jar. It was ever so bland. It tasted just like the spaghetti that used to be sold at Denny's. I mean it was not good. My grandson who loves all things pasta barely touched it. How disappointing and they should be ashamed for selling it.

My dish was crab cakes and they were perfectly fine, not great, not worth the price, no great sauce, nothing special, but they were fine. They were also so tiny. My grandson was starving so I gave him my food. The spaghetti I ate because I was hungry.

For dessert we had lava cake with ice cream and whipped cream. It was very good. I won't be back here ever, but if you are there, it is very tasty.

All in all, it was very sad. But if you want average for super high prices enjoy. It is...

In a nutshell: Tourist Trap Sleazy Beach "Sizzlers"

Against our better instincts, we tried this place for dinner. It is "Average" at best, and kinda gross at worst. It's trying to be "fine dining," but tablecloths and high prices do not a fine dining experience make, nor does it mask its "Sizzler" vibe. The place is tired, worn out and underwhelming but charges fancy, beachfront restaurant prices.

Our waitress lacked basic knowledge, interest or attentiveness. When I asked about the fries, her response was "they're fries!?" and looked at me like I'm an idiot (are they thick cut, shoestring, wedges, skin on, crosscut, double-fried??) Also asked her to differentiate the various cuts of meat: "Marbling. I'm a filet person." The end.

Our steaks were greasy, veggies overcooked and mushy, and the Alfredo sauce tasted as if poured straight from a jar. Truly underwhelming. The extra "blue cheese sauce" for the steak tasted as if it was made from the same pedestrian Alfredo sauce with just a tiny hint of blue cheese dressing mixed in, lacking any of the robust flavor I love with blue cheese and/or Roquefort.

Crab cakes were just "eh." Not bad, but not great, just there.

Not that I care too much, but had to get up and grab our champagne to replenish our empty glasses, which mostly just speaks to the lack of attentiveness from the waitress. Even though we were there early with very few other diners, our food took a while, so we suspected that our plates likely sat on the line under the heat lamp for quite a while, having been totally forgotten.

Definitely crossing this place off the list permanently and DO NOT recommend it unless you LOVE an expensive Sizzlers with a whiff of tired sleaziness.

Fun side note: since writing this same review on another site, "someone" DM'd me the following hilarious response which I absolutely love, and inspired me to post again:

“You sound like an egocentric kid with low self confidence who didn't get enough attention as a child...but I'm sure that you're completely fantastic at your job! If you have any...

What I liked: Well lit and comfortable tables and seating. What earned the 1 star review: Our waiter did not write down our selections from the menu. Because of this, our appetizers were never served to our table. This is a big no no at a fine restaurant. When we did receive our entrees, the wait staff had no idea who had ordered what entree. And one of the entrees was brought to the table three minutes before the others making for the uncomfortable "no, go ahead and start eating, we don't want yours to get cold" conversation. The "bread basket" is just a pan made plain Italian style loaf. Nothing special or artisanal about it. Maybe they could make a few breadsticks? The sauteed wild mushrooms with butter and shallots were in fact not wild mushrooms. Their appearance is exactly that of the bag of sliced white mushrooms sold at Costco business center and believe me, there was exactly zero visible pieces of shallot. The Grigliata di Pesce suffered from the salmon being undercooked and served raw in the thickest part of the center. The salmon filet was cut too thin at the ends and too thick in the center so it defeated the chef's ability to properly cook it. The menu also describes a grilled jumbo prawn coming with this entree. I will not go into what should be called a shrimp or a prawn. That is not the issue. But the "prawn" I received, simply put, was not the item written on the menu. A jumbo shrimp or prawn should be something in the area of 16 or fewer pieces per pound. What I was served was an item in the 30-40 pieces per pound buried under the arugula where I searched to find it. Finally, never once were we asked how our food was by the wait staff. Their lack of concern for persons spending $80 and more per person is concerning. So if you just want to go out to socialize, drink, have a nice place to dine at, then great. But just don't expect much from the food and misleading menu descriptions. Oh yes, ask your waiter to write down your...