Lime in the Coconut — Restaurant in Chula Vista

Note that reservations at Lime in the Coconut are only for their rear "speakeasy", which does not serve a full menu. If you want the full menu, you have to dine in the front part of the restaurant where they do not take reservations. This is not clear on their website.

We asked to be moved to the front to get the full experience. The front part looked much more like a regular restaurant. The space went all in on the tropical theme, down to special wallpaper, intricate murals, and elaborate tiki-themed glassware. We were seated in a booth in the bar area. The place was only about one-third full, which is never a good sign at 7:00 on a Saturday night.

We immediately noticed that it was very cold in the restaurant, and noticed that the front door was wide open. It was about 55 degrees outside at the time. We asked our server if the door could be closed but he told us that he was not allowed to do that, per the owner's rule, but could partially close the door.

Unfortunately, this did not help. In the meantime, we placed our food order. While we waited, we flagged down a person that we were told was the manager and mentioned the temperature again. She reiterated the rule about closing the doors. We asked if the heat could be turned up and she said that she was able to do that. A couple minutes later, she returned saying that she turned the heat on, but it would take a while to warm up and offered to relocate us to a different table further from the front door. We took her up on our offer and were shown to our third and final table of the night.

We ordered the nachos to start and they were pretty good, nothing special. My wife's entrée, the bao flight, arrived first. My entrée, the bahn mi sandwich, did not arrive for about 5 - 7 minutes after - a total fail in my book. The entrees were fine, but nothing special. The bahn mi, which I ordered with spam, was pretty light on the fillings, and the saltiness from the spam was the main flavor.

The wasabi mashed potato salad, as others have noted, was light on wasabi flavor, but was otherwise fine. The one highlight of the experience was my caipirinha, which was well made. For what it was, the whole experience was on the pricey side at $117 for three drinks, an appetizer, and two entrees, including tax and tip.

We left feeling underwhelmed. While the staff were all friendly and accommodating, we have never had to move tables twice. The food was nothing special, and my entrée arrived late. We just got the impression that the owner(s) and management were just phoning it in. It's really too bad because the owner obviously spent some $$$ on the interior design and went all in on the tiki theme. We had high hopes for this restaurant, but ultimately will not...

Stopped by for dinner last night to celebrate a birthday. This was one of the hottest days of the year. We thought to come here due to the large open windows, assuming it would be a great place to have a celebratory meal with a nice breeze..... boy... we were wrong! I mean,the food is great, delicious, creative and fun; the staff was so nice and attentive but.... wow, was it hot in there, like hotter than outdoors. The poor staff were all sweaty. Even though their huge window was open, there was no air flow at all. Turn on the AC or get some high powered fans, especially in 90+ degree weather! All staff was sweating. What if they sweat all over my food? When we mentioned it to the wait staff we were informed repeatedly that the owner refuses to add fans. We ate as fast as we could so we could get out of there! We practically ruined the menus because we all used them to fan ourselves. We totally would have stayed longer but it was unbearably HOT! We left and went to a bar across the street that has high powered fans in front of their huge windows. I would not recommend coming here on a hot day unless they decide to turn on the AC or add fans.... or if you want have a drink in a sauna. I would return during cold weather because I did like the drinks and the food was really good... but I am not willing to risk a heat stroke for it. For this reason I am giving this place a single star...

I’m very familiar with Islander food and I’ve had my fair share, so I’ll try not to be too biased writing this review. Let’s start with the perks. It’s nice to see another business open in downtown Chula Vista. We really need more diverse places to eat in our South Bay community. I really like the concept of Lime in the Coconut and the decor was welcoming, inviting, and nicely decorated. We sat in a booth and felt far enough away from other guests (which I prefer these days with COVID and such). Frances our server was friendly and attentive. The cocktail drinks were fabulous and stole the show. Now for the food. Overall, it was ok. I think too much thought went into the fried musubi balls (the spam was minced and mixed in with the rice). I would’ve preferred chunks of spam. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold a light to Homestyle Hawaiian’s fried musubis (ouch, sorry). The smoked chicken was good. However, the garlic fried rice was so overdone that the rice grains were hard and difficult to chew. The wasabi in the potato salad was difficult to distinguish. The poke to wonton ratio was off on the nachos; the poke itself was good. The question I always ask myself is, would I return to this establishment? Although I’m glad we tried it I probably will not return. However, I would say it’s worthy to try...