Kalaveras - City of Industry — Restaurant in City of Industry

I went on a Monday (9/19/2022). It was my first time going to Kalaveras. My partner in crime and I went to dine there because we wanted a unique place to celebrate our union. What better place than a vibrant colorful Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, themed restaurant with skulls, graffiti, and roses. We know that Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of life and death tradition. I think I was celebrating the "life" part of our relationship but I can't say if he was celebrating the "death" part.LoL.

Monday Specials: They offer a $30 Margarita pitcher on Monday's. I thought about getting the pitcher but I'm like hmmm, do I want one flavor that I may not finish? What if I don't like it? I did not order the pitcher. I wasn't sure about the flavor that I would actually enjoy. I opted for the margarita flights. The flavors: cucumber melon, strawberry, mango, and pineapple. Each glass was garnished with fresh fruit of each flavor with Lucas powder or Tajin powder around the rim of each glass. The strawberry was watered down, no flavor. The mango was too thick, milky-like. I enjoyed the cucumber and pineapple flavors the most-so refreshing. The flight cost $35. I'd recommend you try the flight for the variety. Food Appetizer: I ordered the guacamole ($13) that came with pork skin chips (chicharron). I really liked it. I tried the chips and salsa on the table too. The salsa was not spicy. The chips were good. Main dish: Tacos Queso Birria ($25) it came with 3 tacos + small dishes of toppings (cilantro, radish, onion, limons) and dipping broth). It had tender meat inside taco and melted cheese, a taco quesadilla! A little spice but not overpowering. I loved it! My partner ordered Enchiladas Verdes (green sauce enchiladas with beef substitute not chicken) and a hibiscus flower drink. I don't know the name of the drink. He liked both items ordered. He said he expected the portions of the enchiladas to be larger for the price (Approximately $21-$25 for two small rolled enchiladas). Because I told the waiter that we were celebrating our anniversary, he brought out Lucas watermelon candy shots on a skull head (calaveras) with sparklers-That was awesome! The other staff came over to cheer and the music filled the room. Music hits played the entire time (not too loud) but I think the song was changed when presented with the skull head shots.

Service: fast

Staff: friendly, fun, & patiently answered my questions about the menu items

Price: approximately $150-$200 for two people Decor: Beautiful Music: top hits

Sidebar: I learned that I am allergic to something there. I am not sure if it was something I ate or me picking up the skull heads at the entrance to take pictures...but on the way home, I broke out in hives all over my arms, neck, chest. My theory is it was something I ate, maybe the Lucas candy but I am not certain but the hives lasted from Monday to Friday. I picked up allergy pills, next morning Saturday, no hives-like it never happened. I am going to see an allergy specialist though. This does not reflect the service received at the...

I had heard a lot of great things about Kalaveras & how great their food is. I had gone a Sunday afternoon after attending a local toy drive. I had walked in & I had seen that the staff was converting their brunch service to regular service due to brunch being over at 2pm. I waited for about 4 minutes for a hostess to great me & my manager & asked if we have been helped. Which we replied, 'no, we haven't.' The hostess sat us down at a booth with menus but no napkins or utensils placed at the table. My manager & I we're waiting for about 15 minutes before our server, Drew, had came over to take our drink orders. After 3 minutes later, Drew, came over & took our food order & he was very knowledgeable about the menu items & what protein options were available to order in a burrito. During the time we were waiting for our food to be delivered at our table, the FOH manager came over to our table & asked if everything was going well. As much I wanted to tell her that her FOH service staff are under performing, with the exception of Drew, but I she seemed she wasn't the type to take the situation seriously due to her physical impression was very lacking due to not having her button up shirt properly tucked in & not caring for her staff's performance. Once our food arrived, my burrito was good but it need to be improved. For the price of their burrito, I could have gone to my usual taco stand & pay less for their burrito that tastes better & have a healthy portion to it. My manager's plate could have used a little bit more cheese, but overall, she enjoyed her enchiladas platter with her flight of margaritas. During the whole time, Drew, was very accommodating & knew that I wasn't too pleased but he did try his best to make our experience with Kalaveras better but it was a point of no return for me. I have been in culinary field for 21 years & I know what to look for in great service, great food & overall great experience. I will never go to this location again, but I will give another location a try & see how it compares to this location.

Again, Drew, did great in his job but the other FOH staff could learn from...

Ordered appetizers and they were both bland. Had to ask for salt and crema multiple times throughout the meal and when the salt was finally brought, we were told it was one packet of salt per person which seemed weird. We never got the crema. Drinks were ordered and they were fine The aguachiles had to send back and still came back bad. One of the plates had a request of no cheese and still came with cheese. This was also sent back and took so long the rest of us were done with our food. This was a special occasion and birthday shots were ordered but took so long we just cancelled then. When our bill came, they were nice enough to take off the aguachiles,but there was the birthday cake charge and that crema we never received. When we spoke to the waitress, she apologized for the birthday cake on the bill but had to "verify" we didn't receive the crema. We then ask for a manger. I told her our bill was $400 and I wasnt fighting with them over the $1.50 crema that needed to "be verified" we also mentioned we came to celebrate a birthday but were disappointed by our experience. The service was unacceptable. She explained to me the reasons these things happened and seemed to be trying to justify the issues instead of offering an apology or an opportunity to make it right.

We were not looking for a free meal and I understand things happen. But this was a lesson learned that some places dont believe in trying to make corrections, let alone an apology when issues are brought to the management staffs attention. This is one of the worst restaurant experiences myself and my family have ever had...