Blackstone Kitchen — Restaurant in Corona

We had a very disappointing experience with this restaurant, specifically with Alex, the manager. Our reservation was canceled just one hour before our scheduled time — all because I politely asked why no one had informed us about their policy on outside cakes when we made the reservation.

We were bringing a gluten- and dairy-free cake for a birthday celebration, and I simply wanted to understand why that wasn’t allowed. Instead of addressing the concern, Alex became immediately defensive and accused me of having a "threatening tone." He insisted the policy was listed in fine print through OpenTable, but I didn’t even book through OpenTable — I made the reservation via text, as instructed on their voicemail. No one ever mentioned restrictions on cakes or table arrangements during that exchange.

Even after I offered to pay a cake-cutting fee or to simply keep the cake in the fridge and take it home afterward, Alex refused and said no restaurant would allow outside food, which is simply not true. He then told me our reservation was already canceled and that he didn’t care about my concerns.

It felt like he was having a bad day and took it out on us. For a family-owned business, the customer service was shockingly poor and unprofessional.

Do yourself a favor and go to Mazi instead — they know how to treat...

Walked in was greeted straight with “do you have a reservation?”

Sat at bar by choice, was greeted better, started off with Banana Latte (was told it’s 50/50) which it was.

Order all together: Chilaquiles, Meat lovers omelette, & Apple Empanadas.

The Chilaquiles in my opinion were good, the chips were crunchy sauce was good, but my partner said otherwise.

Meat lover’s omelette: Dry but inside was good but remember but remember it’s very salty. With zero sauce, we did ask for green sauce after a few bites and did help but the salty still remains in my mouth. Side of dry lettuce & potatoes with ketchup.

Apple Empanadas: tasted like burnt sugar, comes with 4 & some sauce with 1 strawberry. Was not good not, took 1 bite from one empanada & we told them we did not like them & would not eat them. They were not taken off our tab. $17 for burnt sugar with apples inside didn’t sit well with us. They also came out 10 minutes later after eating our main meals.

(We did order everything together but figured it’s a starter they would have it out before regardless)

The gal helping us was attentive & motivated in the beginning & then kinda lost her she got busy but not busy enough to understand why we were left alone.

We feel the customer service isn’t there and felt that...

Our first and definitely last attempt to visit!

Blackstone was a complete disaster, thanks to the completely incompetent host staff.

We arrived at 11:20 AM on Sunday.

The hostess initially told us there would be about an hour wait, which was OK for us but as she started entering our information, she casually changed the estimate to 1 PM–2 PM. Then, after “putting us on the waiting list,” we were never contacted again. No updates, no courtesy, nothing!!

Meanwhile, the two hostesses were too busy chatting, laughing, and completely ignoring customers. Their behavior was unprofessional, careless, and downright disrespectful. It’s unbelievable that what appeared tp be a decent restaurant would allow two irresponsible, clueless employees to represent them at the front door driving away business and handing it over to another place.

We ended up taking our money somewhere else where the staff actually knows how to treat people.

Blackstone seriously needs to replace those two immediately before they ruin its reputation beyond repair. If this is the kind of people you have greeting your customers, don't expect them to ever come back or even stay long enough to try your food.

Management: Wake up! Your hostesses are costing...