RJ's Cafe — Restaurant in Dana Point

I am extremely disappointed in this business. I dined there a few weeks ago and split the bill with 3 of my friends. They were all charged the correct portioned amounts, but I was charged the full bill of $89.72, an amount I did NOT sign off for (clearly, because I regrettably left a tip, and I wouldn't sign an amount of $89.72 for mediocre food and coffee that was basically tan water). I noticed the charge on my statement and called the restaurant to let them know they had made an error. I was very approachable and diplomatic, even though it was their mistake. First, it took about a week for them to call me back (come on RJ's, you're not running any sort of fancy operation here...we can all tell). Secondly, the manager was not willing to work with me from the beginning, even though this was completely out of my control and totally their fault. They asked for a screenshot of the bank statement with the date and they also asked what I ordered. I complied and sent them the screenshots of my bank statement, and my order. A week later, no response. I checked in again to ask for an update and the manager once again said there is nothing they could do to refund me. REALLY? The restaurant and the server made a clear mistake. I gave them evidence. Not willing to help me in any way. Instead, I am disputing the charge with my bank. More hoops to jump through for a mistake this business made. ANY other restaurant would gladly refund the amount and even go so far as to offer a gift card or discount on the next visit to encourage good faith/patronage. Instead, RJ's deserves this one star review (zero if it were up to me), and I hope you will think twice about supporting a business who is unwilling to correct a clear and obvious error they made. Also - RJs - if you're reading this, you missed a chance to recover the cost of the low-grade food you served me - now, the bank will refund me the full amount and you lose the money you would have made from me + any future dining opportunities + the money you would have made from people I would have brought in. Goodluck y'all - and...

Pretty disappointed with the service. My son was excited about the stuffed banana combo. Nowhere under the combo section does it say there's cream cheese. And he hates cream cheese. When it came out and he saw the cream cheese he cringed and said he wanted to change it to just plain french toast.

When we told the waitress, she made it clear that we were going to be charged for both entrees. This is outrageous by itself because even Denny's will change out your food if you don't like it.

I told her that the menu didn't say it had cream cheese. And she literally started arguing with me about whether it did. And also said "there's nothing wrong with the food." Then said she'd have to check with the manager to see if they would charge us for both entrees.

She came back and said they wouldn't be charging us because the combo section of the menu didn't say it had cream cheese (the French toast section said it did but my son wasn't looking at the section). But kind of shocking that this was the only reason they decided not to charge us--customer satisfaction should have been reason enough.

Ultimately it turned out okay but really spoiled the meal. I can't believe that a nice restaurant wouldn't just replace a food item that you didn't like immediately to make sure we were satisfied. It's not like we ordered surf and turf. It was 2 pieces of french toast.

There was also one other thing that's a pet peeve for me. For about 10 minutes there was a discarded napkin in the middle of the walkway that no one picked up. At least 5 different employees walked down the walkway several times including 2 bussers during this time. It was impossible for them to not see it--it was that obvious. But no one just bent down to pick it up. Kind of gross.

I really wanted to like this place. The food was great (after the French toast replacement) and the location was nice. But can't see spending almost $20 per person for...

Let me start off with the good and positive. I personally have had no issues with the food itself, as it has been quite tasty and delicious. The problems are found with the service, or lack thereof. None of the following is hyperbolic in any way and is very unfortunate that service can be this bad. It's quite appalling.

I have gone to RJs multiple times and have had some service issues, but this last outing sealed the deal of not going back. We were sat down by the hostess and promptly asked what we would like for beverages. Well that was it! No server EVER came back to take our order and not a single individual ever checked on us, or asked if anyone had served us. There were plenty of staff on hand and other servers would just walk by us like we had our invisible suits on.

Anyhow...after about 15 mins of just sitting there and NOT a single soul checking on us, we saw a server go to another table, where the individuals arrived AFTER us and yet received service! This was the decider that ultimately made the choice to walk out without even getting any service, or a chance to order anything! Absolutely unacceptable to literally be ignored the entire time! As another review stated and is so true...it seems like they get enough business to not even care about the faltering service side of things, or they're incapable. Anyhow, it was easily one of the worst restaurant experiences and will not be returning to RJ's. Food is good, but at a cost of terrible service...that's even if you even...