Cardiff Beach Bar @ Tower 13 — Restaurant in Encinitas

This was a tough one. I wanted to like it so much more than I did. I had been here once before, and had basically a similar experience. The food was good, the atmosphere should have been better, but it was depressingly empty, and the service was really horrible. I stopped in for a drink, a couple of appetizers, and a chance to watch the sunset. The good news; you can watch the sunset right in front of you, and there’s no wait for any table in the restaurant. This was the second time it has worked out like this for me. I know that would make you think that it was great because you could get a front row view to the sunset, which is awesome, because they are right on the beach, but it’s empty and it should be rocking with people having a great time. The bar portion was empty, and the ambiguous border into the dining room had one other party that left before the sun went down. In fairness, another party showed up after the sunset, but it didn’t bring the energy in the room up at all 🙄 The reality is, this is a tragic review, because the food is quite good, both times I’ve been here. In fairness again I had more things to try the first visit, whereas the second visit I had one appetizer because I just wanted to leave. Which brings me to the last portion of my review; the service… It really wasn’t good. I don’t honestly know where to begin. Was it that I was ignored from the moment I walked in (Definition of crazy; a full staff of waiters and waitresses/bartenders doing nothing but kibitzing amongst themselves, while one person in the place is not being waited on)? I sit down finally, and was ignored again, until finally the waitress brings the menu and then leaves without taking a drink order. Did she have somewhere she needs to be in the kitchen or was she in the weeds with several other waitstaff & one person?? Note to waitstaff trainers, if your customer has been sitting at a table for over five minutes, then the chances are they maybe ready to order at least a drink; Would help with the tip quotient if you would least ask the question before walking away 🤦🏻‍♂️ I asked for a Pacifico, they didn’t have that, so I asked what Cerveza option was like Pacifico. She gave me the name of a beer I had never had, told me it was just like Pacifico. The Cerveza on draft is not like Pacifico. No matter how many limes you put in that beer it is not going to blanch that aftertaste. Decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and ordered an appetizer before committing to an entire meal, and ordered a basket of tots. I really enjoyed them, although the shot glass of sauce they served with them wasn’t nearly enough to spread itself over the entire basket. And, waiting for them to come back to explain that to them was just shy of watching paint dry. By the time I had just started to eat the tots, I realized that anything else I wanted, I was going to have to stand up and ask for it by searching out my waitress. The first time I did this, she rolled her eyes at me, because apparently I had interrupted social hour, and heaven forbid I ask for a waitperson to do wait-person things as a paying customer. I am not going to belabor the point anymore, but anything that I wanted or wanted to see if I could get accomplished while we were there was met by double digit minutes of waiting. Funny thing is, when I did ask once or twice from another waitress, or waiter to help out, they were more than willing to do so, and very politely, so I think this restaurant can turn this part around. Like I said, the exact same situation happened to me the first time I was here. The location is phenomenal, and I want to like it so much. The food is good enough so that I would usually give it a third try, but that will be the last one... the operational 3% charge on the bill means I won’t be going back & deducted a...

If I could give this place 0 stars I would. Staff was overtly rude to my friend and I for no reason and even accused my friend of “soliciting” (I think he meant to say loitering) because he wasn’t hungry enough to have anything besides water at 10am. It’s not like the bar was running out of seats, it was not even at half capacity when we went. Then there was the deceptive menu that has a hidden 6$ charge for any protein to the burrito… and the audacity of the waitress to give me a dirty look for tipping 0$ did it for me 😂 wouldn’t recommend any of my friends or family to go since I am never giving them my future business and it’s quite a shame because they do have a great location, just terrible, stingy service. Place is an absolute joke.

I’m genuinely curious how this place has an overall 4.5 rating, surely those two workers I interested with didn’t contribute to that at all. Odds are you can close your eyes and point at any bar in Cardiff and have a much better time there than I did at tower 13. Save your time and money.

UPDATE: I just checked my transaction history and these guys retroactively added a 5$ tip that I did not authorize whatsoever so I will be disputing this charge. Just a heads up for you all to always be diligent around slimy...

We had a lovely gathering for our annual ElliptiGO event (approx 50 people) at Tower 13 in Cardiff. The communication with Doug, Alex & Sydney was proactive & attentive. They set us up in the private back room; the perfect spot for us all to find each other, mingle & visit. I'm not sure how they managed it, but our service was exceptional and executed flawlessly! Our gathering started during happy hour (which many of us took advantage of the specials) and continued into dinner. We've been holding our annual ElliptiGO weekend for over a decade, but the place we used to meet up at went out of business and referred us to Doug at Tower 13. I'm sorry to hear any local business not making it, but I am so grateful for their referral. Tower 13 was the perfect spot for our group and we will look forward to continuing to gather here for years to come!! For a small, local business they really have their act together and do lots of fun themed events, feature some local music & are also a great place to watch sports. I'd absolutely recommend stopping in to check them out! Thank you to Doug, Alex & Sydney for our...