Emil Villa's California BBQ — Restaurant in Hayward

I can't remember the last time I rated something this low. I travel for a living and am very open/understanding to certain factors when eating out. Things like short staff, unforeseen mechanical or computer issues, etc...However, this place had no excuses for the issues I had there. I found this place just by looking at nearby places on Google Maps. It's easy to find and I lucked out with parking because the van in the very first spot was pulling out as I pulled in. However, the parking lot is very narrow and not driver-friendly, so be prepared for that. Anyway, the restaurant looks and feels old, which it is, so no surprise there. I was seated immediately and ordered my soda without ice. My server (Lupe) arrived shortly thereafter and took my order: bacon cheeseburger medium-well, side salad, cheese sticks. The salad arrived about 5 minutes later and was your basic side salad. All good so far...but now is when it goes straight down hill. The cheese sticks showed up 15 minutes later. She just dropped them off quickly and didn't even offer a refill for my empty glass on the edge of the table. They were good but they are served with ranch (I didn't notice that on the menu) so if you prefer marinara sauce, be sure to request that. Also, it's a large order of about 10 so definitely shareable. I tried to eat slowly because I had nothing to drink, but was able to flag her down 10 minutes later only because she was cleaning the table next to me. Of course she brought it back full of ice. I dealt with it. Even eating very slowly, I still finished the salad and cheese sticks before ever seeing the burger. Matter of fact, it was exactly 52 minutes after ordering before it showed up. She just dropped it off and said sorry then walked away. I lifted the burned bacon to see a 1/4 inch black piece of meat. I cut a chunk off with my fork and it was beyond well done. I ate a few bites and that was it. Wasn't able to endure any more. There's a dill pickle along with it so I hoped I would have gotten to enjoy that at least. It was warm. Haha! What a waste of $24.00 and 75 minutes of my time. During all my time waiting, I was able to observe other patrons. It was interesting to see that some were served quickly and others were waiting long periods like me. It appears that you have to be a known regular to get good service. The place was busy but had more than enough servers there. And it looked like there were around 6 cooks, so that should be enough as well. None of this information really matters because the place has survived this long with this type of service and I'm sure will continue on for a long time. However, I hope to save some fellow road warriors a bad experience. Overall, avoid this place. There are 100 other places to eat...

The food was on the par with what one might expect to find at the county jail. Lived here for about 3 years and always avoided the place because it looked nasty dirty on the outside. Walking by one day, I noted that they have fresh baked pies. So I dropped in a couple times to pick one up on the way home. Pretty good pies, so I decided to brave the food one day. I ordered the BBQ Turkey dinner, expecting a nice freshly Bar B Qued turkey leg or something. Instead the cook pulled out a slab of processed turkey meat, cut off a few slices and poured some BBQ sauce over it out of a plastic gallon jug. Then pulled out a bag of pre cut frozen vegetables and dropped them into some boiling water. While that was cooking, I couldn't help but notice all the grease caked all over the kitchen area. The cook must have notice me eyeballing the grime, because he suddenly decided to clean the grease trap right over the food he was cooking for me. Quite frankly, I could have just as easily went to Safeway, bought a bottle of Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, some lunchmeat and some frozen Green Giant mixed vegetables and it would have tasted just as good if not better. Not at all what I would call "eating out". I see they are usually pretty crowded for breakfast on weekends because there are so few places to eat in the area and it's pretty hard to screw up eggs and toast. If I was only rating the food, I would give them a 1 star rating. But the pies were...

For starters The place smelled of real BBQ. The atmosphere is very comfortable and somewhat inviting and the service was wonderful. However the ribs are boiled, the chicken was overcooked and dry, even the desert was terrible!! It just was not anyting close to good food! It was just imitation, it was a copycat of the real thing. It was as if somebody was trying to imitate how to cook or make it look like it was really cooked the right way but it wasn't. Not even down to the barbecue sauce... it was watered down! None of it is homemade or Made right. I spent well over $40 I wish I could have gotten my money back because it was seriously not worth. I've been cooking since I was twelve I've worked in restaurants from Chicago to California I've been cooking all my life I cook from scratch I cook homemade I cook at home. Nothing Absolutely Nothing about this food that I purchased at this restaurant was worth 1 red dime of my money!!!!! And I would never do but there again!!! Visiting this place reminded me of why I do not eat out at restaurants, why I would prefer to cook it myself and why I love to cook at home, because if I'm going to spend my money I don't want to waste it on garbage and then be mad because I did!!!! YUCK!!! THAT'S ALL...