Baja Cantina & Grill — Restaurant in Monterey

Profiling customers On 6-30-2022 I drove 3 1/2 hrs. to pick my son up at Robert Louis Stevenson summer school & dine with my family member in Monterey. Since I've financially supported this establishment since 2000, when Dr. Tarsitano gifted the staff with complimentary luncheons, your establishment has ALWAYS been one of my favorites! Yesterday my sister & I had an unpleasant, racially profiled, unprofessional, unwarranted, unprecedented, and lastly unacceptable experience with Lauren, our 8 yr. veteran server......I will start from the top: We were told I now have to pay for chips & salsa unless I purchase guacamole 🥑 because of a recent change, no straw(s); my sister had to request a straw & ultimately so did I, requested that my fountain drink accompany my entree BUT Lauren brought the drink directly after serving the chips & salsa, never returned to our table once to check ✅ on, drinks were never addressed for a refill, my sister had to request a refill by showing the waitress her empty glass when I asked another server for a spoon, had to request napkins as well for our meal, when I requested containers to go for my partially eaten meal, no container was provided for my chips or salsa though a fee 😂 would have been associated if I didn't purchase guacamole?? To make a long story short, our dining experience was HORRIFIC for everything listed above & some things I didn't mention. Lastly an hour after our departure, my sister was regurgitating and had diarrhea at Del Monte Shopping 🛍️ Center !! I will DEFINITELY look forward to hearing from HR re: this isolated experience (not in 22 yrs. have I EVER been racially profiled like we were by your server, Lauren!) Racism is embedd in the fabric of America & I'm...

I have been going to Baja Cantina for over 25 years and it is often my go to place to bring friends and family from out of the area. We brought our friends this evening and had a very unpleasant experience. It was slammed and the team was taxed - I get that and we were in no hurry to get our food or drinks or even chips which all took some time. When the food and drinks arrived they were fabulous as always. We were in a room in the back with very poor acoustics - we were a party of six and we could not hear beyond our immediate table neighbor what they were saying. What made it even more disruptive was large party with several young children sitting to the side. The entire time, they were screaming at an even higher decibel than the noise of the room. The group was also screaming at the server as they were busy and we were all waiting for their food longer than usual. The parents seemed oblivious to the noise level of their children so I turned to the kids and put my finger to my lips to keep the sound down. As we were winding down our meal, a mom at the table turned and said I needed to leave NOW, that I had no right to quiet their children. I was stunned and we left. It felt threatened and we did leave. It was upsetting and I actually tried to call the Manager upon our return but no one picked up the phone. I know times are tough but I would hope we can all maintain some semblance of civility of decorum. I have grown children and loved to take them out for meals but they also knew how they needed to behave. I also think the management should have stepped in to help mediate the situation. We simply came to enjoy our friends and have a meal without excessive...

I was down in Monterey for car week. I was recommended to stop by this place for its car decor and delicious food. I showed up with my car friends, a group of 13 people. Being my first time I didn't realize I needed a reservation. First girl I talked to didn't seem friendly at all. Was told that we could have a table if we're out around 8. We showed up at around 6 and didn't get our food until an hour later. After that long of a wait we didn't really have time to enjoy our food. Which is ok since I didn't make a reservation. We were served by two servers, 1 was very kind and I could tell he was really busy, he still gave us top of the line service. On the other hand, my friend ordered a dish that was suppose to come with sour cream, he asked nicely,"doesn't this dish with a sour cream side." Rude server says, "well i'm not your waiter, you can ask him" and walks away with attitude. As I'm also eating I noticed people getting seated, whilst having a face of irritation, looking like they didn't wanna be around us. Maybe it was because we were a bit lively, maybe it's because we didn't look like we belonged. I do admit my friend was joking about walking out, due to the price and bad service. But instead of calling us out or just taking it as a joke. They took a photo of our group secretly. We paid our bill and headed out and don't think we are returning anytime soon. 20% gratuity for that type of service....