Cafe La Maze — Restaurant in National City

I'm sad to report, the place was very underwhelming. I heard good things, but today, Sunday May 11, mother's day, was the complete opposite. Parking lot was at 95% capacity at 540pm, I was surprised and expecting the level to be high. Our reservation was at 545pm. Got in promptly with no hostess for about 3-5 minutes, just waiting to check in. Full house at this time was really impressive. She was busy adjusting tables for the next group to be seated from a 4 to 6 person table. After acknowledging checking in, we were seated within 5 mins. We sat at our table by 6pm. We were browsing the mother's day special menu, shown below, for approx 5mins, waiting for a waitress. When the waitress asked what we would like to order, I inquired about the normal menu, however, due mother's day, it was a prefix menu. We chose the salad. ribeye , with mashed potatoes along with vegetables. She had chosen cheesecake, peach cobbler for me. The littles were ordered pasta and chicken strips with steak fries. I domt drink alcohol, so I inquired if my order may be substitued with a soft drink. The waitress was unable to grant the request, her manager said no substitution for tonight. Eye brow was raised. 2 glasses of champagne then. The wife may have mkne. A considerable amount of time had passed with littles getting slightly more hangry. Two glasses of rose wine was served, surprise! Ran out of champagne. We had asked the waitress if the bread may be brought to our table first, something the littles can nibble on before the food. More time passes with the waitress seeming overwhelmed returns to our table to say, "Im sorry, we ran out of bread, our manager went out to buy some more." Dumbfounded, we acknowledged. But how can a restaurant establishment run out of bread by 620 pm? More time passes, we needed to make eye contact with our waitress and ask if the kid's meal may be pushed out, so they may eat first, and goes to request the order to be rushed. More time passes, waitress returns with a plate of pasta and says "we ran out of chicken strips. We have grilled cheese, or we can make chicken wings." We went with the chicken wings. Our entrees were served. Ribeye was cooked med rare for me. Wife cut into hers, which was cooked medium. The waitress came by and we had requested another order of rib eye. Her plate was removed. The chicken wings and fries arrived. Within 4 minutes, a new ribeye was served. Mash potatoes minus gravy We didnt bother asking for gravy, we felt we had been too needy as is, with her workload. The steak was cooked correct. Bread arrived a couple bites in. As we ate. Living music night turned into belly dancers coming out. Which is why I gave atmosphere 5 stars for live talent. Our littles loved it! We finished our food and time for dessert. My peach cobbler arrived. Another surprise, no more cheesecake. We were offered chocolate mint cake or peach cobbler. She chose peach cobbler. The littles loved it. I hope no one else experienced our mishap tonight. If...

I am a lifelong National City resident and my family has been in the City for over 120 years. I've had aunts and uncles long gone who were regulars that jitterbugged in front of the piano bar for years. My father sat in regularly with the band back in the 90's. I have personally been coming to Cafe La Maze since 2008, and I am now on my third owner and steward of this hallowed ground of red meat and good people. For 4 years, I was even a resident musician on Wednesday nights with a band billed to my name. I've seen the restaurant through thick and thin, both as a patron and as a quasi-employee. That run may be over, for now.

So far, from a people standpoint, I have zero confidence that the new owners have requisite respect, appreciation or regard for the asset they just took over. As confirmed by my last visit, the evening bartender is a self-professed pill popper seemingly vacated from his emotions. The entertainment that's been loyal to the establishment since the 90's? Sidelined unceremoniously on staple weekly dates for months without notice to either them or the customers. Longtime employees? Driven away. Longtime customers? Many are alienated, disappointed and dismayed that nobody seems to be listening, and many claim the core product (the food) is qualitatively worse.

Even though I think chilaquiles and belly dancers have no place on a steakhouse menu or its entertainment calendar, I believe the new owners are in the right mindset with aiming to make investments in capital and in diversifying their product. They also seem to be tone deaf, in many respects, to their most loyal people when those same people express what they dislike about the current direction.

Cafe La Maze may be a haven for seniors, but those people keep coming back time after time until they die and their kids start doing the same. There is a generational basis to this clientele. Alienating the people who have been most loyal to this establishment on both a personal and professional basis hollows out the soul that undergirds what makes an 85 year old establishment like this exceptional and enduring, rather than execrable and fleeting.

And, by the way, I had the french dip when I was there on Memorial weekend. It was mid, and the fries were under seasoned....

Our favorites are the prime rib, pork chops, fried calamari and creamy chicken soup! Excellent food in general. They are famous for their prime rib and offer a special anniversary priced prime rib dinner every year as a "Thank you" to their customers. They have a very friendly wait staff. This is a historic restaurant that was frequented by the Hollywood elite in the 40s and 50s, and still draws crowd at dinner time due to their high quality entrees. For us, it is well worth making the 12 mile special trip. Update: Stopped by for prime rib, creamy chicken soup, and garlic mashed potatoes. Excellent as usual, with fast friendly service! Update: Tried their sirloin steaks, excellent! Update: Prices have increased again, but quality remains excellent. Got the cheesecake dessert. It was very tasty, but at $7.95 it wasn't a good value. Update: Prices have increased yet again. This is becoming a pricey restaurant, however the quality remains excellent. Update: Another price increase. Excellent prime rib and sirloin steak. Update: Our first disappointing experience. Decided to try the fish and chips. For $25.95, we expected way better. Sadly the fish was prepared similar to corn dogs, but with 75% breading. Just a pinky finger sized piece of fish in each. Minus one star. On the other side of the spectrum, the boneless pork chops were excellent as usual. Update: Another price increase. Excellent prime rib and sirloin steak. Update: Got the Pork Chops and Prime Rib entrees. Both were excellent. Update: Another price increase. Got the Pork Chops entrees, and the Clam Chowder. Everything was excellent as usual! Update: New owners and much higher prices. The steaks and prime rib are extremely expensive now. Got the Cajun Chicken and Alaskan Cod entrees. They were very good, but a bit overpriced. Update: Got a Prime Rib Dip Sandwich and a slicebof Cheesecake. Both were excellent. The prices have increased yet again, and sadly the food is no longer...