Marisol at The Cliffs — Restaurant in Pismo Beach

I’m a local here on the central coast and have spent many years at the cliffs hotel and marisol resort whether it be a staycation or Sunday brunch watching football. The Cliffs has definitely changed a lot over the years but I’ve always enjoyed the atmosphere and been very close with the staff. David the manager has always gone above and beyond with customer service and really makes you feel like a close friend/family. I visited the hotel and restaurant this past Sunday July 28th for my best friends birthday, she got a nice suit and we had a reservation of 10 for brunch, David greeted us as usual, we had a great server Amora and the bartenders Marcos and Johnny were excellent as well. However I did have a very bad experience with the bar manager KELLY HALL. I’ve never had such disrespectful customer service in my life. The situation all started like this: in the brunch area at the highest point of the building, a small bird was stuck for over 12 hours. The bird was chirping the entire time brunch was served(hours). I had spoke with hotel management(Tiana) as well as maintenance to get this situation resolved, when I first brought the issue to Tiana she completely was unaware(this was around noon and the staff said the bird had been stuck since the evening prior). I had tried to call animal services myself since no one had attempted to resolve the issue but they were closed, I talked back and forth with management for about an hour when I decided to take a break and grab a drink at the bar( I had left my brunch table and drinks to try and help this bird) and I was told by the bartenders Kelly cut me off. I can admit when I am intoxicated, and I definitely have been at the cliffs over the years, THIS HOWEVER WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE TIMES. I was shocked when told this and asked to speak with Kelly, we went into an empty dining room along with the bouncer Aaron. She acted as if I were attacking her, putting her hand up to me, backing up and telling me to “stop yelling”. This was completely dramatized and the way she spoke to me as well as her body language was completely inappropriate as a manager. I left the conversation upset and unresolved, I asked Aaron once separated if he thought I was “yelling” at Kelly and responded, “no not at all”. I then left my name and number for the hotel manager(Tiana had left by this time) to get back to me since they were very busy with check in at the time but I never received any call back. I felt as if my passion for saving this dying animal was misinterpreted for me being drunk and that’s not right. In all the years I’ve never been so disappointed with my experience here, there were still many positives as mentioned prior but unless I get an apology from KELLY HALL or she is replaced I don’t see myself returning to the cliffs. This is unfortunate because I do love it there and most the staff as well. I myself have worked in customer service for over 10 years and I’m appalled at what Kelly thought was appropriate communication to resolve this issue and that she would just assume I’m drunk without actually speaking to me first, also I would expect an establishment as large as the cliffs to give a call back when there is a complaint instead of completely ignoring and...

ETA: my husband ended up getting food poisoning from his breakfast burrito - thankfully we didn’t have any plans but it knocked out a day of our vacation unfortunately.

Looking through the reviews I’m not sure why we have had such an off experience at Marisol for both dinner and brunch.

Dinner last night: ordered Brussel Sprouts, Cesar with blackened salmon and husband ordered the burger because nothing really jumped out at him. After we had ordered the table next to us had the waiter give them the specials which sounded great and we were both bummed by our orders since we weren’t presented with those options.

The brussel sprouts were great - maybe a little overdone and more burned pieces than not but otherwise very enjoyable. The Caesar was very lackluster with shriveled lettuce, barely any dressing (and I don’t like my salads with a lot but this was hardly any), the salmon was cooked absolutely perfectly but had zero flavor… and it’s supposed to be blackened?

The “wagyu” burger was by far the worst meal. The meat was definitely not good meat, super dry, zero flavor. Even though my husband likes vegetables he took them all off so he could “taste the meat”. The fries were cold and not seasoned.

Our sever was sweet but way more attentive with other tables which made it hard to get the little requests we had handled (more water, side of dressing).

Highly recommend skipping the crème brûlée as well. It was more berry compote than crème which was a weird texture.

We thought brunch had to be better and ordered the filet mignon breakfast burrito and chips and guac to snap on by the pool. The burrito is all what tastes like frozen breakfast potatoes, definitely not filet mignon steak, and overall flavorless. They initially didn’t give us the guac for the chips and guac so I ran back up but even the guac is flavorless even after I added in all the sides the provided (which many like the pico looked way paste it’s prime). Plus it was $46 before tip.

Only giving two stars because the hostess both evening and at brunch were very friendly and helpful.

Seems strange that this is the connected restaurant for such...

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5/16/2020 We went in last night (Friday night) just before closing. Can not speak to the food as we just got to 'double Mai Tais'. There were three very friendly staff members in the lobby. However... we were extremely disappointed with the drinks. Yes they tasted okay but we were expecting for there to actually be alcohol in 'double' Mai Tais' especially considering they charged us $40 for just two drinks. Yes I said $40!!! for two drinks!! I am assuming a 'regular' Mai Tai is just fruit punch? Had we been sitting in the restaurant and not already back at our hotel I would have definitely sent them back. Not sure if this is typical or if they are taking advantage of current circumstances but I honestly feel like I was totally overcharged and ripped off. Had the nice bartender not already made the drinks I would have refused to pay. In fact I was so shocked at the amount that after I signed the check I nearly walked out without our 'virgin' fruit punch. As I said.... friendly staff but based on this we probably won't go back

Thank you for your reply Stephanie. So... I think you missed my point, but I will respond to what you said. First... was I supposed to stand in your lobby and pound down the drinks before I left so I could let you know what I thought cause your sign said order and wait outside? We went to get a cocktail specifically to come and sit on the deck at our hotel and relax, you would have been closed had we tried to go back. Second.... the fact that there were supposed to be 'two drinks' in that little plastic cup makes me feel more ripped off, you say it is served in a Mason jar, must be the smallest Mason jar in the world. Mainly.... everywhere I have ever ordered a 'double' of whatever cocktail it is means 'double alcohol' and as I said those Mai Tais tasted like there was no alcohol in them at all. Your staff needs to be more specific about what 'double' means, as we are visitors here and not local there was no way...