Don Orange — Restaurant in Redlands

Reluctant but Honest Review – A Disappointing Experience for a Solo Diner

I really didn’t want to write this review, but I feel it’s important to share my experience for others who, like me, often dine out solo. I eat out frequently and usually enjoy trying new places, but my visit to Don Orange left me incredibly disappointed.

From the moment I walked in, I felt unwelcome. The host gave me a look that felt judgmental—no greeting, no warmth—just negative energy, seemingly because I was a party of one. As I sat down, several servers walked by without so much as a “hello” or “I’ll be right with you.” Nothing. I work in the service industry myself, so I understand how stressful it can be, but I would never walk past a guest without at least acknowledging them with a smile or a greeting.

It got to the point where I genuinely started wondering if I was going to be ignored the entire time simply because I was dining alone. Meanwhile, every other table around me seemed to be receiving attentive service. If management doubts this, I invite you to review your cameras from 5/13/2025 between 7:34 PM and 9:08 PM.

To be clear, the restaurant was not overly busy. I noticed at least 3 or 4 servers, and yet, no one stopped by. It wasn’t until nearly 25-30 minutes later that the bartender came over and asked if I wanted a cocktail. I’m not of age, so I politely asked for a Diet Coke and placed my food order.

To their credit, the food came out quickly. Unfortunately, the server who brought it over seemed to have an attitude—no offer or a “can I get you anything else” Just a cold drop-off. I also observed other servers laughing and chatting instead of tending to guests.

I know there’s often a stigma toward younger people dining alone at upscale places—servers sometimes assume we won’t tip well. But in reality, it’s usually the confident solo diners who appreciate good service and tip generously. Personally, I often tip 45% or more when dining out alone, and I had every intention of doing so here.

The food and ambiance were incredible—honestly top-tier. But the service experience didn’t match the quality of the kitchen, which is a shame. If it weren’t for the bartender, who was the only person that acknowledged and served me, I don’t think I would have been helped at all. I tipped him 65% of my bill because he was the only highlight of the evening.

I arrived at 7:34 PM and left at 9:08 PM. I’ve never waited that long just to be acknowledged at a restaurant—especially as a solo diner. Great food can only carry an experience so far. Service matters, and unfortunately, Don...

This experience saddens me. I really wanted this place to be great and it falls very short. The atmosphere and the overall look of this place are awesome. The service on the other hand is terrible. I stood in front of the hostess and tried to get her attention for more than 2 minutes and she ignored me. Helped the next person that literally walked up with a huge smile. I had to get rude to get service. Not a great start. Was eventually seated and was reminded that everything takes very long here so to expect that... It's a new place and it's busy so I expected things to take a bit long so that wasn't a huge deal. I ordered two tacos and a beer while my wife ordered the steak torta. The food came before the drinks which is kinda odd but again, no big deal right? The food is good not great. $16 dollars for a carne asada taco and a pastor taco and I can say while they were good they lacked anything that would justify the price. The portions are very off and nothing made me say "wow they truly did something different here" the side these come with are a small bowl of beans. My wife's torta barely had any meat in it and one piece was still raw. Like still dark red raw. I showed the waitress and she took the dish, showed another employee and that was it. No manager came by to apologize, my waitress never mentioned it again and never apologized for the restaurant, nothing. This led me to believe that ultimately it didn't matter to them. From where we were sitting I can see two managers just dancing and one flirting with his Co workers instead of checking in on tables and making sure that in these early opening weeks, things might get hectic but they're working really hard to improve for their customers. Instead, it was like nothing matters except dancing to TLC next to the POS screen and ignoring customers. It's truly a shame that this place wasn't a pleasant experience. After living in Redlands and spending countless hours eating and drinking downtown, we get accustomed to a certain level of quality. This wasn't it and...

This is a tough one to rate.... there were some really great things (the food), and some really not-so-great things (the service).

Great: -The shrimp taco was deliciousssss, and the carnitas one was really good too. -The churros were probably the best churros I've ever had in my life. They were filled with some sort of cream, and were well-worth the $5. -Even the free chips and salsa were nice.

Not-so-great: -We were on a Saturday afternoon, off-peak time. There were barely any customers, but it took HALF AN HOUR for our three little tacos to come out. -And on top of that, a busser tried to give us the wrong order. Our waitress had to take back the wrong tacos and bring out the correct ones. -When we arrived, we asked the host for a high chair, as we clearly had a baby with us. She led us to our table... and never brought a high chair. Later our waitress came and greeted us. She saw the baby on our laps... no high chair. She took our order... no high chair. After more than 10 minutes of sitting there, I finally asked a busser for a high chair and he brought one. -We were there for the Dia de Los Muertos event, but the staff didn't even seem to know much about the promotion. When we first came in, we asked the host how the free tacos thing worked, and she had to go ask someone. Then at our table when we got the bill, we saw that our waitress charged us for our tacos. We had to say, "Aren't the tacos free?" and she was basically like, "Oh, I didn't know you guys were here for the free tacos" and then took them off our bill. Which really doesn't seem right at all... they should be giving them free to the first 200 customers after 2pm, as advertised, without customers having to explicitly ask for it! There was also a candy table with to-go bags, as part of the event I assume, but no employees mentioned it to us. As we were leaving, I welcomed myself over...