Mission Inn Restaurant — Restaurant in Riverside

I was so excited to go to the Mission Inn for Thanksgiving Dinner because I had never been. When we first arrived, everything was beautiful coming in the front doors with all the Christmas decorations. I really enjoyed the ambience. We went into the presidential bar that prior presidents have gone to and my husband and I each had a drink and while we waited a long time for that drink, it was really really good so I can’t complain about that. Then it was time for our reservation for the Thanksgiving buffet. When we first went up to the hostess she said, do you want to order from the menu or do you want to have the buffet? I said, What do you think I was thinking the buffet but what do you think and she said oh I highly recommend the buffet. We sat down and when we went over to the buffet, my husband and I were shocked. Besides the fact that it was tiny with a small selection of food, it reminded us of those hokey breakfast buffets that you see at small hotels. There was no white meat turkey, which I found shocking. The stuffing was so bad and stuck together and they even had the gravy in a coffee pitcher which was very strange. I literally couldn’t believe it every single thing that I put on my plate was subpar over salted and for the price that we were paying, I just could not believe it. So we waited for our waiter to get back and told him how disappointed we were and I asked him to please send a manager over because I really wanted to understand what was going on with the quality of the buffet that I was about to pay $75 for. We waited and waited and waited and the waiter kept coming back and saying I’m so sorry the manager will be here soon. The manager finally came over to our table about an hour later and said what can I do for you with a major attitude. There was no apology for the wait and when I began telling him that the food was definitely not very good quality and that there was no white meat turkey, which would be expected for a Thanksgiving dinner, and then all the rest of the food just didn’t even taste good he really had nothing to say. He actually was halfway trying to defend it. He didn’t offer us a discount. He didn’t offer his condolences for having such a terrible Thanksgiving dinner. He just stood there looking at us like standing over me looking angry. I didn’t do this review for a long time because it made me so mad that not only was the food bad, that guy ruined it further with his poor attitude and customer service. I really just thought you know what I’m moving on and I’m just never going back. But I just did a review for a really nice restaurant recently and I thought to myself you know what everyone should know, don’t go to the mission inn for one of those stupid overpriced $75 Thanksgiving buffets because it was absolute garbage and the service from that manager...

Short-staffed and disaster after disaster. This is going to be long recount of our awful trainwreck of a dinner at Mission Inn Restaurant. Quick Summary: Expensive parking. Beautiful lights. 40 minute wait to be seated WITH A RESERVATION, and 45 minute wait for food after ordering. Food OK and expensive. Server did her best but abysmally short-staffed. Unapologetic manager for injury to my mother.

Parking- We arrive and are not sure how to park. We ended up in lot where the signage said $10, but when we left we were charged $30. Location - Lights were phenomenal. We got lost looking for the entrance though to the resturant. Time to be seated- We had to give them our reservation at the door to enter the hotel, then were were allowed into the building and to the hostess desk. She told us they were short staffed and that we would not be seated for another 35 minutes (this was inaccurate). Our reservation was at 7:30pm, we checked in with the hostess at 7:20 and were seated at 8pm. Seating and Service- We were NOT seated in the beautifully lit up Spanish patio, as we had already waited 40 minutes we were not prepared to wait longer. We were seated by a window that sort of looked into the Spanish patio - so kinda nice I guess. Our server was extremely nice and explained that they were short staffed and food would be slow to arrive. She was right - our appetizer never arrived and the food showed up after about 45 more minutes. Food - Tasty, but overpriced. Disasters/ Mishaps - Remember we are seated next to the patio so there is a door for the servers to enter and exit. Well a server was smacked in the face with the door while carrying a bunch of plates. Giant mess, liquids everywhere, she did place a sign and mopped a little with a towel. About 10 minutes later another server was exiting the patio to enter the area we were sitting, and he slips (in that afore mentioned wet area) dropping a plate that shatters into pieces that fly into the back of my mother's legs. She is not mortally wounded but of course distraught as she describes it is like stepping on tiny pieces of glass except in the back of her leg. Now were were NOT compensated, NOR did a manager come by to apologize. Instead Security came over to have her sign a waiver not to sue and give her a bandaid. Last remarks- We paid $260 for a 5 person dinner. They tried to charge us for an appetizer we never received. We were charged for 2 sodas and was not informed refills...

We were really looking forward to dinner here for our daughter's 18th birthday. The place is stunning during the holidays. The decorations and the lights are phenomenal. I would go here just to see them. We arrived and ordered a couple of appetizers: calamari and artichoke dip. The calamari was okay but definitely could have been fried a bit longer to crisp up the batter a little more. The artichoke dip was mediocre. My brother and I both had Rib Eyes which were cooked perfect. Can never go wrong here. Sister in law had salmon that they literally burned the skin on the bottom side and the fish itself was very dry. My daughter had the chicken breast which in my opinion was pathetic and for the price could have been something so much better. The rosemary au jus had no flavor that they topped it with. Mught as well have called it a salted chicke breast. Mom had the filet which she said was awesome, and my wife had the new york which was great as well. Couple of major issues. Our server, Gerardo, was so unavailable for us. He took our order disappeared and rarely stopped to check on us during the meal. My wife and sister in law shared a bottle of wine so when he walked by, he would pick up the bottle and pour a little bit in their glasses. The rest of us had to ask every time we needed refills on our iced tea and coffee. He just passed by and didn't check when we even saw him. The other staff delivered our food and appetizers. He showed up as they were setting the last plate. Ibhad to flag him down every time I needed something. Then comes to the birthday part. He brings my daughter a menu and knew it was her birthday before we even ordered. I made sure of it. They brought out a tiramisu with enough cocoa powder to bake a full sheet cake on 1 little square of it, threw $18 on the bill for it, sang happy birthday, dropped our check and disappeared. Again. Had to flag him down to pay and he automatically got a 20% tip for awful service. I am so over going to places with automatic gratuities. Tipping is based on the dining experience and the service. When these guys know they are automatically getting 20%, you are just left to the mercy of their attitude that day and Gerardo's sucked. When you are spending $50+ pp for entrees, it should be exceptional for everyone. Sadly, it was not. The only reason I am giving 3 stars is because the place really is visually stunning and our steaks...