Born and Raised — Restaurant in San Diego

Terrible overall experience, team effort excluding our waiter.

We had a reservation at 4:30, came 30 mins early, because we drove 2.5hrs from LA. Was greeted coldly by the front of house service, they then proceeded to tell us they cannot take us early, because dinner starts at 4:30, as happy hour currently is happening upstairs, but they could only take 3. Instead of asking us if some of us would like to go up while we wait for other seats, they recommended to us to go to another restaurant down the block… the reason we came early is because they would charge us 50 USD per person, if we did not show up on time….

We went spent money at another restaurant came back at 4:30, front of house was then scrambling to get us a table, MEANWHILE the entire restaurant is empty. I sense a lack of organization…

We got to our table on the upstairs, the front of house lady, sat our group in the booth with our backs directly facing the sunset. One of our friends had sensitive skin towards the sun, so we asked for a different empty table, she gave us a a negative response, said she can’t do it, we then escalated to have her double check, then she agreed, and we were able to to move to a different table on a different side. She later said she couldn’t control Mother Nature, but then 1 min later the awning COMES OUT TO COVER THE BOOTHS so that there is shade to cover the booth. This time she commented that she didn’t know the awning was fixed. Our dining experience already started off as if we’re the ones with the issues.

This restaurant is known for steaks, so a few of us, and even the table next to us ordered MEDIUM RARE steaks, 2 of the steaks came out raw… I didn’t get a chance to take a picture, as my friend immediately let the waiter know, in which he took the steak back to the kitchen to get a new one, later brought out the second one, and it was RAW AGAIN!! then our friend asked to have to just heated up to help them out, in which they did and it was fine, and the manager came out to try to mediate the situation.

Overall we ordered the

2/5 UNI spaghetti, sweet/sour taste in the sauce, and no creamy UNI flavour, instead just a piece of UNI on top.. not worth

1/5 Balsamic Onion, onions were basically half raw, and we’re not cooked thoroughly, I was thinking this dish was going to be sautéed onions but was entirely wrong, despite that it didn’t taste good.

3/5 Dirty Hashbrowns, not overly amazing, it was crème fraiche, caviar and potatoes.

1/5 Mac and cheese, save your money basically like normal Mac and cheese. Undercooked.

1/5 Cheeseburger, bread was dry, wagyu patty was okay, but the bread did not compliment the burger at all.

5/5 Burgundy Snails, was likely the only good appetizer, snails with bone marrow on toast.

4/5 Steak Tartare was also not bad, good saltiness from the chip, helped tie the tartare together.

3/5 Dry aged Steak, overall our steak was cooked fine, aside from my friends, but it didn’t blow me up away just felt like an average steak for me.

Overall for myself and my wife’s meal, we paid a total of $279USD, hoping this to be a great experience first time, since we came on a friends recommendation. But we left very disappointed overall.. will not be coming back, and I recommend you all save your...

This restaurant has been on my bucket list for a hot minute. That's why when my colleague bailed on me, I did not bat an eye and still proceeded to eagerly show up to my 7:45pm reservation.

I checked in with the ladies at the front who gave me two options; seating upstairs at the bar or a table downstairs. I asked them which option would give me more table space because I plan on ordering a lot of food. They advised the latter option so I was promptly led to a cute corner table. The ambiance was straight out of a dream heavily influenced by the roaring 1920s/The Great Gatsby era. Everything from the interior design to the dishes that they serve you in are curated carefully to maintain this theme. I loved this.

I was advised to try the Daisy drink by one of the nice front ladies at the front desk so I opted for that. No regrets - it was strong yet very refreshing, almost like a Moscow Mule's hot sister but made with London dry gin and champagne. Since this restaurant had been on my list to try, I memorized exactly what I wanted to order:

Uni Spaghetti - There are so many variations of this dish in both the LA and OC area, but this one is seriously one in a million in terms of the exquisite flavor of the uni - it's so fragrant without being overly salty (like at other places) and rich in a way where there's a hint of citrus that cuts through that to give you relief. Will order again, I already miss it.

Bone Marrow w/ Escargot - I indulged heavily in escargots when I lived in London because Europeans know how to cook them properly - especially when you take a convenient 2 hour train ride to Paris on the weekends, you really had no excuse not to be a big fan of them. I stopped ordering them as much when I moved back to the States, finding them to be easily overcooked and chewy. Not here. The escargots are cooked in a way where it is tender to the bite, and flavored in a way where it elevates the bone marrow (instead if the other way around). Will order again.

Dirty Hash Browns - I really thought this would be a comfort dish but the texture if the hash browns were unfortunately on the burnt side, so the crème fraîche was not able to penetrate it with mild flavor properly. On top of this, it was heavily salted (even the bites without the roe) so I will not be ordering this dish again.

Japanese Wagyu - Obviously the star of the show like so many other reviewers have already echoed. I ordered it medium rare, and it was just perfect. I'm glad they serve the coarse salt on the side of the steak so you can adjust the saltiness as you wish. I will order this again and again - and will be thinking of it often!

The service was phenomenal. I had my own dedicated server but I also had two very attentive managers who took turns checking up on me - most notably, Allison! I admit, dining solo in such a swanky place was a bit intimidating with everyone around me dressed to the nines with their dates and friends. But I was so intent on trying those marvelous dishes that I described above that I was determined to dine there, no matter what. Allison not acknowledged this but was being so kind and hospitable. If you are reading this, thank you! I hope to be back soon, such an amazing fairytale...

My wife and I came here for my birthday and had an exceptional experience! We were in town for the night and previously did some research on high-end steaks restaurants that would be walkable from our hotel. BAR kept showing up in the results so we booked our resy. Walking through the front doors was an experience in itself - you enter the restaurant and the atmosphere grabs you! The whole place was energetic, buzzing with cheerful conversations and cocktails being crafted. The glitzy decor made you feel like you’ve stepped into golden age and their rooftop patio was incredible - the bathrooms were also up top and each offered a moody flare! We arrived a little before our reservation to grab a drink at the bar. Their bar had a giant wall of various spirits and their cocktail/wine menu was very impressive. I ordered their single-barrel old fashioned and my wife ordered the French 75. Both were crafted to perfection! If we didn’t have a reservation, the bar would have been a great place to post up and the bartender was fantastic. We originally made our reservation for the rooftop patio but since it was a little toasty, we asked to be seated inside - which of course, they accommodated without question. We were seated inside a booth near the middle of the room and shortly after ordered a bottle of St. Innocent Pinot noir. Their sommelier, Shannon, promptly brought our bottle and as she was pouring the wine, we had an incredible conversation about Oregon wineries and shared some favorites. She was fantastic and extremely knowledgeable about wines of all varietals. Everything on the menu sounded exquisite! We started with the Dry-Aged Meatball and it was out of this world! Our server also highly recommended the meatball and mentioned it was a very popular starter. For the main course, we both ordered their 8 oz filets along with two sides, the Mac & Cheese and Broccolini. The filets were cooked to perfection and had such an enormous amount of flavor. Hands down one of the best filets I’ve enjoyed! I always feel like you can tell how “good” a steak place is based on their Mac & Cheese, and BAR served up some of the best Mac I’ve ever experienced! The cheesiness was spot on, the breadcrumbs added a nice texture and the flavor was of course, perfection. The Broccolini didn’t disappoint either and had a nice touch of heat that made it unique and very enjoyable. We unfortunately didn’t save much room for dessert but they had a dessert cart delicious looking options and the servings looked huge! Since it was my birthday, our server did bring out a homemade macaron with a candle on the plate - a very nice touch. Oh and the macaron was of course delicious! We also noticed a cocktail cart making its way around the room whipping up table-side cocktails. We didn’t get to experience this first hand but the process seemed very fun. Overall, this was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had! The entire evening was incredible - the cocktails/wine, the service, the food - everything was exceptional. We’ve already talked about visiting San Diego again just so we can experience dining here again! Oh, and if you ever want to open up a BAR location in Kansas City, let me know, I’ll be there...