Botanica Art & Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in San Diego

This is a strange review for me. Extreme highs... And lows.

The good: Very delicious food presented beautifully. Great drinks. Nina, the head of culinary (of 7 of the restaurants) was on site, and right next to us, and she demands gorgeous delicious food and cares about the customer experience.

The bad/weird: we booked 3 weeks ago for Valentine's Day. We debated on the options (bar or high top) and decided on high top. Fast forward three weeks and they've changed their wording on the Reservation site, now it's bar or dining room. When we arrived, early Reservation, 630, they said we booked bar Even though our reservation says an option, that now they don't offer. Strange

When we were sat there were only 2 other people at the bar and they sat us in the corner right next to the other 2. When I asked to be at a different section of bar they said "sorry, there's reservations". Which I was, and it's not like the reservation allows you to choose which bar stool.

Next, I was really looking forward to these tapas. I specifically booked here as we wanted to do tapas but did not want a Valentine's menu. Well, according to one of the staff, they mentioned they decided a week or so ago to do a Valentine's menu. Too bad for me for booking in advance.

What's worse is the bar and the other tables had different menus (only feet apart mind you). The item I was most excited for, wagyu tartar oysters (I grew up eating oysters 1-2 times a week and go out specifically for them) was not on our menu. I asked to still order them...they said no. So I got to watch them come out all night. Luckily Nina was gracious enough to bring us two when she heard our situation.

Really, overall, if you're looking for drinks and some fantastic apps, this place is great. Atmosphere is very pretty as well. Drink Service is slow when busy but they were delicious. BUT, I wouldn't trust this place with any event or special occasion. After really planning this and then being burned in multiple aspects I just couldn't get over it which spoiled the evening for me. That's my fault, but nonetheless...

Came here for a birthday dinner with some girlfriends, was really excited to check it out. They were very friendly and nice when making the reservation, I had to call to modify the reservation and they were friendly on the phone and when checking us in. Reservation was at 7 pm.

The drinks were delicious but drink service was somewhat slow, took a while to get our drinks to our table once ordered. Food was delicious as well, we ordered: chickpeas, disco fries, crispy salmon, crispy polenta, chicken skewers, as well as the two specials: botanica roll and feta stuffed olives. No complaints on food, it was really yummy food. And we basically ordered almost one of everything on the menu and two rounds of drinks, so it’s not like we were sitting on the table.

At 8:30 an employee came to our table and said “the next reservation is here, so you will need to go.” We were still enjoying our 2nd round of drinks with intent to order a 3rd round and dessert. She asked if we wanted anything else and we were thrown off so we said no we should be okay. She came back a minute later with the check, we asked if we could order the churros and she said “ummm yes but we need this table” and just kind of stared at us. So we said “ok so we get the vibe that means no” we accepted the check, took about 5-10 minutes to finish the stuff on our table and leave.

No where during the booking process was I told the reservation was a strict 90 minutes. I called to make a reservation and then also looked online to book, neither place stated 90 minutes. We also weren’t told this when seated or at any point during our dining experience. No one warned us or asked us for any final orders, gave us a 15 minute warning, nothing.

It was awkward and off putting to leave like that to say the least, and it definitely dampened the mood for an...

We walked half a mile to specifically come here. On arrival, the hostess told us two patrons would be leaving the bar shortly and we could sit. We took menus, sat, and waited at the bench outside for 10 minutes. We watched the hostess seat two other parties, including a group of three, who arrived after us (only one on the waitlist, which we had not been added to).

After 10 minutes, I politely asked the hostess whether the two seats at the bar would be ready soon. She said ‘let me check’, went inside, and came back out a few minutes later, leaving me standing there while she began checking her tablet. Two other guys came up and started a conversation with a lady who was apparently the owner, who had been standing just inside (who I had seen twice and who had seen me). They then sat at two open seats on the patio (there was also a two top just inside that was empty the entire time we waited).

I asked the hostess a third time whether there were seats coming available at the bar and she again went ‘let me check’, and proceeded to then take the tablet inside.

We’d lost our patience, so I get up, look through the door, and I see the hostess on the tablet slightly inside. I go in, ask her to again confirm whether there will be seats (I’m almost positive someone else got the seats because of something she said to earlier customers). At this juncture, she finally offers to put us on the waitlist.

Things go wrong on a Saturday night, but this is just trash customer service (particularly for $20 cocktails). Had the hostess been honest, we would have been very understanding. They clearly were waiting for us to just forget and leave. We’re now happily enjoying strawberry mules on the patio of U31...