Brisa Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in San Diego

I really wanted to like Brisa but the whole experience fell extremely short. From the moment we sat down my guest and I felt extremely unwelcome. At the time we dined there were only a few tables in the restaurant so the over 10 minutes for a server to greet us and get waters seemed a bit long. We asked our server if he had any suggestions for cocktails and his response was short and uninformative; "they're all good" he said. Despite the initial interaction we were determined to have a nice experience so we picked out a couple cocktails, some appetizers, and a few sushi rolls to split. Appetizers came out before the cocktails, we weren't offered any share plates, and were extremely bland. The street corn and guacamole was inedible and seemed like it was canned corn and pre-made guacamole thrown on a plate. By the time our sushi rolls came out (about 45 mins after ordering) we were already turned off by the service and food, and unfortunately the sushi made it much worse. The "fusion flavors" they are attempting are not cohesive and half way through we found a hair in one of our rolls. At this point we asked to speak with a manager to chat about our food and experience. Jenny came over and while extremely apologetic made no offers to course correct and make this a positive evening. We had our food taken away and asked for the bill where were charged for everything (including the half eaten sushi rolls). Upon leaving we saw our server and Jenny at a computer terminal glaring at us as we left. I'm not usually one to write reviews or complain at restaurants in general, but this whole experience was BAD. While the ambience and interior is nice there isn't much meat on the bones to justify coming to Brisa again. Very...

Unfortunately Brisa really just missed the mark when it comes to food and service.

Initial red flag was that they have a photographer in the restaurant (it’s giving cruise ship??) who comes around and takes your photos and then brings them back printed and framed for you to buy. No offense to the photographer, but that’s just not something that screams high quality restaurant, imo.

Beyond that the service was pretty subpar (our server was very nice but really couldn’t remember to bring anything we asked for and was slow), but I’m okay with slow service, especially on a Saturday night, if the food is worth it. Unfortunately that’s not the case - it seems like they put all attention into their aesthetic and none into the food quality or chef skills. All of our steaks came extremely overcooked, some of our meals came with a tomato salad and others didn’t (we ordered the same meal??) and overall it just wasn’t an enjoyable meal at all.

Gave 2 stars because we did say something to our server and he gave us a discount so we appreciated that, but the neighboring table also had a bad meal and said something about it, so it’s not just a one-off.

I think San Diego has enough overpriced vibey/aesthetic restaurants, I don’t imagine this one is going to do great unless they put more attention into their food...

Disappointed and Still Awaiting Resolution After a $300 Charge

I dined at this restaurant on May 1st to celebrate a special occasion with my family. While our in-person experience seemed enjoyable at the time, I was extremely shocked to discover a $300 charge on my credit card days later — on May 9th, when I wasn’t even there.

I had used my card solely to hold the reservation and paid with an entirely different method at the end of the meal. Despite tipping well and following all procedures correctly, I have now been disputing this unauthorized charge for nearly three weeks — with no resolution and no refund in sight.

I’ve reached out multiple times, and the lack of accountability and unwillingness to correct this error is beyond disappointing. As a paying customer, I expect transparency and fairness — especially when it comes to my finances.

I urge anyone dining here to check your credit card statements carefully, as this situation has been incredibly frustrating and unacceptable. I sincerely hope the restaurant takes this feedback seriously and does what’s right by...