California Fish Grill — Restaurant in San Diego

I was appalled at how I was treated on the phone tonite after calling about an issue with an online order at the Balboa store. I‘m a disabled senior who depends on to go food when my caregiver can't come. I am a very frequent customer of CA Fish Grill & usually pleased with the food & service. I use mostly outside delivery services but sometimes use their website which was the case tonite. I order pretty much the same grilled fish plate. The sea bass is delicate with thin elastic skin which may easily be overcooked & burned on the grill if the cook is not careful.

For that reason, I always add special notes online and/or call the store after i place the order to please avoid burning my fish. Majority of the time, the cook grills it perfectly.

So tonite when I received my to-go, it was upsetting as the fish was badly burned. i called to complain since I made a point of making my request clear beforehand. The charred skin was stringy and disgusting. Fish was overdone & the meal was cold.

The manager onsite, while apologetic, acted strangely hesitant like he didn’t have any authority. He said he would have to call his manager to get approval to either replace or reimburse my inedible meal. I was irritated but replied ok I’ll wait on hold. To me, this was a very straight forward case of the cook ignoring my instructions.

When the manager got back, he said this had to be escalated up another level for approval!! I was stunned as not only was the food unacceptable, but he further insinuated there was something amiss with me for complaining like i was a problem customer! . I probed further to figure out why management was acting so dismissive. He admitted he mentioned me earlier to Joey, another manager, who apparently dropped by earlier, that i was having problems with their new website and requested my fish to be not over cooked. Much to my chagrin, it seems Joey said something like I was too fussy or had other issues. That took me aback as Joey had helped me a month ago with a spoiled kale salad. Very responsive, saying they would immediately dump it and make a fresh batch. Told me to ask for an extra salad on my next order which i haven’t taken him up on yet. So it was disconcerting to hear Joey was now dissing me.

As a loyal & frequent customer of CA Fish & Grill, i am very disappointed in how I was treated disrespectfully by management in dismissing my legitimate complaints about eating overcooked fish and greasy charred skin as a 72 year old who is sick and bedridden with specialized dietary & health needs. I should never feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about complaining about paying for inedible food.

As mentioned, I typically use food delivery services who are generally more responsive if there is a health or safety issue particularly if you include specific notes on cooking preferences that are...

Wow, what a disappointment! Clearly the manager on duty doesn’t understand business 101 basics and the importance of customer satisfaction and retention. I’m typically not one to complain, but had to after today. After paying for salmon tacos, I received cajun swai instead, not good at all and undercooked nonetheless.

As the owner of several small companies I understand that mistakes happen and I was kind and understanding at first. However, then I was met with nothing but attitude and indifference by one of the initial employee who didn’t even apologize. One was very professional (gets it) and did a good job in trying to resolve this mistake and talked to the manager. The manager apparently is quite incompetent and doesn’t get that simple yet very important “one chance to get it right” concept, but also insulted me (after not even rectifying their mistake). I wasn’t even offered a beverage or apology!

45 minutes wasted over this ordeal. To add insult to injury, after waiting all this time for my order they tried to give me half of my order since I’d made the mistake of taking a bite out of this nasty initial taco, so I waited yet another 10 minutes…and was met with resistance while simply asking for what I paid for! You can’t even make this up. Shamelessly unprofessional, disrespectful and absolutely unacceptable.

Considering the level of competition within this space here in San Diego, and especially that this is a brand new location…the level of this manager’s ignorance is astounding. I’m not sure if this is an issue from the top down with ownership or isolated incompetence with a bad manager incident, but regardless…I’m out, and they not only lost me as a customer, but my entire network, friends and colleagues. I won’t be returning after this experience and there are plenty of other better options out there with much better service...

You order from a Kiosk it looks like. There are four people behind the counter. Looks like manager is not in a good mood talking to an employee. Two other just standing behind just looking confused. I ordered online. I was starving and wanted fish and chips the smaller portions. I was so excited to have some because I have been craving them for a while. I had some pretty good ones in the past. I get there not many ppl in there. Some ppl at kiosk ordering. I pass then, counter ppl just look at me. No greeting. The manager does not even acknowledge me. I told them my order they just give it to me don't ask if I need any condiments. Very untrained staff. I blame this on management. It gets worse. When I get home. The fries are beyond greasy rubbery to chew. The greasiness was gross. The fish was also greasy. The fish inside tasted decent but the greasiness when taking a bite was to much. The side kale salad was very bland. No flavor. I m.disappinted because I don't usually eat fried food and expected some really great fish and chips. Should of gone to better fish place but I thought price was not bad. 12$ you get what you pay for. Not...