Cantina Mayahuel — Restaurant in San Diego

Started the night off here. We're seated right away, awesome let the night begin! Fresh off a trip from Mexico we came here to meet some friends, and me, enjoying mezcal came back to this place after many years. The server comes and asks us what we want? Do you not have menus? Oh no your menu really changes that much you only use qr, which many of us prefer not to use for a variety of reasons, ok fine. Some friendly banter, maybe some back and forth? Nope server went straight to douche mode right out the gate, don't like qr too damn bad. Oh by the way let me see IDs, a phrase never heard the rest of the night with any customer. My guy you wouldn't have seated us per your own policy if we weren't of age. I literally have a grey beard pushing 40 I work in the sun all day as grower, I don't look anywhere near 21. My bad turns out after my birthday that I just celebrated the ID expired while in Mexico, literally days ago, the server then decides to chastise me for it and give me grief, thanks Dad! Then asks for my passport? What? You're not throwing me a bone you're implying things. To top it off hot shot doesn't need to write down our order, proceeds to completely forget someone's meal that doesn't show up for 15 minutes in addition to the already long wait time to get food, also happens to be the same person he was originally super rude to, not a great look. Lastly, food was mediocre at best. Don't even bother with the rice or beans , the steak was actually kind of off, and my meal of chicken mole was good but portion entirely underwhelming. As much excitement and hype I had in my head this was a complete failure in service. My bad about the ID that's fair your protecting your business your not going to get dinged for that, but the approach with our table, that was not rowdy, loud or anything right out the gate was as distasteful as the food. All of this could have been saved with some actual decent service and respect, instead the servers attitude coupled with missing an entire meal was unacceptable and not even a compromise was offered. This felt more like a cultural cash grab than any actual mezcaleria I had just...

I've come to learn that "Cantina Mayahuel" inspires devotion like nearly no other notionally "Mexican" establishment in this city. Despite the intent of Mayahuel being a neighborhood tequila bar, people have hyped it beyond any reasonable level, with hyperbolic claims about the authenticity and quality of the Mexican food served out of Cantina Mayahuel's kitchen. The people who like this place, LOVE this place. After two visits, count me among the indifferent.

Cantina Mayahuel's tacos are good if you're drinking - they are the type that are fairly greasy, and their fork-tender carnitas pick up nice, crispy edges - but these are a far cry from the best tacos that San Diego has to offer. Yes, it's surprisingly rare to have a place to sit down for both Mexican food and margaritas that doesn't suck, as most of the good Mexican restaurants in San Diego do not offer cocktails - but could this place be overrated because it has a bar?

As a bar and not a food place, the layout is awkward, the ambience is a bit dingy, but I can see why people would come here on account of the cocktails being excellent and the bartenders being personable and on-top of drink orders despite the food service being excruciatingly slow. The "Blood Orange Margarita" is specifically a very-well executed cocktail.

For the record, Mayahuel's "Beef Chile Colorado" is also decent - though, again, nothing to change religion over. I suspect my fellow reviewers over-praise this dish because the kitchen managed to do something more ambitious than tacos without messing it up.

Would I come here again? If I were already in the neighborhood, sure. But let's be real about what Cantina Mayahuel is: this is more an interesting neighborhood dive bar than it is a restaurant. Either way, it's a fine place to visit, but you won't be missing much...

HOW IS THIS PLACE STILL IN BUSINESS? I think their slogan should be: "Come for the overpriced food, stay for the horrible service!"

Honestly, the decor is great, the food is pretty tasty,(portion size is unimpressive though) and the location is fantastic, but the wait staff is HORENDOUS! Our waiter never smiled, was inattentive, and borderline rude. At one point as we were finalizing our order he actually said "Do you need a minute. can I go do something else!?!" WHAT THE HELL? "Can I go do something else?" Yeah, how about take a training course on how to engage customers! Total lack of social skills.

I almost never leave bad reviews, but I actually was so disappointed with the service at Cantina Mayahuel that I went immediately afterwards, even though I wasn't really hungry anymore, to have Mexican food at another way better restaurant in North Park.

P.S. If you don't order water, they won't bring any.. and if you do order water, it comes in a 3oz plastic cup the size of a glorified shot glass which they hardly ever remember to refill. Also, the salsa fresca is $3 for a serving the size of a thimble. Seriously, you order chips and salsa, and they give you what amounts to enough for about 4 chips, and then ask you to pay extra for more salsa. It's salsa, this isn't meat or guacamole or sour cream where it's an expensive item. It's like water. You don't charge and your customers then feel ingratiated, and leave you good tips and good reviews.

I'm sure there's worse Mexican food Hipster hot-spots out there (although I'd be hard pressed to think of one) but if you value being treated with any dignity, skip this over-hyped disappointment, and...