Culinary Dropout — Restaurant in San Diego

Overall, fantastic night out.

We came on a date night, but could easily be a fine experience with your kids.

I always judge a restaurant by its rainbow roll. Culinary Dropout nailed it. The fish was fresh and enticing to look at; however, the lemon oil and fresh crab (no imitation in here) was refreshing and delicious. A great start to our meal.

I enjoyed the shaved prime rib dip with a side salad. The meat was perfectly cooked-melt in your mouth quality-the standouts for me are always the things people don’t necessarily tell you. The bread was baked perfectly. So many times I bite into a sandwich with high expectations to have the roof of my mouth cut to shreds. This bread was flavorful with a lightly crisp outside and a sultry inside. Bravo! Also, the side salad was legitimately good. Full of fresh vegetables in a perfect portion—tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and a radish slice. Yum!

My husband had the Mongolian short rib served over rice. The meat was tender and flavorful and the vegetables were perfectly cooked. At the end of the bowl there was a bit too much sauce on the final bites of rice, but who doesn’t love flavor?

The dessert: mud pie. This alone could have its own restaurant. Chocolatey deliciousness. Just order it and you will understand.

Cocktails: campfire vibes- good flavor, good spice, still some sweet notes

Evil jungle princess: solid rum drink, love the notes of spiced orgeat, I could see sipping this in Hawaii when you are over the basic Mai Tai

Room service: If Carrie Bradshaw made the cosmo the ultimate drink, Culinary Dropout could make this every brunch/book club/bachelorette party a new must drink. If they sold this by the pitcher every woman in America would line up. Just yes.

Finally, the Giddy up espresso martini was a fabulous pairing with dessert. Not too sweet, hit all of the right notes. Loved having a sip with the delectable dessert.

Service was attentive, friendly and anticipated all of our needs. I wish I had remembered the servers name because he was fantastic.

Love this place will definitely be back! Can you read it? Oh my gosh they’re wearing trash bags here. Do you want swinging bigger water? Do you want this thing but it doesn’t spray...

Where do I begin? I went to the grand opening today because I've long awaited for this place to open. I put my name down on the res/wait list but ended up bypassing that and sitting at the bar. The place looks so aesthetically appealing and fun. I felt really comfortable (I was wearing casual clothes) and it looks like that is their concept with their staff (lots of different looks, not one alike). They had live music playing and plenty of TVs (to catch up with the padres game!).

To start, I ordered their pretzels and provolone fondue. The cheese came out on this cute cauldron type bowl and a small candle underneath to keep it warm. The pretzels were very soft and had the perfect amount of salt. They gave a generous amount of pretzels, definitely could have been enjoyed by more than 2 people!

I also ordered the house salad, they pre-tossed it in buttermilk ranch enough just to coat and not drench. It was very light and enjoyable. It was exactly what I needed prior to my next selection.

Lastly, I asked for the Korean style ribeye cap, which had been recommended by staff (thank you Ruby!). Wow it was amazing!!! It was full of flavor and the perfect amount of heat. I requested medium rare and it absolutely came out medium rare, so tender and juicy.

This visit I hadn't ordered any alcoholic beverages (work awaited), but I will next time. I did order a virgin drink called the juicy watermelon spritz, it was really good/refreshing. It had crushed watermelon, coconut juice and fresh squeezed lemon.

Anyways, so glad I came, had a great experience and service was 100000/10 from start to finish. Obviously it was opening day and everyone was really excited, but they seemed to have hired a good amount of happy helpful people.

Off note - I work nights so the fact that they stay open way later than a lot of places in this area is...

My family and I enjoyed lunch at Culinary Dropout this past weekend. The service and the atmosphere were great! The food was pretty tasty as well.

We started our meal with the soft pretzels and fondue. These were a hit and the portion was generous enough for everyone to have two large pretzel balls with some to take home. Highly recommend!

For my main course I ordered the shrimp tempura roll. The flavor was fantastic but it was the smallest shrimp tempura roll I've ever seen, especially for the price at $18. I wish it would have come with a bowl of miso soup as well. While it was tasty, I'm not sure I'd order it again as I was left wanting more.

My husband ordered the pork belly nachos. These were good. The portion size was great as well. The meat was flavorful. My husband's only complaint was that it was made with cheese sauce instead of real cheese. Personally, I'd order them again. He's likely to choose something else next time.

My two kids ordered from the kids menu. One ordered the chicken tenders with a side of apple slices. The portion was giant!! The chicken was flavorful and juicy. The other ordered the popcorn shrimp with fries. There were plenty of fries, too many actually but unfortunately only 6-8 tiny shrimp. When comparing to the chicken plate, I was surprised. The flavor was excellent and thankfully my daughter wasn't starving. I shared a piece of my roll with her and she had a few nachos off of my husband's plate. The extra fries came home with the chicken and pretzels.

The kids ordered lemonade to drink. I think it's made in house and was delicious, not too sweet. I'll be ordering that or an Arnold palmer next time.

Overall, we were pleased and we'll definitely be back to try some...