Georges at the Cove — Restaurant in San Diego

My husband & I had a lunch @ George's @ the Cove 1/29 & were quite disappointed. The hostess was warm & welcoming, our server was very kind &FF helpful, & I briefly spoke with the bartender who was lovely. All of them were friendly & hospitable & went about their work with smiles...until a couple of elderly women arrived. These women were seated behind my husband & loudly complained to the hostess, then the server, then to the restaurant manager about everything from demanding that the elevator is manned with staff as it's confusing, to too many stairs (in this older facility for which the highlight is the multi-leveled views), that they need to tear down walls & build ramps, & continued to spew their entitled negativity at full volume. All of the staff were kind to them, in spite these women speaking down to them tumultuously. The crabby diners proceeded to continue their vocal complaining throughout the meal & it was as if they sucked the joyful atmosphere out of the air & the staff no longer looked happy as they were now forced to feel defensive. I take issue with people who are ill-mannered & demeaning to workers who are forced to work in a "the customer is always right" environment, so I quietly walked to their table & kept my volume down & my tone in check & asked them if they were aware that they were quite rude to all of the staff & that their vocal grumblings were not only affecting the previously sunny employees, but the rest of us diners' lunches. The women were taken aback at squawked that I was being rude to them, just as a weaselly-looking small man, I later learned was the general manager Sam, came over & scolded me & asked me to sit down. I was neither loud nor did I garner the attention of the other tables (as I was very conscious not to do so). My husband & I finished our very mediocre meal of almost grey seared albacore in a "ginger sesame" dressing that tasted mostly of overly tart citrus juice & none of the namesakes...possibly to cover up a less fresh seafood. My husband's tacos were overly sauced & soggy. Other than the views (which were hampered by an old, worn plastic tarp that wasn't as transparent as you'd desire for a place known for the view) & the kindness of the staff pre-dumped on by those customers, the place reminded me of those has-been steakhouses that used to be "fancy places" & rested on their laurels over the years. As we walked out, it didn't sit well with me the way the GM spoke with me, making me feel criminalized & not the woman behaving boorishly. I asked to speak with him before I left. When he came out, he got much too close to my face as if trying to intimidate me, which he did not, although his breath was foul. I explained to him that his entire staff was so welcoming & happy, until these miserable women came in & he let them be rude to his work family & not defend his own people...as well as to allow these surly ladies at lunch to turn the vibe from peaceful to combative. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have added, as he continued to make me feel like I was the one causing problems here, "What? Do these women come from bazillionaire La Jolla families, so you let them do what they want & you don't protect your own workers & us other diners? Maybe you should bring your balls & your spine with you to work tomorrow." To that, I was told to leave & that I can never return. I have zero problems with that as there was nothing making me want to return & I'm certain there are better places close by with a more updated menu & cooked with skill & passion, &, hopefully, with a GM who respects & cares for his staff. BTW: I got some amazing smiles & silently-mouthed "thank you's" from 4 staff members who overheard my 2 interactions with the GM on my way out. I hate leaving poor reviews, &, if you search my other reviews, you'll see almost all are very positive, from around the globe, but I couldn't let this sneak by without making potential future diners aware (& to publicly stand up for the kind staff, even if their own boss won't). I'd recommend trying...

My wife's friend made a reservation at this restaurant because we were going to go on a kayaking tour near there. This was supposedly a popular restaurant in La Jolla. Our plan was to eat here at 12pm so that we could have enough time to make it for our 2:30pm kayaking excursion.

My wife's friend and her husband were driving from Orange County and my wife and I were coming from San Bernardino County.

When my wife and I arrived at 11:50am (10 minutes BEFORE our reservation) they would NOT allow us to be seated unless all 4 in our party were there. My wife said that we would order their dishes but they still couldn't allow us. I asked why that was the case and the hostess said it was their policy. But they said we could go to the bar and wait if we wanted. As if I'm going to spend extra money on this establishment that just inconvenienced us because of a ridiculous policy? I don't think so.

My wife and I were hungry and probably would have ordered appetizers while we were waiting for our friends to arrive, but we just stood there and waited until our friends showed up. At 12:20, our friends finally arrived and they didn't even have our table ready that we reserved. We waited another 10 minutes and I'm beyond annoyed at this point because my wife I were starving.

Also, when my wife's friend made the reservation, we requested a seat with a view of the ocean. They sat us on the side which had an indirect view of the ocean but a direct view of a beautiful roof of a building next to us (sarcasm). You can see a photo that I attached here. So we asked why we couldn't get an ocean view and they said those seats are for PAID reservations. They never told us that before.

After sitting down, we got served by a middle aged woman that wasn't friendly and had no people skills whatsoever. She wasn't awful but her nonchalant attitude just added to the "charm" of this place.

The food was the only thing that saved this from being one of my worst experiences ever. The burger was excellent in my opinion. My wife had the fish tacos and they looked pretty good to me although my wife said they were just okay. My wife's friend had risotto and she was happy with it and her husband had the linguine with clams which looked really good. The only main problem was that it wasn't filling enough for him. Overall, however, the food was pretty good.

When we left, no one said a word to us such as "Thanks for coming!" or anything else like that. All of the staff have a care-free and unfriendly attitude which we noticed from the beginning to the end.

To sum up my experience here: The food is good and the views are awesome (if you pay for it) but it seems like they only care when wealthy people frequent this place. If you're just an average customer, don't expect to be treated with any...

I have eaten at George’s many times on my trips to SD but am deeply troubled about my treatment on my last visit. I had a very short vacation and drove up from Coronado to La Jolla to eat and watch the sunset at George’s. When I arrived I was told there were no tables. I looked confused at all the empty tables by the glass - there were more empty than were seated. I politely asked if there were so many open tables why he was not seating. The rude host told me that those tables had reservations in over an hour and they were holding those tables for other people. I said I’m happy to just get a drink and appetizer and leave before those reservations I’m really just here on a very short trip to watch the sunset and enjoy a drink and food. He snapped at me that that was entree seating only. I said ok I had planned to eat ENTREE & apps (plus drinks) anyway and he said that I could sit at the bar. Disappointed I asked him if I could be put on a waitlist. He really didn’t want to do that and made it obvious but he did. I went and sat at the bar - the only one in an almost empty restaurant. The bartender could tell I was troubled and asked if I was ok. I told him that I was trying to get a table and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t be seated when more tables were empty than taken and there was plenty of staff working that area. He went and talked to the host and apologized. He said he’s young and i don’t understand it either. He said that when a table left he would clean it himself and seat me. I sat there for over an hour and watched the sunset little by little through the bar with tears in my eyes. Once it was dark I left the restaurant as there was no use waiting any longer for a sunset dinner seat. None of those tables ever showed up and those tables sat empty. I got a text about 20 minutes later a table was ready which means more reservations didn’t show up. Not only did this restaurant lose money holding tables open during a peak time but they lost a long term customer. I was deeply hurt and disappointed by this young man’s heartlessness and carelessness. He was not kind and he should not be the first experience. If it weren’t for the view there would be no reason to go here. I cried over this and wasted an entire night of my short vacation on this experience which I’ll never get back. If you’ve read this long I recommend walking next door to Eddie V’s or La Valencia where they are kind, welcoming and happy to help you view the sunsets over great drinks and food. Kindness matters and this place doesn’t care about people or their feelings. Shame. The host here should be fired, not only does he not understand or care that restaurants should be turning over tables to make money but he doesn’t understand that he’s a representation of this business and...