Gravity Heights — Restaurant in San Diego

I drink beer on occasion, but I don't obsess and fuss over it the way I would tacos or fried chicken. I believe brewmaster Skip Virgilio (founder and former co-owner of AleSmith Brewing Co.) is targeting people like me with his yeasty concoctions, as all of the beer I've had here ("Two Takes" Pilsner, "June Gloom" IPA, and the Oktoberfest) has been straightforward and pleasant to drink, lacking the bitterness, aggression, and inaccessibility that I often associate with certain "craft beer."

One of my favorite dishes I ordered here was the "Crispy Octopus," one of the most "San Diego" dishes you can order anywhere, featuring octopus brushed with a sweet Korean-style glaze, then placed on top of sushi rice, with a rice wine vinaigrette, chunks of fresh avocado, lima beans, sesame seeds, and cilantro, making it the most multi-culti cross-over octopus dish ever. The surfaces and edges of the octopus are indeed crispy, yet the meat remains tender. Quite a few people are complaining in Yelp reviews about the portion size of the octopus, though they can safely be ignored. It's a starter, not a main course. This is a solid and reasonably-sized octopus appetizer from a kitchen of pro cooks who make virtually everything from scratch using local produce.

The "Gravity Burger" is a delectable, juicy bacon cheeseburger in a city with lots of very nice burgers. What may set it apart from the pack is its tangy, spicy "dirty sauce" and its thick, crunchy slices of bacon. It also doesn't hurt to have a sweet "day-baked" bun that has been buttered and toasted for flavor and to firmly stand up to all of the burger juices, bacon fat, cheese, and sauce. You'll want to insist they cook this burger as medium-rare as I did.

While Gravity Heights "House Hot Chicken Wings" won't change my opinion of Buffalo-style wings in this city, they are among the better wings of this type that I've had in San Diego. Gravity Heights wisely focuses on getting the skin as crispy as possible, and they use cornstarch to help do so. Don't worry: these are not breaded or battered wings -- you probably wouldn't even know they were lightly dredged in cornstarch unless you read this review. The wings are large and meaty, and I know some people claim to like lots of chicken meat in their wings, but I prefer smaller wings with less meat, and a higher ratio of crispy flavor-concentrated skin, fat, and cartilage (i.e. the "good stuff"). Also, Gravity Heights' hot sauce is not very hot, and there's not enough on the wings to do more than give your tongue an "essence of heat." All that said, I've ordered these multiple times, so they're obviously not bad. Despite the wings being oversized and mildly spiced, they got the important elements right: the meat is juicy and the skin is appropriately crunchy.

The "Lamb Bolognese" could easily be a dish on Whisknladle's menu, and I mean that in a good way. The ground lamb tastes like lamb in the best of ways and was well-complemented by a somewhat funky shaved cheese. The thick housemade tagliatelle pasta is a highlight. Less impressive is Gravity Heights' take on "Pepperoni Pizza" -- it's a NYC-style pizza with a combination of fontina and pecorino cheeses, but it's pervaded with grease. In case you feel you don't have enough fat dripping off of it, they provide "chili oil" on the side. It's edible, but the kitchen needs to work on this one. The "Cast Iron Cookie" with toffee and white chocolate chips is a nice ending to a meal -- warm, sweet, gooey, and tempered by vanilla gelato. It'd be better if parts were crunchier, but I'd order again as is.

Overall, Gravity Heights has earned a spot in my rotation of places to eat on NFL Sundays, and is also a place I'd take my family to for a Wednesday dinner without hesitation. While beer is the obvious reason to come here, to pigeonhole Gravity Heights as a "beer joint" is doing it a disservice given the quality of food, WNL-level service, appealing atmosphere, and...

Last night was supposed to be a special night for my friends birthday. Her husband made what he thought were reservations to not only a specific date and time, but to an area of the restaurant itself, the fire pit. Our party arrived on time by 6:30pm. Upon arrival, we were told that there was another party ahead of us (they were seated around 4:30 and they were less than 15ppl) and that it would be a bit before they left. Though, no specific time frame was given. They "temporarily" placed us at a high table. Thinking, it wouldn't be long, we agreed to have our drinks there while we waited to be seated at our reserved spot. About 90min later it was becoming clear that we would not be moving. After speaking with the hostess multiple times, and eventually, the manager, we were told that our "reservation" only guaranteed a table at the restaurant and that any specific tables/ fire pit was a request that was only on a first come, first serve basis. Not once had that been brought to our attention either upon making the reservation, which was done in person weeks prior, or during email and text confirmations, or at the time of our arrival, or during the first couple of discussions we had with the hostess. The only caveat mentioned to not getting that preferred seating was if a party 15ppl made a reservation for the fire pit area. Which we were notified of when the reservation was made. Had we known it wasn't guaranteed, we would have either looked elsewhere, or known we were risking it. And could have avoided the debacle all together. The ambiance was the whole reason we went with this restaurant which they couldn't deliver. Had it not been my friends birthday, I would have left. But this was about spending time with her after all.

They were apologetic, they did comp some entrees, me being 7 months pregnant, sitting at the high table was uncomfortable, they also offered to sit us inside the closed in-dining area. They could have not comped anything and we would have paid. They could have comped our entire bill and we still would have been disappointed. This wasn't about the food or staff. This was about their business practice. One that I hope changes.

I just wish they would have been more transparent about their reservation vs requests. And made it clear at the time of reserving that there would be a possiblity that seating at the fire pit would not be honored. Or they could have notified the other party around 6 that there was a reservation at 6:30 (which other restaurants have done to us and for us). But apparently, there is no rule/policy regarding this at this restaurant. Which makes me wonder why bother with the requests anyway? Roles reversed, we would have understood if we were asked to leave or be reseated elsewhere for another party who had reservations after us. 2hr at a table isn't an unreasonable amount of time. This was my first time here and my last. In the future, I hope they are more transparent with their patrons so that no one is led with false hope or at least have the option of dining somewhere where the ambiance they're looking for...

Cliff Notes: Service: 1 star Food: 4 stars Beer: 2 stars Ambiance: 5 stars

This story begins on a Monday night. First impressions walking up you're like "DAMN some money really went into this place, like holly cow any brewers went dream."

Service was pretty slow, no one was at the host stand when we arrived. Stood around for a good 2min looking for a sign or for some kind of greeting from an employee which were just standing around at there server station chatting away, most likely about there weekend adventures. It wasn't busy at all mind you so was kinda confused on the lack of service for how many people we on staff. Maybe cut back on staffing so they pay attention to customers instead of each other, also saves money on labor.

Eventually walked up to the bar. On the way passing by another casually just hanging out server, asking her what we were expected to do if we'd like service, she looked over at the empty host stand and then directed us over to the bar.

Bar service was none the better, with 2 bartenders on and again a mostly empty restaurant and half empty bar we were ignored standing at the bar for easily a good 5 mins watching 1 bartender casually chatting with a customer while making direct eye contact with me. I was really just looking for a " hey, I'll be right with you " or maybe walk over and drop off some menus, really just some kind of actual acknowledgement from either one. The other bartender acted as if we didn't exist, so she was useless. Again while they weren't even really busy or even serving anyone, just lost in the sauce I guess.

As I was determined to try there food and beer, and a glutton for punishment we got tired of waiting again and walked back over to the still empty host stand and continued our wait. Eventually a hostess came by to officially greet us and take us to a table.

Finally seated, our server nice enough as she was, wasn't that knowledgeable about the beer or food. Ordered a flight and a single beer, It seriously took forever to get our beers, another good 15-20mins for 1 beer and a flight. I really don't get why the service was so slow here it really boggled my mind with the abundance of staff and lack of customers, it just didn't make any sense. We only got the bone marrow and hamachi crudo because after the rest of the experience I didn't really feel like spending enough time there to get a full meal, just something to pair with the flight of beers. The beers finally arrive and were bland and left a lot to desire especially after hearing about the power house brewer's they were supposed to have. The double red stood out the most. Both the bone marrow and crudo were amazing, so that was definitely the only saving grace to the entire experience.

The bill was over $70 for 2 apps, 1 flight, and 1 beer. Not that cheap, but for the price I think I'll wait for the staff to improve and let the brewers get there bearings with there new equipment before...