Huntress — Restaurant in San Diego

Disappointing. There is no other way to cut it. My wife and I selected this restaurant to celebrate a Birthday based on the reviews we found here. After an extremely poor experience (1 star) and mediocre food (3 star), neither of us can recommend Huntress.

Multiple friends and family asked about the birthday dinner, several eager to hear about Huntress as it was "on their list" of places to try. They were all shocked by our experence and urged us to share it with you. The following is a longwinded summary of our experience at Huntress:

The Service:

We were both very excited to try Huntress. Date-nights are harder to come by in a young family and we were very excited to be out and about in the world.

Our reservation was for 7PM on Tuesday. We arrived 5 min early and were quickly seated. The decor and ambiance was everything we were hoping for and the plated food around us looked extraordinary. Our server shared the specials and the menu favorites. Within 5 min we ordered our first round of cocktails and within 10 minutes we placed our entire order (Bread, Multiple Appetizers, & Main Courses). We quickly received our cocktails and Parker rolls (the rolls and butter are very good). We were happy.

Unfortunately, this is the high of our experience. We sat & chatted realizing that no appetizers had come around 7:50, 30 min after ordering, and we were both hungry. We spent 10 min trying to flag down our server (made eye connect and exchanged hand gestures, but she failed to come to our table). At this point we started to take note the time. Eventually we got ahold of another waitstaff member who flagged down our server for us.

Our server apologized and said they are grabbing our food and it will be out shortly. We placed a second round of drinks while we had her. The drinks came out quickly, but still no food. Fast forward though the monotonous details of repeatedly flagging down our server and a discussion about leaving, we were served our multiple appetizers and main courses all together at 8:42pm (almost 40 min after she noted the appetizers were on the way out and an hour and a half after ordering).

Elated to receive food the plating was picture perfect we bit into a meal that was luke warm (cast iron serving dishes were cool to the touch) and the flavors were better than average; nothing to rave over (details below). The server came back to ask how the food was, to which we noted it was "ok" and "luke warm". She took our feedback as an appropriate response and went on her way. We took a few bites, discussed sending it back, but decided it was 9PM and we were both exhausted from the experience. It was time to box up the food and call it a night.

The Food:

Since we are writing a long review, it feels appropriate to detail our thoughts on the food/ what we ordered.

Parker Rolls (Bread) - These were hot and very good. It is all about the butters here. The garlic and spiced butter were amazing, chocolate truffle was good.

Bluefin Tuna Tartare - The was one of the best courses we received. The flavors were great, the texture was perfect. If you are going to go to Huntress, we would recommend this course.

Seared Beef Sashimi - This was unique. While I didn't love it, I appreciated it. The acidity, a little over powering, complimented the medium rare (filet mignon?) cuts.

Charcoal Roasted Carrots - Hard to go wring with good roasted carrots. Simple, but good.

Roasted Asparagus - Good crispness, fresh. Flavors were ok.

Crispy Loaded Potatoes - Meh. Had potential if it was hot.

Delicata Squash - Flavors were good, the spices made it alittle earthy. My wife didn't care for it (to many spices) but I thought the flavors were good.

Filet Mignon - Not as good as we were expecting. It was better than average, and cooked to a perfect medium rare, but it wasn't special.

Day Boat Scallops - Similar to the Filet. It was ok. Soft and consistent texture. Nothing special or memorable.

In summary, we would not recommend Huntress. There are much better options...

• The elevator situation was very much Jim Crow vibes*

This is review is reflective of the service I received from the host staff. The service from the host team was so terrible, that it took away from my overall experience of what should have been a very special night.

But before jumping into why my rating is 1 star, I must say, that our server and his team were absolutely amazing, and the restaurant is absolutely beautiful.

Here’s the abbreviated version (full version on Yelp) of why I am only giving 1 star. I am also posting my review here because I attempted to contact management and the matter has been ignored. • I was chased across the restaurant by the hostess who refused to greet me upon entering. • Apparently, she was chased me because I pushed the up button (called for) the elevator. • I explained to her why I needed to go up; which should be obvious if someone was clearly waiting for an elevator. • I questioned her as to why she ran across the restaurant to ask me this. She said, “They made me do it.” I have no clue who “they” are. • Then she sends over another host and tells me I need to check in with her. (Mind you I’ve explained to her, “My party is already here seated; they told me they’re upstairs”) • This new host has the worst attitude, just outright combative from the start. • She says I need to come over to her booth so she can look up my reservation in the system. She takes her sweet time in doing so. • Eventually she said I was okay to go on the elevator. • What’s interesting is there are 2 women also waiting for the elevator. I watched them walk up to the elevator. At no point did anyone chase or question them as to why they needed to ride the elevator* • Back to waiting for the elevator, I look over to the right and I see the initial host talking to what appeared to be a manager of some type, pointing at me. She’s visibly upset; I don’t know why—she wasn’t the one being berated for needing to use the elevator. • I found it interesting that this manager-looking person made no attempt to come to talk to me; I mean his employee was pointing at me while she talked to him. • I get upstairs, and I am asked by a male host, the name my reservation is under, and I tell him. • Quite some time went by, and he let other people who had gotten off the elevator after me go in but I was still waiting. • Finally, I asked if there was a problem. He stated, “I can’t find your party’s name” (This is strange because the 2nd host checked me in downstairs) • Over waiting, I told him, “My friends said they’re in the back, I will go find them.” • This host followed me as I walked around the restaurant floor looking for them. (This is literally insane) • I couldn't find my friends. I called them and explained my frustration and they said to meet them on the 1st floor and they would walk me to our table. • Come to find out, my friends were on the 2nd floor. But none of us knew there were 4 levels and several restaurants in the building as this was our 1st time at Huntress. • This entire debacle could have been avoided had the host greeted me upon walking in. Or when she approached me at the elevator, she could have asked what restaurant I had reservations for and explained there were several in the building. • This also could have been avoided if they had some kind of signage in front of this “uber-exclusive” elevator or a stanchion roping the area off. But none of these things were in place.

I believe my subpar treatment was racially motivated because, the women who were next to me in line on the ride up the elevator, the couple that rode down the elevator with me, and my friends that I dined with, nothing was said to any of them. The elevator situation was very much...

Summary: We ate at Huntress last night (party of six) and I would give it 5 stars if not for 1) the restaurant's habit of not mentioning upfront the surcharge on every cocktail. We thought we were agreeing to well liquor with each drink order only to find a $5 surcharge on the receipt. Unexpected and tacky in such an upscale place. And most importantly 2) the unexpected and disappointing food quality.

Detailed pros & cons:

Pros: First – INCREDIBLE service! Belisario was our lead server, and he could not have been more professional, knowledgeable, friendly & helpful, yet unobtrusive. The rest of the team worked quickly and were quietly proficient whether serving food & drinks, removing & replacing silverware, etc. I can't say enough about their quality of service and how it added to the dining experience. Next – Lovely, inviting, engaging atmosphere. The music is a tad too loud, but a great mix, and the restaurant’s lighting & overall ambiance are wonderful. The restaurant was full yet never felt overcrowded and people flowed in & out smoothly. Also, we lingered with an after-dinner drink and weren’t rushed out, which we really appreciated.

Cons: Food quality – We were SO excited for our steaks. I ordered the 8-oz filet mignon, medium rare; my husband and one other guest had the NY strip, also medium rare. All were overcooked and salty (which I like but the others do not). The rest of the party also found their main dishes overcooked and too salty (chicken, shrimp, Waygu, lobster tail). The server did ask us at the start to cut into our meat to check for ‘doneness’ but in the restaurant’s dim lighting, none of us could tell so we all said at the time everything was fine (our bad I guess). In addition to being overcooked, my filet was tough and full of gristle. I had to borrow my husband’s NY strip’s serrated knife to cut into it. Beyond disappointing to say the least. : ( I should note, the side dishes- especially the rapine- were delicious. We all agreed they were the best part of the meal (sigh...). Drink surcharge – If Huntress has no well liquor and slaps a surcharge on every cocktail, it should inform patrons. Asking someone when ordering a drink, “Is Tito’s acceptable or do you prefer a different vodka?” and then charging for an upgrade choice to Tito’s is misleading and really, really surprising in a restaurant such as this. Cost – Just be aware of prices, including the surcharges and à la carte pricing (even the sauce on your steak...!). Things add up quickly. Our bill was over $1000, without tip (full disclosure, we had cocktails, a bottle of wine, two appetizers, and four sides along with our meat/poultry/fish). The quality of the service and the atmosphere at the restaurant were well worth the splurge; the quality of the food was definitely not. We are locals who eat out frequently. Four in our party had been to the restaurant previous times and loved it but agreed with my husband & me that they have no plans now to return (sorry, Belisario; we...