Javier's — Restaurant in San Diego

Javier's is a restaurant in a mall that reminds me of the kind of cheesy place one would dine at in a Disney theme park. While ultimately soulless, Javier's attempts to create a vibe and atmosphere with its posh Mexican-ish design accents, blaring music, and attractive but inexperienced service staff. Although all of these features would be better appreciated by a younger demographic, Javier's has quickly evolved into a meet market for 40+ singles, filled with sassy cougars operating solo along with salty old men lurking around the bar wearing sunglasses, navy blue blazers, and Drakkar Noir.

The hostess station is utter chaos. I watched hostesses give each other confused looks, try to shout into each other's ears over the obnoxiously loud Latin club music, literally spin around in circles and into each other as if civilization itself was ending. Despite arriving on-time for our reservation, my wife and I waited for 5 minutes for someone to check us in, and then another 7 minutes for our table.

By the time we were seated and ordering, we were 25 minutes in - granted, this is partly because my wife takes her time reading each menu like it is a riveting NY Times bestseller, but also mostly because of the long periods of time my waitress was missing in action. We did not have our first morsel of food until 45 minutes after we arrived. And, yeah, we received some complimentary chips and salsa, but they didn't find their way to our table until after Mrs. K's "Guacamole" appetizer was put down.

I waited even longer for my appetizer, the "Tacos de Camarón," which consisted of two normal-sized tacos with deep-fried shrimp, some cabbage, queso fresco, and white sauce. All of this in flour tortillas, with no lime wedges or salsas accompanying them. For these two tacos, I paid $25 before taxes and tip. They were ill-described on Javier's menu as "Ensenada-style" shrimp tacos despite their flour tortillas. While the tacos were good -- as in slightly above average, but below the level of the seafood tacos from any hundred or so reputable taco specialists in San Diego -- they were not even close to being worth $12.50 each. First off, they could have used a squirt of lime and/or salsa. The shrimp itself reminded me of Cheesecake Factory's "Popcorn Shrimp." Again, the tacos were decent, but not even close to the level of taco I expected for what I paid.

The "Steak Picado" was my entrée, for a relative bargain price of $28 when juxtaposed with the $25 tacos. They describe this on their menu as a guisado, which is inaccurate. A guisado is a braised dish, and had this been that, it may have been more filling. Instead it was a small plate of grilled Angus prime skirt steak, cut into chunks, and served on top of some fajitas vegetables (a sautéed mix of grilled onions, pearl onions, pasilla peppers, tomatoes). It was supposed to come with tortillas, except it did not. Since my waitress was again nowhere to be found, I got out of my seat and tracked down a manager, José. I expressed to him that the service was abysmal for what I was paying for this meal. He got me my tortillas, and there were no further service issues -- but my waitress was not switched out, which was a bit odd and uncomfortable.

The shame of it is that the food here is pretty good. The "Steak Picado," despite being tiny and not being a guisado, was the highlight of my meal. There was great marbling on the steak that gave it a pleasant richness and mouth-feel, and excellent flavor was seared onto its surfaces. The aforementioned chips and salsa were also solid -- especially the salsa, which was reasonably spicy and quite garlicky.

Despite the food being decent, my wife and I won't be back here; Not in a city where I can get food of the same quality along with more attentive service for a tenth of the cost from any of a thousand different Mexican restaurants...

Last night I hosted a retirement celebration for a long time coworker. We had 17 attendees. One of my team made the reservation with Javier's management, which required a credit card to hold the reservation. I was the first to arrive, and requested the hostess transfer the credit card on file (belonging to a team member of mine) with my own. I was immediately confronted with pushback. "There is a contract" and "I'll have to check with the manager". Contract? I was unaware (my fault, I suppose, I generally arrange the reservations for work parties myself). Confused as to why this was a complication, I patiently awaited the manager. He greeted me and indicated this would not be a problem. Seemingly, whatever issue the hostess implied was inconveniencing her was resolved quickly. Not a hospitable beginning.

Fast forward to dinner. The food is amazing. The staff were accommodating with adding tables as our group footprint required more space. I'm familiar with Javier's, having been a frequent patron at the Orange County locations (Laguna Beach and Irvine Spectrum) years ago, I even had a high school buddy bartend there. I hadn't had the Enchiladas Mariscos in many years and last night was just as delicious as I remembered.

My issue with UTC Javier's however was not the food or atmosphere (both great), it was with our lead server. Like our hostess, she was fixated and determined to maintain awareness (reminding me at least four times over the course of our meal) how "there is a contract" and "your threshold is X, and you've only the tab is only 1/2 that amount". "You should order more apps". I felt like I was being extorted or hustled, something I haven't experienced since renting a cabana at a Vegas resort pool in my younger days.

The team was having a good time, and not wanting to spoil the mood of the occasion, I ordered more apps, more rounds of cocktails. Again, I was reminded, "your tab is only X, the contract..". Jesus H. Finally, as all had had their fill of drink and food (again, delicious), I was reminded there was yet a $400 gap between our spend and "the contract". I (perhaps foolishly) suggested "look, charge me our agreed upon threshold, and can I use the credit for a future occasion?". "No, we cannot credit future visits, the contract.." (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea).

So I ate the costs. Look, its only money. Am I thrilled I just paid Javier's an estimated $400 over what we consumed, no. Not including the contractual 20% tip, plus tax. It was a spendy night to be sure.

The lead server truly ruined this experience for me. I suppose she was only carrying out the marching orders from her management, ensuring fulfillment of aggressive terms which I'll take personal accountability for not being aware of until it was too late. I will not be returning to Javier's. As a humble employee of a large local university (as were all in attendance), this was a painful and expensive experience overall. We all discussed afterwards, agreed and remain amazed at the costly and alarmingly pushy...

I had lunch there last week. The visit had some really positive aspects and one really bad one.

The positives first. Service was great. Nice hostess and really attentive, without being pushy waitress. Service was fast. We were there for a late lunch and hardly had to wait at all for our drinks and then food. The restaurant is very nice to look at and eat in. The decorator did a great job. The guacamole was fresh and was actual guacamole and not green sour cream. Plating was very pretty. Nice presentation. We had enchiladas Suizas and enchiladas de mariscos. The sauce was excellent and the meats were very tasty and well cooked. The beans were outstanding. Light, smooth and almost sweet. Good choice to do something other than traditional pintos. The price was what one should expect from La Jolla.

And now for the bad part.

The corn tortillas sucked. I mean they really sucked. They were everything that people complain about when it comes to corn tortillas. They were sour. They were obviously at least 4 or more days old and had turned sour. Tortillas like these are the reason many people say they don't like corn tortillas and prefer flour.

It's a Mexican restaurant within 30 minutes drive of at least 3 tortillerias that I know of. I buy better tortillas out of a cooler on the floor by the door at my local market. These tasted like they'd come off the shelf at the grocery store. They were better than tortillas I've eaten in Hawaii but not by much. Why the chef would allow bad tortillas in his kitchen is a mystery to me. Why he doesn't send someone to the local tortilleria every morning for real tortillas is a question that should never have to be asked about such a nice restaurant.

Corn tortillas are no mystery. They are as plain and essential as concrete. Bad concrete makes for bad foundations. Bad corn tortillas sucks the life out of good Mexican food. Day 1 is when you serve them heated on the comal (griddle) with butter, or you use then for soft tacos, or for quesadillas, or to scoop your beans and rice as has been the case since flat bread was invented. Day 2 is more of the same but you start frying them or using them in sauce heavy dishes like enchiladas. Day 3 is all fry all the time. Chilaquiles, tostadas, or hard tacos. Day 4, is chips. Cut them and deep fry them and serve 'em hot. Those thin crispy chips that came with the guac and good salsa were adequate for what they were but they might as well have come out of a bag. Nothing beats a thick, hot, crisp, freshly fried tortilla chip with just enough oil left on it to tell you the cook cares and the lightest sprinkling of salt. Day 5. Give whatever tortillas are left over to the chickens. A real tortilla will have gone sour overnight between day 4 and day 5 and they're no good as people food any more.

My Tortilla rant aside, it's a nice place with some good stuff that needs...