Lou & Mickey's — Restaurant in San Diego

I was very excited to try this place! I saw a couple of videos on social media, and it looks so good! I made the reservation about 3 weeks prior. We arrived about 10 minutes before our reservation time and we were seated at a table with seats that were half a booth and half a table with the booth long enough to reach the next table for their seats as well.

We were seated and our server was tending the table next to us. After talking to them for a few minutes he introduced himself. The way he spoke wasn't inviting, he spoke as if he was tired of being there.. very unenthusiastic and almost expressionless.. after he asked for our drink order, a margaritas verde, we didn't see him for about 15 minutes.

When he came back he brought the table next to us a bottle of wine and put it on a stand with a bucket of ice in between our table and the table next to us which blocked the one foot of space between the tables.. embarrassingly enough I had to use the restroom so I waved him over toward me and asked him in a low voice if he could move it so I could use the restroom. He turned to the gentleman and his family sitting at the table next to us and told them that I had to use the restroom and if he could move the bottle and ice bucket.. the two young girls at the table looked over at me and it was almost humiliating..

For appetizers we ordered the oysters from the raw bar, all 6 different oysters to try. They were fresh and delicious and we enjoyed them all honestly. The second apetizer we got was the Wild Spanish Octopus. I was so excited to try it becusae the last few restaurants I have been too had grilled octopus on the menu but we're out of it when I tried to order it.. when the octopus dish came it looked so gorgeous! As soon as I cut into it, the texture was perfect! I took a bite and it was delicious. And them my wife pulled at something on the octopus and it was a foreign object.. I won't say what but it was so disheartening after my many attempts to have octopus.. we told our server and he took it back and said he'd bring another one but I said it was okay as I was already discourage from eating it.. the manager Jeremy came to our table almost immediately and apologized and insisted on sending another one to our table. Jeremy was very kind and consistently checked on us.

For our dinner, we ordered the 60 Day Dry Aged Bone In New York Steak, the, the Mashed Potatoes, the Fire Roasted Broccolini and the Macaroni and Cheese.

To be honest, the steak wasn't seasoned very well.. it wasn't impressive or the best I've ever had which was shocking because of the beautiful display of dry aged meats. We got the steak with chimichurri on the side and it didn't add much flavor to the steak.. we just added salt on it.

The Mashed Potatoes were perfect, creamy and seasoned well, it was the best thing we had along with the oysters.

The Fire Roasted Broccolini was also good but not great or anything I'd order again. We really just wanted a vegetable with the meal.

The Macaroni and Cheese came out very light in color.. the bread crumbs looked a little dry but I was excited to try it anyways. I took a scoop out of the mac and it looked like it was just pasta.. I took another scoop and again.. it was extremely light on the cheese.. the server came around again and asked how it was going. We said good but I asked him if the macoroni is usually this dry and he began to explain the process of how they bake the macaroni.. I was a bit dumb founded.. the oven wouldn't try out the cheese.. but then he asked if we wanted another one and we said no, that we would eat it because we were all hungry and had nothing to eat all day as we had flown in a few hours prior.. then the manager Jeremy showed up again and said he was sending another one out and that he would take care of it.. at this point I felt really embarrassed at the number of mishaps during our meal..

Honestly, Jeremoy was amazing to us. He was kind and truly cared about our experience.. the server was very unmotivated and the food was good but I think on this day...

Well another night in San Diego and another Amazing meal.

Started with the Justin Cab Sav bottle of wine. Decent wine the wife liked it more than I did but nonetheless I would order it again.

Started the meal with the oysters. They offer 6 different types of oysters so I got the half dozen sampler. All were good, the horseradish that came with it was really good, like a dry style that I really enjoyed.

We also ordered the baked goat cheese. This was essentially like a bruschetta. Roasted garlic confit with a ball of goat cheese baked into a leafy green and some tomatoe mixture there too with some nice toasted bread. Put these ingredients together however you see fit. I spread the garlic first then the goat cheese and topped it with the tomatoe mixture to create perfection.

On to the main meal I ordered the 20oz ribeye aged 45 days medium rare with the chimichurri. The wife ordered the lamb thinking it would be a bit smaller but boy was she wrong.

The lamb was massive, crusted eoth hebs and spices and cooked medium rareish. Came with like carrots and a sauce that was like a cranberry/raisin type of sauce. That was delicious.

My rib eye was huge, seasoned to perfection and was very tender. I probably could of cut it with my fork almost. Each bite was melt in your mouth goodness.

The one thing I will say is the meat was a little undercooked from what I am used too back home in canada but I found that was the case across all of San Diego. So a medium rare is closer to rare than medium and a medium is closer to a medium rare but again I prefer my meat to be a touch under cooked than over cooked so for me it wasn't a bit deal at all just think it's worth mentioning.

With our main meal we got the mushrooms and the potatoes. Mushrooms were amazing. The sauce on them was sweet and flavourful. The potatoes were good but would probably opt for a different side if/when I come back.

Finished the night of with the cheese cake and espresso. When the cheesecake arrived I thought it could of looked better, but when I put a piece in my mouth it was one of the best cheesecake I've ever had. It wasn't too rich or too sweet but a perfect mix between the two. A very smooth cheesecake. The home made whipped cream was also great along with the strawberry sauce. Amazing cheesecake. I was going to go with a different dessert too and I am glad I went this way.

The Bill wasn't cheap but I feel like they earned every penny.

The service during dinner was great.

My only knock on the whole experience was when we first arrived we were waiting to be seated and the lady hostess came to us and just kind of looked at us as if she was already getting ready to say they were full for the night. Before she could say anything I mentioned we had reservations. Now we were not dress up the best being our last night in San Diego most of our really nice clothes had already been warn and it was raining quite a bit while here so we were both wearing jeans but I was wearing dress shoes, non collared dress shirt and a sports coat, so I wasn't dressed like a bum either. Just felt like we were getting a vibe that we weren't welcome or something. No big deal to me I don't let the small stuff bother me especially when the rest of the staff were fantastic and were very hospitable.

End of the day it was a great way to cap off our time here in San Diego and we saved the best dinner for last. Hats off to this establishment for the experience they brought...

It’s a shame to give a great restaurant a bad review, but bad staff can make that happen. The food is great. The servers are great as are the bar staff, but the Hostess and So called manager leave a lot to be desired and for that reason, we had a horrible experience. This may be acceptable at a cheap restaurant, but when you spend $300 on a dinner, you would expect to be treated better. We had a reservation at 8:30, got there at 7:30 and after checking in with the hostess, we waited at the bar. The hostess Hannah informed us that we would be seated at 8:30, which we had no problem with, but, this was not the case. As soon as we ordered appetizers at the bar, at approximately 8:10, we got the text that our table was ready. Again my husband checked in at the hostess stand, explaining that since we were assured we would be seated at 8:30, we had ordered appetizers, to which the hostess explained that she was only moving us to a high top next to the bar. In town on business and wanting to have a nice dinner we made reservations, and did not wish to be seated at the bar or at a high top in the lounge to enjoy a dinner we would spend $300 on, so my husband explained that as we made a reservation for a table in the dining room, thats what we really wanted, and asked how long we would have to wait for a table. The hostess, Hanna who likes to lie a lot, then said it would be another 40 minutes. We agreed to continue to wait. But an hour later having heard nothing, Hanna explained that there was no table available, all while we watched several other couples and groups get seated in the dining room. She likes to get rid of anyone asking questions and just blows off anyone she doesn't want to answer. At this point we decided we waited long enough, and while disappointed, we opted to order dinner form our seats at the bar. The next thing we know, a manager, Salina came to us at the bar. She was condescending and obviously friends with the hostess.

After we explained that we were in town for business, and leaving the next day for home on the other side of the country, Salina handed us a gift card for a future visit. To the restaurant we were currently at, and currently disappointed with. Currently blown off for a reservation we did make in advance, but would not be back to any time soon, as we do not live in California, and we were leaving the state the next day. Sorry, but this was not good customer service, the hostess was unapologetic for our inconvenience, and the lady claiming to be manager missed a chance to make it right. We did enjoy several appetizers at the bar, where Dave was a fantastic bartender and server. Our steaks were cooked as we ordered.

We were there tonight with a reservation, because Kite served us so professionally last night, and we wanted to enjoy another wonderful dining experience. Still trying to understand why we’d get a gift card giving a discount to our next visit when we live in another state and they knew that….

We travel all over and never had such an unprofessional encounter with "a manager".

Not counting on any personal response.. If you look at their one star reviews, they just copy/paste the same "oh no" response to everyone.. just like the lame response we received from their "manager"....