Nature Forward Socal Bistro — Restaurant in San Diego

The owner didn’t respond to my email sent 12/1/23, so I’m posting it :((( Hi Christopher, I am a medical professional and for over the last 4 months I’ve been one of your regular customers. Your servers know me. I have recommended your bistro to my colleagues and friends ever since, and have even given you a 5 star review. However, yesterday, your food and customer service were sorely lacking. I came in for an early lunch before work and ordered the steak frites (23.00) for dine in and the boeuf Bourguignon (21.00), based on your website prices, to go. I, also, had a coupon for 10.00 that you had sent to my email, to be used in 14 days. Your wife, I believe, took my order. The “steak” was a very poor quality of meat and mostly gristle, I even told your wife, after she asked me how my food was, but she didn’t offer to have it remade. When I got the bill, I was shocked to see that I was charged 29.00 dollars for the boeuf (8 more dollars) and 25.00 for the steak frite. When I pointed this out to your wife, she said the website prices have not been updated, and when I said that I ordered based on those prices, she shrugged it off, and did not offer to honor what was clearly your, the owners, responsibility. She also gave me a hard time about the 10.00 coupon. Once again, I reminded her how my meal was full of gristle and instead of offering to make it right or give me credit for another meal, she said “the meat has to have some gristle!” I like to tell you the meat didn’t just have “some gristle,” but it was mostly that and I couldn’t eat most of it. Sadly, I didn’t take a picture to show you. Since your wife did not care to amend the situation, I told her I didn’t want to argue with her, but that, also, I wouldn’t come back as a customer. She said nothing.

Later that day, when I opened my 29.00 boeuf bourguignon, which I think the French are proud to have on their menu, and I’ve had many times before elsewhere, I got boiled tasteless pasta and shredded beaf, no vegetables or sauce. I have included a pic of what I got and what it should at the very least resemble. I just wanted to give you another chance, as the owner, to make this right, and either give me credit or a refund, as this is No way to run a business, bad customer service and giving bad food and not to honor your website descriptions of your dishes and their prices.

In the end, I paid 54.80 for a very bad meal and terrible service, and I felt so bad about the whole experience all day that I had to write...

I wish I could give this review -1 stars, and let me tell you why: I ordered a simple crepe online for pick up. When I arrive (15 min after I got the text saying "Your order is ready for pick up," mind you), I tell the employees that I'm there to pick up, and they look at me like I'm crazy. I stand there, being mostly ignored by the staff (for context, the place was absolutely NOT swamped, I was just being purposely ignored) and I'm waiting for my food. Its not until 10 min later that I ask a staff member if my food is ready, and she finally tells me, "oh, your order was never confirmed, so we're just started the order." Look, I understand orders can slip through the cracks. But the fact that the staff tells me NOTHING while I waited there stupidly was uncomfortable. And, when I look on the ordering app, I have a notification that the order was confirmed over an hour ago. So, that was a lie. I asked if there was something I could've done on my end in the future to make sure the order is confirmed, and I was ignored. I didn't get my food until 20 minutes later. I was offered no apologies, no explanations, and no drink/snack for compensation for waiting there so long. At the end, I was humiliated, confused as to why they were so hostile to me, and upset that they kept blaming me when they offered no real explanation. I'm not the type of person to write reviews at the smallest inconvenience. But, I hope that no one else gets treated like this by the...

Came here after a 2.5 hour hike, so we were famished. Got seated immediately as it wasn't crowded at all for a Sunday afternoon. We ordered the croissant, iced latte, white mocha and the egg florentine and spinach and goat cheese quiche with french fries.

The croissant was soft and tasty. My boyfriend thought it was not flaky enough, but I love the soft, non-flaky croissants that don't fall apart after a bite, so I was happy.

The iced latte was a bit too iced and not very interesting. However, the white mocha was very well made - enough sweetness for someone like me who puts 3 sugars in her coffee and also enough bitterness for my boyfriend who puts no sugar in his.

The florentine was tasty enough. I particularly do not enjoy the runny yolk, but the bread was well made and the whole thing worked. The potatoes were lovely. The fruits on the side made for a refreshing meal.

The quiche was ok. I could not taste the goat cheese until the very last bite. I guess it was like every other spinach and goat cheese quiche. The salad accompanying was delicious! (I am not a salad person at all). Since I'd asked for french fries and they served the salad by mistake, they also served the french fries, which were also delicious - thin, hot and not very salty.

All in all, the meal was very filling, the owner was very nice. However, not sure that the food was...