Queenstown Village — Restaurant in San Diego

Nice food and ambiance, but on July 28, 2024, during the Sunday brunch, I believe my wife and I experienced potential signs of national origin discrimination by the restaurant hostess.

I first approached her asking for a table at the patio because we had a small dog. She said that wouldn’t be possible because a large party was using all the chairs

She didn’t offer us any alternative seating, but when I saw a family walking in with a large dog, I asked if dogs were allowed inside, and she confirmed that was okay.

The family was immediately seated in one of their booths, and she asked us to follow her with the menus toward the booth area. Halfway through, she changed her mind and walked us back to the high-top table area, saying those were the only ones available.

We explained that we could not take the high-top tables since we had a dog, but plenty of booths were available. She said those were just for customers with reservations, and we would have to wait around 20 minutes for them.

She was not paying much attention to us anyway, so we decided to leave and return later.

While running errands in La Jolla, we made a reservation to secure a standard table at 2 p.m.

When we arrived, the same hostess greeted us, and without asking for my name or checking my reservation she walked us inside to a high-top table.

I explained to her again that we had made a reservation for a standard table, but she insisted that the high-top tables were also “standard” and refused to seat us at one of the several available booths.

I asked: “Well, what do high-top tables mean in the reservation system?” She said those were in the bar, but then I said: “the reservation system offers three seating options: bar, high top, and standard,” which means bar seating is different from high-top, and different from standard.

We don't know why she refused to seat us for the second time within less than a 2-hour interval at one of the booths that earlier she mentioned were only for those with reservations since we already had one. The only thing we could think of was because of our national origin since other parties arriving were being promptly seated at their booths.

We tried to explain her this whole situation very firmly, keeping our tone of voice and normal distance from her, but out of the blue, she became extremely rude, asking us to back up and tone down our voice.

At this point, we informed her that we didn’t want to continue this conversation with her and requested the presence of a manager who happened to be walking by, put her aside, and resolved the situation with us.

He immediately assigned our family a booth, and we had a great meal served by a great waitress.

Nevertheless, we felt strong signs of violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act in the hostess's attitude and will submit an intake claim to the Civil Rights Department so they can adequately investigate the case and take any necessary actions to avoid this situation from ever repeating with...

What a fantastic find! Can't wait to come back. We were originally aiming for one of the other popular restaurants on the block but the wait was too long. We ended up finding Queenstown just next door to Marisi. We showed up early on Friday night so there was no wait. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful inside and out, with fun, vibrant decor. It's an indoor greenhouse vibe and lots of artistic touches. I love what they have done with the place.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the food was fantastic. Every single item was cooked to perfection. Even basics you thought you knew are just done well. We normally expect grilled chicken salads to have boring, dry chicken. Somehow the chicken on the chicken strawberry salad was juicy, warm, and delicious, just perfect. Everybody in our group of five adults enjoyed the dishes. We also had baked Brie and brussel sprouts as appetizers. I loved my New Zealand style burger beef. Everything was so good. They had plenty of alcoholic and non-alcoholic options for drinks available. This place is wonderful for dates, friends, and families. We actually came with extended family and had two babies under 1 and one 2 year old.

They had high chairs available and everything worked out fine. Of note, the high chair was very short for my 8-month-old (or maybe the tables are just a lot higher than normal?) but it was still usable.

The vibe here is very hip and fun and stylish. It's definitely a place that I would have picked for a date or girls night out. However it is totally family-friendly too and I also saw other families with small kids!

This place definitely deserves five stars. Felt like a treat to come here and next time I'm in La Jolla I will...

Appalling restaurant experience due to an extremely unprofessional staff member. I spent about $200 on brunch with friends, including a generous tip. At the end of our meal, the waiter confrontationally accused me of not tipping, which was completely untrue. His behavior was erratic and irrational. Despite my calm explanation about the tip, he continued his unprofessional rant.

As I left the restaurant, the waiter chased after me, words were exchanged, and he started to loudly use expletives in public and continue to accuse me of not tipping, which was entirely false and defamatory. My friend had already confirmed with the manager that I had indeed tipped and signed the check as normal, debunking the waiter's claims. Regardless of whether a customer tips or not - which I did, of course - it's absurd and classless that a waiter would confront and provoke an altercation with a customer. The restaurant, however, is seemingly spinning a completely false narrative implying I provoked the altercation, ignoring the waiter's misconduct. I am astonished he wasn't immediately fired for his false accusations, public outbursts, and attempting to start a physical altercation with a customer in broad daylight in La Jolla.

There are plenty of better dining options in La Jolla, so I'll be avoiding this place. As a local, I plan to share this terrible experience with my connections in the area. It's shocking that not only did the waiter behave in such a manner, but also that he wasn't dismissed immediately for his actions. My friends and I have never experienced or even heard of a waiter acting like this at a...