RED O "Taste of Mexico" — Restaurant in San Diego

"Red O: Taste of Mexico" is the fourth and latest location of Rick Bayless' small southern California chain of upscale Mexican restaurants.

Red O has set up shop in my neighborhood in what used to be Donovan's, clearly intending to compete with Truluck's and Fleming's. I was excited for my first visit, a mere few weeks after Red O opened. My experience was mixed, perhaps due to the restaurant still trying to find its feet, or perhaps due to it simply being mediocre. I'll need to visit again in a few months to see if things have improved, assuming Red O survives that long.

The complimentary tortilla chips and salsa were great -- they were the best part of my meal, as they unfortunately are at many "Mexican" bar-and-grill restaurants. And that's kind of what Red O reminds me of: a chi-chi interpretation of an "On The Border" or "El Torito" or "Chevy's"-like chain restaurant with a cooler and prettier crowd, a luxurious and regal décor, friendlier and more professional bartenders, live music, and higher prices.

My first food order was for the Carnitas Empanadas ($12), which were mini masa pastries stuffed with carnitas, a "house cheese blend," and an unidentified sweet fruit-like flavor. The unidentified "fruit-like" flavor in these empanadas was cloying and unwelcome. These would have been 10X better had they kept a simpler, savory flavor profile provided by the carnitas and the cheese. The empanadas were served with an avocado tomatillo salsa that I could take or leave; I preferred the house salsa served with the tortilla chips.

Next up was the Skirt Steak ($29), a grilled 8 ounce steak served with red chipotle crema and cotija mashed potatoes. Sadly, the floppy skirt steak was missing an important flavor component: there was no sear. Why wouldn't Red O sear their skirt steaks? Is their grill not hot enough? The steak was not a total failure, it was tenderized via obvious marination, and decently seasoned, accompanied by a buttery and addictive chipotle sauce, and cooked to my requested temperature -- but wow, Red O, you need to look into how your grilled steaks are not picking up grill marks or a noticeable sear of any kind.

I enjoyed Red O's rich cotija mashed potatoes more than I expected I would, though I wondered why this restaurant wouldn't take an a la carte approach to sides for the steaks. I'm in a Mexican restaurant, I kind of wanted some rice, or beans, or corn with my steak. This is a minor quibble, admittedly.

I ended my meal with the Tres Leches ($12), a decent take on the classic triple-soaked milk cake, served at Red O with lots of whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries. The portion size was significant and could easily satisfy two.

After a couple of tasty but miniature-sized House Margaritas ($10 each), I asked the bartender for the best cocktail on the menu, and was served the Red & Fluffy ($15), made of Avion Silver Tequila, ginger essence, fresh lime juice, and pomegranate syrup. A bit sweet for me -- and, in fairness, my request was obnoxious -- though I could see my wife enjoying this one. This is, after all, the exact kind of "bar and grill" type of joint I'd lure her to for the purpose of getting her happy and drunk when we were dating. I'm just not sure I would have ever taken her here...

Updated review: I went back last night. I did a pick up order only appetizers and dessert. I ordered literally 10 mins before arrival. The food was not fresh. Tasted like it had been sitting. The empanadas were limp and lukewarm. The cake wasn't even warm. To add insult to injury me and my friend both got sick after eating. We've been running to the bathroom all night and morning. This was the only thing we ate. We drove almost 2 hours to get this as an early birthday treat for me. Maybe I'll try a different location. I don't know. My first experience was great on new year's eve. Maybe it was great because it was a big day. Maybe this is their every day. I won't be driving 2 hours again to find out.

Original review: I went for lunch on New Year's Eve. I was originally trying to get a reservation for Javier's and came across this place. The restaurant is BEAUTIFUL! I love the decor. They had a really pretty setup for New Year's, too! 1st off, the drinks are AMAZING! My cousin and I tried 4 different margaritas. We had no complaints about any of them. Mango was my favorite. The service for me was subpar. Nothing memorable. I can't tell you who my waiter was. At one point, we had to look for him to order something. Therewase barely anyone there at our time. Now on to the food. We tried multiple items. The chips and salsa were really good. The guacamole was bland to me. I liked the plantain chips. For appetizers, we had the duck taquitos and the carnitas empanadas. Both were very good. The empanadas were my favorite of everything. The sauce that comes with it? Chefs, kiss 💋! We got an order of both appetizers to go. For entrees, I had the steak and shrimp fajitas, and my cousin had the shrimp enchiladas. I enjoyed mine. Hers could use a little more flavor. I also ordered the short rib enchiladas to go. They were bland too. The rice and beans were fire, though. Last but definitely not least we got the dessert flight with butter cake, tre leches and churros. Everything was delicious! If you don't get anything else get the BUTTER CAKE!!!!! Omgggggg orgasmic. My favorites were #1 Butter cake #2 empanadas. We'll definitely be returning and trying something new. Oh, and one more thing if you download inkind they have a $50 off coupon that we forgot to use. Do yourself a...

My girlfriend and I are visiting in La Jolla and I booked Red O "Taste of Mexico" through OpenTable.

I've eaten at a lot of very nice restaurants throughout the world. This is one has now joined the short list of my all-time favorites. So much so, I'm considering eating here again before I go to try the rack of lamb w/ mole sauce.

We started with the OpenTable reservation, and I put in a note that I've seen reviews mentioning that it's loud and that I'd prefer quiter seating if possible. When I walked in, the hostess immediately referenced my note and was already prepared. That alone is unusual, people usually don't notice or care about the notes on these reservations.

We were earlier and the main dining area was not yet open, so we took a seat at the bar and Kevin took care of us very well. He was very attentive to names. We started with two of the happy hours cocktails and some complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa was fantastic. The cocktails were so good that we decided we wanted to try them all. Delicious! My favorite was the spicy mule.

At dinner, I had the Saturday special-- an 8-oz filet mignon that I asked to be well done, including mashed potatoes and a margarita. My girlfriend had the salmon with risotto. Both were delicious and the chef got my steak perfectly cooked-- well done and still juicy... you need to know what you're doing to get this right... and it's rarely correct. We also had the guacamole.

We moved on to dessert and I'm an aficionado of tres leches. This was the best I've ever had. My girlfriend hates tres leches but was also full from dinner so she didn't want dessert-- until she tasted it. They won her over after all these years of hating it!

Dillon (or Dylan) did a good job waiting our table. He was attentive and friendly.

I will say that the music did seem to get louder through the night and I think people start talking louder to hear over the music, which does cause it get loud in there. I just don't think most people like a loud dining environment, it takes away some of the classiness of an otherwise very classy dining experience at Red O.

I've been to this area many times and can say that you'll be hard pressed to find a better dinner in San...