Roy's Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

3rd and Final Attempt to contact you.

I've now reached out to you 3 times as you have requested regarding my poor experience with Roys dinner service with no response. I've left my cell number and emails to no avail. This tells me you really have no interest in a customer's feedback and look to improve your product and services, or you are on the verge of going out of business. With the poor economy in this area it wouldn't be a surprise. Wishing you all the best going forward.

On Thu, Jan 2, 2025 at 8:33 PM: Hello,

I'm following up again with my complaint on our experience on

Thank you for responding to my google review. I generally don't take the time to post a review unless it's to one extreme or the other but this event warranted this 2 star review.

The reservation was for a party of 6 at a round table with window seating which we did not receive. The reservation was made well in advance under the last name XXXXX. We did get seated upstairs to a sparsely decorated area with an unlit Christmas tree in what appears to be an overflow storage room. This dining room was so brightly lit it felt like we were preparing for an educational seminar.

I realize that on major holidays everyone needs to pack some patience, but this exceeded all expectations to the downside of a fine dining experience.

With that being said here is where Roys fell short:

We sat there for a full 30 minutes before a server even acknowledged we were there. We received water then an additional 15 minutes passed for a runner to ask if we would like some cocktails. The coctails arrived 30 minutes later. My daughter asked for a Bleu cheese dirty martini (more on this later) All drinks arrived and we were hoping this was going to be a better experience going forward. Oscar finally arrived to take our dinner order which we gave him. He explained he had 5 tables downstairs that he just was finishing up. I thanked him for his hardwork and said we hoped to see more of him since his workload was subsiding.

30 minutes later, our appetizers arrived and they were acceptable. We did notice a table that had come in about 20 minutes after we sat down and was already on their entrees.

Another 30 minutes goes by then Oscar shows up asking if we wanted another round of drinks and we said absolutely. Time goes by and they finally arrive and he explains to my daughter that her Bleu Cheese olive martini cannot be made as they were out of blue cheese olives and proceeds to put down a dirty martini in front of her with the olives void of pimento. How half-assed is that? Proper protocol would be to ask the customer if they would like something else as her drink is not available as she requested. Or better yet how about being better prepared in the bar for a holiday dinner?

By now we are 2 hours into a Prix Fixe dinner menu. Our Entrees finally arrive. Cold was the general temperature of all the entrees. Mine was Chilean Sea Bass and I assure you it was on the verge of being spoiled. I asked if the fish was fresh and Oscar assured me it was, let me tell you, it was not! The steak and lobster meal, steak was tough and over cooked and dry, and the lobster was greasy and slimy from sitting in the tempura preparation. The other steaks ordered were also tough, if I didn't know better it would seem they were cooked previously and reheated on the grill.

After the entrees we waited another 30 minutes for the desserts. To end this long misery of disappointments we asked for the check asap.

Total time for this dinner was 3 hours for a prix fixe menu! That is unacceptable on its own but to serve up mediocre food just adds insult to injury.

Completely Disappointed,

Place was old and tired. Went for Christmas dinner....big mistake there. Understaffed and food was of poor to average quality. Prices are high and not a value by any standard. Service took 3 hours for a prix fix menu. Save your money and time,...

My husband and our friends made reservations to have dinner at Roy's located off Harbor Drive, San Diego for my birthday dinner. Over the phone the waitress asked if we were celebrating a special occasion and they told her a birthday celebration. Our friend Josh asked about the parking situation and the server at Roy's said valet parking and eating at resturaunt they would "validate" our ticket. Well, when we pulled up we were surprised when the valet told us there was $12 charge for parking for the first 3 hours. I felt like that should have been disclosed over the phone when we asked about it in the first place instead of making it sound like the valet parking was going to be completely compensated for eating at the restaurant.

We decided as a group to eat outside on the patio. The table we were sat was poorly lit; yes I know what ambiance is but I would also like to locate and see my food when its served. Towards the end of the meal Josh and James mentioned we were here to celebrate a birthday. Adam B. seemed annoyed that they mentioned that but WHY wasn't that communicated to him when we made RESERVATIONS. The waiter Adam B he was nice and knowledgeable about the menu and then his demeanor changed when the bill came out. He asked if we wanted to split the checks and he politely did so. Both parties had gifts cards to use and that's when our servers attitude changed. Josh had a $50 gift card and my husband and I had a total of $120 gift card to use from a Christmas gift. My husband and I were surprised when he only took off $100 off instead of the $120.

Adam made us FEEL like without the gift cards we wouldn't have been able to afford eating at this "high class" establishment and when he brought back the checks he said "you must tip of the original bill and not the total amount after the gift card"! Don't tell US how to tip...California Servers make minimum wage plus their tips, a tip is not an obligation!!! He didn't do anything spectacular or went above and beyond our expectations that warranted a 20% tip.

I would NOT recommend this restaurant to anyone. The food and service is less than mediocre. The price for their foods does not a reflection on taste, presentation or service. My husband will be giving the manager a call tomorrow about our service. It's sad that there's no longer a standard of customer service especially at a "high end" establishment there should have been a certain expectation and standard on how customers are to be treated and respected.

update: EMAILED Cameron from guest services on December 3rd and have not received an email back from the company! Great...

Update: I contacted the restaurant as they requested below in their response to my review. They never replied. I’d avoid wasting your money here. It’s a tourist trap with lousy service , they don’t care about getting any repeat business.

I will not return to this restaurant, and I live here and go out often. We dined here before the James Taylor concert.

Atmosphere: it was blazing hot at 5pm. The patio and several tables including ours were in direct sun. A table of 8 next to us asked to speak to the manager, and it took at least 15 minutes for her to arrive. I cringed in my seat as she spewed excuses with a dismissive attitude to this table of 8. They asked for a couple of umbrellas tiled at 45 degrees. That would have solved the problem for all of us.

But the manager kept telling the guest she’d “run to home depot if she could” . And, then she had the audacity to tell this table “ the sun will be going down in a little while” ! This was around 5:30 pm, and sunset was around 7:30!

are you kidding? This restaurant is in the Marriott marquis- and they can’t get a couple umbrellas from the adjacent pool area??

Not once did she offer a round of drinks, dessert, nothing.

Service: Terrible. We were seated at about 4:55 Our dinner arrived after 6pm. No apologies. Our server never asked how we were doing. She could see we were roasting. There was no time to order any dessert.

Food: The protein portions were very small . At $66 and $58 the butter fish was maybe the size of my palm ( average female) . The butter fish short rib combo had a few bites of short rib, very small butter fish and a huge mound of mashed potatoes. And, the butterfish was not in the usual miso marinade- it had some kind of weird salsa sauce on it. I’ve had it many times before and it’s a sweet/ savory miso marinade

$160 for 2 entrees and one 4 oz margarita with a lot of ice.

There are so many other and better places to dine.

Addendum: I don’t normally post poor reviews but rather try to reach management . However, there was no management contact on the restaurant or hotel site. But I see from some reviews, diners were referred to customer service. I also see from pics below, I was 100% correct about the butter fish. The recipe and presentation was nothing like it used to be, and definitely in a bad way. Taste and size were both so different from the classic Roy’s butterfish that earned this restaurant its stellar reputation in the past. Seems they have a lot of inconsistency and poor service, all...