Tako — Restaurant in San Diego

First and last time here! This is a long over due review from about a month ago. The service was the worst! THE WORST service I've endured at a restaurant. Waited almost 2 hrs for our meals (party of 4) to be brought out, I had skipped lunch this day to what I assumed was going to eat the best meal all week, had 2 glasses of water, and 2 drinks before our meals were served. The tempura was not fresh, cold, already floppy and flimsy, not crunchy. She said she could take it back, and I just rolled my eyes and told her not to worry about it bc I didn't care to wait another 2 hrs for it. My friend's order was "modified" without notice, no avocado, no enamane as it should have been served, it was sent back, they put two sushi rolls on one plate that was for 2 seperate individuals, they served my other friend his miso soup last bc he didn't say anything about it until I said something, so he had it before dessert. Forgot another of sushi roll, my friend canceled it bc it was already 10 pm. We got back home, and my friend was making food bc they were still hungry. It was a freaking messy fiasco. She comes out asking us if we were ready for dessert, we all looked at each other confused bc she hadn't brought out all of our food. I knew something was off when one of the individual's that worked there told me she was being a "effin b" after I politely asked this individual for the servers name when we were being seated. Our reservation was at 7:45, orders placed at 7:53 pm according to receipt, first alcoholic beverage pic has a time stamp of 8:49 pm since we were all just being served water while we waited, first sushi roll was brought out 8:55 pm, receipt picture has a time stamp of 9:22 pm. I was freaking pissed and I made sure she knew. She was trying to avoid me bc she knew I was pissed. She was trying to make it all better and trying to pass on the blame to other staff members but she would just make the situation a bigger and worse ordeal. I'm not sure where the Mexican cuisine infusion was in the food bc no even the "Aguachile" sushi roll was spicy, none of the food was spicy. I was freaking over her lack of communication, clumsiness, awareness and wanted her out of my face before I embarrassed her. They took dessert and the tempura off the bill, which was about $40 I believe which basically covered the tax. The cheque was paid by one individual who was advised not to tip and ended up tipping the same amount that was discounted, the cheque was later split amongst us. The only good thing about this place was the DJ's play list bc the drinks were weak. Thank you so much to the restaurant staff for shifting our day into a fiasco and ordeal of what could have been a better first time experience. We had plans after dinner but that quickly changed after this mess. We were so upset that we went straight home. I found the next day that someone I knew was there that same night also and basically said that it wasn't their best experience either. Let that speak volumes of your...

This place is delicious. Overall we loved the food and drinks and would definitely back. There is certainly a lot of competition for speakeasies and sushi in san diego and this place is right up there.

Besides the great food and drinks, the service is great (our server, Julia, made multiple suggestions we loved and would not have tried otherwise), the decor is gorgeous, and there is parking which is a huge plus for old town. My favorite and most surprising was the crunchy plantains which were suggested by our server.

Things that can improve would be table size, the two person table barely fits 2 dishes with the water glasses and personal plates and such, and the music is a little loud for conversing.

Below is specifics about the food:

Plantains - surprisingly good. Picked by our waiter. Not too crunchy, a little spice, nice and salty, so good! citrus yellowtail - bit of a miss for me. Ive had really good yellowtail crudo Beaches be crazy - really peachy, very fruity and refreshing. Like alcoholic peach juice. A little sake aftertaste. Halle berry - sweet refreshing, more subtle than the peach, very minty. Smooth, tastes like real, fresh ingredients Dragon tail - not very sweet, still fruity. I think dragonfruit is a bit subtler. Definitely has a sake aftertaste though. Firecracker roll - Very good - tastes like tempura shrimp which is delicious. Nice balance not too spicy Caballero - very unique, good, definitely not a classic Message in a bottle - very gin, very smooth, floral and fruity. Delicious but definitely strong. Goes down easy Toastada - very good, quite spicy, mostly when you get jalapeno in the bite. The fried onion is unique and actually went so well with it. And my favorite part is that its easy to bite, some tostada seem to fall apart or part of the topping comes out with a bite. Cookies and cream mochi - very good, nice little touch at the end. One piece of mochi each, perfect to end the meal and its a nice touch that its...

Location: Tako is on the side of El Sueno in the valet parking lot. It’s not necessarily a speakeasy because it’s clearly marked with an orange neon octopus sign. Take the flight of stairs to the upper level.

Parking: Street parking and nearby free lots. If that’s full, park at the trolley lot and walk 6mins over. Or pay $8 to valet in the El Sueno lot.

Food: The food was amazing. The rolls had a Mexican flare by adding certain meats.

-Ahi poke: Fresh. Perfectly pre seasoned.

-Sueno roll: Yellow tail, spicy mayo and Serrano peppers had a nice kick.

-XXX roll: Wagyu beef was seared on top, lobster, shrimp tempura. Tasted light and delicate from the truffle oil.

-Nigiri set: This was chef’s choice and market price. Least favorite of all.

-Crispy plantains: All time favorite! So much flavor in the deep fried caramelized plantains with spicy tuna and avocado. Shout out to Pietro for this comp dish!

Service: Definitely needs improvement in this area. We did not get our water cup refilled at all. The gentleman who cleared out our plates came by more often than our server. We asked him to refill our water. We would have ordered another drink but we finished our food by the time our server came to check up on us so I just asked for the check.

Highly recommend to make reservations on Open Table. Bar seating seems to be open but every table was taken.

Overall, great food and night club kind of vibe with the deejay. The ambiance is really dark with a small lamp on the table. Food is 5/5 and service...