The Bistro at the Strand — Restaurant in San Diego

I give it 2 stars for the location of the place, 4 stars for the waiters since they try their best. 1 star for the menu and prices. The name of the "restaurant" is misleading and should be changed, with the name, "the Bistro", you would imagine a nice variety of steaks. Instead you are presented with a menu mostly comprised of Asian cuisine, there are exceedingly more variety of sushi platters then there are for steaks(as if this school doesn't already serve enough Asian food on campus). I ordered a steak from the Entree menu, the wait was horrible, approximately, 55mins of wait time, not including the time it took to be seated. We were starving, I had hoped the wait would be worth it but when I received my plate(and it was a big plate) 90%of my plate was smashed potatoes, 5% asparagus, and 5% was my steak, the size of a hockey puck with little to no thickness. It was ridiculous, a big pile of smash potatoes with asparagus is what I was mostly paying for. When I got the bill I was surprised to see that my Entree was $20, $20 for a plate of potatoes and asparagus. I complained at the checkout and was told that the prices were determined by the weight of each plate. Well that explains why I mostly got potatoes and barely any steak, just another example of how this school just loves to...

The Bistro is elegant and sleek yes, but with the atmosphere they bring, the food and staff are definitely lacking. The staff is friendly, but you can tell they are just students taking a job, no real professionalism that matches the restaurant. Food wait times are on the slower side as a single roll of sushi took 20 minutes to prepare on a night with at least 3/4 of diners already served, and at max the food was okay. I recommend staying away from any of the teas as the teas are tea bags you can find at any of the campus markets/dining halls and almost twice as expensive. Also, after dinner don't expect too much as the dessert options are limited, never change, and it's quality the same as the food, just okay. It is a University runned restaurant so expectations weren't super high, but whether your a student spending dining dollars, visiting the campus, or staff going on lunch, it's best to save your money and spend it on something cheaper with equal quality or better on Campus, or just take a walk/drive off campus.

Note: according to the waitress who served me "specials are just a way to get rid of some ingredients in stock." Think twice about spending $16-$18 on something that isn't so...

I have mixed feelings with Bistro. First of all, there's nothing wrong with the taste of the food itself, in fact, it's pretty nice. The problem is.... there's a lot of problems. The sushi is not real sushi, and NO one puts cream cheese in sushi. Sure it works but it's the equivalent of pineapple on pizza to Italian. Second, seaweed salad is not making a normal salad with different types of seaweed. It doesn't work and I'll never order it again...

EDIT: Third, the wait time here's always longer than the other places on campus. With the new quarter starting, it only became worse. I ordered a takoyaki this Thursday, the estimated wait time is 16min but I waited for more than 50 MIN! Also, the bowl contains 3 pieces of takoyaki. Can you believe it?! 50mins for 3 pieces. The wait is not worth it. Either order it wayyyy ahead of time or go to...