The Cork and Craft — Restaurant in San Diego

JUST got back here from my wife's surprise birthday. She has been wanting to come here for a long time. I have been here once with coworkers for a happy hour with out of town visitors.

Happy Hour Visit: Great beer with DANG GOOD wings and good Garlic Noodles. I think everyone else went into this on other reviews so I won't. The beers are amazing and they have a ton of different styles which makes it even better. We had about 20 people and they let us take over the patio. The server they assigned to us kept our beer flowing even though we weren't in the bar area. The service was amazing.

Dinner for Birthday: We were greeted by a very friendly hostess and she led us to our table. They had already set up the 6 chairs and 1 high chair (for the kidd-o). Before we were all there, the waiter came over and just asked if we wanted any drinks or apps. We ended up ordering 2 orders of wings and 1 order of the garlic noodles (for the kid). All of the food was really good but it came out a little slower than I had hoped. Not too slow, just you know, time slows down when your kid's hungry and you want him/her to get some sustenance.

Fast Forward to the end of the meal when everyone's done eating the entree. We were brought dessert menus and I asked the server if we could do 5 different checks. Normally I'd have expected a laugh as a response, but the server said, "I can totally do that as long as you're patient with me. It may take a little while for me to separate it out". Seriously VERY accommodating. We loved the service and all the staff was friendly. The server gave us crayons and a drawing paper and the kitchen staff saw my daughter looking at them and they all smiled and waved. Seriously... WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!

Not only was the service good, but the food was pretty darn good too. I ordered the Lamb Duo which had 2 small lamb chops (from the rack) and lamb shoulder stuffed agnolotti. All I can say is that the stuffed agnolotti was the highlight of the dish. I do wish there were more chops, but m'eh. For $28 it was a little pricey, but it was a high quality dish.

Wifey wanted to get the crepe cake and that impressed us greatly. The coffee ice cream was a strong coffee flavor and the crepe/mousse itself was a perfect texture and blend of flavors. WAY better than any other we've had.

The Wings... Amazing... Again amazing.

We'll definitely be coming back. The dessert was the best crepe cake we've had (haven't had THAT many, but still) and the wings are a close second best wings I've had in San Diego.

TL:DR - Great service and food and baby friendly. Just a...

Extremely disappointing. I read about The Cork and Craft from a national food website that highlights new chefs and restaurants. The quality of service was extremely slow and unprofessional.

(1) The server took some time to come greet us, while we were waiting I noticed a table on the patio had to physically come in the restaurant to find her and ask her for their check.

(2) Once the gentleman came to bring our waters, I informed him I would be having sparkling water, he ignored me and still sat down all the water.

(3) When the server finally did come, we placed our order and I informed her I will be having sparkling water. She nodded and I then politely asked her to remove the tap water. Her response was "Don't you want to leave it here for later?".

The starters were delicious. However, between the starters and the entree it took at least 15 minutes with no communication or acknowledgement from the server or the staff.

(4) I had to physically get up from my table and approach the server (as she was behind the counter with other staff members and not available on the dining room floor) to let her know that I did not want my entree. Her response was "don't you want to just take it to go?".

Several large tables were still being served and then we were approached with our entrees by the server and the manager. At which point the manager attempted to apologize for the server and explain that they had large tables ahead of us? I informed him that ideally it would have been appropriate for the server to approach our table at some point and explain/apologize for the wait or inquire on how we were doing. She just left us sitting there.

(5)THEN, the server spoke up and said "I apologize, I JUST DIDN'T THINK IT WAS THAT BIG OF A LAG TIME". That's when I literally was stunned and had no words...

Cork and Craft has a varied menu with great seasonal dishes. However, there is an extreme disconnect from the food that is prepared in the kitchen to what is presented (or not) to the customer. I would never travel to Rancho Bernardo for a dining experience that left me having to explain basic customer service and table side etiquette to a server.

Save yourself the trouble and go across the street to Phil's Bar B Que where your expectations may be lower but will far exceed the service at The...

Is this place under new ownership? My colleagues/friends and I have enjoyed this restaurant so much that we told a client about it and hosted them there for lunch a month ago. They drove into RB to our “recommended local spot” and asked for the sliders that the table next to us was enjoying, but the server said that was not possible, and I suggested “must be out of it” but server said, “no, it’s just not …. for everyone.”

We had already been served burnt bread for the caprese appetizer, which we hid from our guest who arrived after us, along with the hummus “elote” which sounded interesting for my vegetarian co-host but tasted awful.

We had asked for coffee upon arrival, which we always have there, but the server said “we don’t do that anymore bc “brewing a pot of coffee interrupts our ability to serve the food.” I suggested buying iced coffee and having that as an option for guests who just want some caffeine, and the young server looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

I ordered the “seafood roll,” which is a new take on the previously popular lobster roll, and the flavor was good but the corners of the brioche bun were sadly inedible. Stale old bread just becomes too hard/chewy to digest.

My colleague ordered a salad and asked for avocado but the server said “we are no longer able to offer that bc our chef is allergic.” I understand we have to be mindful/considerate of allergies, but have since asked a chef close to me if that is a common practice and he said “that is ... not typical.” And banned avocado policy aside, my colleague took two bites and left her salad. She just said it was inedible. The server asked if she wanted a box and she said no thank you, and just he shrugged and moved on. We were too embarrassed to ask our client how their meal was … the experience was odd above all else and we hope this was just an off day on the food (the service has been like this on other recent visits) and would want to try it again but...