Urban Plates — Restaurant in San Diego

Its a shame that I have to write this review, but after eating at this place for years, well before covid, I will never order online take out food nor eat from this establishment as long as I live and I would discourage my family, my friends, and anyone reading this from doing the same . Its better to skip a meal and go hungry than spend money on their food. Allow me to explain.

First of all its not one or two errors as we can all forgive those minor inconveniences-no one is perfect. Surely we have all messed up on the job.

However, after many wrong orders over the years, dozens and dozens of times in the most ridiculous and obvious ways- I no longer have the patience to be the quiet customer who would rather accept the mistake and enjoy their albeit wrong meal in peace and quiet.

Explain to me how a "signed and verified" to go order is wrong 40% of the time? Want a salad with no blue cheese cause you aren't a fan? Well guess what, they will make sure your order receipt says no cheese but indeed give you a salad with plenty of cheese on it. All while someone checked the food, verified it was "correct", signed and stapled your to go order with your obvious receipt right on the front of the bag.

The default entree or salad order comes with bread unless otherwise specified. Guess what? Your order receipt will most definitely say, yes I the customer want the bread, but they will often not include bread. Really, really weird cause every meal gets bread unless otherwise stated. Huh

No onion on that salad, dont worry it will have onion. Want to PAY EXTRA TO ADD BACON???? WE WILL NOT INCLUDE BACON ON YOUR SANDWICH AFTER YOU PAID FOR IT. Want to PAY EXTRA to have avocado on your steak salad? Well we will forget that too. Want your salad tossed? Nope. Want extra dressing? Just kidding! Want sesame broccoli? We will give you steamed broccoli good sir. They WILL find a way to mess up any one of your orders. It does not make sense. Put me on death row and I will eat rat meat stew as my last meal over this out of spite.

I spent $560 eating here ONE month alone( i checked my bank statement) for my family because i was extremely busy with work and we didnt have the time to prepare home cooked meals nor do the grocery shopping. Its 2025, I probably started eating here 2016? I had hair then, Im bald now.

No one at the business knows who I am, I just order my food, pick it up, then leave. Sometimes I dine in, most of the time I dont. I dont complain ever, I don't care to. Its a waste of time. However my patience and kindness towards them...

I'm in love with their CHICKEN COBB SALAD. I don't usually get that excited about salads, but the Buttermilk Dill Dressing and fresh ingredients make me crave it. The CARIBBEAN SALAD was fantastic too! It is unique and full of flavor. I added grilled chicken to it and it was delicious. The CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD was incredibly good too. Their food is making me so happy.

They are really good about reading the notes for customizing the salads. I got them delivered a few times, and my daughter wanted steak instead of chicken, and no blue cheese. Anything like that, they nailed it.

I was missing out. I took too long to try this place. I guess I thought of it as "the brussel sprouts place". Was I ever wrong. They have a lot of interesting things I want to try. Now that I see the light, I am working my way through their menu. 😁

The beef is grass-fed. I am not a fan of the taste, but I never am though, so that's just me. But it's super tender, it might be just what some people are looking for.

The Mediterranean Chicken Bowl was good. It made me realize how much I love their hummus. I like it better than any I've tried. The HUMMUS & PITA CHIPS is one of my favorite things here.

Their FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE just makes the world a better place. It tastes like the inside of a chocolate truffle. It was bliss. It's rich enough that I would have even been quite happy with half. The other desserts like the Mango Tart have been good, but this made me say wow...

I love Urban Plates as a Celiac because I can a gluten-free meal that's safe for me to eat, thanks to their marked menu.

Yesterday I ordered the blackened salmon with hollandaise. It came with 2 sides and I got the chipotle & herb marble potatoes & harissa lime cauliflower and a slice of gluten free bread for $22.14 (with tax.) I made sure to ask for a glove change because I'm celiac and need gluten-free.

Portion looked small but it tasted fantastic, aside from their very dense gluten-free bread.

Service is quick and they have ample indoor and outdoor seating.

Unfortunately there are not many options for a meal with protein for less than $20 per person, so it's not necessarily affordable for families. Just to add chicken to any salad is an extra $8.50.

I feel like the food is marked up so that you'll buy into their $60 per year membership program which includes 20% off your bill for food and between 20-35% off of beverages. I guess if you plan to spend more than $300 per year, pre-tax, the membership makes sense, but why not just lower the price and sell more meals?

They also add a 3% surcharge for employee care or something. That's going to be made illegal next month here in California.

Despite the bizarre membership thing, this isn't the first Urban Plates I've been to nor the...