Waterbar — Restaurant in San Diego

Most racist place I’ve ever been to in San Diego. I show up with my date. The black guy at the front was very hospitable and had lots of useful information. He tells us that all drinks including the Cadillac margarita were $7 till 12am. That was a deal for us. So me and my date decided to go on in. We get to the bar and saw that everyone got their drinks. We both wave down the bartenders and one white dude with a stash on his lip in a black shirt gives me a dirty look and ignores us. 3 other groups of white kids come up and they immediately serve them. I made a comment saying “I guess they don’t serve colors here”, and the dude comes up with the stash and says what do you guys need? I ask for a Cadillac margarita and one space dust. He says “$40”. I was like wait, how much is the Cadillac? He tells me $30. When I asked what tequila he used and he said Jose Cuervo i immediately knew this place was racist. Two Mexican individuals in a white neighborhood must have made them mad because the atmosphere they created for us was bone chilling. My date then got sick off what every they put in the drink that she ended up in the bathroom 3 times. When she got back, I tried to order another space dust and water. Again I got skipped for a white group and a white guy and two 15 year old looking white kids. I went up to the bartender and asked, “so do you guys just not like Mexicans here”? She rolls her eyes and said what can I get you. Bro this place is not the spot if your any shade of brown. Unless you come in with a group of white folks, stay away. This place is booming with racism. I’d give zero stars if I could and I would have asked for my money back if I didn’t believe I would be physically assaulted or arrested for being Mexican while in a white...

My wife and have been to Water Bar many times over the past 10-15 years or so. The atmosphere has always been cool and they used to have some live entertainment that we’d love to come see on Saturdays. We have not been in a few years and decided to head over while we were in town. Everybody was super friendly starting with the security guard in line and the hostess at the very front. The vibe at this place is amazing. The music is freaking awesome, all dance remixes and house music from the 2000’s to present. I can’t stress how much the music makes a difference! There were several games going on all over the screens and everybody was having a great time in the entire restaurant. What prompted me to leave a review was our server ABBY. She’s super professional and personable all in one, which is a hard combo to find these days. She immediately introduced herself by name and asked how we were doing, even though things were super busy. She took a little extra time to make us feel important. She was crazy, busy, but didn’t skip a beat and handled our table along with everybody else’s perfectly. I’ve been in the service industry, and I was super impressed with her! We had several dishes. All of them were amazing, especially the clam chowder, and the sweet chili wings. I believe the sweet chili wings were quite possibly the best wings I’ve ever had! I spoke to the manager and found out that their menu had recently changed, which explained the outstanding dishes we had. I’ll be honest, though, I’ve been going this place for quite some time, and I think a lot more has changed than just the menu. I give them an A+ all the way around...

My wife and I are self proclaimed semi-foodies. We appreciate very unique, beautifully crafted dishes. We love to find hidden gems, try the hot new spots, and we don't mind spending the money. That being said, this place is over priced, the "Water Bar burger" is dry and over cooked, the clam chowder is watery, but the fish and chips were decent. My wife will often order octopus nearly every time she finds it on a menu. This time, it was nasty. Burnt in places, not charred correctly, as it should be, and smelled bad.

When we appeared, the place was not crowded. It was my wife's birthday and my mother-in-law was in town. We went for a long walk from Crown point, around the bay and decided to continue on and grab a bite here. We wanted to watch the sunset from the window seats but the hostess' didn't want to take the extra effort to make it happen. When a party got up, we told the girls that we were going to take the window. She then responded with attitude about having to wait until the table was bussed. But instead of getting someone, they stood at the podium and watched as they talked about us. Once the buss boy came to them, they explained the situation and he then gave a "stink eye" and then proceeded our way to clear the table.

The server was accommodating, the management was kind and attentive, but the rest of the immature staff were just rude. I wanted to talk to management but my wife wouldn't allow me to. Besides, I think platforms like Yelp and Google are much more affective in getting the word...