Jardines de San Juan Restaurant & Event Venue — Restaurant in San Juan Bautista

Came in tonight @6:50pm . with family of 14 (5 of them being kids) to celebrate a bday. 1 guy & 1 girl working as Hostess. I was told 20-25min wait time by the kid for outside seating. It was nice weather and we thought -okay cool this will be a fantastic evening. We are not from the area. we were told about this place so thats how we ended here. .. 50min later the kid tells me he's been waiting on two customers to leave in order to clear the table he needs to set up 3 tables for us. Clearly he can see the kids that are with us. That wasn't the only table . There where plenty more tables that he could have moved around . it's not Rocket Science. its Tetris. him and the girl kept taking in parties of 2's and 3's that came in way after us , instead of making some minor adjustments with the tables, and they were not on the same page at all. 1hour Later we sat down . we weren't served any waters. 10min later we went to ask for a waiter to take our order. If not who knows how long we would have waited. By the time we got served our food it was 8:30pm , and sure enough (what i had told my family ) came true. They messed up so Bad. Unbelievable! They brought 3 kid's enchilada plates when we had ordered 3 kid's Quesadilla plates. Some one had asked for no onions and sure enough they got onions. What if he was Allergic to it? Hmm.. We asked for a glass to pour a bottled beer in (when we ordered drinks) and they couldnt even do that right LOL. SMH. Kid's had to wait an extra 10min on top of almost 2hours to eat. By this time it was almost 9pm , it wasnt light outside anymore and it got cold outside. Someone talked to the manager and the discount he gave was 20% off the total (which i later was told about after we had left) . like what is 20% gonna do??? They Messed up so badly. I mean Seriously management!? What a Joke! I have Never had such a HORRIBLE experience like this before EVER. I have worked in restaurants before , and know exactly what it is to do Everything in my power to take care of the customer effectively and efficiently, ESPECIALLY if they have kids. But this place , starting with the hostess , dont care and aren't trained well enough. i will let my friend (who suggested this place) and everyone i know know that this place is Garbage. Never will return , not even if they offer a free meal. This establishment can't handle big groups. Avoid this place . spend the money somewhere else ....

Ambiance: 4 or 5 stars Food Quality: 3 stars Service: mixed Price: too high for what it is

I live in San Juan, and have eaten here many times. The location and gardens in the back are beyond beautiful. The food is decent, no complaints. The waiters are usually nice and often attentive, however I have seen full trays of food (like 6 plates) crash to the floor of the brick patio on several occasions (one time it happened twice in the same visit!). The prices are high, let's be clear, however they are still low enough for this to be a nice place to go for a special night out, like a birthday or anniversary, etc. The reason I am writing this review (and only giving 3 stars overall) is because of their senseless policies that they randomly trot out... yesterday (Mother's Day) was the last straw. I called to place an order to be picked up (I live about a quarter mile from the restaurant) and the guy on the phone informed me that due to the "Mother's Day rush" (it was 5:15 when I called) they would not be taking to go orders over the phone. Excuse me? Oh, but they will do to go orders, if you want to show up and place the order in person and then stand around and wait while they cook it. This makes NO SENSE. Unless they think I am going to place an order and then not show up, this policy is pointless. What is the difference between telling you what I want in person, and telling you on the phone? It certainly doesn't alleviate the rush, if anything it just makes it more crowded in the waiting area. Also, it is Mother's Day, and I am not going to go stand outside their building for 30 minutes while they make the food for absolutely no reason while my wife is at home with the kids, so we just got something else for dinner. Which may have been their hope, since this (the losing of business) is the only way their policy alleviated the rush. If I am going to be paying $15 for a burrito and $7 for one taco (yes, that is the price), at least let me order from the...

A hidden treasure in the heart of San Juan Bautista 💓 I say hidden because you enter a little gate off the main street. It seems like nothing really. Then you walk down a narrow side yard and it opens up to a beautiful garden. The court yard is sprayed with many colors of umbrellas. There is a canopy trees above. There is plants and cactus, succulents EVERYWHERE! The best part is through the back of the courtyard you enter through a beautiful wood arch gate. This is where the plant heaven is. The Adobe tiles are spread across a huge courtyard. Lights are strung throughout. So many flowers are blooming throughout the year. There is very old,large flowering cactus. Geraniums in so many colors. Beautiful old trees adorn with other hanging plants . They even have an area for some ducks in the back left corner. Jardines even does weddings here. Now to the food. The chips and salsa are delicious. The salsa is the perfect amount of spice. The guacamole is so yummy, I highly recommend. My favorite dish is the Chile Verde. They give you so much, I always need to take some home. My husband always gets Manuel's burrito with Shrimp. He's like the fish too. Any flavor of their margaritas are delicious. My favorite is the strawberry 🍓 😋. I highly recommend this restaurant. The staff are very friendly, oh and the restrooms are...