The Mining Company — Restaurant in San Marcos

DISAPPOINTING

Let me be clear this is only about our last visit this Sunday. It is about their new location as the other one had a slight different name and was in Restaurant Row in San Marcos. We went there with friends about 1 o'clock on Sunday it wasn't really busy I would estimate about 20% capacity. We really enjoyed this restaurant when it was located in Restaurant Row in San Marcos. They changed the name and have moved to grand Avenue also in San Marcos. We invited our friends so there was four in our party. I want to be clear our server Teresa was pleasant and really tried her best but appeared overwhelmed when a number of people ordered their meal at the same time, these things can happen. Personally I think she was terrific but everything went downhill from there. We ordered four meals and one person really enjoyed his tri-steak sandwich and raved about it the other three was the wrong order or the food was not very good. One in the party ordered a well done hamburger but instead of fries ask for vegetables when the order came it was not delivered by Teresa and no one could figure out what it was, it certainly was not a hamburger. My wife and I both ordered Rubens and at first I thought the corned beef was very tuff. But my wife cooks corned beef often and actually we just had it a week ago at home for St. Patty's day she said no this is undercooked. The sandwich appeared to be just thrown on the bread about 25% of mind was in one corner the rest was all bread. The other one about 25% was fat or gristle. And the portions were extremely small for $17 sandwich. We complained to Teresa who was very apologetic and explained she did not deliver the sandwiches which we knew she offered to replace the unknown sandwich which turned out to be a veggie patty with the beef burger. She explained that the chef later told her he wasn't sure what she wanted and she told him maybe you should ask rather than serve the customer something. While our friends did order a new Patty I would've assumed it would not of been delivered on a plane plate nothing but the burger paddie sitting in the middle. I did mention how terrible the corned beef was on the Ruben. But there was no offer to replace it or even to take it off the bill We have been in restaurants before and if dissatisfied when we complain there was always an offer to make a satisfied. I ordered coffee and they said they be back as soon as they put away some soil dishes. No one came back and I never got my coffee. While they took our empty glasses they never asked if we wanted refills. When we asked for the check they asked if we wanted a box for my uneaten sandwich which had only one bite out of it and I said no again it was terrible and uncooked. I'm not sure what went on today it was probably an isolated incident while I'm sure we might go there again this visit turned out to be a disaster besides the uncooked corned beef the amount of corned beef was extremely small again for $17 especially when a third of my wife sandwich was nothing but fat and it appeared just thrown on a plate with no care. While I blame much of this on the kitchen, management should have a policy if a customer complains about something the server recognizes this and makes some offered to compensate. I hope they see this review as I really do not like to make negative reviews about restaurants but when you have a valid complaint you should tell other people about it in the hopes that the restaurant will take heed and correct things. While we did want to have dessert especially the mud pie by this time we were so disgusted we just paid the...

We used to visit the bar area at the former Mining Company site a couple times a month because we loved the vibe, the service, food and everyone seemed to enjoy being there, both customers and your employees. We’ve tried the new location three times and the staff looks and acts like they would rather be anyplace, but there. Whether it’s because they are overworked, or you are understaffed or whatever the reason is, last night we waited 12 minutes for the bartender to acknowledge us at the bar, the man to our right hadn’t been helped either, and he was there 5 minutes before us. It would be one thing if the bar was jam packed, but there were five stools available when we got there. we could see a bartender was making drinks, and there was a second bartender moving in and out of the area, and there were various servers coming into the bar space with food for some of the tables, but the only person who even acknowledged us was the bus man. When the bartender finally acknowledged us, she said she didn’t see us there, which OK she’s busy I get that, but she didn’t act like she had any time for us. She abruptly said what do you want to drink? Do you want food? No smile, no welcome in…nothing. Then when she brought us our drinks she never came back again to ask how the food or drinks were, need anything…nothing. Our food was delivered to us by another server and we had ordered, medium and medium rare tri-tip salads and both came medium. We decided not to say anything because why even speak up when nobody cares that we’re there.

I have a degree in hospitality management and worked in the industry for many, many years and I have a lot of respect and grace for bartenders and servers. It is a hard and often thankless job, so we are always very respectful and try and be as kind and nice and tip the staff well. But in my restaurant days, I always expected my staff to be friendly and courteous and to make every customer feel like they were the only person who mattered.

And that used to be the case when the Mining Company was in its former location, and it’s why we loved going there and bringing our friends and family, but we’re not going to go back to this new location and spend $75-100 bucks until you spend someone time retraining your team and recapture some of the former Mining...

I surprised mom with an outing to The Mining Company Steakhouse and Saloon in San Marcos. Driving by numerous times and smelling the aroma was too much one day and we had to stop in. No regrets!

I ordered a steak of course because this carnivore knows good food when she smells it! Mom went a little more simple with the all-you-can-eat salad bar option. The steak was delicious and prepared perfectly to medium as I requested. The house salad that came with it was delicious, but I could see it was a small comparison to that super duper salad bar mom selected. That bar has the usual lettuce and toppings any other salad bar would have, but they also have hard boiled eggs, broccoli, grilled corn, diced ham cubes, cottage cheese, fruit section, diced pineapple for that cottage cheese, and so much more. There is every dressing you could hope to choose from and the salad bar runs the length of a long wall. Pick up a plate and get started. So much to choose from you could make a meal out of that alone and leave stuffed!

Management has the good graces of Karla (with a K) who served us. She made sure we understood our options and was attentive without being overbearing. There when we needed her and gave us our space as well. Perfect blend of attention and eating in peace. The decor is cute all around and they had a room to the side where a large party was taking place, but not disruptive at all. The layout was well planned. We will definitely be returning again and again. Give Karla a well deserved commendation, she certainly has earned it! Seriously, she is an asset to this establishment and a shining example of what good service looks...