Carlos "Randomguru" R.'s Profile

I wanted very much to give this restaurant 5 stars.  Being a vegan who switched to a raw vegan diet,  I am so glad a restaurant like this exists to serve the raw foodists, and there's more than one at that.

I had gone to the Chula Vista Cilantro Live! a few years ago and was very impressed by the raw cuisine they served.  But the restaurant was pretty much out-of-the-way for me.  And so is this restaurant in Carlsbad.

Now that I know there is another Cilantro Live! in Hillcrest (which is more centralized for me) I'm going to go check that one out.

At this Cilantro Live! in Carlsbad, I had a Carob Mint Smoothie, and a "Cheeseburger" which also included a salad.  My wife had the nori rolls because she wasn't that hungry, and she also ordered (first) the Vanilla Ice Cream.  And we sort of shared all items ordered.

The Carob Mint Smoothie was "to die for"...  Excellent!  And the Vanilla Ice Cream was excellent too!  I seriously think that this raw vegan version tasted better than the old fashioned, cream laden version.

The Nori Rolls were quite good.  Pretty much excellent too, actually.  My Cheeseburger with Salad (in a light Lemon-y dressing?) was just okay to me.  The salad was good, but I didn't like the raw vegan Cheeseburger...  it was a little too tough and too "nutty" for my taste.

Overall the raw cuisine they served us was very good.

Now I realize that it takes a lot of work to prepare raw cuisine with the use of dehydrators and what not, but unfortunately, the food took like, forever to arrive.  And what made it worse was the place felt like a morgue.  No ambience, no background music.  The place was cold and for a raw vegan restaurant I think that's bad.

But the people that served us were friendly and nice.  And they have a nice Buddha statue and fountain that greets the customers walking in.  And I liked the idea of bunches of wheatgrass as table centerpieces.

If they could just find a way to speed up the service a bit, and work on the ambience part, then they would have a really nice restaurant that people would keep coming back to.  Because I had no problem overall with the food....

But unfortunately I would have to give this establishment 3 stars.

Like Risa has said, Robbie's Roadhouse Grille kicks some serious ASS!

Great ambience, great food, great beer!  :o)

I performed here last night with the Flamenco Group for the first time, and the place was packed and quite busy...  it has a nice atmosphere, outside and inside dining, and a very busy bar.

For people visiting Leucadia, I guess this is a place to "be-seen", as it seems like a very happenin' place.  Pretty casual, yet has an air of hipness to it.  Big screen TV, live entertainment.

Parking is tough, but they have valet parking.

This new San Francisco Mall is exceptional....  and it's conveniently located at the Powell Street BART Station.

I must confess that (as a native San Diegan) this SF Mall puts all San Diego Malls to shame!

Bloomingdales?  Are you kidding me?  ;o)

And the food court is the best I've been to so far.  Lots of great, gourmet choices.   I recommend Coriander Gourmet Thai and that Gelato stand close by.

The architecture is excellent so the ambience is truly awesome.  Love the dome!

Like others have said, the food is very good for Mall food.  And for Thai food is quite pleasing to the palate.

My only gripes are:  1.  More veggies in the curry, please?  2.  More vegetarian thai options.  3.  And usually there is a long line, but it moves fast, and isn't that a sign that the food is great?  4.  The curry sauce was excellent, but not spicy and hot enough.

But, if you're a meateater, you should be quite happy with the selections.

For me, I had one of the worst dining experiences of my life right here at this restaurant, and I'll tell you why...

I dined here once with my family, and I ordered a "Bicol Express" and I was the only one in my group who ordered a Bicol Express.

To make a long story short, I waited and waited.  Then everyone started getting their food.  And by the time almost everyone had finished their plates of food, I inquired about my Bicol Express, and the waiter went away for awhile to check on it then came back saying, "Sorry, sir.  We don't have all the ingredients to make a Bicol Express".

And my jaw dropped and I let out something like, "You gotta be kidding me?!"

And the waiter asked if I was interested in ordering something else.  And looking around to see that everyone was pretty much done with their food, I said, "Never mind!"

And they didn't even try to make it up to me, nor did anyone apologize or give me a free meal.  It was just.  Well, tough luck.  And I made a vow never to eat there again!  Blegh!!!

My wife and I went here once for lunch.  We ordered our food.  Then we waited... then we waited....  then we waited...  it was almost an hour.  Well, maybe 45 minutes.  Then we inquired about our food and it still wasn't ready.....

We ended up just leaving...  it was pathetic.  Maybe it was what we ordered, which I honestly can't remember.  But we joked....  maybe their out trying to catch the seafood.

Anyway, I hate to give anyone just one star but, "are you kidding me?", it was the longest wait for food at any restaurant that I'd ever experienced.  And for that, only 1 star, even though we never got around to tasting the food.

Like your typical Starbucks, it's gotta a nice ambience, the employees are friendly, and the espresso, mochas and lattes are great!

I go here sometimes to work online and log on to their t-mobile hotspot, which virtually every Starbucks has nowadays.  and, i have a nice time while i'm there.

Once they got my order wrong, and they made me the correct one and insisted I get the first one for free.  Usually with all Starbucks, customer service is outstanding.  no exception here.

I'm a satisfied customer, and they keep me coming back!

The first time I went here I ordered a soy mocha from their coffee shop at the front.  I waited for quite a while before I asked, "where's my mocha?"

They had forgotten to get it started!  So, I waited again and finally got it.  And I was not impressed.  You're better off going to Starbucks.

And although the ambience is ultra elegant and the decor is fantastic, there is just a "coldness" I get when I've gone there.  Maybe it's just me and I prefer more down-to-earth establishments.  But also, the workers there don't seem very friendly either.  And maybe it's just because it's a rather ritzy establishment that caters to the rich folks with the fake boobs and the cokeheads...  and the place does feel like a total meat market.....

aside from that the drinks took forever to arrive, and the food was just so-so.....

nice multi-leveled elegant decor.  but, overall i was not impressed!

thai house, yeah! ;o)  a very popular lunch-time hangout.

i've been going to this place for years, and they've been very consistent with their entrees and service.

i'm a vegan/vegetarian, so this is one of the few places i CAN eat vegan without suffering from a lack of great food.  i highly recommend the curries...  red, green and yellow curries...  all excellent.

the service is awesome and they are always friendly.  they have well-earned my 5 star rating!

my only critique is the parking situation.  because the restaurant is popular, and there are other restaurants in the vicinity, parking is free but rather a pain.

This is a very cool place to dine and party.  The food is excellent.  Great seafood entrees...  Salmon, Sea Bass...  The atmosphere is festive.  Although it's kind of small, there is outside dining overlooking the street.