Coastal Crave

I’m going to start off saying that I am far from being a picky eater or having high expectations, I always try to find positive sides. Unfortunately, I really struggle to say anything flattering about the Coastal Crave. I bought a groupon deal for a dinner for 2 worth of $ 60; now I can confidently say that it was the worst way to waste that money. I have traveled quite a bit, and even the most rural areas of the world have always had something better to offer.
My husband and I walked in the restaurant about 8.30 pm on Saturday night. There was nobody dining in, except for a bunch of ppl sitting at the bar. Nobody greeted us and it took a waitress awhile to approach our table. The ambience was quite dull and boring, coming off as a cheap shabby place. Our table had some food pieces on it; menus were nothing but colored crumpled papers with spots all over — not something one’d expect from a place with entrees over $ 20.5. Hubby ordered a well-​done Ribeye steak and I got the Cioppino. There were no other people having meals and I swear it took about 40 mins for our food to arrive. And it was a complete disaster. The steak was very tough, dry, half-​burned smelling like coals (in a bad way); the amount of food in the 21 $ Cioppino was miserable, so to speak. Before ordering, I asked the waitress how spicy it was and she assured me it was very wild. I gulped down two glasses of water and my whole face was on fire. Moreover, that sauce absolutely doesn’t go with seafood.
I’m not a good cook, but I’m sure I could have done a better job. My husband had to leave to rinse his mouth, that’s how unberable the aftertaste was. I shared our frustration with the waitress and she disappeared for what it seems forever to get a chef who happened to never even come out to see us. I was not given any substitute, credit or discount for the horrible meals because of some sort of policy stating that I should have let the staff know at the beginning of my meal that I wasn’t happy with it. How in the world am I supposed to know that I’m not happy with it after 1 bite? The service was extremely slow, even though it was pretty dead there. I can’t imagine what could have happened had it been busy there.
After all, I still laid huge hopes on desserts I got to go: triple chocolate cake (that the waitress claimed to be one of the best) and a cheesecake. They were not much different from store-​bought cakes in terms of taste and quality, only the size was way smaller and the price was ridiculously high — 7 $ per piece. I’d have been better off getting desserts from the Cheesecake Factory! I got a couple of bites and the crazy amount of sugar gave me a huge headache. In conclusion, I have to admit that the evening was ruined; we left feeling hungry, fooled and sick. Would never come back and would recommend others to stay as far away as they can from this joke of a restaurant.

I came here for the first time today. We ordered habanero calamari and a poor boy and pulled pork sandwich with French fries. I must say the fries were the best part. Both sandwiches had GOBS of Mayonnaise, and were chinzy on everything else the pork tasted gamey and old, the calamari was not over cooked yet it was still rubbery (old in my opinion) the bread and the 2 ½ shrimp on the «poor boy» we’re the only fresh tasting thing on the table. Who puts mayo on a bbq pork sandwich that already has coleslaw that’s way to sloppy and wet in the first place? Seriously like 2 tablespoons at the least, and the poorboy had even more then that.

Delicious food, excellent service. I wish they had more and better wines by the glass, and it feels a little sports bar y for what is really fine dining. Ample free parking is always a plus, but, for these prices, I’d welcome more elegance and an enticement to dress up.

I’ve driven by this place 100’s of times & never knew it was here, but now that I know & the Quality of the menu items I’ll be Back for sure.
We got a Groupon for $ 36 for $ 60 worth of Land & Sea Items. This was an Awesome Deal. We got 2 Entrees both were Delicious. I got the Ribeye Steak (Med. Rare) & my friend got the Chippino (a bit spicey) but Lots of Seafood & Flavor.
We started out with the Ahi Poke appetizer that was not included in the Groupon, but this got the meal started on a Great Note, served with Wonton Chips & Ghost Pepper Wasabi. Yum!
In closing, they have a full bar with great craft beers & lots of Great Daily Specials too. Check this place out, you’ll be Glad you did. ENJOY!

The food was ok. Scallops a bit undercooked but still tasty. The bacon risotto was a bit greasy but also tasted well. Service was great.

It’s a local place, so we wanted to check it out regardless of rating or reviews. Food was okay, not spectacular, but service was great. Fed myself, my wife, and ten year old for $ 60, including a couple beers/​wine. Interior is comfortable and clean, sorta standard Tommy Bahama beach motif. Will come back sometime, but not top of our list.

Clairemonsters — I have to give credit to Mel the Prodigious Unilocaler for directing me to another worthy place to eat! First of all — PUP friendly patio. I love places where my little guy looks at me longingly while a scarf down a Coastal Creation. It’s an odd little location for a restaurant/​bar — but I can easily see that this will be the local hangout — hence ‘Clairemonsters’.
The burgers that I’ve had here easily rival that of Eureka — but bigger. Coastal Crave’s fries and homemade ketchup are an additional bonus! The grilled chicken is also noteworthy — flamed grilled all the way! The only thing that is confusing about the menu is the BBQ selection since Mike’s is directly next door. However, they have other selections such as Shrimp Po Boys and Seared Ahi Sliders. However, they make a rockin’ burger.
Add an extra star for the service — every time I’ve been here the service has been super friendly — but a wee bit slow if you are sitting on the patio (because they are covering inside and outside). They also have a Shuffleboard in the corner in case you feel the need to flex that beer muscle!

My Wife and I live less than a block away and we’ve frequented this establishment approx a half dozen times and I’ve been here several times on my own.
We REALLY wanted this place to succeed for purely selfish reasons — we need a good place to eat close by.
The food has been very good and we love the habanero calamari.
There ability to properly cook a steak varies from day to day — they are very inconsistent!
The menu has some very innovative offerings.
Now let’s talk about the service…
The service is what is KILLING this place.
They don’t have a dedicated wait staff, the bartender typically takes your order and serves you, all while trying to manage the drunks at the bar.
Today, Jan 1^st. 2016, the place is nearly empty and the bartender has THREE of her kids (all under 5) at the bar !
She’s attending to them before customers — VERY unprofessional !!!
If this place is going to succeed, they don’t need to keep modifying the menu, get a competent wait staff and keep children out of the bar!
…update…same day, same sitting after eating.
My wife and I won’t be back, ever !!!
Service just killed this place !!!
Who brings their 3 annoying and screaming kids to work ???
Apparently their father was there as well and he was a worthless nothing who did nothing to very little to take control of those brats!
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS… MANAGEMENT DOESN’T CARE!!!

When we came in, It was 55 degrees outside. All the huge windows, and the entrance doors were open and, apparently, stay that way. Everyone in the place was wearing a couple of layers, except us. Shiver… we found the warmest table we could, as our Groupon was about to expire.
Our server came right over and informed us (the Groupon didn’t), that our entrée choices were limited to the five or six in a certain place on the menu. We ordered drinks, and the tonic water in my Gin & Tonic was absolutely flat. I told the server, and she graciously took it back and brought me another one, which was only slightly less flat. My husband and I both tasted it, and told our server again, who was nice about it, but said that the bartender said «There is nothing wrong with the drink.» Really??? I’ve never sent back a G & T before, and it’s my favorite drink! It was FLAT!
We got the Gator Cakes and, except that they were overpriced (three little ones on a large plate), they were fine — interesting.
Out of the limited choices, we ordered the Double Cut Pork Chop and the Ribeye Steak. The meats were very nicely done (although mine was a little more done than I asked for — but not dry, like most thick pork chops are.) Nice sauces. Clearly, the best thing we had there. Nice portions on the meat.
My husband’s Scalloped Potatoes were cold. My roasted potatoes were undercooked and crunchy. I told the server, and she brought me a side salad to substitute, and it was good, with the Lemon Vinagrette dressing (I like tart.) My asparagus was cooked okay, but the ends were woody, and it was unseasoned.
The chairs are hard (wood) and were uncomfortable for me. The ambiance is non-​existent, except for cheap-​looking murals on the walls of the ocean. So strange for $ 20 entrees. Three TVs are on the walls for watching games, each on a different channel, but no energy in the place (it was a Tuesday night, so maybe that’s why.) Everything was so quiet… even the guys watching the games at the bar were saying nothing.
The experience was just plain sad, as was the energy in it. Two stars for the delicious meat and the accommodating server. I don’t give 1 or 2 stars often — almost gave three stars for the meat and the server. But everything else was so sad…

This place is Nice to take the family & on the evening time on Saturdays is live rock music.
The food is a bit pricey but it’s absolutely good
Customer service was okay, only because the young lady was the only waitress working.
One thing I suggest the chef is please serve the shrimp without the tail, I almost swallowed the shell…

Came here for lunch using my Land and Sea Groupon for $ 60. I ordered the Diver Scallops and my husband ordered the Shrimp Fettuccine. Please spell this dish correctly on your menu.
I had a Dam Mule which was damn good!
The food was okay. The Diver Scallops weren’t overcooked so that was a plus but I kept trying to find the crab that’s supposed to be in the dish which was not much. It was a very rich dish. I would have liked it more served with less of the lardon pepe pasta and more fresh crab meat on top.
My husband enjoyed his Shrimp Fettuccine that came with bacon, mushroom and spinach. The mushroom and spinach weren’t really there. The shrimp wasn’t overcooked and were really big.
The seafood cooking is down but they just need to tied it cohesively together as better dishes.

I was going to be generous and give it 2 stars… but after spending my weekend close to the toilet compliments of sketchy fish «cuisine» from this place… One star is required to leave feedback so here it goes.
This place is AWFUL… we were in the area, the outside patio looked nice and it looked like it had a good view. We looked up the menu online… it looked promising, a little pricey but we thought it was worth our Saturday dinner.
From the website and the menu we were expecting a nice dinner, some mimosas and a memorable evening to enjoy on our day out… it was memorable alright.
What we actually got was:
— A dive bar with no taste in décor… ugly bar tables, tiki/​seashell decorations all around.
— Waitresses in trucker hats, tiny tiny booty shorts with a g string coming out for the world to appreciate… I know its for the tips. but not when you expect me to pay $ 25 for a dinner entrée.
— Ahi tuna tha was actually MINCED and made into a patty. it was GRAY and it tasted so disgusting we just left it untouched.
— White fish that was undercooked. tasteless, and the side vegetables were so charred they were inedible.
— Flat sodas, a long wait for nasty food, and a steep price to pay.
THIS PLACE IS A DIVE BAR to get a drink and watch the game. Not a restaurant and certainly not cuisine. Stay away from the seafood, its dangerous.
And to ad to the comic relief a huge dog just walked right up to our table with a mouth full of slobber… it obviously was with the patio customers… but still… is this place for real?

I really like to support local spots but this one is hard. The service is terrible. waited almost 15 min and never had any service. It was slow, a bartender was 10 feet away never bothered to help me. not the first time I have been in there with slow service but this time no service. finally just left and so did another couple.
somebody better call Bar Rescue! also not enough bar type food and the menu items are way too pricey. not to mention .if you haave high cost food items you need excellent service… sorry had high hopes for this place

After all the reviews on Unilocal about the service, I would have agreed on my 1^st visit. This time around was much better service wise. Food… terrible! Do not order the gator cakes! We love gator but I have never had gator like that. It was crumbling grossly and extremely fishy! Just terrible! What really sucked was that we told our server and she took them back but never took them off the bill… not cool!
Also, when something says spicy, believe it! The pizza we had, my face was numb! It said «spicy marinara», I agree! Not their fault cause they did warn us by the menu.
The calamari was like rubber, last time I loved it! It wasn’t too spicy but way too chewy!
All around disappointed!

Unfortunately not very impressed with this spot. Pros: location is convenient, large parking lot, great patio and food was ok. We ordered a pizza and the calamari.
Cons: service was extremely slow. At one point two other tables were talking with ours about how long they’ve been waiting for their drinks or even water. I ordered a beer at happy hour and when I cashed out (well after happy hour) they had charged me full price. I think service and the happy hour should be improved. The service is enough to cancel the awesome patio out.

The coastal crave…
They have a great view from the patio or bar… The coastal crave pale ale goes well with the sunset.
First time in here, the bartender was very friendly and attentive. She recommended the gator cakes it was a special happy hour dealio
The gator cakes… They are three little servings of a culinary mystery and mastery if you’ve never had gator before which I have never had. Ok well I’ve had gator jerky, but I don’t think that counts.
They were very good with the perfect amount of spice to top it off. Literally on top.
Oh and the California little league team just beat Kentucky 11 – 3

I enjoyed a very nice scramble from this place: specifically the breakfast scramble with fennel sausage with a side salad, instead of potatoes, and some rye toast I had to order for an additional charge.
The scramble was very well prepared. The eggs were very soft with great seasoning hence they had a pleasant flavor. The fennel sausage was very tender, light for a pork sausage, and had a very good fennel flavor. I liked that it was not over done and remained juicy. The scramble also came with tomatoes and fresh sauteed spinach, which were perfect for this scramble.
Oddly enough, the scramble did not come with toast, so I ordered some rye. I hope that in the near future they do include toast with the scramble. Anyways, the rye toast was lightly toasted and came with a side of soft butter for your liking. They was very good and was a great vessel for eating portions of the scramble. Like I said, I did not go with their potato hash, but with a light green salad instead. The salad was good and came with some nice croutons and cherry tomatoes. I ate it with a vinaigrette which was good.
Breakfast is only served on Sundays starting at 10 am. This place is pretty good and from what I can tell, not very well know, in the greater San Diego area. I say, add toast to the scramble of $ 12 and shave a little parmesan on top to compliment the fennel sausage and you’ll have a real winner here.

This review is WAY overdue, but because it has been opened for just over two months I wanted to give it a fair amount of visits (three to be exact) before I was confident to stamp it with one or two star review. I have a rule of thumb that newely opened places don’t get a review from me unless they deserve three stars or more… if I feel like a place deserves less than that I want to give it another try.
Let me start with the good:
1) eclectically interesting menu choices,
2) huge potential with respect to location;
3) cool patio area with a built in fireplace,
4) quite unusual faucets in the bathrooms,
5) sexy female bartenders behind the bar (so my husband says)
Now, lets get to the MEAT (negative):
1) on the «second» day of their opening we were there for dinner and the service was ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE…. The place was unorganized, there was no hostess, and we were waiting forever to order both drinks and food. They didn’t have s drinks menu so you didn’t know what they have and how much and their waitresses didn’t have alcoholic beverages memorized. The wine pour is BAD.
We were recommended to go with their ghost pepper mussels dish which made me SICK as hell. The menu at the time didn’t have any distinction between VERY HOT or MILD dishes and the waitress didn’t bother to tell us that «ghost peppers have entered Guinness record book in 2007 to be the HOTTEST peppers on earth… GREAT THANK YOU… The next day I made my concerns known to the owner through FB but I didn’t get «the warm and fuzzy SORRY feeling» instead we got defensive excuses that their service was OK to be shitty because it was their soft opening (that nobody knew about as it wasn’t announced as a «soft opening») and they have a menu picked by a master chef which probably meant that we should have understood what «ghost peppers are» and their menu is without faults. The experience left me tremendously disappointed… but I didn’t want to completely cross it off as we live in the neighborhood and wanted it to succeed!
2) our second visit was just plain weird: we walked in and the busboy (who was bussing the previous time we were there), was sitting at the bar, right by the entrance to the restaurant, greeting us while drinking a beer and telling us «seat yourself wherever you please».,.GREAT! So we went outside and sat, and waited, and kept sitting and waited a bit more while the same busboy was still sitting at the entrance of the restaurant drinking his beer… and GUESS WHAT? the service wasn’t coming… so I went up to the bar (hot bartenders as my hubby says) and I asked if we could get a service. Finally a «princess showed up» and we ordered gator cakes and habanero calamari. The gator cakes were totally cold and VERY raw inside. They had to be sent back and when they came back they tasted like an extra well done chicken burger hard as a a rock.
3) the third time we visited we had their burger which was good and their mussels but this time in garlic/​wine sauce… both dishes were ok but the mussels came with stale crostini and half of the mussels weren’t even opened which as you know is a warning not to eat them! The place wasn’t busy and all we saw were the staff bullshitting instead of checking on their clients. I had to wave to get someone attention for more water. In fact, when we tried to get our waitress attention she put a finger/​hand up which without looking at us signified WAIT! This was a rude response that you give to your children… especially since the place wasn’t busy. I didn’t like it.
In the nutshell, following are my good and not so good comments:
1) ambience uninviting and the beach wall paper looks hideous and cheap
2) love the bar area and patio
3) poor table setup giving little flexibility to move tables around due to fixed light fixtures above tables
4) awful heaters on the patio… put some money to install decent heaters that actually will keep your customers warm
5) good presentation of food and solid gastropub menu
6) uninviting and cheap HH — SERIOUSLY?
7) poor wine selection, high wine prices and cheap wine pours… get decent wine glasses, better wine choices and be more generous with your pours.
8) the piss poor service from your waitresses cannot be compensated by their good looks. If we want to look at waitresses we will go to Tilted Kilt. We prefer good service!
9) teach your staff that service means filling up water and checking if everything is fine!
10) i am glad they updated their menu with marks of dishes which are hot/​spicy and they eliminated the ghost pepper meal.
11) your logo reminds me of Broken Yolk café… you could have come up with something way more unique.
I will update my review to three or even four stars if I see improvements (assuming the owner actually listens versus making comments on FB that « Unilocal is full of crap»). Ultimately, it is the owner’s prerogative how to run his own business and/​or judge feedback of customers active on Unilocal

The fries at Coastal Crave are better than the fries at Eureka. The ketchup and all of the sauces are homemade. We shared the Rib-​Eye Burger, the Ahi Sliders, and the Habanero Calamari. The Rib-​Eye burger tasted like a steak to me… it’s made from chopped rib-​eye. It was scrumptious with blue cheese and served on a toasted Brioche bun.
The Habanero Calamari was spicy and tender. The seared Ahi sliders were tasty, but I preferred the burger and the calamari. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio, and the wine prices are reasonable.
My husband paid $ 20 for the $ 30 Unilocal deal, and we were surprised at how good the food was at Coastal Crave, a new casual restaurant with a full bar. It’s located in the aging «Village» square on Clairemont drive, near Keil’s grocery store. This area is up the hill from Mission Bay.
Our server was attentive, but had only tried a few items on the menu. The owner was very helpful, and kept checking on us, which was much appreciated.
The place has the relaxed feel of a neighborhood bar & restaurant. You’ll be entertained by watching the local «Clairemonsters», who hang out in the bar area, if you sit inside. There are several TVs inside. Or you can sit on the patio, but the evening was a bit chilly, so we sat inside.
Parking is easy, and there are lots of tables, so we had a stress-​free dinner. We plan to return on a Friday night for dinner and cocktails, and check out the live music.

Jimmy Buffet has come to Clairemont. There is a relaxed atmosphere & a tiki bar feel.
The menu has lots of surf & turf options. I always ask where the seafood comes from. Sustainable harvesting practice is important to me when it comes to fish. The waitresses had no idea where any of the seafood came from & the owner left it up to his chef to choose the seafood. The chef came out to talk with us about his seafood choices and it was clear that he put a lot of focus on providing fresh fish. He didn’t seem as concerned about selecting sustainably harvested seafood however.
We ended up choosing the rib eye steak & New York strip. They were seasoned to perfection. The sides were average.
The staff is a bit rough around the edges but eager to please.