Rimel’s Bar and Grill

I’ve been here several times and each time has been a pleasant experience. The drinks are good and the food is yummy! Makes for a pretty great date night spot or even happy hour after a long day at work. I’ll keep coming back!

This was a spectacular! The service was was exact and courteous. The food was out quickly and was perfectly seasoned and the flavors were right on. I had the Wok Grilled Vegetable Bowl and it couldn’t have been better!

Was at Rimel’s last night for another happy hour. Had the mahi mahi sliders and several beers. They have a real good selection of beers. The mahi mahi sliders were just great like they always are. Last time in I had the pot stickers and I just love them. The sauce on them is fantastic. Go in on Thursday night and see the bartender Stephanie. She is a real sweetheart and will treat you good. The salmon is an excellent choice for a dinner entrée.

Awful service — on top of that, they started mopping the bar and cleaning with an occupied FULL bar (20+ people) at 845pm on a Friday night. So gross.

We went during a really slow time and ordered our drinks and food at the same time. We didn’t get our drinks after 20 minutes, so we asked for them from a passing waiter. They arrived AFTER our food, which was cold! We had to send back all our food. They comped our drinks but service was slow and sub par and the food was too cold to be edible. Once we got our food back, it was good and our service got better. Unfortunately I don’t think we will come back.

Lunch specials are filling and for $ 10 you should put this on the «work lunch» rotation.
Came here with my mom for lunch and we both had a good high quality meal at a reasonable price. It was a cold and dark afternoon so we originally wanted to eat inside. Unfortunately it was very loud in there even though it was pretty much empty. Okay back to the covered patio. Nice and warm with the heaters.
They have a lunch menu that focuses on plates at the $ 10 price point. When the food arrived it was a healthy potion of salad and fish tacos. It didn’t look like the portion size was shrunk in any way.
My mom ordered the fish tacos and they were pretty big. She loved them. I ordered the Cobb salad (with sides of green sauce) and was pleasantly surprised. They also have a nice Iced Tea.
Tip
Always get the Green Sauce. Like it? You can get a bottle of it to go.

Great for happy hour and lunch. Very tasty small plates and cocktails. Had 8 sliders, 2 plates of calamari, a cocktail and a beer for under $ 40

Has to be the worst restaurant in San Diego. Propped up on the affluent Camino Real Highland Town Center shopping mall. Took over 10 min to be served and it was done by a hostess not a waiter. We ordered their signature Rotisserie Chicken, only to find chicken half done and blood on our plate. We told manager, very non accommodating. We left very disappointed and dissatisfied.

Ducked in here for a drink after a movie at Cinepolis.
Good atmosphere so, decided to see how savvy they could be with a couple of hungry vegans. Since they had no «strictly vegan» entrees on their menu.
Waiter we had was a good listener but not very well versed with the nuances of veganism. We discussed a veggie bowl dish with him and he said chicken stock could be removed. The bowl was of good size, enough to split (which we did).
Overall, we didn’t find too much to remark on. At least for us, a place for a drink and light fare.

Happy Hour 7 Days A Week 3 – 6! Nice selection of drink n food specials for 50% off.
Bartender is very friendly. Nice background music. Heat lamps at door on this chilly night, but still a little chilly sitting at the bar with the door open.
Ordered glass of red Zin and the seared Ahi tuna app, tuna came out quickly, nice presentation and very good.

We love Rimel’s, but realized that our favorite Chicken stir fry is now priced at $ 19.95!?! For chicken sitr fry??? Sheesh! Too much!
Disappointed in Carmel Valley

I’ve enjoyed every dining experience here. Friendly service with excellent food. My last steak was aged beef that was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth.
A recent review about poor management that was yelling at patrons makes no sense. Judging by the long ranting review, I’d say it was the patron who was behaving badly, not the staff.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a romantic dinner spot with a cool atmosphere, this is it.

I would like to say the Rimel’s Bar and Grill in La Jolla is the place to go or Sorrento Valley when it opens. Carmel Valley is very inexperienced green horns. It is not the Rimels we all know and love from La Jolla. Matt the owner in La Jolla cares so much about quality control. Been going to the one in La Jolla for 10 years. Carmel Vally is a BAD imitation.
Here was my experience In CV. After entertaining family three times this week and spending well over $ 300 I am in shock and aw over the manager Jenny.
First off we ordered a drink from the bar before we were seeing a movie and there was one customer at the bar with a full glass of beer and four other tables at lunch. Not to hard to get a drink out in less than three minutes if you are a seasoned bartender? Hum, why was Davanti so packed at lunch and not Rimels maybe it is because Davanti has class and great customer service. I use to love this place. We frequent Rimels at least once a week. Well I can tell you the staff seems unhappy and the manager is Jenny is terrible.
Here was my my unfortunate experience. Usually, this place can be a little slow but we are usually not in a rush so we don’t care. As we placed our drink order, I was watching the bartender not tending the service well, but conversing with the one man at the bar. In that time, she could have made our drinks and got back to her conversation.
I didn’t see our drinks at the bar so instead of confronting the manager Jenny in front of my kids, I called her discretely from the hallway and discussed the situation so my kids wouldn’t hear. She really could care less. Maybe she was not having a good day because I noticed that she was not dressed like a manager and seemed very angered by what I said. Jenny, you are in a service industry honey.
Well, I say all of this to say. Not only did your manager insult me in front of my kids, but she insinuated I wanted something free. I was there three times this week. I can’t believe that I would be penalized with such a comment. There was «one» guy at the bar with a nice cold beer and I watch as she was speaking with him as the service bar had drinks put in and nothing coming. The manage was so angry and informed me loudly that the drinks were put in three minutes ago. Oh, did I mention that no one was at the bar and only four tables that had customers. Now, I don’ know why she thinks I would this is except able. I live in Carmel Valley. I shop in Carmel Valley to give my local businesses my valued dollar.
I couldn’t even remember what she said until my 11 year old with and impeccable memory told me. He said, mom she said, «I am not taking anything off of your bill!» That was his take away. I didn’t ask her to!!! Kindness and a little chit chat go along way.

**TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE SINCE NEW OWNERSHIP**
We have been coming to Rimel’s for years — in the past it has been one of our favorite restaurants to take family visiting San Diego, especially since it’s a short walk from our house. However, with our most recent experience (our first since its new ownership), we will never be returning.
Last Friday night, my wife and I decided to order takeout from Rimel’s (which we have done numerous times). Unaware that they were under new ownership, I googled ‘Rimel’s Del Mar’ and clicked the first link — the same website I’ve always ordered off of. We selected our food and put in the order over the phone.
When I went to go pick up the food, however, the food was $ 10 more than it should have been (disclosure: we did use a local resident coupon for an appetizer). I asked to see a detailed receipt, which they printed out; I discovered that the charges were $ 4 and $ 5 more than listed on the website. I brought this to attention of the manager, and requested she adjust the price to the advertised price on the website. She claimed that the menu website declared ‘prices subject to change’. After arguing back and forth with the manager, she did reduce the price on one item because I had verbally confirmed the price on the phone when ordering, but would not budge on the price.
On my way to my car, I checked the menu website and found that «prices subject to change» was not on the website, so I called the manager to tell her that I was not happy that she lied to me about the website. She was rude and condescending, and claimed that I was reading the wrong website — apparently there was another website that I was supposed to be using (which doesn’t come up until the 2^nd or page on Google) — who expects their customers to keep up with every restaurant ownership change? She said some more rude and impatient faked customer-​service statements and hung up on me.
I then alerted their twitter account of my experience, who I then DM’d to explain about what happened. They apologized profusely and claimed they would tell the general manager and have them call me. I didn’t receive any calls, so after a few days I contacted back — where a different social media manager apologized again and said that my experience was being ‘passed on’ with the understanding I would be contacted. After another weekend of not hearing, on Monday (10 days after the initial experience) — I asked via DM if I would ever hear back from them or if it was a lost cause, where they blocked me on twitter and deleted their tweet to me.
I think what happened is that the first social media manager did pass it along to a Rimel’s manager — but it was the original one that was rude to me, so she ignored it. Pretty lame. So — don’t go to Rimel’s expecting anything but terrible customer service and rude staff. It’s disappointing that they are no longer a true Rimel’s Rotisserie. As for the food: it was decent, but not as good as our previous experiences at Rimel’s Rotisserie.
I privately contacted Rimel’s before posting this review, detailing my whole experience and giving them the opportunity to make right. They repeated apologized and said someone would contact me, but after 10 days of not contacting me, they blocked me on twitter (making it not possible for me to continue to DM them). It’s clear to me the don’t understand what customer service is — or how to do social media well, apparently.

Came on a Sunday morning and there aren’t many people so no wait times compared to other restaurants in the same plaza. The food is below average. We ordered a burger and bbg pulled sandwich. The sandwich had some weird looking fried onion rings and the bbq sauce was too sweet. The burger was tasteless.

Service at Rimels seems to get a lil worse upon every visit.
Started at the bar and took the bartender at LEAST 5 minutes to even acknowledge us. When I asked what was on tap, he looked at me as if I should already know. Put it on a menu card where people can read before they order, and you won’t have to put in the extra effort, Mr. Bartender.
Upon being called for our dinner table, it took another 7 or so minutes to get our tab taken care of. I wanted to make sure the bartender was duly compensated for the 12+ minutes of wait time for his 3 seconds of service. None of it with a smile.
Table service wasn’t much better. Young waitress didn’t seem familiar w her own menu. I ordered the chicken wok bowl. Was pretty good. Colleague ordered Caesar Salad. Said it was «ok». Not a lot of chicken and not enough dressing, making it «dry».
I used to come here A LOT when they first opened. Everything was so good. Food AND service. It has slipped considerably in all areas. Bartenders are a bit arrogant, servers seem inexperienced, wait times are long (and they weren’t even that busy this visit), and food is average. There are two places next door which are great. Rimels, time to step it up a bit.

Been coming here for years. Such an amazing place. EVERYTHING on the menu is AMAZING. My personal favorite is the Chicken and potato quesadilla for 12.99.
All the tacos, burritos, tapas, rotisseries and burger/​sandwiches are amazing.

Rimels is a really cool atmosphere with a lot of cool features, such as a hip bar, great patio seating and plentiful menu/​bar items for your choosing. I have eaten here a couple of times and I must say that the chicken is a tad dry/​bland and the sides are not all that impressive. That being said, I ordered the albacore sandwich this past visit and it is definitely worthy of a mention as it’s quite tasty. The bar, is also really good at this place and is worth taking a shot at (pun intended)… Overall, recommend this location for lunch or some pre dinner festivities.
Pros–
Bar
Location
Seating options
Albacore sandwich
Cons–
Service a bit spotty
Food is bland
Parking stinks

i finally made it here… shocking that it took me so long. The place is frequently packed.
we came for a quick HH…3−6 ½ off all apps and certain drinks.
kids menu was all under $ 10…both of my kids opted for grilled cheese ($ 5)…the menu indicated that it came with sweet potato fries… they gave the kids regular fries instead (ok…no biggie. my kids didn’t care).
hubby and i shared grilled mahi sliders, potato /​chicken quesadilla/​calamari (kids heisted most of this).
overall all food was pretty good… nothing to get me excited about… but solid good food.
Glad to see that they have a good selection of wines and beers… not a ton… but what they have is good!
service…hmm…lacking. Everyone was super friendly… but trying to get water… another glass of wine… our bill… that was nearly impossible. I gave up and got drinks at the bar… got my bill (and paid it) to the manager… the server was around… just not there for us… but when I did see him. he was nice.
yes i’ll be back… just not the highlight of my HH rotation.

I have been to Rimel’s 3 times now and keep hoping for a better experience. The food is just so-​so. For starters we tried the onion rings, pot stickers, broccoli, and sliders. The pot stickers and sliders were pretty flavorless. The broccoli was surprisingly the best thing I have tried at Rimel’s. It has such flavor with a bit of a kick to it. It is a little hard to share as an appetizer buy my co-​workers and I definitely made it work. The onion rings were okay. During happy hour the appetizers are half off. The wine is also half off so I would say it’s a pretty good happy hour spot.
I went for dinner once and had the tacos. Again they were just okay, nothing exactly special. Also, the service and ambiance were just okay. I wouldn’t say that Rimel’s is a bad restaurant, it just doesn’t have anything that really is memorable or a reason to come back.