Dawn T.
Yelp
Today was my birthday, & it fell on a Tuesday, the day of the week that I was actually born. So i tried my best to make the day as flawless as possible. This day just represented SO MUCH to ME! I could've chose other high end restaurants to celebrate but I chose Javier's Crystal Cove because of the new re-model and honestly it's just one of my favorite easy going restaurants. Surprisingly, for a Tuesday this location was busier than expected, I called ahead of time just thinking I'd "make them aware" of a large party coming but to my surprise, this location took reservations AND they only had a 5pm or 9pm available. I was hoping for a 7:30pm reservation but since they didn't have it, we took the 5pm.
At arrival the hostesses were pretty dry and straight forward about not sitting us until "everyone" was present. 5 of us were there but 2 of them were maybes due to the anticipated time changing to 5pm instead of 7:30. But for the sake of trying not to kill the vibe, we just agreed to sit down without our 2 maybe's. They sat us at this booth which was comfortable for 4 people but one person had to sit with a chair in front of the table. We asked if possible could we move to a table that was right by us so we'd have a little more elbow room & they told us no because that table was for 9 people.... So for some reason, They sent a manager over and he was just as dry as the hostesses. I didn't get his name but he was wearing a Grey suit with powder blue tie. He asked if we had a question so my brother pointed to the table asking if we could move there and he literally just said "noooo " then walked off.
The reason for my frustration is... maybe an hour later, a party of 6 sat at that SAME EXACT TABLE that we wanted. Then about 30 minutes later we saw a 7th person sit at that table.... So they let 6 people sit there!!???? & they let THEM sit without their "whole party" being present!!?? Not cool at all!!
My bday dinner vibe was killed. Our waiter Cuco was very nice and attentive and he helped make things feel a little better. But what really sealed the deal was when 1 of my "maybes" sent over a bottle of champagne to our table once she realized she couldn't make it. Kevin who was another Supervisor, brought the champagne over himself and poured each glass for us. He was AWESOME!! Very personable!!
My other "maybe" ended up making it toward the end of the dinner, she squeezed in our booth and ordered a quick quesadilla and ate chips and salsa. The website says 20% gratuity is charged for parties of 6 or more but since my cousin sat with us for literally 30 minutes, they charged us a 20% gratuity. SMH, kinda tasteless in my opinion but we didn't fight it because none of us wanted to kill the vibes again.
I overlooked the recent reviews about the sketchy service at this location because I wanted to have my own experience, plus I've been to this location before & have never been treated this way. But in hindsight I'm thinking maybe I just never really paid as close attention before because I usually go to this location for a mid day lunch.... but I can now say for myself that this experience was below par. The 2 stars are for Cuco & Kevin. My advice, be cautious with this location if you're celebrating something that's special to you. I can't say that I'll never be back but I can say that if i do, I'll sit at the bar to enjoy the ocean view, new remodel, and the food.