I rarely walk out of a place, but when I wait 15 minutes for even a "hello" from the staff, I just can't justify waiting longer. We even got our menus from the table next to us because apparently everyone was too busy to come say hello, even though the restaurant wasn't even full. I really wish I could rate the food, but unfortunately we couldn't get that far. I hate rating a restaurant based on just one aspect, but in this case the service was all we got to experience, and it was one star...at best. I will also mention that this is the second time the service has tempted us to leave. The first time we persevered, hoping that because we were one of like three parties, they would pull their head out.
Sorry Surferosa, I am not a "negative" yelper. I only write bad reviews when they deserve to be noted, and in this case you are one of them.
i enjoyed this cute, clean place that serves huge, huge portions for breakfast. Â we had a really sweet, friendly waitress who catered to my impatient 4year old and his angry birds questions, and questions. :) Â really good coffee...all in all we enjoyed this restaurant before heading down to the beach. will eat here each time we are in sc! Â ;)
Review Source:Walking in, we didn't know what to expect, but the staff was really friendly, and the food was amazing! Great beer, we got the IPA and it was perfect. I got the Mac and cheese and it was divine! My boyfriend ordered the chicken panini and he describes it as "unique, fulfilling and incredible and the salad that came with was refreshing and healthy." I would most definitely come back again and again.
Review Source:I guess we came on an off night for them. I came here for dinner for the first time tonight and my first impression was a cute,nice,quiet place. Â We sat down and our waiter was very nice. We tried to order the thai fries for a starter and we were told that they were all out of regular fries(really? Its a Friday night and fries are a very popular item so I don't understand why they weren't prepared.) They offered to use sweet potato fries instead but neither my boyfriend nor I like sweet potato so we passed and went with the wonton chips. They came out and it was edible but I wish that the pork was shredded instead of big chunks and it was really bland. The pork was tender though I will give them that. We got our dinner with the salad. I had the dip sandwhich. The steak on it was really really tough, I could not taste the horse radish cream sauce AT ALL, and the au jus sauce didn't taste very good and had a funny smell to it. Also once again TOTALLY BLAND! Very disapointing in the food there. Two stars because the atmosphere was really cute and cozy but the food just did not do it for me. I most likely will not be back.
Review Source:All I can say is YUMMMMMMM!
We stopped here on our way home from Oceanside and we had a choice of here or the place across the street that looked old and had only one car. Â I'm so glad we stopped at Surferosa Cafe.
The service was great and the Chilaquiles were the best I've ever had!
The prices were so reasonable and the portions were huge!
I will definitely go back next time I'm near there! Â I recommend this to everyone!
This place was incredibly yummy!
I think they took all the suggestions and negative reviews below to heart and corrected everything.
The food was so fresh, and hand crafted.
Generous portions. Â Great Prices. Â Attentive to special requests.
Well staffed with friendly and caring service.
Dog friendly.
I feel that they pay attention to every detail - including the decor.
I live in Santa Monica, and when we are down in the OC again, we will be sure to eat here again!
I used to give it 5 stars. Â Now its 3. Â The new menu is pricier and they don't serve breakfast all day anymore. Bummer.
My wife and I came here all the time for breakfast for dinner. It was the best place for a decent breakfast at night. The other food was average but not bad-for the price I thought it was fine.
The new food is better quality but I I'm going to spend $12 for a burger and fries I'll go to Nick's. Better food, ambiance, and service for about the same price.
$3.99 for 2 huge blueberry pancakes, 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon!
This is my favorite new breakfast place in SC. Â No waiting in line. Â Eat inside or outside. Â Great service and awesome prices. Â Check it out - especially good if you don't want to wait downtown for a party of more than 2 people on a Sunday morning.
I never write reviews but i felt like i had too with this place . By far the dirtiest place with the worst food and service ive ever been too in my life . Everything we got there was out of a can or a bag . I ordered one fish taco and one carnitas taco with rice and beans . The fish taco was a frozen fish stick put on a tortilla with lettuce and cheese and thats it . Even the rice wasnt homemade and the beans were from a can and they were still really cold . My girlfriend ordered corn beef hash which was also from a can . Not to mention the floor and the tables were super dirty and our waitress was seriously acting like a crack head . I grew up in sc my whole life and i really dont understand why people would ever eat here . Disgusting!
Review Source:As long as Charlie is the cook, the food is awesome!!!! Â We've been there many times & have loved it all but once (Charlie wasn't the cook!). Â The dinners are incredibly reasonably priced...most expensive meal is $11.99. Â Meat loaf is good, the ABC (avocado, bacon & cheese) omelet is yummy & the spaghetti bowl is huge - I got 3 meals out of it!!! Â The service is great, too!
Review Source:I would say this place is pretty good. Its improved quite a bit with their revised decor and menu, but there are some things that could be better.
Their sandwiches are OK. The pastrami sandwich is very salty and dry, their burgers seem to use ok meat. Their huevos rancheros isn't that great either. The potatoes that they serve with their breakfasts are way too much and extremely salty.
There are some things that I really enjoy about this place too. Their beer prices are good, with Stella on tap. I like getting chorizo and eggs and I also like getting the machaca breakfast. Their enchiladas with two sauces is a must order item if you are getting dinner. The best lunch item are the burrito bowls. They aren't too heavy and are very tasty. The salsa bar is a nice touch too.
This place is a good place for a quick bite. I think it would be a safer bet to stick with the more mexican type dishes.
(I have to demote my ranking because they got rid of their burrito bowls and raised their prices. The cafe feel was so much better than what it is now.)
I've been to Surfer Rosa since it's changed over from Love Burger about 5 times so far & each time I have not been disappointed. I mainly like the fact that it stays open somewhat late compared to most restaurants around here that's not fast food & not an overly fancy sit-down place.
The service is good, the food is pretty good, and it comes out fast.
My ONLY complaint is that for some reason there are always "friends" of the servers drinking beer and smoking on the patio. I would like to sit on the patio as well but cannot stand to be eating and smelling cigarette smoke. Or to be smelling cigarette smoke anytime for that matter.
So that has been the only drawback to this place. I went yesterday and same deal: smoking, leaving the door that goes outside to the patio open, kinda defeats the purpose of having a door if it's always kept open. Â
It sucks cuz I really like this place. Plus, and I'm not sure but, isn't the law supposed to only allow smoking if you're 20 feet from the premises, not at the next table?
My dad went to college with the owner so my dad and I decided to try it for lunch. I like the owner, he is very nice and has a good sense of humor. My cheeseburger was fantastic!!! I couldn't finish it but I got it to go. Â I plan on going back here with my dad. I recomend this restaurant to everbody.
Review Source:Went back to Surferosa for lunch this time instead of dinner.........much better this time around. Â I got a burger and my gf got fish tacos (she said they were ok). Â My burger was juicy, big and very yummy. Â Only thing that wasn't so great was that my gf requested no cilantro in or on anything........lots of cilantro in the guacamole so we had to send it back. Â Other than that....much better experience this time around.
Review Source:This place came highly recommended by my friends. Â
It had a nice facelift but was the food any good? Â
I brought my family for dinner. Â From the start, we enjoyed the attentive service from the owner, Johnny. Â The place was clean and comfortable.
We asked Johnny for recommendations, and we were happy with our recommended selections. Â
The salads were fresh. Â
The tortilla soup was amazing!
The salmon and grilled chicken based dishes were excellent. Â Didn't have room for desert. Â So not sure what they
I'm glad this place is local because I will be coming here often.
Service was speedy. Wonderful atmosphere. It's like surfer shack meets class. Staff and owner were friendly and accommodating. We brought our kids in and they had a great time. Salads were fresh. Ordered the chicken chipotle sandwich which was great. Overall a great local place that's close by. I'll try their breakfast soon cause we really dug the dinner.
Review Source:All the people who are complaining are Morons!! This place was excellent with an awesome staff and food to match. Got the chicken enchilada.. 5 star quality!! Plus soup or salad to go along and some fresh warm bread. Have been for breakfast and dinner now and both are awesome. No comparison to love burger. Recommend to anybody!
Review Source:So Surfarosa is right up the street from our house. My husband and I really wanted to like the place since ideally we could walk there. Â We both ordered burgers. Can't mess up a burger too bad right? I had the cheese burger and my husband had the Burgersosa. Â Both were grossa!. It doesn't matter what they top it with the quality of the patty was appalling. Â I'm going to guess that frozen nightmare was made with ground beef products second to that they use to make hot dogs. I mean just nasty. Noses and hooves.
Okay back it up... When we arrived ALL the tables out side were dirty. There was a young man inside sweeping up a massive collection of yuck. And after ordering a soda the cup my husband was presented literally had a layer of gritty dirt along the inside. We had to point it out to the guy. Any way this review is jumbled only because the whole experience was baffling. The place is dirty and the food is of the lowest quality.
No Thanks.
This place rocks. The ambiance is cool--modern surf, if that makes any sense. The tables in the back have an ocean view. My husband and I just ordered water, and they brought us water at the table and left a cool glass bottle full of cold water so we could refill our glasses. So nice! I had the meatloaf...best meatloaf ever. Seriously. I normally douse mine in ketchup, but this didn't need that at all. The veggies were pretty yummy, too--tons of garlic, which I love (but if you don't love garlic, just tell them to go light on it). The service was attentive and quick, and the food was amazing. We hope this place stays around for a long time! A much better option than anything similar in this neighborhood. It's right off the exit at the El Camino Real exit on I-5, so if you're looking for a good place to stop for dinner on your way through San Clemente, this is the place!
Review Source:First visit was not too bad and able to forgive the really nice forgetful inexperienced waiter. Tried it again last night but so disappointed. Based on really bad food I am sad to think it will not survive until next summer. Owner is really nice and it is a shame to think this place could be a great local hang out. Shrimp was raw, almost white in color! pasta was tasteless. This was replaced with a Greek salad drowning in dressing. My kids had burgers and fries, the fries arrived after they had finished eating the burger but they were tasteless and cold (How can you make bad fries?). Advice to owner; Replace your chef quickly, he is a liability, and either train or hire new wait staff. Your customers are really rooting for you but San Clemente is so small town word is getting out fast about the bad food. You have the right personality for this area, it will be a shame to see you go. Can you turn it around? Still rooting for you but not going back!
Review Source:My husband and I went here for the first time last Sunday and we loved it!! We split a sausage and egg breakfast burrito and blueberry pancakes. Both were delicious! We thought the burrito tasted really fresh and was a good size to split. The blueberry pancakes were nice and fluffy and perfectly done (not burnt or undercooked), tasted great too! Â We also thought there was a nice atmosphere about the place. You order at the counter and they bring the food out to you. We sat on the shaded patio out front and had a very enjoyable time! We are always looking for new breakfast spots to go to and were very happy we chose this spot. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner...american and mexican dishes. We never went to Love Burger so we cannot compare the two like others on here have done, but I would definitely give this place a shot!
Review Source:As a 38 year san clemente resident I had to give this place a go. Went for the basic double cheese burger and got fried zucchini. Burger was just okay, except I got that huge white chunk of the lettuce on it that I usually feed to the dog, zucchini was awful, I can't even describe it except maybe a stale-ish freezer burned bad oil taste. Â Wife had a rueben w fries, she said it sucked. she kept spitting out gristly chunks. Fries were okay but a bit lukewarm. Â Oh well we gave it a go.....once.
Review Source:There is no comparison of the quality of Surferosa to the old Love Burgers. Â Love's was a long time staple, but it had to go. Â Same old food, quality was going downhill, as was the building. Â Give it up - people who are bashing this new restaurant. Â If you want five star, go somewhere else. Â But for the price; the quality and atmosphere is premium for SC. Â I have been here for breakfast, lunch and dinner and will continue coming. Â Even my kids like it now, they wouldn't set foot in the old place. Â SC needs more outside of the box thinkers like John to start cleaning up south El Camino. Â Its not Oceanside anymore.
Review Source:After reading the review in the SC Times, I was excited to try it out. Â
The wait staff seemed very nice, but nervous and timid.
We ordered a quesadilla, the Santa Barbara burger, and meatloaf entree.  We were given bread to start that was warm, but very stale and too crusty.  I'm not sure if they kept it under the warmers too long or if the bread was actually old and they nuked it.  The quesadilla was fine, but that's an easy one.  The burger was fine...however, I thought the patty was too thin and the lettuce was the white parts of an iceberg lettuce.  Unfortunately, the meatloaf was awful.  It was served with a very small serving of mashed potatoes and sautéed peppers and zucchini.  The veggies were fine, the mashed potatoes were hardly mashed and definitely needed a good amount more of milk and butter.  The meat of the meatloaf was overworked to a point where you could not tell what kind of meat it was.  All of this was then covered in a gelatinous brown gravy that I hadn't seen since I was in elementary school. Â
Lastly, the physical transformation of the old Love Burger has a nice patio area, but the inside didn't seem much more than new paint. Â Also the very large window with a beautiful view seems a little hazardous-the bench is right under it and any small child can easily fall out of it. Â I'm surprised this passed inspection. Â
I'm sorry to be harsh, but I really expected so much more after the SC Times review.
So my friends and I passed Love Burger and noticed it wasn't Love Burger anymore.... I had to try this place.... I guess its like a hip diner where the diner food is actually good. My friends had tacos which I tried and thought were really good. I had the "massive bowl of spaghetti" and I was blown away! We also had the nacho fries which were good as well.The owner is social, the music and decor is cool and the prices are really good. Â
I'll be back soon to try their breakfast!
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