Our first visit to the Barona Casino was a good experience. There was a massive amount of parking lot space, plus a multi-story parking garage. On the second floor of the parking garage, the elevator will open into the casino on the second level, where the area is a world of slot machines.
Our goal for this trip was to try one of the casino's four restaurants. On the casino’s floor, is a Buffet area where the price of a ticket is $44.95 a person. On the floor, one level below the casino are three of the restaurants, an Italian a Steakhouse, and the Plaza Grill. After viewing all the menus, we decided to select Italian. However, the Italian & Steakhouse doors don’t open until 5:00 PM.
The Plaza Grill begins service at 4:00 PM, making our destination choice easy. When we entered and selected an open table, a waiter appeared with menus and an offer to get us drinks. Right after we ordered our drinks, the waiter said he would be right back and would bring us our chips. Chips?
Chips weren't a selection but are considered part of the Grill's customer service. Our drinks and the unknown chips arrived in about 5-minutes. The chips in a basket are freshly made crinkle styled potato chips, with a side bowl of onion dip. These chips were a pleasant surprise in taste and presentation.
We didn't wait for much more than 10-minutes for an order of Lobster Roll and a Sliced Roasted Turkey Sandwich to arrive.
The Lobster Roll with French fries, coleslaw, and a large dill pickle slice arrived and filled a large dinner plate. The meal looked just like the menu image, and it elevated my partner’s need to see how it tasted.
The Sliced Roasted Turkey sandwich with Bacon laced Potato Salad. The size of this sliced turkey sandwich on wheat bread filled a 10-inch dinner plate. I had experienced a sandwich that large. This sandwich and the potato side item will be enough for three more pleasant lunches (see attached image).
Their lobster roll can be served two ways. For this meal, it was ordered cold. If the option were to get the lobster meat warm, they would have heated the lobster in warm butter. My partner reported the sandwich was good, but it had too much Mayonnaise. The excessive amount of Mayonnaise reduced the lobster taste. If you go and select the lobster roll, tell the waiter not to use a lot of Mayonnaise.
Would we go back? The answer is yes. For us, the drive is ~40 miles one-way. Our waiter was Caesar. He was attentive, quick, and the answered question with enough details that the food matched what he said. He was also patient and pleasant when we spoke.
If Caesar is an example of how all the others in their staff provide service, if this restaurant were closer, we would visit often.
Very friendly staff and amazing food! Always a good time!
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