The Prado - Balboa Park

First of all, this is my first review of a place in San Diego. Let me tell you is one of the most wonderful cities in North America, and it has a great dining scene full of fresh produce, organic ingredients and much more. But I digress. The date was Thursday, June 19th, 2014. The Prado is a stunning outdoor café in Balboa Park (a stunning park if there ever is one). My friend and is were there at lunch time but were not hungry for a full meal. We opted for dessert and cappucini (yes, not one cappucino, two cappucini, get with the program!).

Flawless desserts. Chocolate and orange bread pudding ($8.95) and Pastel de tres leches, a true hispano-american classic. The bread pudding was not too heavy, moist enough with a wonderful subtle combination of tastes, one of thee best bread puddings I have ever had. The Tres leches was great as well, not overly sweet, just right. And the barista was very skilled. My cappucino had no bitterness and was very smooth.. So, for dessert, drinks or a light lunch when visiting Balboa Park, you cannot go wrong.

Fantastic experience!
Our 1st time trying this restaurant.
We tried Restaurant week menu and it was delicious.
We sat outside and it was so beautiful and peaceful.
Ricky our waitress was so helpful and gave us excellent service.
He was so helpful and attentive.
He even told us about wine night on Tuesday's,,,I will try wine Tuesday for sure.
The food came out quickly and Delicious.
I got the chicken BLT, the fries were delicious.
My girlfriend had the fig, strawberry, candied walnuts, arugula and fig Salad.
It was delicious as well.

The German cake was outstanding.

I'm impressed.
Great customer service and delicious food.
A must try!!!
You can't beat the beautiful area.
Love it!!!

Came here with my coworkers, really excited to try this beautiful restaurant with Spanish architecture and decor in the middle of Balboa Park. That said, The Prado fell really short of my expectations when it came to food and service.

A few of us started out by grabbing drinks a bit earlier than our reservation during happy hour. The happy hour is not so much a "happy hour" ... wines still cost anywhere from $10-13 a glass, and beers $6 a glass. The food is pretty standard restaurant pricing *on the happy hour menu. Not much of a deal. While I appreciated the server's attentiveness and recommendation on the wine, I was almost disgusted when it came time to pay the bill for the one glass I ordered. First off, they add on a 5% surcharge, non-optional (lol, again, "happy hour"). On top of that, my server (I believe his name is Brian), hovered over me when it came to paying my bill and set his own tip to 20%! I brought down the tip to 15% and he had the gall to ask me if I will be paying the rest of the tip to him in cash. I told him we are going to eat a full meal afterwards and will tip again...he responded "no, you have to tip ME here, right now." What the ...

Anyway, I found it so rude that I politely repeated that I'll consider leaving some extra tip after dinner and left the happy hour area. I understand that servers are underpaid and overworked, but by no means is it acceptable to essentially pressure and harass the people you are serving - especially for a single drink that requires no more effort than pouring it into a glass and bringing a total of 15 feet from the bar to the table.

On to dinner ...

Overall, the experience was wonderful, and our server , (Meddy?) was incredibly kind, thorough, attentive, and efficient. However, I can't say that I will come back for the food. We ordered the salmon and short ribs, both of which were overcooked and dry - tough to chew. The short ribs had at least 20% pound of untrimmed and inedible fat on them. Very little flavor or seasoning. However, the portions were plenty for one person and satisfactory.

All in all, I'd say this place is worth trying once for the experience of dining in a park (kind of like its own version of Disneyland)...just don't expect culinary masterpieces or a fair check. Oh, and avoid the happy hour server...

The ambiance and service are great but the food not so much. You can tell that they don't care much about their menu because they know they'll get customers anyways due to the location, quite a shame.

Two of us ordered the chicken adobo tacos and the chicken was dry and lacking flavor. Barely any avocado crema on top. Someone else ordered the filet steak sandwich and it came out well done even though we specified medium rare since they asked. It was also way under-seasoned.

Fabulous restaurant in the heart of the Balboa Park! Spacious with great interior and even nicer outdoor seating with a view and fountain side!!!
Staff is very friendly with even the bus boy introducing himself to customers! I liked that as it added a touch of classiness!
Menu is pretty good food wise and drink wise but I only had a salad. Cobb salad is absolutely great! I loved it.
I asked for different dressing and that was easily accommodated!
All in all - this is a great place to meet friends for drinks or dinner, or have even larger celebration!!!

Very good food in a busy, popular location. Food is expensive - but youre in a very popular area so expect the prices to be there! The wait was incredibly slow. It took almost a full hour for our food to come out from the time we ordered. We were having lunch after 1pm on a weekday! They seem busy though, but we were rather annoyed that our food came out so slowly. Our kids' foods and appetizers came out at a decent time, but my husband and my entree took a full hour. We almost decided to leave and just pay for the kids' meals and appetizers. Our waiter kept saying our food is coming, our food is coming. This is a family friendly restaurant.

We had a short wait, but the food was worth it. The hummus is incredible, and my cocktail was excellent. We split a sandwich that was very good. The feel of the restaurant reminded me of what it might feel like to be in a lavish African resort preparing for safari. We loved the decor, seating, and overall feel of the restaurant. Our waiter, Ricky, was great. We enjoyed a great lunch while taking a break in Balboa Park.

Just had the chicken adobo tacos at lunch. Very mediocre experience and not the level of quality I expect from the Prado. Lukewarm food, somewhat bland, and worst of all, they had *no Mexican hot sauce*! There's no excuse for that nonsense. Very disappointed.
The did, however, listen to my concerns and comped my meal.

I made the reservation for our 6 year anniversary via Open Table and was very happy with the reservation. I acted normal as I was trying to surprise my wife of any surprises. I requested best seat in the house and it did not disappoint as when we were seated my wife said "this is the best seat in the house". It was a wonderful lunch, with excellent service and amazing food. I am so happy that my reservation was reviewed and very surprised when our server even brought out a dessert with a Happy Anniversary card which just floored my wife. Her and I were so impressed as stated earlier in the staff, food and ambience. Thank you to The Prado at Balboa Park for an amazing memory! We will definitely be back to this 5 star location.

Great way to celebrate the New Year ... a week of Date Nights! Excellent value at $50 for two course dinner with a bottle of wine.

We had a nice table in the solarium. Two of our favorites are still on the Date Night menu ... Mustard Crusted Pork Prime Rib (5/5) and Red Wine Short Ribs (4/5), along with Parsnip Mashed Potatoes (5/5). We again enjoyed the Pressed Arugula Salad (5/5). For our wine, we chose the Silvergate Cabernet Sauvignon.

I am late to reviewing and forgetting the servers name. She was from Maryland, and the reason we ordered more than just a pick me up coffee before the Japanese Friendship Gardens.

Our server (delightful as can be and a great conversation partner) encouraged us to try the Spicy Calamari and Aquachile. It's not the best flavor pairings with coffee. So, stick with a bubbly libation when ordering these delightful dishes. The flavors, however, are divine. Fresh ingredients that remain high quality!

We enjoyed a table overlooking the gardens and lucked into it without a reservation. Although, I recommend reserving in advance for optimal seating and table assurance.