Review: Baja Grill and Cantina
575 Country Club Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065
Simi Valley, CA 93065
United States of America
Baja Grill and Cantina is located in the Woodranch neighborhood of Simi Valley, in the Ralph's shopping center. The restaurant is well hidden in a back corner behind another restaurant. When we first arrived we couldn't find the entrance and went around back to what was actually the exit to the restaurant. We were not the only patrons to do this that night, three other groups had trouble finding their way into the restaurant. Why couldn't we find the entrance? The main entrance is behind a gate which isn't marked in any way that you should enter and it looks like it's marking off the boundary between the two restaurants. The owner should think of opening the gate when they're open for service, so as to not confuse guests.
The inside of the restaurant is beautiful. It's a smaller restaurant but it's very comfy and inviting. There is a bar area as well with several larger televisions to watch whatever sports game you wish. The outside seating area is very nice as well with the exception of lighting and not all of the heat lamps work, which makes it uncomfortable to sit outside when it's cool out.
They have a large selection of drinks at reasonable prices. I ordered Ice Tea and was served Flavored Ice Tea. This was never told to me, and I happen to not like flavored ice tea. If a restaurant is going to serve Ice Tea they should clarify whether it's flavored or not. So instead I just drank the water they provided when we sat down.
The menu has a great selection but if you're not planning on buying typical mexican cuisine the prices for the other selections were expensive. They have a range of cuisine, steaks, salads, seafood, and traditional mexican. The Steaks and Seafood were overpriced which the traditional Mexican was priced reasonably. The appetizers were overpriced for the amount you received though. They have a reasonably priced children's menu as well which features five items.
You are served chips and salsa before ordering. The chips are lightly seasoned but they were stale when served. The salsa was good, but when the chips are stale it's hard to enjoy the salsa as well.
When our food was served, the rice for our dinners was under cooked and in same cases still hard as if it wasn't cooked at all. The cheese in my burrito which I ordered wasn't melted at all, the beans were cold, and the rice was hard as if not cooked. You're served very little sour cream and guacamole on the side. We had a choice of two sides, which we chose beans and rice. The side rice was cooked a bit better than the rice found inside my burrito but it still wasn't cooked funny. The beans on the side didn't taste right and weren't cooked fully. The beef tacos that we ordered though were good and cooked right.
After we finished our meal we ordered the Brownie Sundae. The brownie itself wasn't the best but the ice cream that came with it was great. The brownie was luke warm and probably would have been better if it was heated just a bit more.
Our waiter was great, although he was a bit too personable and made jokes that could have easily been taken the wrong way, had we had no sense of humor. But over all he was good.
Our bill wasn't expensive but we stuck to the cheaper items on the menu. If we had ordered a Steak or Seafood our bill would have easily been over sixty dollars for just two people.
My rating for this restaurant is one star. I wasn't impressed and felt even though they're a new establishment our food should have been cooked fully. I don't recommend this restaurant to anyone at least not until they've been open for a year or so. Perhaps in that time they'll get their act together.
Published by Pamala L. Ott
I am a Stay at Home Mother of two girls, Kaylee and Annabelle. I attended Kaplan University and earned a degree in Early Childhood Education and Development. I also run a play group in my community which... View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentOverpriced- Bad selection- Hard to Find this place-Bad service - Bad Food - Mangement unprofessional.
I give it Negative 10 star if i was a critic.
I would think simi valley it self would just shut this place down as a community .
I was sitting there trying to have lunch on thursday and i saw a bunch of cockroach running around the tables. Its a bad place do not go to this place.
The Place is small it took a while to find it, and service sucks. I suggest for people who wish to spend not much money to go accross the street to Viva La Pasta it cheaper and drinks are better and cheaper. My bill was few tacos and samplers and drink for $50, I went 8 days later to Viva La Pasta order few stuff came and drink came out to $30 at Viva La Pasta. The Portion amount of food that Viva La Pasta gave me was more and cheaper it better.
I completely agree with this review. The shredded chicken tostada was served cold... ice cold, out of the fridge cold, not just "heated and got cold" cold. It was 40 degrees. I could not believe it, even the waitress put her finger on my chicken and was embarassed. Then she gave it back to the chef who did God knows what to it, but it was never tasty. And the supreme insult is the bill was OUTRAGEOUS. For slop! We will never go back, avoid Baja Grill in Wood Ranch at all costs. Just go across the parking lot to Viva La Pasta instead and get full and have drinks and walk out for under $30.
I also recently ate at this restaurant for the first time and found it reasonable and enjoyable. It is very stylish in decoration and it was great to have the tvs as the playoffs were on. The menu was great, apparently the person above didnt read that it was "California Fusion" which for a family is great. I also had their ribs and I thought their sauce was awseome, much better than local rib places. It was refreshing to go to a restauant that serves other than one type of food, especially when it is a community restaurant and when no everyone likes the same things. Their patio is also very nice. The owner Ray Sanders was great and made sure that we were happy with everything. If you want to go a self-serve Mexican fast food, go ahead and go to Baja Fresh, but we prefer sitting down and being waited on when we sometimes go out. We recommend Baja Grill & Cantina and look forward to going back to hear their music which apparently is provided on the weekends.
I was there couple weeks ago and it was my first time, the place was nice but couldn't find it first, i check there menu kind of strange to see Steak and a Mexcian join in one, i had the baby ribs and my husband had the Taco sampler. The food took about 45 min to arrive and it the my ribs were cold my husband taco samplers were also cold. It seems the person who did this review it right they aren't good i rather tell you if u want mexican food go to baja fresh if u want ribs go to a local steak house they know how to cook ribs. These guys need help and service is not good.
I completely agree with this review. The shredded chicken tostada was served cold... ice cold, out of the fridge cold, not just "heated and got cold" cold. It was 40 degrees. I could not believe it, even the waitress put her finger on my chicken and was embarassed. Then she gave it back to the chef who did God knows what to it, but it was never tasty. And the supreme insult is the bill was OUTRAGEOUS. For slop! We will never go back, avoid Baja Grill in Wood Ranch at all costs. Just go across the parking lot to Viva La Pasta instead and get full and have drinks and walk out for under $30.
Our family recently dined at Baja Grill & Cantina and did not find any complaints as mentioned above. The restaurant itself is very nicely and warmly decorated and the owner that we met Ray Sanders was making sure everything was great. We ordered the Macadamia Nut Shrimp as well as a special for an appetizer and they were great. The service we felt was also very good. The menu is large but definitely has something for everyone. It is nice to have a restaurant so close to home. We enjoyed both steak and mexican and both were great. I would definitely go back. Especially in light of the fact that they also have a great wine menu and music on the weekend.
Our family recently dined at Baja Grill & Cantina and did not find any complaints as mentioned above. The restaurant itself is very nicely and warmly decorated and the owner that we met Ray Sanders was making sure everything was great. We ordered the Macadamia Nut Shrimp as well as a special for an appetizer and they were great. The service we felt was also very good. The menu is large but definitely has something for everyone. It is nice to have a restaurant so close to home. We enjoyed both steak and mexican and both were great. I would definitely go back. Especially in light of the fact that they also have a great wine menu and music on the weekend.
I completely agree with this review.
The shredded chicken tostada was served cold... ice cold, out of the fridge cold, not just "heated and got cold" cold. It was 40 degrees. I could not believe it, even the waitress put her finger on my chicken and was embarassed. Then she gave it back to the chef who did God knows what to it, but it was never tasty. And the supreme insult is the bill was OUTRAGEOUS. For slop! We will never go back, avoid Baja Grill in Wood Ranch at all costs. Just go across the parking lot to Viva La Pasta instead and get full and have drinks and walk out for under $30.