Best Casual Restaurants in Carlsbad

Got reservations for seats at the bar. There is a tasting menu, as well as a separate bar menu, mostly small plates. Cocktails from menu are twists on classic cocktails, and they were truly extraordinary, as well as the off menu cocktails we ordered, and we've sampled some of the best. Food sampled at bar: Crudo, Tartare, Pain et Beurre, and Gougere. All were phenomenal. Service at bar was very attentive and knowledgable, they know what they're doing, and they do it well. Cool vibe and music playing from reel to reel player in bar. Very open, busy kitchen with frequent calls from cooks, "Oui, chef!" Great for foodies and cocktail nerds. Pricey, some may not appreciate the value.

We love Valentina! We ordered their beyond yummy baguette, actually two of them. ;). Then the mussels and sea bass. Everything was absolutely delicious. With this said, our server could have stepped it up a bit. He seemed annoyed that we asked for tastes of wine, and, our rezie was at 5:00, so they were not busy. He did not self correct his ‘attitude’ throughout our dinner. This is the first time after many years of dining here that I have experienced something like this. One other note is while the sea bass entree was beyond delicious, it was an extremely small piece of fish. If you have not dined with Valentina, you must do so. The room is quaint and buzzing with lively energy!

Beautiful restaurant inside. I rated three stars for food only because there were scant few vegetarian and vegan items. Those were basically side orders. There is not one salad available as an option. The other four people in our party that ordered meat meals really enjoyed their food. I also ranked 4 for noise because the only table available was outside, which is next to another restaurant that had their own music playing. I think if you requested a table inside, it would be perfect. I ordered a martini and it was average And very small. We ordered the s’mores for dessert (And there is actually a vegan option with a vegan marshmallow) But they didn’t really Taste like s’mores. The presentation was lovely though, although not real effective grilling your own marshmallow over tiny coals. I would definitely go back if the Restaurant would provide some actual vegan meals.

Great over-all with excellent service. Would have preferred a more varied menu with a couple of additional entrees- possibly a chicken option? and possibly a vegan option. Ceasar salad, bread and soup were very good~ and the flavored butters. A little chilly, but not bad considering is so open air inside. Savanah was a wonderful server xoxo

This is a restaurant inside a Westin Hotel. There was virtually no one in the restaurant and the menu was rather limited for lunch, so we thought it is probably a miss. But it turned out that the food was quite good. We'll consider coming back for dinner at some point.