Restaurants near Balboa Park BART Station

Here’s the revised review: I had an excellent experience overall at Elena’s! The drinks were fantastic, and the atmosphere was perfect. The bartender was awesome—super attentive and friendly. The busboys were amazing, going above and beyond to make sure we had everything we needed. Honestly, they gave me better service than my waitress, who wasn’t quite on the ball. While her service left something to be desired, the rest of the staff really stepped up and made it a great night. Big thanks to the team at Elena’s for making it memorable!

Regardless of whether you eat with your eyes or with your stomach, you won’t be disappointed. My husband and I had dinner here last night and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The restaurant itself is absolutely gorgeous and the food is outstanding in every way. The menu is interesting and innovative. We enjoyed appetizers of Carne Crudo and Insalata Tritata which were absolutely delicious. Our entrees of rockfish and lasagne verde were perfect. We sat at the bar which was lively and festive considering it’s the holiday season. The staff is super friendly and the vibe is lively and fun. A definite must try if you haven’t already!

We LOVED this restaurant. We sat inside so we couldn’t see the movie, but that wasn’t really an issue. The restaurant itself was stunning. Our server David was absolutely lovely. He really made our experience. The food was great, we got the smoked salmon, burrata with pears, sesame chicken, and pork chop. Everything was delicious. For dessert we got crème brûlée and a sort of chocolate mousse. Fantastic. It’s an expensive date but you pay for the food and the experience. Would go again!

Excellent service Cocktails excellent Do not care for aioli on fish so ordered risotto which was very good, but normally order fish

The holiday experience is in full swing at Joes of Westlake. It’s beautifully decorated. The waiters were bustling around, very busy. We had a 3 pm reservation and they seated us by a lovely open fire pit. The only drawback was that our waiter left and as far as we could tell, a new waiter did not take his place until we called someone over to us to ask about our waiter. We were told he left, and two other waiters came to help us. So it all worked out in the end.