My husband had heard about this place and wanted to try it out for our Anniversary. Reservations were easy to do on Open Table for a Friday night. Ordered the Mango Hop which was yummy but for the price of $14.50, it was small and didn't really have any alcohol. (I like my drinks stronger.) We ordered the infamous nachos and for $18, I was not impressed...until I realized there was no cheese sauce on them! I had looked at all of the yelp pics and noticed this yummy queso fundido gravy looking stuff on the chips but on ours, they were dry as a bone (as was the chicken on the nachos). I mentioned it to our very nice waitress and about 10 minutes later, they brought us a bowl of luke warm cheese sauce. :/ Okay...onto dinner. My husband ordered the salmon which was tasty. I ordered the fish tacos because at that point I wasn't hungry enough to spend $30 on a meal...so the fish tacos was a starter. Rubios is better! I wasn't impressed with the fried fish tacos at all. My daughter ordered the crab chile rellano and it was good. Overall, I wasn't thrilled about this place...the food isn't even cooked in the "restaurant"...it's cooked in another facility at the hotel and carried over on food trays with covers to the back where then the servers bring them to your table. Kinda weird. I would come back for the M-F happy hour from 4-6 but probably wouldn't dine here again...especially for a special occasion. Our waitress was super nice and gave us an anniversary dessert to share. She also was the person who confirmed our reservation on the phone and asked if we would like to sit indoors or out. Super sweet...her name started with a V (Valerie or Vanessa??). The Estancia is a beautiful resort and if you are staying here and want to eat at M&B for convenience, it's good...but for a special occasion, not sure if it's worth it. I liked the free valet though! :) read more

This place sucks. $14 to park. Super expensive for a hotel restaurant experience. Better to go to little Italy where the real restaurants are. read more

Very cool atmosphere. Loved all the little casitas and separate buildings on the premises. Great outside dining area with a huge fireplace! We sat at the bar inside. I had the carne asada tacos and my guy had the short rib pazole. My tacos were pretty good. A little too much guacamole for my liking. They were a little dry but once I got more salsa rojo they were good. The pazole was kind of bland. The bar tender was a little slow but did a great job otherwise.Awesome venue, would go back again for the atmosphere. read more

Atmosphere was very elegant yet relaxed. Our waitress was Yvonne. She was awesome. She offered good recommendations with the food and made sure we had everything we needed without being a nuisance. We tried the fish tacos and ceviche, which were very good and crab cakes. Drinks were not too bad for their price. Will visit again. It would be nice if they had a few bigger tables to eat a full meal on the outside patio. P.S. The bar manager for the evening was also very friendly and courteous. Again, I loved the fact that we got what we needed without them being all over us. read more

What an amazing Valentine's Day night! Zach at the front and Cory at the bar where amazing and very friendly with our unique request. Can't wait to come back! read more

Great outdoor patio with fireplace and live Musician. The food was tasty but pricey. The Tequila Mussels was a great start for the evening. But yea you're in La Jolla and you're staying at a plush hotel/spa hanging with the 1% so you can't be cheap here. This is a type of place where weddings happen and divorcees end up being at. Here's a tip...want to avoid the valet/self parking fee? Park just outside the property on Salk Institute rd. and use that savings for one cocktail... ;-) Not that I'm cheap (just smart). Also, I just don't trust kids parking my car...(bad past experience). read more

We started our evening early around 5:30 on a quiet Sunday. Not many people on the patio - we were given a great table and initially our waitress was quick to bring us a beer and glass of Trinitas wine (yum!) After that - it just deconstructed into a nightmare. For 35 minutes not one staff person made eye contact with us. We drank our wine - not in a hurry but then when we asked for our server - a female we hadn't yet seen approached our table and my husband - who by then was angry asked if she was our server? The female server - said and I quote "maybe I am and maybe I am not." Well, at this point we are frustrated and feel the evening is ruined and asked to speak to a manager. At that point the server said - you cannot speak to me like that. We put down a $20 and left. It was bizarre, tremendously disappointing because we normally love this venue. NEVER AGAIN! read more

Once seated in the indoor section of this beautiful space indoors as well as the outdoors setting, the servers just seem to appear, and not hover, which I commend them for. And the service was great (in this same way) during our whole meal. As a family we all talked about our experience as a memorable meal. If you are here for a romantic dinner, I should imagine this to be very optimal for your experience too. Salads were fantastic, and appetizers as well! I had the red, white and blue salad: which was lovely to look at, arugula and dried blueberries, Fresh(!) which has a lovely light dressing. I really could have made a meal out of the appetizers and salad, they were so good. My meal: salmon was cooked to perfection, just the best salmon I've ever had! A crunchy type of crust and just right cooking texture, and also light.Our family eats a lot of salmon on the grill, but this was by far the best...I've ever had. My family had a similar reaction. Thank you for helping our family enjoy a meal together with optimal memorable enjoyment~~!!! Highly recommend this restaurant. read more

I have typically had good experiences at Mustangs & Burros, however this past Monday this was definitely not the case. I organized a happy hour here with friends to celebrate Leap Year and there was maybe 10-12 of us there. I ordered a beer and a chicken quesadilla which was on their menu at happy hour pricing for $9. Everyone in the group had been ordering food throughout the evening and everyone's food was coming out relatively quickly. I saw everyone's order that was placed after mine come out and even round 2 of orders started coming out, yet my quesadilla was missing in action. We had to ask 3 different times on where my quesadilla was, I finally got it 50 minutes later! I had ordered the quesadilla to eat along with my drinks and ending up getting it when I was already done drinking and everyone was pretty much finished eating, and we were looking at wrapping up for the night. I can understand if the restaurant was extremely busy, that there might be a SLIGHT delay with the food. However, the restaurant was not crowded and it is a quesadilla which is not hard to make and everyone's food at the table was coming out quickly. Then comes the bill. The waitress was kind enough to split everyone's check, however when I got my check I was charged $14 for the quesadilla, plus $4 for "adding chicken." I let the waitress know that the quesadilla was on happy hour according to the menu we had been given and it was a chicken quesadilla for $9. She took the bill back to her general manager and then came back out 5 minutes later to let me know that her manager said that it was not on happy hour anymore. So we showed her the menu so she could see what we were looking at. She then took the menu to her general manager again and came back out another 5 minutes later with a revised check which showed the quesadilla at $9, but still $4 for adding chicken. We told her that the menu had the chicken quesadilla at $9 and that is what I should be charged, if anything. We then had to wait again for her to talk to her manager about the bill and she came back for the 3rd time with the new bill showing the quesadilla for $9. The general manager never came out, they should have easily honored the $9 pricing based on the fact that it was on their menu (outdated or not, that was not our fault that we had been given an out of date menu), and lastly, the fact that it took 50 minutes to even come out, the meal should have been comped, This is not good customer service! I had raved to my friends about this restaurant, but after this past Monday's experience I definitely don't have the same outlook on this place. read more

On the TV series Downton Abbey, the head butler constantly obsesses about keeping up standards no matter what happens. If you want to find the exact opposite of this attitude, hurry over to Mustangs & Burros. At a recent dinner ALL of the following mistakes were made: - Reservation moved 30 minutes earlier than made - Table still not ready after real reservation time arrived - Napkins not provided - Water never refilled - Wine not brought until halfway through the entrees - Soup delivered so cold it had to be sent back - Side dish delivered so cold it should have been sent back, but by this time we had given up All of this on a slow night (many tables empty) with plenty of staff around. Clearly there is no professional management and little professional training. Oh, the food? It would have been a good night at a TGI Friday's. If it had not arrived cold. The really lovely setting, in a semi-luxury hotel, leads one to expect something rather special. Even ordinary competent service was, in fact, too much to hope for. read more

Great hotel, nice patio. Don't waste your money on the food at Mustang's. I ate there this week as part of my three night stay at the Estancia. After having enjoyed cocktails on the patio on previous visits, we found the food and service to be so disappointing last night that we don't want to give them any of our business in the future. It took 50 minutes to get our food, which was over cooked and way, way, over priced. Tasteless, in more than one way. This experience was such a disappointing..set on the backdrop of a beautiful resort!! read more

Mustang and Burros is California cuisine in a historic San Diego setting at the Estancia Hotel in LaJolla. We ate in the charming dining room as it was a cold evening in San Diego. The spacious patio, accented by its large, inviting fireplace was beckoning me to sit and stay to enjoy the libations.The menu is creative, I enjoyed the tortilla soup and the salmon in a mole crust. The salmon was cooked exactly as I like it.The service was attentive an not intrusive. The hotel lobby was decorated for Christmas and felt very festive. I will definitely return and enjoy a meal on the patio. read more

First off, when you arrive to the hotel you only have the option of valet parking your car - which fortunately is free if you are just going to the restaurant. They have a decent happy hour which has specials that rotate each day Monday - Friday. Fortunately, they always have small tacos on the HH menu and I gotta say, although they are small, the battered fish tacos are pretty darn delicious! Other than that, it is still on the pricey end of a HH menu BUT both the outside patio and inside bar is set up for a crazy-relaxing experience. I could totally see myself coming here after a long day of work for a glass of wine and a book to sit by the gardens and enjoy. Also, the servers are very attentive and seem to really enjoy taking care of their customers. Will definitely be back! read more

Decor and environment are nice, but the food was disappointing and as such, overpriced.

I absolutely love the atmosphere; it's very enchanting! The nachos are incredible, and the wait staff is very friendly.

I have stayed Estancia in the past and have always had a good time. Their rooms are on the smaller side but the grounds are beautiful Spanish style. Weddings are loud so request a room that is not facing those spaces. I recently went for an event and it was very nice. The food was a bit random being cheeses, meats and pasta but it was all good. The valet was a mess. I think we got lucky but I heard other people waiting 2+ hours but they had a lot of events going on at the same time. There's also not much street parking around so you don't have too much of a choice to avoid parking valet. We always go mustangs for nachos which are the best! read more

I have been to Mustangs and Burros several times. My review is not for dinner though, it's for drinks and appetizers. I love the atmosphere, especially the outdoor seating by the fireplace. The cocktails have never disappointed & the appetizers are spot on. Very enjoyable for a girls night out or just hanging out. read more

Ordered fish taco and burger. Nothing special. Plain food. Also the service is super slow.

Had an amazing dinner here with my girlfriend. She ordered the salmon, which was perfectly crispy, and I ordered the filet. Not normally a filet eater, but this piece of meat totally changed my opinion. Would definitely recommend the Local cocktail, very refreshing! Would definitely come again read more

We had a great dinner! This place is in a very nice hotel, surroundings were super nice. The service was very satisfied. Food were a bit pricy but delicious!! read more

Pulled pork mac and cheese, craft beer, outdoor fire place, attentive wait staff. Wow. I got massive points from the lady for taking her here. Seriously find this hidden gem and take yo date. Its a hotel restaurant, but a delicious and cool hip romantic one. DO IT! AND GET THE PULLED PORK MAC AND CHEESE! Yummmmm. The other pasta dish with sundried tomatoes was decent but the mac n cheese..... read more

Ambience on outdoor patio - sublime. Ahi Sliders and fish tacos - excellent. Great selection of craft beer. Valet-only parking is kind of a pain though. read more

chicken nachos are good thats it. and i ordered a salad. nothing else really i wanted to try....menu was a let down. service was slow being that the restaurant was quite empty. great ambiance though. i will have to say that the outdoor patio to the restaurant is really nice. read more

We stopped in here after going on a hike on the trails at Torrey Pines. What a lovely peaceful setting! We sat outside on a comfy couch near the outdoor fireplace. We were greeted by our fabulous waiter, Felipe. He had wine recommendations, and assured us that the Chef was very amenable to making a dairy free item instead of the crab cake. He brought us a "Crab-Cobb Salad" to replace the crab cake-This was delicious and had a dairy free dressing that was delicous! We also ordered the short rib tostada (YUM!) and the carne asada street tacos - total of 3 appetizers and some drinks. Appetizers were all very large so we had plenty of food for the two of us. Take some time to walk around the grounds when you come here for Happy hour or dinner-it is a beautiful place. read more

came here for dinner last night as we are staying in the hotel for a babymoon/birthday getaway... the service we received was fantastic, no wait on a Sunday night so it was awesome and to top it all the bday dessert they gave us complimentary was beautiful and delicious!!! ordered the chicken nachos to share (and did not disappoint) and a burger... loved how the fries were somewhat crunchy and it was good dipped in the nacho sauce... we left completely satisfied... read more

Mustangs & Burros - nachos and burger - Lounges Near Me - La Jolla, California

See all

I was a little disappointed with the menu, we couldn't find anything that sounded really good. We ordered the Mushroom Pasta with Crab and the Salmon with Leeks and Potatoes. The later was very good, but the Pasta was really pungent, and starchy. A last note, Happy Hour ends at 6:00 . read more

Super glad I was footing the bill for this place! This restaurant is located inside the Estancia Hotel which had a nice rustic feel to it. The food was just average. Honestly nothing to brag about. I ordered the filet which was cooked perfectly, but I just didn't care for the bean cassoulet or root puree that accompanied the meat. Seemed like their happy hour was decent (for this area) but I was about 5 mins too late to get in on the action. If in the area again I would give their happy hour a try. read more

We had an amazing experience, the food is pricey but its completely worth it. We had a lovely server by the name of heather, she was very attentive and friendly. We definitely will be back! read more

Thank you for the feedback. My wife has a meeting coming up at your facility and we will be able to confirm whether billing at dinner patron $18 for parking is indeed an anomaly. It's so ridiculous paying $18 for parking to enjoy a $17 turkey burger that I want to be sure this is not a regular occurrence. I have a gut feel that it is not a one time thing. I will update my review accordingly. So if your system is really broken now is a good time to fix it. If it's not really broken I will be certain to let the world know about it. read more

A tip for all guests considering dining here: don't. The restaurant was by no means busy and yet our food took at least an hour to reach our table and when it did it was cold, overcooked, and tasteless. Never in my entire life have I ever sent food back to the chef but when I dined here two out of the three of us, including myself, had to send our food back. My turkey burger, $17 mind you, tasted like a frozen patty bought from a supermarket that was cooked too long in the oven. The whole wheat penne pasta, $20, was rubbery, tasteless, and so cold that we had to send it back on the long trek to the kitchen, which was apparently quite the walk away judging on how long it took for the food to get to us. For all of this trouble we got free dessert. I personally would expect a $10 slice of cheesecake to be thicker than an inch and a half and taste better than something a cheap grocery store would cook up and sell. Maybe I'm just not used to fine dining. I wish I could get the two hours of my life back that I spent at this restaurant, after all being seated next to open doors while it is cold outside was not pleasant at all. We complained and were assured by our waitress and the manager that the establishment would take care of things, but I do not agree that a free dessert is "taking care of things". Do not waste your time or your money here, I really wish that it were possible to give zero stars here. read more

Our meal was great, as was our waitress Taylor. She helped us with the menu and her recommendations were the best. Really fine food, drinks and a memorable experience. We will be back!!! Fred P. read more

Had a chance to eat at Mustangs & Burros tonight after hearing from some friends that it was nice. When we showed up we were immediately seated in the outside eating area. The ambiance was great with a large fireplace and comfortable chairs. Our server, Taylor, came out almost immediately with water, menus and to get our drink order. She was extremely knowledgable in regards to all the items on the menu and after we made our decisions was able to recommend a wine that paired well with the meal. I ordered the short ribs and other members of our group ordered the seared scallops and flank steak. The food arrived quickly and was beautifully presented. The portions were good size and perfectly cooked. I highly recommend this resaurant ase overall dining experience was excellent. I will be going back soon. read more

This was my first visit to this restaurant. The food was delicious. Our server, Taylor, was fabulous! She was knowlegeable of the menu and made an excellent wine recommendation. I will definitely return for lunch or a nice dinner. read more

This is a great place if you are looking to enjoy a drink or a meal in a nice quiet setting. Most people in La Jolla don't even know this place exists, so you can always find an open table, even on a Friday or Saturday. The food is very good and has a mexican theme. The service is top notch. I think the best part is the setting. You are basically allowed to enjoy drinks in a 5 star resort setting with beautiful grounds surrounding you. Definitely reccomended for a low key night when you aren't in the mood for a crowded bar! read more

I am such a fan of this resort and restaurant- I had my bachlorette party here, every family member that visits I recommend to stay here etc... That being said I had an awful dinner here last night. We ordered the chips which are normally great but last night were stale and boring. For entree I ordered the chicken and to be honest I left more than half on my plate and could have gotten better chicken at a drive through. I don't know what happened! Step it up Estancia- I would love to love you again read more

The place is cool and inviting. Great outdoor area. The menu is a little all over the place. Mexican cuisine ? Chips and salsa as well as carne Asada is on the menu. But they also have Spanish style octopus and seafood with Asian flair. I don't get it. The food was super super greasy. I ordered the salmon and it was served which what appeared to be all the oil which was in the pan and my wife's steak was served with greasy cheesy potatoes. My salmon was cumin crusted (Latin) and it was served with green beans in a black bean sauce. Too bad as the Venue has great potential. Also $8 for chips and salsa was kinda odd. Oh and the chips were stale ! Lol. read more

Most beautiful spot, has a ranch-like feel and great for happy hour and dinner! I had the pappardelle with mushrooms which was home-made pasta and absolutely the best pasta I've had outside Italy!! I can't wait to go back for more, maybe on my birthday! read more

Service was very good, atmosphere was very nice, food was OK. The ceviche was good, the tacos were just OK. They have a good selection of beer. read more

Great date place to come sit by the fireplace and enjoy a few cocktails and some simple, but great food.

Meh. Overpriced under seasoned food. Service was friendly and unobtrusive. Dessert took forever and was underwhelming, best part was the fresh berries. Nice space and surrounding gardens. read more