The Prado at Balboa Park

The Prado at Balboa Park reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. F

   Fred

   Central Coast3 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   The food was truly delicious. There were no lines to get to the various Buffett stations at all. Our server Scott was super friendly and gave us great service. The staff was so friendly and the Easter bunny was a nice touch. A perfect Easter Brunch, A+.
   

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2. S

   Sarah VIP

   San Diego15 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Fabulous Easter brunch - excellent excellent service - all staff so lovely and attentive!! Thank you - great food and great experience!! See you again!
   

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3. J

   John VIP

   San Diego52 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Amazing service from the staff, including our waitress who ensured we got out of there on time in order to catch a show at the Fleet Center. The ambiance was beautiful, just being there as the sun was setting through the trees was perfect. Good food, good drinks, and a fantastic location. Thanks Prado team!
   

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4. E

   Ed

   Unspecified1 review

   1.0

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Is it over crowded or under staffed? for the price it should not be both
   

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5. R

   Richard

   San Diego33 reviews

   3.0

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Lovely table outside overlooking gardens and fountain area and was just perfect for an early Friday meal prior to an 8:30 Candlelight show. Server was extremely friendly and perfectly attentive. Wine was reasonably priced. Then unfortunately the food let us down, the chefs cut steak w/ grilled shrimp, potatoes and broccolini except for the shrimp were not very flavorful. My wife’s paella was really disappointing and lacked good consistency and flavor. Would never order either of these again. The flan and creme brûlée were luckily a nice ending to an otherwise lackluster meal. Next time would order wine, couple heavy sides, but would skip the “dinner meal”. This place is busy due to location, not its cuisine.
   

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6. C

   Cheryl

   San Diego4 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on April 17, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great place to eat before attending a show at the Old Globe theater. Staff was friendly, just the right amount of attentive with good menu suggestions. Made sure we got to our play on time. Patio had beautiful view and was quiet.
   

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7. P

   Patricia

   Chicago30 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on April 15, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   We went to celebrate our 40th anniversary and had the special Date Night menu. We had a great meal. Our server was helpful, knowledgeable and efficient (helped us select our wine)! We chose to eat inside because it was a bit cool/breezy, but we were given a table right by the windows so we enjoyed the beautiful patio view, where we saw many diners more hardy than us enjoying their meals! The food was delicious and quantities were perfect (especially compared to the dismal food experiences we've had up until now on this trip to San Diego)! Only things that could be improved were (1) the service initially seemed too fast paced--we had come to celebrate, and were hoping to enjoy a leisurely meal. Our order was taken speedily, and the wine and first course appeared before we knew it. However, after that things did slow down, to our relief. And (2) the main courses were not quite steaming hot when served to us, as though they had sat waiting somewhere for a few minutes. However, the food was so good that it did not bother us too much. We also noticed a bit of a cold draft for the first 20 min. or so along the wall of windows where we were seated, but that disappeared during the course of the meal--probably a door that had been open somewhere else in the restaurant got closed. We really enjoyed ourselves and appreciate the great value of the Date Night special. If we lived in San Diego we would be back again and again!
   

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8. P

   Paola

   San Diego14 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on April 14, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 4

   The ambience is very nice and charming. Unfortunately, we had to wait quite a long time to get both , our appetizer and our main courses. Appetizer was good but the vegetables were under cooked. For the main courses, the risotto was over cooked and salty (flavor was good thought) while the eggplants on the Pasta alla Norma, again, under cooked. I have been making reservations using Ooen Table for years and this is the first time, although I specifically indicated on the reservation that we were celebrating a birthday, that a dessert was not offered. The Prado is a well known restaurant but overall I was not impressed.
   

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9. S

   Shantel

   San Diego1 review

   3.0

   Dined on April 13, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Omar was great. Food is good. Ambience good. Nice stop while roaming Balboa Park
   

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10. J

    Julie

    Unspecified1 review

    4.0

    Dined on April 13, 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 4

    The food and ambience was great. It was a little dark to read the menu. Our dishes were cleared a little too fast. Great place to eat before a play.
    

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