Cozymel’s Coastal Mex

The chips were stale. That should be enough to say that it was a pretty complete disapointment. The first bowl came out stale, we sent them back and are pretty sure they warmed up the same bowl and brought it back. How can a Mexican restaurant mess up the chips? Chips are the foundation of the entire meal! We ordered tableside guacamole, which tasted great, except on the stale chips. The rest of the meal suffered from the chip debacle. Food was OK, waitstaff was pretty good. All in all, you can’t trust a restaurant that serves stale chips.

Not bad!
Even though Vallarta’s, Tacos El Gordo, and Oscar’s may get all the hype, I still root for the larger up-​scale restaurants that don’t receive as much love. This restaurant is located conveniently near school and UTC, and the place itself is huge! It fits a lot of guests, and I love the interior design of this restaurant.
The free chips and salsa is really good and very generous here. I even asked for a bit to go, and the waiter was so nice in giving me two full bags of chips and salsa to take home! Huzzah!
As for the main course, I love the mix-​and-​match of two or three tacos here! I highly recommend the carne asado beef as the meat is very tender! The chicken is a little on the tough side, and the pork carnitas isn’t bad either… but the beef is the best for the tacos! The burritos are also pretty good here, and I like the chile verde sauce they put on top of the wet burrito.
The drinks are BOMB here! I’ve been here twice for 2 21^st birthdays, and they do birthdays right here! The mango margarita drink is great here, and full of so much flavor!
Service is great here as everyone is super attentive and fast! There are a lot of workers here, and it’s nice that there isn’t a lot of waiting around-​I was a little worried at first because the restaurant was so big. Parking is a little tricky as the lot is a little small as it’s shared with Bluefin, from next door. The only other parking is the big lot of the UTC mall, and it’s always hard to find a spot nearby.
Overall, a great restaurant if you want a Mexican food in a nice sit-​down place! Great for birthdays!
¹³⁄₁₀₀

Attractive décor and atmosphere (and, as with many Mexican restaurants, darker interior) with a combination of cozy booths, tables, and a few taller tables in the bar. The staff we encountered, from the host to our server/​bartender, were all very friendly. Fortunately, we weren’t in any hurry because service was a bit slow; the busy bartender was also the solo server for the entire bar (as well as having to prepare drinks for the main restaurant).
The food: the complimentary (delightfully thin) chips, served with salsa, were disappointingly stale (not very crunchy); there were lots of small, broken pieces — as though the last of the bag was poured into our small bowl (that turned out good for me; I didn’t overeat on the chips!!). I’d requested a «crispy» shredded beef taco, anticipating a corn tortilla, freshly fried (mmm!); instead, it appeared to be one of those pre-​formed/​pre-​packaged shells. The ranchero sauce atop my (only mildly warm) cheese enchilada was unremarkable. Even my Skinny Margarita lacked that light-​and-​fresh taste. Outside of the nice staff, the best part of my meal was their soup (which I upgraded to for $ 1, replacing the rice and beans): full of chicken, rice, avocado, and more! With so many dining options, I don’t have a desire to return; however, glad to have checked it out.

My boyfriend James waited for me to get off work in the parking lot for 45 minutes. He was a little grumpy so I decided to feed him some tacos. I got the $ 22 for $ 40 coupon from Groupon and called for a reservation on our way there (Groupon recommends to do reservations on Friday and Saturday).
We were seated very quickly on the booth. The restaurant is very nice with tall ceilings and a bar area. Our waitress Amber was very nice also. She served us some delicious chips and water before we made our order.
James ordered a margaritas and the fish tacos. I ordered the seafood enchiladas los Cabos. We both agreed the seafood enchiladas were better than the fish tacos. It had a creamy sauce and full of flavor. But the fish in the three tacos didn’t have much flavor… The beans and rice were good too. We also ordered the fried ice cream for dessert even though we were full after the entrée. The ice cream was OK. Not as good as tempura ice cream in my opinion. The bill came down to around $ 43 so it was a very good deal with the Groupon!

What happened to this place? I used to love it. It used to have ambiance and completely appealed to me. The Mayarita used to come in a cute pitcher. Why take that away? Why take away the larger sized margarita glasses? Complete fail in that dept.
Otherwise, whoever made the decision turn up the ambient lighting did not think it through, I felt like I was in a Mexican themed Disneyworld cafeteria. We discussed this with out server, who was amazing, by the way, and he said the lighting change was a managerial decision. So, if the lights are going to be turned up, please at least clean up so your patrons don’t have to see everyone else’s dropped food and napkins on the floor under the tables. Upon entry into the restaurant my husband noticed that many people were scowling. I’m going to chalk this one up to the lighting as well.
Bathrooms were a challenge too. I won’t go into details, but safe to say, there was grossness in 3 out of 3 stalls in the ladies room and the overflow of the waste bin was inexcusable.
We won’t be back. Old Town is just 15 min away.

Lured back by a Groupon deal. It’s not like I’d written this restaurant off forever, but the previous experience was so mediocre that I wasn’t sure when we’d ever come back. Well. Thanks to a good deal through Groupon we ended up having dinner here on a Saturday night. This experience confirms that I wouldn’t want to pay full price while dining here.
The food wasn’t bad. BF enjoyed his brisket enchiladas enough. I didn’t realize my spinach enchiladas (which were kind of bland) came with a side of steamed veggies instead of rice, so when I requested a replacement after the food came, I was pleasantly surprised that they brought it out right away and didn’t charge me. The veggies just didn’t look appetizing. and they smelled bad. Also, the queso that came as part of an app we ordered was tasty when it first came out, but within minutes — and I mean less than 10 — it had hardened. Kinda gross.
We decided to order a dessert and I had a hard time picking between the fried ice cream, churros and brownie a la mode. We went with the fried ice cream. When you actually get to the ice cream through the inches-​thick layers of whipped cream everywhere, it’s pretty good! They covered it in cinnamon corn flakes — that was the most delicious part. But all the whipped cream and the odd-​tasting caramel syrup on top kinda dampened the dish for me. I will have to try dusting corn flakes with cinnamon sugar and then topping ice cream with that mixture on my own, because it was truly a great combination.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience, but again, I would not want to come back and pay full price for what we had.

I came here due to a GrouponI bought, it was $ 22 for $ 40. I bought it before I read the reviews. I was a little leery on coming. However, hubby really likes Mexican food. I do not, so I thought this was nice way of both of us trying a new restaurant out. We also invited his mom. As we walked in we were greeted very sweetly by a gentleman, wearing a somberoro, i felt sorry for him :(.He adorned no bade or name tag, so I don’t know his name. We were sat on the other side of the bar, I requested a booth, I kind of wish that I asked for the booths on the other side… o well ***There is an outside eating area in he back with a fireplace, I think this would be a place for blind date or a small business meeting. No one was out there; there was a little wetness in the air, great for walking… not for eating.
The server was nice; he was sporting some sort of fauxhawk, super cool look (he reminded me of A.C. Slater from Saved by the bell… Aagain no name tag…
I was going to order the Cinco sampler, however my mother in law was there and I just didn’t think it was appropriate. So I ordered the Brisket enchiladas. I liked the taste of the black beans; however the rice seemed to be more of Mediterranean rice, instead of a Spanish rice. The enchiladas were okay. The sauce was good. Nothing special about the enchiladas. I did get a nice amount of meat… reading the reviews I was concerned about that.
Dessert: I ordered the Mexican Brownie a la mode. Not bad, except the brownie was more like a cake. Very moist and had some spice. It was nice concept… I think they should change the name to Mexican Chocolate cake.
The ambience was nice, like I said earlier we were seated on the other side of the bar. There was a party of four that may have been drinking a little too much… They were really LOUD. I think that acoustics play a part in that with the metal squared ceiling. Other than that, I would say that the restaurant was not half bad. The décor was very Mayan looking. The customer service was good. All in All 3 stars for the monotonous food. The three stars are more for the customer service. The food maybe a two star Unilocal?My server saved this review with his attentiveness.

Thanks to a BOGO coupon in my Entertainment Book, I returned to Cozymel’s a couple of weeks ago with my guy. If it weren’t for the coupon, I likely wouldn’t have returned so quickly after my previous let-​down but we were craving Mexican so we I decided that I’d give Cozymel’s another shot.
I will admit that this visit was slightly better than the last but I still felt underwhelmed. After browsing the Unilocal reviews and reading that my good friend and fellow Unilocaler recommended the sour cream chicken enchiladas, I decided to give them a try. While the flavor of the enchiladas was good, the size was disappointing. Those tortillas are the smallest tortillas that I’ve ever seen used for enchiladas. I believe the three tiny shells would make up the size of two regular shells at any other Mexican restaurant. Not that I need to eat three large enchiladas but it seems misleading.
The Mexican rice was bland and the only thing that made it salvageable was dipping it in the sour cream sauce of the enchilada.
My date ordered the Portobello Mushroom Fajitas and was disappointed with the small quantity of portobello. Instead of featuring the mushroom, as the name would imply, there was an overabundance of mixed veggies with one mushroom on top.
Not sure if I’m just a massive lightweight or not, but my one small margarita got me pretty tipsy and my guy had to drive us home. Just a heads up! :)

Been here about three times. Not our favorite place but decided to stop by anyways before we shopped.
The service here is not exceptional. They take your order and that’s about it. Our waiter never check back to see how we were doing. She didn’t ask if we wanted anything else. Just assumed we were done and brought our check. I guess I won’t order anything else?
Chips and salsa today was bland. The salsa didn’t taste
like anything.
Traditional Sampler — this came with flautas, nachos, and mushroom quesadillas. Nothing spectacular.
Brisket Enchiladas — my boyfriend got this and it was alright too. The flavors didn’t scream out at you. It was like hmm sure. Okay.
CASA SOL Y MAR in Del Mar is basically the same concept, same prices, but much better tasting food.

Decent place, not horribly busy, but it was a big NFL day and most people were at sports bars. Service was good and quick. The food was pretty good, not quite as good as the Cozymel’s in L.A., but close.
I had the Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada plate with rice and beans and an ice cold Stone IPA. That was a winning combination.
My wife had the Fajita Chicken Salad and said it was fairly tasty. For the quality of food and the amount you get the prices are OK.

Sadly my love affair with Cozymel’s has come to an end. To be honest, the only thing I ever came here for were the flautas and the banana dessert. I’ve tried several other things and not cared for any of them including their enchiladas, and tacos.
That being said, the outstanding queso dip served with the flautas is different than it used to be. It used to be liquid cheesy gold with lovely chilies and spices. Now it a solid chunk of lukewarm Velveeta-​like cheese.
While I’m sure the banana dessert may still be as good as it once was, there’s no actual dinner to eat here anymore. So sad.
On the upside, the chips and salsa are very good and the seating and Ambience is beautiful.

A subpar restaurant for the La Jolla /​UTC Area. The food quality lacks in flavor and is bland in taste. The shredded beef tacos were alright, and broke apart easily. It looked flavorful, but didn’t have much flavor outside the natural beef flavor.
One plus I enjoyed was their authentic churros. They’re traditional and comes with sauce.

Came here for the official first dinner date with my boyfriend! We were both super ravenous but Cozymel’s sure filled us up. :)
We had purchased a Groupon ($ 40 worth of food for only $ 22) and we reserved via OpenTable at 5:30 pm.
We ordered:
–steak fajitas
–table side guac
–fish tacos (grilled, blackened, fried)
–one cup of daily soup (cream of pumpkin)
–one cup of chicken tortilla soup
Pros:
–service was fast! Waitress was super friendly and was helpful in suggesting items.
–nice atmosphere! Definitely s place for large groups if you choose to come here. Small groups of couples also work well!
–big portions! Just the way we both like it. Besides, we were starving.
–table side guac is a must get! Love how fresh everything tasted.
–unlimited chips and salsa! Indulge!
Cons:
–tacos were disappointing. But hey– everything else was still good!
A bit pricey at the end even with the groupon, but I would definitely come here again if groupon sold more vouchers!

Food is so so. Our server was terrible. Granted our group took a while to meet up but over 20 minutes to get my margarita? Come on…
Food was not worth the price. Go somewhere else.

Yum! The server in the bar was so nice! He was so helpful and informative about the happy hour prices and offers. I ordered a skinny marg, it was pretty good. The chips were yummy, he could have brought us more than 1 salsa though… there were 5 of us and 1 tiny little bowl.
Guac was delicious!
I like the bar and the tabletops in the bar.
Always important– Bathroom! CLEAN and stocked!

I only come here for happy hour because the margaritas are cheap, and you get complimentary chips and salsa.
The service is always fast (usually because it’s empty), and I’ve never had to wait for a table. The food is just okay, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend coming here for anything more than some cheap margaritas.
Their happy hour goes from 4−7PM, and margaritas are about $ 3.25, and I think $ 3 on ‘Margarita Mondays’.

I came here for lunch with a $ 20 for $ 40 gift certificate from U-​T San Diego Daily Deals. The restaurant is actually really nice on the inside. Very well decorated I thought, with huge palm trees inside, fountains and other Spanish trinkets.
The Food:
Both of my daughters got the kid’s chicken tender plates. My wife ordered a combination plate with a chicken enchilada and flautas and I ordered three tacos: two golden-​fried cod fish tacos and one baja shrimp (yes, you can mix up the tacos on any of the 2 or 3 taco entrees).
TIP: the salsa they bring out with the chips is not very spicy. Ask for the spicier version which is much better.
My kids didn’t really like their chicken tenders that much but they liked the fries. My wife’s enchilada was good but the flautas were not very good at all. Too crispy with not much inside. They also came with a cheese dip that had obviously been pre-​filled and sat around the kitchen until someone orders. The top layer had hardened due to exposure to air. Yuck.
My fish tacos were ok but instead of using one or two full size corn tortillas, they use these tiny tortillas and overlap them to make one whole tortilla. It’s weird, not common in other true Mexican restaurants and made it very difficult to pick up and eat… especially the shrimp tacos. All the shrimp kept falling out. I eventually had to use my fork.
The Drinks:
The $ 6 house margaritas are what you expect… nothing special. I barely even noticed a buzz after drinking one. My kids got Sprite and lemonade in small cups with lids.
Summary:
Once the deal was deducted, my bill was $ 8 (with $ 8 tip): $ 16. I’ve always seen Cozymel’s when coming to the UTC for many years but never ate here until I got a deal. But honestly without another deal I don’t think it was good enough to come back to given the plethora of authentic Mexican restaurants around San Diego.

Broken glass in my drink & cut my mouth! Went to watch a game and while drinking lemonade spat out a part of a broken glass and the guy who said was «the manager» told me that they would cover the bill if anything happened, then I noticed my cut inside my lip and he said to go ahead to the hospital and they would cover it. Now that I went and talked to the real manager, she said the same, was very nice, and took copies of my X-​Ray bills to send to corporate and all I get is an angry, very rude insurance completely denying everything and yelling at me.
This is the most ridiculous service, rude and LIARS, food is terrible, service is terrible and even handling cases like these, just TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE

I’m sorry but Cozymel’s is just not for me. Let’s just start off by saying the best part of my dinner was their seafood enchiladas.
The service was tremendously lacking, and it continued that way for the entire duration of the night. Our server took awhile to come by with drinks and first thing he says is «Sorry, table 22 was complaining about me disappearing for a long time when I just stopped by 2 minutes ago!» I was pretty shocked that a waiter would mouth off about another table with us. We didn’t need to know that.
We started off with the flameado appetizer, which was a delicious fondue-​like cheesy dish with mushrooms, chicken, and onions. When he brought out our appetizer, he quickly left and didn’t come back for a long time. We had no small plates, utensils, or napkins. Our food was getting cold so we had to eat without proper utensils. My hands were covered in cheese and no napkins were in sight. When our waiter finally came back with our entrees, he quickly put our food down and started leaving. I had to flag him down and ask for utensils and napkins, because I wasn’t about to eat my mole chicken enchiladas with my hands. I was so shocked at how terrible the service was. If I had known, I would’ve brought my own fork!
I’m giving this place two stars because I liked the flameado and my bf’s seafood enchiladas. I didn’t care for the mole enchiladas and the dry flavorless rice after the first bite, and the service was horrendous. Unless things change, I’m not coming back!

I’d rather eat lizard wings than dine at Cozymel’s again! I ordered 3 enchiladas for $ 13.50. The kitchen took 3 gross, chewy tortillas, then barely filled them with a stingy blip of filling, and smeared some thick, pasty, yucky sauce on top of them. They call this «enchiladas» at Cozymel’s. I call it a rip-​off, and I’m actually insulted that the owners of Cozymel’s allow this to pass as a dinner, in a restaurant with such a nice upscale décor! I ordered the 3 enchilada plate, with 2 brisket enchiladas and 1 chicken mole enchilada. Sounds so delicious on the menu. Taste, texture, and portion size are crappy. The plate comes with rice and beans, which are ok.
The brisket enchiladas have an ancho chile sauce on them. A few years ago, on a previous visit, Cozymel’s had a tasty ancho chile sauce. But on my recent visit, they used a poor recipe, and also managed to make the sauce thick and pasty. Gross. And I’m an Ancho chile lover, normally. The chicken mole enchilada had the worst mole sauce I’ve ever tasted. What happened, Cozymel’s? A few years ago you had a decent mole sauce!
Cozymel’s has the infamous distinction of earning 2 thumbs down from Mel J for serving the worst enchiladas I’ve ever tasted.
My Skinny Margarita for $ 9, which had 190 calories, was the best part of my meal. I also spent $ 10 on the Tableside Guacamole, as I was in the mood to splurge. It’s made with Haas Avocados, and while it’s pricey, at least it’s made with quality ingredients. However, it wasn’t spicy enough for me, and the red salsa they bring to your table isn’t spicy, either. If only I’d just ordered the Skinny Margarita and the Tableside Guacamole, I might have been a cozy Mel.
But the enchilada plate was awful, and it brought the total price of my bill to about $ 33 before tax and tip. For that price, I expect a wonderful experience overall! Cozymel’s is overpriced, and the kitchen is dishing up some cheapo dinner entrees that aren’t very tasty.)-; My beans were better than the enchiladas!
My server did his best, but was always in a rush, which wasn’t his fault. The restaurant was only about half full, but there weren’t enough servers. My server wasn’t trained to help me to choose the best entrée out of their menu. I was a bit frustrated at feeling on my own to guess what were the best items on the menu. I guessed wrong when I chose the enchiladas.
When I paid my server and got up to leave, no manager, nor even a hostess, said goodbye nor asked me how was my visit. Truth is, I wouldn’t have trusted whatever else they might have brought to me out of that kitchen… not after the enchiladas were of such a poor quality.
I cannot recommend Cozymel’s. I prefer Eureka or Seasons 52 in the Westfield UTC mall. In fact, I’d also prefer a sandwich on fresh sourdough bread at Boudin Sourdough Bakery and Café. There’s also a decent Chili’s Grill & Bar a few miles south, on Clairemont Mesa Blvd, as well as the Outback Steakhouse, also on Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
Based on some info I read online, I think that Cozymel’s is part of a chain, and they have undergone a change in ownership between the time they first opened and now. That would explain why there have been some drastic changes. It’s not the same Cozymel’s any more. I just googled «Who owns Cozymel’s».