La Vache

I felt I MUST counter the reviews of the last two reviewers. I have to point out that their experiences were likely based on a one time incident. I have had at least 20 experiences at La Vache and they were all excellent. Our servers were always friendly and the food is consistently gorgeous. I look forward to each and every trip to La Vache and I adore the menu. I was more than shocked to find that someone had a bad experience. I love La Vache!

this is for craig and haroula. i too experienced rudeness from one of the owners when i ate there. i believe the two owners both are named Gary. the older slender fellow is quite polite but the rude one is younger and looks like a thug, i believe he has an australian accent . very scary guy

My boyfriend and I go to La Vache every few months and always have a great time! Their escargo is wonderful, and the Sea Bass entree is delicious. The service is really hit or miss. A couple times it was just ok... but then there have been times where we received wonderful service. The owner was very nice to us, and actually gave us a few glasses of wine while we waited for a table. The have always been accomodating.

The "rude owner" has a history of threatening people, so Michael's experience when he tried to get his wallet back is not unique. This wannabe "tough guy" should go back to South Africa where he came from instead of befouling the beautiful city of San Diego. One day this jerk may threaten the wrong person. His crooked former partner was forced out of the restaurant because of law suits and is again sitting in Federal Prison for probation violation. His third stay. I hope La Vache at least has good coffee. Frank

My girlfriend and i, had the most wonderful date at this reataurant.The food and service was outstanding.I would highly recomend having one of their many weekend specials as well as the rack of lamb.For the guy who thinks he may have lost his wallet there,be sure before you accuse anyone of any wrong doing,poor thing.

this is simply the best lamb i have had in a long time where you normally get 3 little chops they give you a whole rack which was so much i had to take half of it home ceep up the good work

Four of us ate at La Vache on a Saturday night. From beginning to end we had a great meal. The waiter was attentive and friendly. The appetizers (brie on french bread and calamari) were ample and tasty (enough for four people to share) and they even brought us marinara sauce for the calameri. Our dinners (two ducks, one sea bass and one cassoulet) were all delicious and also ample and included good portions of vegtables and rice or potatoes. Deserts (French torte, profiteroles, and apple pie) were delectible and quite large. Total bill not including tip but including a $12.50 corkage fee for a bottle of wine we brought with us (they do sell wine but we wanted to try this one) was $145 for four people.

Must try their lamb.

we were there for dinner food was good old grand mas cooking had the prix fix dinner only $ 17.50 they serve this all night on tuesday good value for money the server sofi was kind and efficient will be back good job..

fresh fresh fresh the honey mustard dressing the best ive had server said its home made love to get the recipe its so good going back for mothers day brunch with my mom so she can taste it thanks la vache ceep it up......

After reading all the reviews, i decided to try La Vache, and had a fantastic meal with very good service.I will definitely be back, their menu looks very tasty.I will not judge by someone elses bad review because most of the time it's the people that are difficult,not the restaurant.

It's a shame when you find a place that has great food- the scallops and lamb chop plates were very good - but terrible service. The waitress had a cold and snobby demeanor, quite uncomfortable. it's a small place so seating is tight.

This restaurant has the best seafood pizza. It's quiet and quaint, although the service has been very slow both times we've been there.

La Vache is a decent little French "country" restaruant in a tiny Hillcrest strip mall. Go early enough (between 4 and 6 pm) and they even have free parking onsite, a rarity in this neighborhood. Despite some other reviews here, our service was excellent. We were greeted and seated promptly, and there was a carafe of ice water on our table within 60 seconds. Courses were nicely paced and the servers were attentive. The high point was the soups, french onion and cream of tomato, both excellent. Lovers of cassoulet will be disappointed in their version, which is basically a crock of bean soup containing slices of sausage and occasional chunks of unidentifiable meat. Get the beef bourguignon instead, it is marvelous. Or for a far better strip-mall French restaurant, visit La Bastide in Rancho Penasquitos.

When I read the other reviews before going I just thought maybe these people just had a bad day but seriously the service is by far the worst i have experienced. after we got seated which was one hour later than our reservation the waiteress came half an hour later to take our order the bread took 40 min. to arive once we were seated and the appetizers like one hour. then our food like one hour later an then the waitress never came to see if we needed more drinks or anything. When we tip her which was less than 10% she has the NERVE to come and ask us if there was a problem . If you want a good tip take care of the tables your even though the restaurant is full come and say your dinner is on the way you want more bread or more drinks SOMETHING don't just leave them alone it your job

When I read the other reviews before going I just thought maybe these people just had a bad day but seriously the service is by far the worst i have experienced. after we got seated which was 1/2 hour later than our reservation the waiteress came half an hour later to take our order the bread took 40 min. to arive once we were seated and the appetizers like one hour. then our food like one hour later an then the waitress never came to see if we needed more drinks or anything. When we tip her which was less than 10% she has the NERVE to come and ask us if there was a problem . If you want a good tip take care of the tables your even though the restaurant is full come and say your dinner is on the way you want more bread or more drinks SOMETHING don't just leave them alone it your job

When I read the other reviews before going I just thought maybe these people just had a bad day but seriously the service is by far the worst i have experienced. after we got seated which was 1/2 hour later than our reservation the waiteress came half an hour later to take our order the bread took 40 min. to arive once we were seated and the appetizers like one hour. then our food like one hour later an then the waitress never came to see if we needed more drinks or anything. When we tip her which was less than 10% she has the NERVE to come and ask us if there was a problem . If you want a good tip take care of the tables even though the restaurant is full come and say your dinner is on the way you want more bread or more drinks SOMETHING don't just leave them alone it's your job

We've been going to La Vache since they opened and although we've almost always had good food at fair prices, the one thing that remains consistent is horrible service. It's like they try to ad the stereotypical jerky, arrogant Frenchman to your experience. We took some friends a while back and explained that the food is good, but the service is bad. My friend ordered steak medium rare which was prepared medium well. After several attempts to flag down the waiter, he gave in and began to eat his dinner. About 20 minutes later, when the server arrived, he asked how everything was (this was a first for us, as they never ask how your food is). He explained that his steak was over cooked. The server questioned him on why he would eat part of the steak if it was prepared incorrectly. We said forget it and continued our meal. The manager/owner arrived without our request to see if there was a problem, as if we were causing trouble in his restaurant. My friend stated that the only problem was the over cooked steak. The owner asked again why he ate any of the steak if it was not prepared correctly. At this point, I interrupted and said "I explained to my friends when we were coming here to expect the worst service in town but good food..." at this point he cut me off and said "Don't you dare go there". As if he wanted to go outside and fight because he was called out on his restaurants horrible service. It wasn't until I read this website's reviews that I realized everyone feels the same way. Good food, fair pricing, the worst service in San Diego. After the last experience, I'll never go back. On a side note, I heard his last restaurant, La Provence on 4th was shut down by the health department because of a problem with rodent infestation. Bon Apetit!

4/6 entrees returned. Service 2/5. Won't return.

I went to La Vache in hopes for a good meal. But instead I got cheated out of one. I ordered the sea bass dish which came with mashed potatoes (more than $25). Instead of real potatoes they were instant mashed potatoes. I turned to my sea bass for salvation only to realize that the sea bass was actually grouper! And a horribly cooked grouper at that. When the waitress asked if I liked it, I explained to her that I would have liked it better if it was what I had ordered. Unconvincingly she assured me that it was sea bass, but gave me a free dessert anyway. There's nothing I hate more than restaurants that aren't honest with thier clients. If the server had just told me that they were out of sea bass, I would have gladly gotten something else. And instant potatoes... shame on you La Vache! I know times are tough but honestly. Rule #1 Don't dupe the customer! People know what they are or aren't eating!

The service was slow and erratic. Steaks arrived before salads! But the worse experience was the attitude of the owner - he was rude and apparently has never heard of customer satisfaction. Our group will never return to La Vache and will warn others away.

The worst service I ever experienced. The waitress had no customer service skills and the owner was outright rude. The food was marginal. I won't recommend to anyone.

I had been to this restuarant many times and while I was never that impressed with the food I liked the location and atmosphere. It was never packed and I always could get a quiet table. Overall a good place to take a date to chat. The last time I went in I left my wallet and when I discovered this and called the owner was quite short with me. After he made it clear that he was going to be no help to me I told him that I would have to list La Vache as the last place that I had seen my wallet in the police report that I had to file for my bank. At this point he became extremely hostile, started yelling at me, and told me there would be "reprocussions" if I did this. After yelling back and forth for 5 minutes he finally told me that he did not need me as his customer and did not care if I ever came back and he did not care about my "pathetic little wallet." One of the worst times that I have ever had with leaving something at a restuarant. I will never go there again and I will make sure that as many poeple as possible hear this story!

From beginning to end, our meal was a complete disaster. Food: The duck mousse pate on the charcuterie plate was not fresh; the escargot was flavorless. The french onion soup was bland (I'm unsure how they managed to do this...). My duck was overcooked; my husband's lamb was all fat, no flavor. The cassoulet looked like Van Kamp's beenie weenies (absolutely absurd). Service: I will simply say that it was the worst service I have received in San Diego. Before spending your money on this place, grab the Art of French Cooking and stay in to dream of properly prepared French Cuisine. This restaurant is not worth the effort.

The first time I went to La Vache, I think that I was spared the legendary service by sitting outside. Experience was slow, but the coffee was decent, and the breakfast was adequate. Living close, I thought it may be a good spot just to walk to every once in a while. Everything changed on trip #2. It was Sunday about noon and we didn't even get to the food. The busser/water boy sloppily filled our water glasses, spilling all over the table. When I gave him a surprised look, he smiled at me, returned to the behind the bar area, and pointed at our table and laughed w/ his cronies...the other servers and what appeared to be the managers/owners. 20 minutes later after being ignored by the other waitstaff (we had yet to even order a coffee at this point) he passed by and I asked him for a towel...this amused him, and he and a female server came over and dabbed the table very slowly and deliberately. My girlfriend asked if they were still serving breakfast food, and the server simply replied "no" and walked away....with the lunch menus. Before the busser could escape, we asked him for 2 coffees - to which he acknowledged with a grunt. We finished our coffee, paid the tab, certainly without tip, and left. I have since gotten my statement back with 2 dollars added to what I signed for - nice. This is not just bad service. This is unprovoked, unecessary garbage...and hey...its got just a bit of crime mixed in. Avoid this human cesspool like the plague.

I had ordered the house salad to go along with my pasta dish. The lettuce was old and rotten. Since the server had not returned to our table to ask how the meal was, I picked out the nuts and ate them. When the server returned, I told her my salad was disgusting. When she brought the bill, I informed her we woud not be paying the exorbitantly high prince of $6.00 for the rotten salad. She told me her manager was having a "bad day" and refused to take off the salad. Instead, I would be getting 20% off the salad since I had eaten "the most expensive parts" of the salad, which added up to 1.00 off. With the recent salmonella scares in the United States, I cannot believe the lack of quality control in a French Restaurant. I willnot be returning to La Vache and will let everyone I know never to eat there as well. The customer service I had at this place was pathetic and they acted like they were doing me a favor being open instead of me deciding to have lunch there on my day off.

I am disappointed. Such a rudeness and attitude I have never seen in a restaurant. I wood prefer that they have lower quality food but nice and professional people in there. Very very poor communication with customers and totally rude and arrogant!

Picture the scene, A gorgegous sunny day in San Diego and 2 couples decide to go for lunch taking advantage of coupons printed in the Hillcrest magazine.The coupons state that if you spend a minimum of $50 for 2 people you get $25 off the bill per coupon.So off we go and enter the restaurant,looking forward to a nice lunch and good conversation...At this point things started to go downhill. We were then informed, as we were 2 couples and each couple had a coupon, we would not be able to sit together at adjoining tables.This constitutes as being 4 people which subsiquentally doesnt allow the use of the coupons.We were told that we could sit at either end of the restaurant but not together.Now i dont know about anyone else but, i think it would be quite impossible and admittidly rude for other customers to have to listen to our conversation being thrown 30 foot across a restaurant floor. At this point we asked to see the manager,He duly arrived and we tried to explain the situation to him. Being honest and truthful people we all agreed that we could sit at 2 tables side by side which had a gap of 2 inches, thus, we would not be "together" on one table but two separate tables,hence,2 separate orders. Well, this went down like a tonne of bricks and we were told that it wasnt very nice the way we were trying to "CHEAT THE SYSTEM!!". Now, excuse me, but, The coupons stated that they were for 2 people to spend a minimum of $50 and get $25 off the final price.Being 2 couples ,each with a coupon,this constitutes 2 separate diners.The fact we walked in together and were choosing to eat together did not mean we were trying to "cheat" any system at all.If the management at LA VADGE (pun intended!)have no intention of honouring their coupons, DONT PRINT THEM !!!! So the moral of the tale is, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, SHOULD YOU EAT THERE.The management is rude,obnoxious and completely unwilling to comply with the rules of the coupons that they print.This in our minds constitutes FRAUD. On top of that, we do not take kindly to being called CHEATERS.This is not the end of the matter as far as we are concerned and the management at LA VADGE (yes , theres that name again!)have not heard that last of this. Happy eating folks, but not at LA VADGE !!!!!

This was a horrible restaurant experience. Not only was the staff rude and slow, any complaints made to the management were completely ignored. Anyone thinking of going to this establishment should consider instead of going to McDonalds. The staff is 100% better at any fastfood restaurant. Others have told me that the management will not necessarily honor any coupons or specials that are published. This seems to border on criminal activity. Also it appears charge slips have been altered after being signed by the customer. I'm pretty sure that's a crime. STAY AWAY!!!!!!