PAON Restaurant & Wine Bar

Review summary

1. S

   Scott

   San Diego1 review

   3.0

   Dined 3 days ago

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

   This is a nice place, but the food was underwhelming. It was just rather bland and uninteresting…no distinction to it. For the price, we expected to have a positive reaction to it, but instead just kind of powered through the dish joylessly.
   

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2. J

   Jonathon

   San Diego3 reviews

   4.0

   Dined 6 days ago

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

   The rib eye was excellent. My wife was not impressed with the short rib she had. Service was perfect, however this was a Sunday evening and their were not a lot of patrons. I cannot attest to the quality of their service when they are busy. I was disappointed by the ambiance. For this style of cuisine I expect a traditional atmosphere and light classical music. I think the dance club style music being played was a very poor choice for this setting.
   

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3. m

   mario

   San Diego10 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 2 March 2025

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

   Great cozy place with great service and excellent menu
   

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4. D

   Debra

   San Diego7 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 1 March 2025

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

   Such a strange place. We went with friends awhile ago and had excellent food and terrible service. Service at the time was unpleasant, unattentive and completely lacked knowledge of the extensive wine list. The bottle we chose was unavailable and shouldn't have been on the menu. Etc. Etc. We stayed away for maybe a year and decided to give it another try, remembering the food. The experience this time was better but still weird for a restaurant of this caliber. It's like they are ALMOST amazing but then just...not. Our friends started at the "wine bar" where the staff handed them a tasting menu and then advised that they were eseentially "out of all the reds". What? At 7pm on a Friday night, at a wine bar? So...open some new reds, right? They gave up and went into the restaurant. Our service was very nice and attentive and apologized for the wine bar experience. Then we chose our bottle of wine...which once again was unavailable. Manager offered us a pricier bottle at the same price-very nice-which was excellent. We had another and they honored the price again. Great service. At dinner I had a surf & turf, ate the steak first, and then found the lobster tail was the most awful thing I've ever had. Fishy and literally mushy. Explained and offered the server/kitchen to verify. They took it back, but at this point the rest of the table was largely done. They KINDA offered to credit it but then suggested they'd do another one quickly and went back to the kitchen. We sat for 20 minutes and then asked for dessert menus for the table since all plates had been cleared. It was crazy that they were cooking a lobster tail for me when the table was done. They ended up bringing out my lobster tail along with the desserts for the table. This just should not have happened. If it was going to take that long they should've just credited the lobster and called it done. Second lobster was delicious-scared to think what was up with the first-but just...what a weird experience again.
   

   PAON Restaurant & Wine BarResponded on 7 March 2025

   Thank you for sharing your feedback. We’re glad you returned and appreciated our service efforts, but we sincerely regret the inconsistencies you experienced, particularly with the wine availability and your lobster dish. Your concerns are important to us, and we’re always striving to refine our service and offerings. We’re happy to hear our team worked to accommodate you, from honoring the upgraded wine to replacing your dish, though we understand the timing wasn’t ideal. Your feedback helps us improve, and we’ll use it to enhance our communication and service execution moving forward. We truly appreciate your perspective and would love to provide you with a seamless dining experience next time. Best regards, Mayur Owner, Paon Restaurant & Wine Bar
   

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5. R

   Rick VIP

   San Diego9 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 22 February 2025

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

   We love Paon, but they haven’t changed their menu in years…yes, they do “specials”, but something that has would be nice if they would take their boring , flavorless salmon off the menu spice and flavor to it.  The sides, of puréed, sweet potatoes… Which were three swipes on the plate, and 3, 2 inch long turnips, or whatever they were, we’re cold by the time they got to the table. Just not worth the money anymore, sadly.
   

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6. J

   Jennifer VIP

   Salt Lake City6 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 17 February 2025

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

   Overrated. Service was fine. Food was eh - expected a lot more. French onion puree soup very bland.
   

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7. K

   Kim

   San Diego2 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 13 February 2025

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

   Always a good review! Love how quaint this place is. We had a reservation for the restaurant, but sat in the bar anyway. The patio dining is cozy and charming, but we were afraid it might rain. The happy hour lounge menu was a pretty good deal!
   

   PAON Restaurant & Wine BarResponded on 7 March 2025

   Thank you for your wonderful feedback on our new happy hour menu! We’re thrilled you enjoyed the great value and outstanding offerings in our lounge. It’s been a pleasure hearing from our local patrons, and we’re so glad it’s been well received. We’re always looking for ways to elevate the experience and excited to expand our happy hour menu even further. Be sure to check back soon for new additions—we can’t wait for you to try them! Looking forward to welcoming you again soon. Cheers! p.s. Happy Hour is 7 days a week from 4 pm - 6 pm in the lounge (holidays excluded). Tell your friends!
   

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8. T

   TOM VIP

   San Diego30 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on 9 February 2025

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

   Disappointed overall. Indifferent reception upon arrival, less than spectacular food (although my sea bas was very good, but the sides not so much), my wife's scallops were few, 3 or 4, and pretty tough. No salt at the table. The complementary birthday desert was good. Great ambiance, but mediocre food and service.
   

   1 person found this helpful

9. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Baltimore1 review

   4.0

   Dined on 8 February 2025

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

   Paon always has great food. Service was a bit slow but that’s to be expected on a Friday night. Overall would come back
   

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10. P

    Patrick

    San Diego21 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on 26 January 2025

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

    We wanted to try something different and Paon looked fun. 1st off, the service was good, but I felt the server was kinda robotic; not that warm. The ambiance is warm and comfy. We paced our meal and started with the Hamachi appy, which was rather good and presentation was nice considering this wasn't a Sushi place. We ordered the pear salad next which we also split. This was the best course of the meal. The pears could have been a little riper, but all in all my wife's favorite. We ordered Lamb and Venison entrees. It felt like these took a little too long, which often means they are coming out less than hot. My Venison was fine for temp, but my wifes plate was tepid, warm but not hot. In general both dishes were under seasoned and there was no salt or pepper on the table. The lamb was a little too rare for medium rare and lacked seasoning or some type of sauce which made it kinda flat. The venison was somewhat disapointing. It was clearly cut away from the rib roast too rare and then poached. It was kinda grey and lacked seasoning which the poaching probably knocked off. I'm a cook; I would have grilled it a bit; put some marks on it ILO poaching. We almost never do this, but opted for dessert. Strawberries and a scope of Ice Cream. It was great; kinda hard to go wrong with that. So with a couple glasses of wine; bill came to about $250. The experience was OK, but I feel like there are so many other places at that price point, it should be better than OK. We will likely not return.
    

    PAON Restaurant & Wine BarResponded on 8 March 2025

    Thank you for giving Paon a try and for sharing your detailed feedback. We’re happy to hear you enjoyed the warm ambiance, attentive service, and that the hamachi appetizer and dessert stood out as highlights of your meal. We appreciate your insights on the seasoning and preparation of the lamb and venison, as well as the temperature of the dishes. Your perspective as a cook is valuable, and we will certainly consider your comments as we continually refine our offerings. Our goal is to provide an exceptional dining experience, and we regret that we didn’t quite hit the mark for you this time. We hope you’ll visit us again so we can provide the exceptional dining experience you deserve.
    

    1 person found this helpful