Ignite Bistro

If you’re looking for an outdoor bar/​restaurant for your happy hour enjoyment look no further. There is a large indoor seating area but I’ve never ventured inside, why bother when it’s always so beautiful outside?
I’ve been here a few times now and always enjoy a few drinks and appetizers in their outdoor seating area. Outside opens up at 4pm, and has about 10 – 15 tables. Most seat 4 people, one can seat 6 and there are smaller tables for 4 that can easily be pushed together for even larger groups. If you’re feeling antisocial there’s a tv outside as well as some single bar seats.
The happy hour menu has a lot of great options ranging in price. We enjoyed some beer and well drinks with wings, pizza and guacamole & chips. We did have an issue getting fresh chips which was weird, never had that problem before. We got two kinds of pizza, the pepperoni was killer good The margarita pizza tasted awful, like it was reheated. Next to no sauce was on it either. We could only eat half of it because of the cardboard taste. But other than those minor mishaps everyone enjoyed our happy hour get together. Our server was nice, kind of joked around with us even though she was busy.

This place is off the beaten path but worth it. Ask for Paul and order the Man Candy. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Clay was our server. Very nice and defiantly will come back for his Service. The food was amazing and I love the view and ambiance of this place. This is my seconded time here and Clay defiantly made up for the 1^st time I came here with my girlfriends. Our last server was rude. I guess she really wanted to join our group and drink mimosas. But defiantly will come back again.

Great dinner spot with large outdoor patio and daily happy hour specials.
We started with the crispy broccoli and tuna apps — the broccoli was recommended by our server and something alone I would come back for, the tuna was good but nothing memorable. For dinner we got the salmon entrée and salmon caesar salad. The salmon in the salad was surprisingly the same portion size as the entrée but both were excellent. For dessert we got the s’mores — their dessert menu is limited to 3 options, and the s’mores is actually a brownie with ice cream and toasted marshmallows on the side (with a graham cracker on top of the ice cream) but it was good.
Overall a great restaurant. Will be back to try their bottomless mimosa Sunday brunch.

Everything was delicious, especially the crispy asparagus. Brittney was fantastic and very attentive to our needs! Definitely recommend.
Note to Ignite … I would prefer that you don’t allow children in your bar area … There were four different families with loud annoying children. I sat in the bar area to NOT be near kids.

We thought we had found a decent happy hour spot close to home, but were sadly disappointed. We ordered the ahi poke tacos and calamari for $ 8 each.
Poke tacos — you get 3 tiny tacos with maybe a tablespoon of ahi poke on each one. The guacamole on them was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. Overall, they tasted ok, but for $ 8, I expected more, but hey, it’s Carlsbad.
Thai Firecracker Calamari — this has to be the worst calamari I’ve ever had. Overcooked, tiny squares of breaded deep fried rubber doused in buffalo sauce with crumbled peanuts on the side. I can’t believe they charge $ 11 for this on their full price menu.
There are better happy hour spots around. We won’t be back.

We went to ignite for brunch. I got the short rib hash and it was amazing. I highly recommend it. My wife got her usual favorite «The hangover burger». It is best when the egg is nice and runny. We love ignite for the food and also the service. Amy did a great job and always made sure our bottomless mimosas were full.
We will be back and I recommend you try it too!!!

I’m now updating from 4 stars to 5. Let me start by listing my favorite things…
1. That pulled pork sammich… omg.
2. Da wings. It’s a struggle NOT to order these every time I come.
3. Ahi poke tacos at happy hour. So. Good.
4. The outside patio area… summer is here and this patio rocks.
5. My fav servers — Danielle (still a fav a year later) & Amy: these ladies always make sure our drinks are filled, our food is on point and that there are smiles for miles. They kinda have twinsy hair too :)
Without getting too wordy — this place has turned over the years from the Crappy Burro to the little gem which is Ignite. If you haven’t been in a few years, consider changing that.

Great Happy Hour menu,
attentive service even in the middle of happy hour. There are even food specials after happy hour. Great place to end up on a monday night.

We recently visited Ignite Bistro for a late lunch since we were in the area to watch a movie at Cinepolis (just a few blocks down).
We ordered:
MAN CANDY:
— This is their award winning bacon appetizer. The bacon made for a pretty picture but the limp (of the bacon) told me right away this wouldn’t be as crispy as I had envisioned. The sweet bacon tasted like it was baked with brown sugar and chili flakes. Friend thought it was ok but we both agreed that this dish would have been an award winner if it had more of a crunch to it than a chew.
GORGONZOLA STEAK:
— The steak was prepared medium rare which is what we requested. It wasn’t a bad steak but the meat was a bit tough and bland. The mushrooms looked like they were supposed to be part of the sauce but there wasn’t much sauce.
PESTO PIZZA/​FLATBREAD (?):
— The don’t offer complimentary bread here at Ignite Bistro so the waiter suggested this pizza/​flatbread. I can’t remember the price but it wasn’t worth it to me as the dough was bland even with the pesto sauce and sprinkle of cheese.
BANANA PUDDING PARFAIT:
— I can’t find their desserts online so I think this is their banana pudding parfait of some kind. The custard pudding was nicely creamy but the best part of this dessert was the hard chocolate layers in between the pudding. It made for a nice contrast to the soft pudding.
Service was fine albeit a bit distant as there didn’t seem to be much staff that afternoon. There weren’t many patrons in the dining room so the bartender took our order. They have a nice location with convenient parking. I think we’d try out Ignite Bistro again if we were in the area.

Bottom Line: I’m still not a fan despite many trips here for work lunches, happy hours and weekend brunches.
Sigh. Ignite Bistro is one of the default places I end up with coworkers and friends because it is so close to my work. The best thing about Ignite Bistro from my perspective is the $ 6 Spa cucumber cocktail during happy hour. Also, most people rave about the Man Candy which is a candied bacon. Although I am not a big bacon fan, I can see why this crispy concoction is so popular. Other good happy hour items include the ahi poke tacos. I love think crust wood-​fired oven pizza but here I found the Margherita Pizza so disappointing.
As far as seating options, there is a front patio, a bar and a dining room. The front patio seems to be the most popular place to sit. In my experience, service outside seems to be significantly better than it is inside, unless you sit at the bar.

I came here specifically for a trivia night with girlfriends. We planned to come early to take advantage of happy hour. I’ve been to so many other establishments where the wait staff make sure to point out that we can still get happy hour drinks or dishes but here that was not the story. 20 minutes before the not so happy hour was over our waitress tried to take our menus away so we would be unable to order. Then she took someone’s order at the other end of our table (we had about 10) and walked away. I called after her, «I’d like to order too please!» I’m hoping she just didn’t hear me because she kept walking. After about 10 minutes my friend and I decided we might as well just go to the bar because at least the bar tender cannot walk away from us. The bar was pretty busy and I started to wonder if I would ever get to eat or drink anything so when it was finally my turn I decided I had better order two because this could be my one and only chance. Once I had my drinks in hand my waitress finally decided to notice me, «did you just order those at the bar instead of the table?!» Umm yeah I tried to order with you. Can I order some food now please that I have your attention? I ordered a pizza and guacamole and chips. Both were fine nothing amazing but enjoyed a little less with the sour taste left in my mouth. The trivia hostess was an hour late. Not Ignite’s fault, just adding to our luck in general. The waitress tried to take my food away twice while I was still eating it with more than half left on my plate. I’ve never felt so unwelcome before. I feel as though they also missed out on a lot of money that night as we were planning on staying and eating and drinking and having a merry time but seeing as no one would let us order, we could not.
I don’t know if you are under staffed or if this was an off night. The location is very nice outside. I expected more.

I’ve been to Ignite on a few different occasions and every time seems to be a little lack luster.
The service is nothing over the top. The girls that come around are friendly, but don’t really go out of their way to make you feel welcomed or make sure you’re doing okay.
I’ve had the «man candy» the other reviews have raved about, and honestly, I don’t see what is so amazing about it. I’m like everyone else and love bacon, but I don’t quite see the hype on «man candy».
My friend had a burger and wasn’t super thrilled with it. I’ve also tried to margherita flatbread. It was mainly dough.
It’s not usually very busy, so service shouldn’t be an issue. I’m sure I’ll come back because it is close to home and I know there won’t be a problem with seating for a large group.

Great service from beginning to end. Wasn’t sure what to eat, but Brittany was more than helpful in suggesting a light appetizer (shrimp ceviche) that was fresh and delicious — had a limey garlic undertone that I appreciated. She paced the Ranch Pork Chops perfectly, so I didn’t feel rushed — you kind of run that risk some places as a solo-​diner. The pork chops were tender, yet had a slight crisp on the outside — and the demi glaze was NOT too much. Just slightly put on the chop, and did not overwhelm the ‘ignite mash’ potatoes, which were soft, warm, and not thick/​pasty!
The ambiance is chill. Solo diners and couples. A lot of smiles. No one seems to be bothering anyone else, and there are a few conversations going on ;) Definitely recommend.

Not real impressed with my experience.
I came for the happy hour, ordered a margarita and short rib tacos.
The margarita was premixed, poured out of a plastic bottle (I hate that), the tacos were predominately fatty pieces that I had to pick out, and they were served with potato chips???
The whole thing felt odd.

Made reservations on
for 8 people on a Sunday birthday brunch. There was a live guitar player in the patio but it was too windy so we decided to dine inside where there was a nice view of the beautiful homes in Carlsbad.
Started off with the famous man candy. It was an interesting twist to bacon. Calamari was delicious and tasty; spinach and artichoke dip was so-​so. I had a lemon drop and sister had bottomless mimosas (with a choice of strawberry, peach, orange and grapefruit/​great deal for $ 11)
We all enjoyed full baby back ribs (meat was tender!), Gorgonzola steaks, Ignite cheeseburger and fries. Our favorite side dish was the lobster Mac and cheese with huge meats of lobster.
For dessert, we had chocolate brownie smores (yummy!) and banana crème pie (so-​so).
Total for 8 people with tip $ 300. Thank you Candace for always checking on us and getting all our orders right. We look forward to returning for dinner and happy hour!

Haven’t been in years and still just as good as always!
The staff were friendly and Seth was personable and friendly. He was very knowledgeable and gave us a few tips on drinks and food, which we appreciated (esp for an indecisive bugga like me).
MIL got ignite burger, bf got the double fisted sandwich… which is amazing btw! I had a tempura flash fried ahi steak filet on a bed of jasmine rice and steamed asparagus. excellent

Looking for a new place to try and went here on a friends recommendation. Started with the Thai firecracker calamari which was surprisingly tasty and that’s a lot coming from me as I’m not a big calamari fan. (It was my friends favorite and now I know why). I had the ranch pork chops for dinner and they were perfectly blackened and cooked to the right juicy temperature. It’s not easy to cook big chops right so I was impressed. Portion was plenty including the sides. I substituted asparagus for the potatoes (always trying to trim carbs). They were nicely grilled and seasoned.
Ambience is nice inside or out. Bar patio was popular that night so we dined inside. I’d come back just to sit outside near fireplace. Dedicated parking lot a plus. I have this place bookmarked now for future night outs.

My boyfriend and I came here for dinner on a Sunday and it was empty, it was great we got to pick where we sat. The décor and the views from the large window are very nice. Our waitress was great and very friendly, we had excellent service. I started with a north county pear martini; I wasn’t a fan of it, It was very sweet.
For an appetizer we started with the crispy broccoli, wow it was so incredibly delicious. It was so crispy and had the perfect amount of melted cheese on it. The flavor was just amazing, I could definitely order that as my meal I loved it. For dinner I got the French onion soup and the market greens salad and my boyfriend got the steak and knife burger.
I disliked the soup, it was really watery and had way to many onions. The cheese on top was very rubbery as well, although it did have good flavor. My salad on the other hand was very good, it was a little small but I loved everything on it and the dressing. It was delicious. My boyfriend liked his burger but he got a very small portion of fries, and he thinks the onion ring could of been cooked longer.
Overall we had a great time, food was good and the service was great. I’d love to come back and try something else.

I came here the other day to grab a quick lunch in-​between all my meetings that I had during the day. Since it was the lunch time, and not their normal dinner rush, there were just a few servers working, and I walked into the bar. The bartender told me too just go ahead and find a seat where I would like.
I was taking a look at their menu and for $ 13 you can get a salad and a flatbread pizza or a salmon burger! WHAT!!! A Salmon burger alone is probably $ 13, so how could I turn down this offer! I placed my order and at that time Corey, the bartender, refilled my drink and did a little bit of work. OH WHAT!!! IGNITE HAS FREE WIFI FOR YOU!!! Hold any business meeting you need and bring your laptops, because they got you covered!
Thank you so much for an awesome meal during my visit and to Corey. I’M SO SORRY I BROKE YOUR PEN!!!

Food was outstanding, Man Candy is a must and the Tuna was very good. Unfortunately for me it was only 1 person eating out 1 hour before closing, and the waiting service from my waitress was bad as the restaurant was almost anybody there.
I was really surprised that her team mates where attentive enough rescuing the night away on the level of service.
Experience was lukewarm.

Always great pizza I love the service and their environment. You should try their salad as well the dressing is amazing I still can’t figure out what it is tho.

Manager reached out and smoothed everything, out; I’ve returned a few more times.

What great service tonight. My hubby and I had happy hour tonight and Megan, our server, made it so we got happy hour prices and oyster hour. She was so personable, knowledgeable, and just all around great. Nice time out without the kids.

Patrick did a great job! Very personable and he made it fun for our four year old son. They had my son make his own pizza which was very cool! Patrick knew the menu well and paced the meal appropriately. Food was original and above average on taste. Some pairings were good, but not great, yet I appreciate the initiative to try something new. Great view and I would come back.

Great service from Michelle. We often come here when we can’t decide what to eat since everyone in our family has different tastes. Tonight was a mix of ribs, tacos, and sea scallops plus mixed drinks and local craft beers.

Delicious food, great service and amazing drinks. What more could you ask for?
I recommend the New Fashioned drink if you are a bourbon drinker, or a new bourbon drinker like me. Smooth and flavorful, you have lots of vanilla and sweet notes in this drink. And its got a splash of soda in it so its very refreshing. The short ribs and the gorgonzola filet we ordered were great, and very tender.
Casey was our server and did a great job. He was there when we needed him, and kept a close eye on timing food carefully to come out at the right time. Thanks for a great experience team Ignite!

I came with two of my girlfriends on a Sunday for bottomless mimosas. Our waitress Britney was terrible. If you ever go for bottomless mimosas, stay clear because you won’t get your money’s worth. Constantly had to flag this girl down and no check back about food. Not to mention her attitude sucked.
We talked to the manager Britney, (not so fond of the Britney’s here) and nothing was compensated for the terrible service but just offering a glass of wine.
So Of course we take the cheap peace offering; my girlfriend asked Britney our server if they had a wine list and her response was «ya, duh»…
Dumbfounded, I then decided that I would never come back to ignite wine and bistro.
If that wasn’t bad enough, my girlfriend found a mysterious floater in her wine .so gross !
First time coming and won’t come back. Shame because the food was great.

Lobster bacon Mac is my go-​to here. It’s pretty awesome. And the smores dessert. Best cheat meal! And megan was awesome!

I’m really glad I live walking distance from Ignite. I’ve been here for Sunday Football, afternoon happy hour and late night. It’s always good.
When you walk up to Ignite, you’ll see their large patio to the right. There’s a bar out there with a couple of TVs for sports watching. They’ve got heaters for cooler nights as well. Follow the walkway into the main restaurant with a large bar area and good sized dining room. Both the bar and the dining room have TVs, which makes this place a pretty good option to watch football. They also have a bottle shop if you want to pick up a bottle of wine to take home. Ignite is open until midnight as well. That’s great for a quick late night drink if you get out of a movie across the street!
I’ve gotten good and bad service here and there, but overall the waiters are friendly, prompt and helpful. They’re good at recommending dishes and wines to match your taste.
I really dig Ignite’s menu as well. It’s really eclectic. Flatbreads, good burgers, oysters, egg dishes for brunch, and, of course, the man candy. They take delicious, crispy bacon and sweeten it up with maple syrup. I highly recommend the sweet and salty combo. If you check in on the Unilocal app, you get a free dessert as well!
The last bit about Ignite that we need to discuss is Sunday brunch. Bottomless mimosas are $ 11 from 10am — 3 pm if you buy some food. Talk about a perfect deal for football! They don’t shy away with the refills either. This is *really* the reason I’m glad I live walking distance from this spot!

Ignite can get pretty pricey unless you know what you’re doing. They have great happy hour, brunch and game day specials, and $ 1 oysters from 6−7pm everyday except for Fridays! I’ve been here a handful of times, and on my last visit, indulged in the $ 11 bottomless mimosas (with paid entrée). I think I had 8. They had a lot of flavors. gotta try them all! An unexpected plus, is this place is great for football! Lots of TVs, but it’s first come first serve so expect an early crowd claiming TV spots.
The food here is pretty good as well, I’ve had a variety of food that was all good, but nothing that stands out particularly awesome in my head at the moment .
Their outdoor patio is nice when it’s open as well.

Loved it! The craft cocktails were on point and wine list, excellent!
I had the crispy brocolli to start off with (amazing)
Followed by the natural chicken breast sandwich with the crispy asparagus fries — NO COMPLAINTS!
The banana crème pie in a mason jar was yummy, but could have been better…

Loved this place. I came with a big group of people after finishing up with our conference. They weren’t exactly prepared for such a large group, but the handled it (and complaining customers) well.
The manager was very nice about the fact that we would have to wait, and brought out some of their famous Man Candy bacon (very yummy) for us to munch on while we waited.
I had ordered the filet and it was very good and tasty. Perfect cut and a good amount of the extra’s on top. As a group, we tried many sides, oysters, and drinks. Only one complaint was made, and that was that the tacos were dripping (and they were… excessively). A little too much sauce, but they looked yummy.

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmm… Ignite is one of our favorite places to go in North county. The restaurant is absolutely beautiful and in a convenient location which is always a plus. The food is incredible and has yet to let us down. A few of our favorites are of course the oysters (both fried and on the half shell) drunkin ribeye and no visit is complete with out a smores dessert!
Michelle is our favorite server. She is always cheerful, professional, assertive, gorgeous, friendly, and knowledge about all the food and beverage options, oh and did I mention gorgeous! :)
Thanks for making our date nights amazing Ignite! We will definitely be back again.

All things considered, loved this place!
My fiancé and I hosted a wedding party brunch here. Bottomless mimosas for $ 11??? YES PLEASE!!! I believe they have about 4 different flavors. Orange, Pomegranate, Strawberry and Peach. The food was SO delicious!
Our waiter was very attentive and kind. We had about 14 people and everyone was pleased with the service.
Our waiter did spill a mimosa all over one of my guests… BUT!!! The ONLY reason I’m even mentioning this is because the way he handled it was incredible. Very calm and apologetic. Cleaned up right away and comp’ed her drinks and meal. Also offered to pay the dry cleaning of her jacket. That’s top notch. As far as spilling on someone, sure that’s never awesome, but it happens. We’re all only human. And I’m thoroughly impressed with how he handled the situation!
I definitely will be back here, if not for the bottomless mimosas alone!

Came in early and so we sat at the bar. First off, I love the environment. It was beautiful in there! Its mostly business men/​woman in there during lunch hour. We ordered the artichoke dip (delicious) and a margherita pizza with a glass of pinot. I liked the food, the prices are a bit higher but its the area. Our server was nick and he was excellent. The only minus one star is if a server messes up take them to the kitchen to correct them. It was right in front of us in the bar, and it was akward because we weren’t trying to listen in. (This happened to someone else, not our server) Oh well… minus one for that. The rest plus nick was fabulous! I want to go back when the patio is open, looks like good times!

Another visit to Ignite– fabulous time. Great energy in the bar. The game was on. Our server Amy was very attentive and the food was on point. The pizza (pear and blue cheese) was PERFECT. Thai calamari was something new but super tasty.
Man candy and chocolate cake were the perfect beginning and end to this meal!
I can’t wait to go back and try the nori wrapped ahi.

Came here for team lunch. Nice spot with a canyon view. Food is delish. I ordered the cali steak tacos w/​fries — so good i finished my plate (i never finish my plate). Any way very spacious with out door seating. Great customer service. Everyone enjoyed their food. We also ordered oysters and that was delish.
Free dessert at check-​in and the s’mores was yummy in my tummy.

The 3.5 star average made me a bit nervous to come here but since we were going to see Magic Mike at Cinepolis across the street, this place made sense. This is located in an awkward plaza where the entrance is weird but there’s tons of parking once you’re in. The ambiance of the place is really nice, I like it a lot.
We came here for happy hour and the 4 of us all got the margaritas, well, I got the spa day cocktail (all happy hour drinks are $ 4-​$ 6, weeee!). We told our waitress what we were doing and she offered to keep us on track to make it to the movies on time, she’s very sweet. I think her name is Tara? She’s very pretty too.
We also ordered some stuff to eat. I got the man candy which is spicy and sweet candied bacon, it’s amazeballs! The girls ate them up, we all shared it and it was phenomenal. We also got chips and dip and pizza to share. It was a great time and we were probably the loudest ones in there, but no one seemed to mind.
Our waitress even offered to get a group photo of us outside in the patio area. She’s very sweet and yes, she got us to our movies on time. This will be a stop more often now when we’re going to the movies.

Unfortunately, when we returned here on two other occasions and the food was not nearly as good.
Ordered the bacon again and it was really different. Not crispy and sort of limp. Ordered pizza again and it was meh.
:-(Mom and I have decided not to give it a fourth try.