I do not like to write poor reviews and on paper this looked perfect. I am very busy so this sounded like a perfect solution for meals. On the website it looked fun and time saving and appetizers and beverages were offered. When I first called to make an appointment for 9 servings so I could "try" it out I had a bit of a pressure upsell to make it 18 servings. I said I wanted my husband to try it before I committed further. Being as busy as I am this was time I carved out for the appointment and was excited and had an open mind going in. All of the stations looked a little confusing but I was excited to learn. The first thing I was told was to wash my hands and there is a washing station with the rules how to wash your hands emphasizing using 110 degree water which was odd because the only temperature that came out was cold. When the girl started helping me before getting started she told me to look in the freezer, maybe I wanted to buy some of the meals in there and started showing me different things I could buy that just looked like frozen food to me. When she started helping me she said she was still learning...that she was new and that she had only been there 6 months! 6 months and she was still learning and I am thinking I have been here a few minutes..is it that hard. Then she said she wished she could afford to eat these meals more often and my brain goes to...so it is expensive. I am here because it is EASY and affordable and in two sentences she set the tone this was hard and expensive. Instead of just showing me what to do and chatting and finding out what is my style so she could intelligently direct me she kept trying to upsell me...make sure to buy these meals before you go. When she did help me assemble the meal it was a little confusing and at one time she ran off to help someone else and I was left there to put together the second meal which I did pretty quickly. I had my two meals now put together and was surprised at how SMALL the servings were. When I commented on the steak...that is it for SIX people she said they break apart and it is more than it looks like. I ran the meals in a bed and breakfast for ten years so I know what a serving looks like. The paella serving for three was really enough for one and a half people. A note is when I brought it home I added a cup of rice from my own kitchen and a chicken breast from a Costco chicken already cooked and THEN it was enough for three people. I had my paella meal in hand and was going to get the other meal and leave. The girl took it from me and put it in the refrigerator and then asked me to sit down with her. She offered me water? I thought...Oh, this is beverage part of the presentation? Now I get offered something. Why didn't anyone offer me something when I first got in, or to sample some of the other meals to see if I liked it. She kept putting pages in front of my face even after I said I wanted to try what I had made first. She said I know you want to try it first but why don't you go ahead and place your order today to make things easier. Then she asked me how I was going to pay for the day's food. I said it was pre paid. I ended up owing $5 and there was confusion on her part about if I had paid. While I was paying the five dollars I looked up and saw a sign for crock pot meals and said...You have crock pot meals? She said yes...which should have been the cue to tell me about those...instead she pushed those papers again with the orders. I honestly felt like it was all about the money and I never got to for one minute take in the experience. I never got the appetizers and beverages that were talked about in the email I got the day before my appointment saying this would be a FUN experience. It was not fun. It was confusing & I felt like cattle being herded like when you go to a time share presentation. This is what would have NOT put me off. To have the lady show me exactly what I was supposed to do & talk about the ingredients. Ask me about the kinds of meals we liked to eat & then she could have said...oh, you like paella well then you might like this, too...instead of randomly going on & on & on & on & on about making sure I order more meals from them before leaving. I could not get out of there fast enough. I preferred to get back to work rather than stay any longer. Why couldn't she have just honored I truly wanted to try the meals first, see how my husband liked it before committing to a week's more of meals. SO, I took the paperwork she kept pushing at me and went to Costco and compared their offerings and their prices with Costco's. Their meat is frozen and mixed in with a lot of ingredients. Take the old fashioned pot roast for 6 with potatoes and carrots...$49.99 for 6 servings. The pot roast that is precooked and not frozen in savory juices is under $20 for 6 people and really does feed six. Add $2 of carrots and potatoes and you have the same meal & Costco even gives you samples. VERY DISAPPOINTED. read more

I'm dreaming of a great dinner, Just like the ones I used to know Where the table settings glistened and servers listened To hear what gourmet offerings to show I love to cook, but hate to clean. I love fine foods, but don't have the time to run all over town to collect the best ingredients, so consequently I had grown to despise cooking, until Dream Dinners came into my life. Now I can sing again. In and out of one location inside of an hour and a half (usually only an hour) and I have 32 to over 40 servings of gourmet style, ultra-high quality meals that go into my freezer and take only a few minutes to prepare at home. someone else cleans up my prep mess and I never have to deal with small quantities of left over ingredients that I can't decide if I need to toss or save. And on top of all this, I have saved over $400 a month on food because we don't eat out to avoid my kitchen disasters. I actually look forward to coming home to prepare dinner. If you don't dream of Dream Dinners it must only be because you've never experienced them. So now: I'm dreaming of a great dinner, It's one I just prepared to go Where the whole place glistened and no servers listened Now my meals are better than any restaurant to which we'd go read more

I've been going to Dream Dinners for a few months now and I am definitely a fan. I order the meals I want to make ahead of time online. That is nice because my husband can do it with me so he feels involved in what we're making. Everything is in "servings" so you either get a 3 serving meal or a 6 serving meal. There's only two of us and so that usually means there are leftovers. Some of the servings are small compared to what you are used to eating but they are definitely a good serving size of what you are supposed to be eating. My favorite part is that it takes me less than an hour to assemble all the meals and everything! I usually come after work and make them all. It is amazing. I didn't give it 5 stars because it is a little pricy -- about $12-$16 for a 3 serving meal, it always works out to be just under $5 for a serving. I figure that is much less than it would cost to eat out though. You are paying for convienience. I've also seen our grocery shopping bill drop now that we have all the food. Also, they sometimes cook with food that has a lot of perservatives and none of it is organic. This location always has brown rice and they are getting better about carrying whole wheat pasta. You just have to ask . read more

Can't give enough praise to this company. I Love Dream Dinners! It has made my life so simple in the kitchen. I don't cook and even I can prepare their meals. I can prep a month's worth of meals in less than an hour. Great concept. Extremely cost effective and fun! read more

This place was not professional at all. I try to support small businesses and when I got there to pick up my food, the owner ( I later find out) was yelling at someone that parked in front of dream dinners... turns to me as says do you have an order? "Ummm yes", I say. ok follow the rules on the board she says as she goes inside the store. The board was this sign on a tripod... so I did and someone else comes out and gives me my food. So I ask who that person was. She's one of the owners said the worker. She was mad, I said. Yeah, she responded, people are parking in our spots and the property owner isn't doing anything about it and walks away... the food was alright, nothing really wrong with it but it what other reviews rave about and no bang for my buck in this economy... read more

They changed owners, and dumped their faithful staff who had been a big part of the experience for me. The dream has ended for me, too!

The question what's for dinner was a constant nightmare for me. My husband and I and our two teenagers have a busy schedule. We were stuck into a rut of take out, frozen pizza, bag meals, and fend for yourself dinners which also included cereal and top ramen. I wish you could have seen the delight on my family's faces when I fixed my first Dream Dinner for them. I felt like I served them something healthy and restaurant quality. Yes it's a little more expensive than the ordinary home cooked meal, but the convenience is more than worth it. Think of all of the odds and ends special ingredients you don't have to buy for just one recipe. The clean up is minimal. Everything is in the correct portions, but the sauces are generous so it is possible to add an additional chicken breast, pork chop or what ever. read more

This review is for the location in Tierra Santa as well. Anyhow, this concept is brilliant. It's a very clean and well organized operation, I never cook but even I felt like a top chef. 12 dinners for about $160. We used to spend much more on unhealthy takeout. If you want to eat delicious, healthier, and less expensive dinners you gotta come try this out. read more

I LOVE La Mesa Dream Dinners and have been making meals there for a couple of years now. The staff is friendly, the food is high quality, and it saves me money over buying a lot of different expensive ingredients that I may waste. If you're a big eater, then you may find the portion size a bit small, but if you're following a healthy eating plan, it's more than enough. We love it in our family of 3, and always feel there is enough when prepared with a nice side dish such as fresh vegetables. read more

Robin and the rest of the team at Dream Dinners are wonderful! I have been coming to Dream Dinners for a few months after I was introduced to the concept by a friend via a dream taste. I have a baby and my husband and I both work, this is a great solution for those busy nights when we would otherwise stop and pick something up for dinner or order in. The session is enjoyable and the meals are all tasty, quick and easy to prepare. While it is not cheap it is more affordable when you compare the cost of take out or dining out. They are also mostly healthy and I love that you can customize the dish (less salt, more garlic, no onions, etc.) based on your family's preferences. Thank you Dream Dinners for making my life that much better! read more

I am very suprised by the one poor review. I have been getting meals from dream dinners for 5 months- to the delight of my family. I always enjoy my evening of meal making and they make me feel pampered. I think it did get easier to understand after I made my meals that first month. It seems like she did not give it a fair try. My favorite thing about dream dinners is the creative meals it brings to my table. I love cooking shows and this lets me express my foodie side. It is the closest I will get to having a personal chef (if I could only afford one). read more

Dream Dinners is AMAZING! I won 6 free meals when my husband and I entered our names at a raffle, and I'm so happy to discover this place. It was such a wonderful experience. The staff is extremely helpful, knowledgable, and do not pressure you into buying anything. The food was great! My kids ask for dream dinners every night lol. This experience has positively impacted our time together as a family at dinner. Thank you. read more

The easiest way to make a great tasting, healthy dinner for your family! One of the wonderful women you will meet there is Jaime, she is the best at making you feel at home and explaining how everything works. I will definitely go there every month because if her great customer service and the terrific food!!! My 3 kids and my husband all live the meals, great for every picky eater!! read more

Like Dream Dinners promises, it's a meal prep place that's designed to make meals fast and easy. Menus change monthly. You make a reservation, you pick what meals you want to make, you assemble the ingredients using color coded scoops and bags, go home and put the bags in the freezer and you defrost and cook as needed. It's fun and fast (I made three meals for 3 people in less than an hour). They also make samples for you to try of what will be on the menu next month. So for working families, those in a diet, picky eaters, and people who don't cook well, this place would be ideal. It can be a bit pricy although they say that the food is comparable to other places. It would be nice to be able to afford going here more often. This shop is clean, well organized and staff are friendly. Yes, they will try to sell you more and that is the nature of their business. I can afford it once or twice a year. It gives me a break, a good healthy, delicious meal and extra time with my family. What's not to like? read more

Bait & Switch - I spent over an hour registering and selecting items to have it rejected as they do not do Introductory offer the last week of the month (never stated until I called Corporate who called local). I then moved to a new month...made selections again...and the LivingSocial offer would not be honored. When I spoke to management they told me they decided not to honor it for introductory 18 servings menu and I had to order from mandatory 36 servings menu...but no where is that stated on the offer. They said they were "SoRRY". If they can't be honest in advertising...I won't do business with them. read more

Had my first Dream Dinners get together on 9/26, and it was FUN and easy!! The staff is pleasant and informative; the food fresh. Just cooked the Shrimp Tacos w/corn & cotija! The shrimp and corn were excellent (you can always add some hot sauce, jalapenos, etc.). The corn tortillas were not that good, but since I just made two of them, I'm going to fry up the rest as tortilla chips. Looking forward to cooking other meals!! read more

Very nice environment. Very clean. Staff are very pleasant and informative. For being our first time. They were very attentive and caring for our meal prepping. The meals comes down to be $5-7 dollars... read more

We had orange Asian chicken tonight ,it was wonderful! I just wish it came with rice. Really really tender!

like the name says it all, it is a dream. this is definetly for the working family that doesnt have a lot of time, you come here and make your dinners, put them in the freezer for when you are ready. the meals are really good too. read more

OMG! I am hooked and I am one of the most frugal people I know. When you add two cheap sides you can stretch the meals out with leftovers. So easy and such a time saver for busy people that want to eat healthy. read more

my work crew and i went here for a team building experience tonight and i have to say it was awesome! before we started the lady sat us down and we talked about everyones life style and she gave us different options for each of our individual selfs and kinda wanted to take the time to get to know us better! i have to admit it is probably not for everyone but it definitely will help out a few nights a week when i am working late :) i decided to do full 36 servings and split it with a co worker i am so excited to try my meals when i cook them and so excited for round 2!! best part is everything is already chopped and ready you just gotta put it together and seal it up and take it home no cleaning or chopping just pop in freezer or fridge and take out thaw a couple days before or in fridge or 1 day on counter! thanks dream dinners!! read more

My daughter invited me to come along as she was told they needed so many people to participate. When we arrived there were seven in our group. Apparently Dream Dinners was pushing for even more people but went forward with our group of seven. We were each given a turn to talk about our cooking habits. Then we washed our hands and put aprons on. So far so good. She used my daughter to demonstrate on one of her meals. When she was done the lady announced that there were only 6 stations so we would have to take turns. I didn't start my meals but my daughter started her second meal. I patiently waited, the first person finished her meal but I couldn't go on that station because that was not one of the meals I chose. So I waited some more. My daughter finished putting together her second meal and I had not started yet, the lady didn't even check to see if I had started yet. In the meantime waiting in the front of store I was very hot. I went outside to cool off. It was cooler outside than in the store. They have a serious a/c problem. Finally I decided I was not going to participate because my daughter was nearly done and I hadn't even started yet. Basically they sell too many spots when they know they only have 6 stations. They have 6 different meals and only one person get put their meal at a time. Depending on what everyone picks you could spend a lot of time waiting for an available station. When I informed the employee that I was not going to participate because I hadn't started yet and my daughter was nearly done, she asks me if I wanted her to put the meals together for me. I thought the whole idea was to have fun putting it together. Besides if there was no available station for me how was she going to put together my meals? I said no and left to wait in the car as the place was so stifling hot. Also, you get instructions on how to prepare put no actual recipe. They change their meals monthly so you can 't get that same meal again. I understand why they don't give you the recipe but it just isn't something I would only want to do once if I really liked the meal. The meal is actually only the main dish no sides. So their is still some work and cost involved getting this meal on the table. I went in really wanting to like this, but it was a waste of two hours of my time. read more