Chrissy C
Google
Negligent service, ridiculously long wait times, & tiny portions. 40-min wait for one taco, mistakes in our order, ZERO communication or apologies from our servers. Overall, as a former server & cashier myself, I was disturbed by Bartaco servers’ lack of common sense & hospitality. This experience put a huge damper on our vacation. Side note: Instead of lime slices, Bartaco gives you the ENDS, which have maybe half a squeeze of juice in them. Surprisingly that was the case for our whole table & I see it in other photos from this eatery.
We were in the area since sunrise for the cherry blossoms. We went to Bartaco hoping for some quick bites, our 1st meal of the day, before heading over to our reservation at the Moonraker rooftop bar next door.
11:05 AM - We arrived at Bartaco. We asked to be seated outside & the host said “OK, we’ll just have to wipe the table.” No problem, we sat & waited for someone to come by but no one did so we ended up wiping the table ourselves. After another 5 mins we realized why we weren’t handed any menus; there was a tiny QR code (not clearly displayed) on the table. It would’ve been helpful if the host had informed us to begin with.
11:15 AM - Our server came by & gave us paper menus as the QR code wouldn’t let us add to the order even though we selected “ordering for the PARTY.” Each of us had tried on diff phones (Samsung, iPhone, Google).
11:48 AM - Finally our food arrived. We had ordered 11 tacos but only got 10. We pointed out that one of the tacos was missing, & our server went to the kitchen to check. It was taking a while & she was nowhere in sight, so we asked a different server passing by for an update. He said he’d ask, & came back outside with a different server. Server B & C (no one ever told us their names) asked us what we were missing. We couldn’t tell which taco was which, & since Server A had picked up our paper menus, we told them it would be better to find her & ask.
11:50 AM - Server A showed up to ask us what was missing, & what we had ordered. By now I was getting frustrated bc she clearly had the paper menus in her apron but was expecting us to remember exactly what out of 11 items we were missing.
She showed us the receipt paper that was sent to the kitchen, & it had all 11 tacos printed. We still hadn’t touched our food so I pointed out how there’s only 10 tacos on the table… We asked to see the paper menus we had filled out, & only then is how we finally figured it out.
We really don’t understand why she didn’t refer to our paper menus to begin with, or why Server B & C didn’t immediately find Server A for us. Could’ve saved everyone the time & hassle.
12:03 PM - By this time my friends were preparing to go next door to make it to our Moonraker reservation (originally 12:00 PM but we pushed it back to 12:30 PM… which we had decided at 11:35 AM since our food hadn’t yet arrived).
12:10 PM - My partner ordered 1 Baja Fish taco via QR code, thinking 20 mins would be plenty of time for it to arrive.
12:15 PM - Server A handed the check to my friends, and they left for next door. Before heading back inside, she assured us she saw my partner's order.
12:40 PM - We asked Server C for updates as he was passing by, & he flagged down Server A at the empty table next to us asking where the taco was. She explained quietly to him INSTEAD OF addressing us?? Then they both went back inside, w/o acknowledging me or my partner?? A quick “sorry we’ll be right back” would’ve sufficed…
12:52 PM - The single taco finally arrived.
1:03 PM - My friend called me from next door wondering where we were. I went inside to speak to management. Terrica (Key Holder) was the first staff member I found & she’s the ONLY one who was truly apologetic, validated my reasons for being upset about our servers’ behavior, & echoed my concerns on why it took 40 minutes for one taco.
Finally, Terrica referred us to Javonte (Restaurant Manager) who was able to get us a refund, since the handful of free taco vouchers originally offered was NOT satisfactory to make up for our experience.