John S.
Yelp
Is it a restaurant? Is it a taqueria? The world may never know.
The first time I came here and actually ate here, I walked right in, ordered at the counter, and they brought my food to me. The food was decent, and the man who brought it and some water was very nice. I was the only one in the place, and I read a little bit while enjoying my meal, and I was off.
That first time was a makeup visit for a previous TotMW, as the first time I came, there was a mentally ill person screaming as he walked north on Mission Street past La Oaxaqueña. I was on the opposite side of the street, so I walked south and figured he'd be long gone by the time I got there, but before I crossed the street, I saw that he was running back toward the restaurant, and I bailed.
On my second visit (also as a TotMW), I tried to do the same thing I did that first time. The woman behind the counter kind of looked at me strangely, and I realized that she had wanted me to sit down and wait for her to bring a menu to me. But I already knew what I wanted, so I ordered it right there (which I could tell really annoyed her), and waited at a nearby empty table to take it to go.
Earlier this week, I came almost randomly on my way to a concert. I needed to eat on the quicker side, and food had come up right away on both previous visits. But this time, there were two large parties already seated. Thankfully, both had ordered, but it took the same woman a long time to get me my menu. I asked her something about the veggie birria on the menu, but she misunderstood what I was asking, so I settled on a chiles relleno combination plate. I asked her whether it would take more than ten minutes because I thought I was in a hurry (I wasn't), and she said no. When I asked her for water, she pointed to the water station. She left, but when I got to the water station, there weren't any cups, so I went up to the counter like I had on both previous visits, and she appeared and said that she was bringing more cups soon. When she eventually did, she didn't tell me or bring me a cup, which was annoying and seemed chintzy, if not passive-aggressive.
It gets four stars for the food but two stars for the ambiance and service.
If you want people to wait to be seated, there is this magical newfangled technology called a sign, and you can buy one that reads PLEASE WAIT TO BE SEATED right off the shelf! But don't make your place look like a dumpy taqueria and expect people to know it's not a dumpy taqueria.
This block of Mission Street is also one of the shadiest, so I probably won't come back intentionally.
