Ev D.
Yelp
This review will be a brutally honest, historically accurate, play by play walk-through of my experience at Mario's market.
When we pulled up and got out the car to enter the establishment, there was about two homeless people loitering out front, which isn't a complaint just a fact/ simple observation.
I was actually planning on spotting them some cash on my way out once I complete my transaction inside.
The purpose of my visit was specifically to try their catfish and a few sides.
The hot food that they serve is located literally at the back of the store so you have to walk through the grocery store in it's entirety.
Due to my field of work it is a occupational habit for me to pay attention to details so my default setting is to be vigilant. And what I noticed was literally every single employee on shift during my visit was African-American.
I serendipitously/coincidentally was wearing my Martin Luther King Jr. hoodie with the picture of MLK himself on the front and the I have a dream speech printed on the back.
I was in a great mood and had positive vibes all day so I immediately thought to myself and even told the fam "look at our good Black people hard at work, making this money" with 100% pride in my voice while saying it.
Once we made it to the back to place our order we were approached by a seemingly unapproachable woman who had one of the worst RBR's (Resting B**** face) that I've ever had the displeasure of seeing, take our order. Her demeanor and attitude was disgustingly unpleasant and unprofessional.
The employee to the left of her was a 20 or 30 something year old dude bumping that new kendrick Lamar, which is a certified banger!, but that's a whole nother story.
Filling the music... I understand. My issue was with the fact that the dude was dancing and throwing up gang signs while on the clock.
How do I know?, you might ask.
Well, after being born & raised in L.A. you know what gang signs look like... facts!
With this one I'm not even gonna state the obvious. Whoever is reading this review, you be the judge? Is that super professional or super unprofessional.
To the right of the unpleasant woman who took our order was a different male employee arguing back-and-forth with a female customer. Again, you be the judge. Is that highly professional or highly unprofessional?
Once the food was packaged, we were instructed to head upfront to pay for it at one of the registers.
The cashier rung my order up and instead of handing me my change she had the gall to ask me, can she keep my change?
Not donate my change, but can she herself keep my change.
I originally thought she was joking, but she was deadly serious.
She caught me off guard so I really didn't initially know how to respond.
I was going to say no, but then quickly thought if she needs the money that bad to the point where she's gotta panhandle while on the clock, then she can have it. So I said "OK, keep it I guess".
I was so thrown off and perplexed by her unusual request that I completely forgot to do the good deed that I originally planned to do which was help the homeless person standing in front of the store.
Instead, I told the fam "damn, I don't think we're ever coming back here" then got in the car and left.
The food actually was pretty good and deserves a 4 star.
The customer service however, was completely and utterly garbage and truly deserves a 1-2 star, but I generously gave them a 3 star.
It should be painfully obvious at this point, but I stand by my previous statement and feel inclined to reiterate that I will definitely not be returning to this establishment.