Alejandra D.
Yelp
I don't think I've ever experienced such awful push back from a server before like I did from the server, Ana S. regarding an issue w/my food. She was extremely unprofessional in the way she handled it, and not only that, after we paid for our meal, she felt the need to re-visit what happened earlier w/my food (I was willing to let it slide), but not her. She decided that she would make it "a point" to let me know, again, that she thought I was in the "wrong", which I was not. That final interaction was the nail in the coffin.
And yes, I did speak w/the manager on the way out the door. Lesson learned, she said she would've adjusted our bill if I had asked for her BEFORE we paid. Idk why she didn't offer to do a partial refund when we were standing there.
THE ISSUE: I ordered the 2 crunchy taco plate, one beef + one carnitas. I cracked open the taco shells b/c I wanted to start w/the carnitas. Ana had said their carnitas were popular. They were both carnitas. Where was the beef? Hubby also agreed they looked the same and he couldn't tell them apart by taste either. I figured she'd offer to remake it for me, but not before she got in her 2 cents!! Ana pushed back! She looked at my food and w/ such a snarky tone told me that I was wrong, and insisted my order was correct. She pointed and said, that one is beef, that one is carnitas. She even had to take a few sec to think about it before she spoke. I let her know that I tasted both and they were both carnitas. At this point, I am still being polite and calm about it. But like, how are YOU going to argue w/ME that I'm wrong about what I JUST TASTED. I was so shocked! Like, are we really going back and forth about this????
I insisted that they were both carnitas, and I was willing to die on that hill, even rn. She eventually gave in and asked if I wanted a beef one made and I said yes. I looked at it, but still looked and tasted the same as the other 2 on my plate. I didn't want a repeat interaction so I didn't say anything to her.
The table salsa was very good. We were pleasantly surprised it had some heat. I didn't finish my food so I got a to-go box. We weren't asked if we wanted to order dessert, and Ana just set the bill on the table. There's a Japanese word, "betsubara", which means our 2nd stomach just for sweets. Even if you're full, there's always room for dessert. I packed up my food and I then asked Ana if we could get a little salsa to-go, like those tiny to-go cups for sauce. She said with such an attitude, "would you like to buy it!? We have 8oz, (and named off the other sizes)...". It's not common for Mexican restaurants to do this, so this was a first for me. I could understand if I was asking for a tub and they're well w/in their rights to charge for it. But I just wanted a tiny sauce cup and didn't think it'd be a big deal. It was good salsa, so we got the 8oz container. I thought she would take our credit card and come back for a signature, but they used a hand-held device and ran the card at the table. I couldn't get over the salsa thing, so I asked her, "you guys really don't give a little bit of salsa to-go?". She said no, even the table salsa has 1 free refill, and if you want more, we charge. WOW, my husband and I have never seen that at any Mexican restaurant before (and Mexican food is my MOST reviewed cuisine on Yelp b/c it's hubby's favorite.) It didn't sit well with us to know they charge for extra salsa while dining-in.
My husband is always a generous tipper when we go out, but Ana was awful, AND she was like a hawk, watching him while he paid. She wasn't even trying to hide it. He paid w/TIP, ONLY b/c the lowest tip option offered on the screen started at 15% and she was pressuring him by staring at him. She could've pretended to at least look away. B/c we were seated across from each other in a booth, I didn't know what he was seeing. If I had the device in MY hand, I would've asked her, "where is the 0% tip option?".
After she was tipped, she looked at me and said in Spanish, "isn't it true that the taco WAS beef???" I was shocked. Like, you want to do this AGAIN??My husband and I both shook our heads nope, and I told her what I had said earlier, that they TASTED all the same.
I was going to let the earlier stuff slide, but her final behavior was unacceptable and out of line. On our way out, I asked to speak w/the manager about this. She already knew about the food issue earlier b/c she said "Ana is one of our best servers". Umm, I NEVER mentioned Ana by name, so how did the manager know she was OUR server? it's b/c they talked so the mngr. wouldn't be in the dark if I complained. Understandable, but again, I was going to let it slide and not mention it. I shared Ana's final comment to us which was petty. Apparently Ana need to have the last word to feel better about herself. I hope the manager did speak w/her like she said she would.
