This Restaurant is apart of the Aloft Hotel in Providence, which I have stayed at and enjoyed doing…read moreso. With that, I hoped to have a similar experience in their restaurant, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Also, please read my review with consideration of the fact that I, myself, worked as a server for over a year and am pursuing a degree in hospitality management. I am not a customer looking to complain and am a guest who seeks good experiences and would love to share them with others.
Restaurant was not busy, still waited 10 minutes to be served after I was seated. I didn't get up to leave because I wanted to give this place a fair chance and no other restaurant nearby appealed to me.
My server was very direct and to the point, no "thank you for your patience" or "how are you today?" Just straight to "what can I get for you". It felt like I was an inconvenience to her time, not a noticed guest whose business is appreciated.
My water ran out and my server quickly placed a jar of water on my table as she passed by, with no comment. Again, made me feel like an inconvenience to her time, not a guest worth speaking to.
My elote was served on the cob, I asked for it off but its fine, I know how to cut corn and it was plated beautifully and tastes delicious. I think more of a cream would be good on it but it was good elote nonetheless.
My two small birria tacos took 30 minutes to be served. I had my elote to munch on, however 30 minutes felt a little long for a simple, two tacos.
When they arrived, my server said more to me and told me to enjoy them, which was appreciated in comparison to no comment to me. The tacos were amazing despite their size and wait time, and my server kindly checked in on me after a few minutes of them being served.
I did, however, Overhear my server say "sorry for the wait" to the table behind me of two women, which makes me think I was being overlooked because I was a lone diner as opposed to a party of some amount.
When I was done with my food my server kindly offered me a box and prebussed the table.
The music was played at a respectable volume and the lighting was adequate, not too dark and not too bright. The restaurant also allows for a lot of natural light which is very nice.
Both the elote and tacos were $12, leaving my total after taxes and a credit card upcharge at $26.64. I expected to have a great experience and be able to leave at least a 20% tip as I always do, but unfortunately the service I received equated to that not being the case, and I unfortunately had to leave a little downwards of 16% instead.
Overall, I would eat here again, but I think I would have to bring a party of at least two other people to get the proper attention to the table. I'm not sure if I would recommend this restaurant for other people to try as there are many other Mexican restaurants in the area that I have yet to try that may be worth more recognition. However, until I do try them, I would definitely say this place is an adequate restaurant to eat at, but probably only if you're staying at the Aloft and don't want to walk too far.