I want to start by saying that our server Sydney P was excellent. She was friendly, checked on us often and had our experience been based on that- it would have been 5 stars!
Unfortunately, that is not usually the case with service at El Camino. My husband and I had not gone back in a couple of years after they opened because of consistently bad and rude service. Their food was fine but even the best food isn't good paired with a bad overall experience.
We decided to give them another try a few months ago and even though the service was a little better- it wasn't worth keeping them on our weekly rotation.
My husband, daughter and I had gone there for dinner on Tuesday and as I said had a wonderful server. Both my daughter and I have had their steak tacos (filet and skirt), even though the flavor was fine, they leave the pieces SO LARGE that you chew forever on a bite of taco. This is not to mention that the tortilla does not hold up well to bites into these large clunky pieces. Because of this, I started ordering the Barbacoa tacos since that is shredded beef. However, my daughter doesn't like Barbacoa so she requested the cooks cut the meat smaller. The food came out and the pieces of steak were as big as ever. When I say that this could be a choking hazard for the best of eaters (let's forget about seniors, children, or people that may have dental issues) I mean these pieces are nearly the size of dice.
We asked for a steak knife so that my daughter could finish prepping her own food (though she is not an employee of El Camino, apparently those who get paid to cook there, don't have to accommodate special requests of using their chef knives to cut steak before putting in tacos.
As I watched her spend about 10 minutes deconstructing 2 of her 3 tacos and cutting up the meat and putting them back together (as it was getting cold), I asked for a manager.
Nick came over to our table with a strange attitude. I said "Are you the manager?", as he did not introduce himself...at all!, he said "yes". I started by explaining that we asked for the meat to be cut smaller. He then starts to get defensive and argumentative saying how "everyone loves that dish", "everyone orders that dish", "There are NEVER any complaints about that dish". I had to interrupt him to explain that we were NOT complaining about the dish but the prep of the meat. He then says "Maybe that dish isn't for you". I said "So NONE of the steak taco dishes are for us because not only our request for safe size pieces was not accomodated but you are telling me that we take it or leave it???"
He continued to talk over me and arguing until my daughter (who is very quiet and laid back) got mad and started explaining to him that he shouldn't be talking to his customers that way. Her and her husband order to go often and she explained that at home, she deconstructs her tacos, takes kitchen shears to cut the meat and then has to put them in the microwave to warm them up.
Just because people don't complain doesn't mean they aren't unhappy about it. Instead of Nick listening and understanding what we were trying to do, he continued to talk over my daughter, and then snaps at her with "I'LL JUST TAKE IT OFF!". That set my daughter off. None of us needed nor wanted a free meal. We didn't ask for it, nor want it. We told him that.
He finally asked what we wanted. I said that all I wanted was to share a suggestion of not only talking to his kitchen staff about accommodating COMPLETELY REASONABLE REQUESTS but to share with the other management our suggestion. That's it. We told him several times that we weren't complaining about the flavor, just the prep and that everything else was fine including the excellent service and that he, NICK, and NICK ALONE has ruined it for us.
By the way- the ONLY way I knew his name is that I had to ASK HIM for it...
We will NOT be back nor will my daughter and her husband order take out anymore. The food is fine but definitely not worth the complete disregard and disrespect of their customers! There are SO MANY better places that appreciate our business!
Nick was on the right track- maybe EL CAMINO is not right for us....or anyone else. read more