As a local So Bay local, my friends and I often enjoyed eating at El Tarascos, a nice family owned business. The food, although not necessarily healthy is good/tasty. But because of their once reasonably fair priced meals, we were regular, frequent visitors. Moreover, we usually ate at the Manhattan Beach site, to sit on its rooftop with the ocean vista. This created an awesome dining experience that was inexpensive.
But very disappointedly, as this So Cal franchise grew fast - from 2 restaurants to now 6 - they began to change, and worsen dramatically. Beyond just tripling in locations, they raised their prices significantly. And what clearly stands out now is the typical bad service and arrogant attitude by their management/staff.
This has become very apparent, and more and more common over recent years. And after a truly bad dining experience at our once favorite MB El Tarasco, I decided to share my complaint with the owner, Ricardo.
Being Teacher Appreciation Week, after my inquiring if they had any special discounts to honor teachers/educators, he kindly offered my family a generous 50% discount with our order. But when my family went to pick up our order, the manager refused to honor the discount. And the blatantly rude, disrespectful manner in which he spoke to my wife as she tried to reason with him was absolutely unacceptable! In front of a busy crowd, beyond his nasty, condescending tone, he complained that he would not honor the 50% because some how, they would lose money. Unbelievable!
To make matters worse, when I tried contacting Ricardo, the owner, he avoided my numerous calls and texts. Eventually he texted back to apologize, and invited us back for a complimentary meal. This seemed genuine, and gave my family a chance to try El Tarasco again. Ricardo's wife was the one who helped us, and because of her very pleasant manner and service, we felt once again hopeful that those terribly bad, disrespectful episodes by their management/staff had been addressed, and most importantly corrected, so that other patrons never were treated so rudely.
But apparently I was wrong. This week being Teacher Appreciation week, I called Ricardo to inquire about any discounts for teachers. After an odd, unexpected quasi-interrogation about my teaching credentials, he finally said he would offer me a discount. Wow! After the distasteful, head-rattling experience by Ricardo, he said he said he would grant us a similar discount. I followed his instructions to call/text him back on his cell later in the week when we were ready to dine/order. But after texting and calling several times, Ricardo never responded. Ever!
Clearly this once great local family eatery has changed for the worse. Seemingly they have placed greed for profit as a priority over quality customer service. When a business reveals their true self so demonstrably and consistently, especially after the forced pandemic shutdown allowed society to be reflective, it becomes obvious that El Tarasco has failed to demonstrate their growth mindset, like all dedicated students/individuals know. El Tarasco and its owner/management clearly do not value customer relations. And this time they lost a long-time customer.
Too bad! But thanks to a recent social media post/thread by neighbors on Nextdoor, there are many better options for Latin/Mexican food in the So Bay, including: La Pax, Ensenada's Surf/Turf, Zacatecas, Sausal, El Gringo, and Pancho's. read more