A reservation for twelve. Two hours in the restaurant. Not a single bite of food…read more
We arrived at 8:30pm on a Saturday for a reservation for twelve. There wasn't even a chair for me at our table. I stood there for 5 minutes before anyone noticed.
Then nobody came to our table for more than 30 minutes. No greeting, no water, no drink order. A waitress dropped off menus and walked away. I understand being busy and short-staffed, but nobody even bothered to tell us "We're slammed, we'll be with you shortly." Nothing.
Eventually, someone at our table went to the bar to order. I followed and had to flag someone down. A waitress took my drinks and food order. Drinks took forever. Arriving over the next 30 minutes, in the wrong order. More than 30 minutes after taking my food order, that same waitress returned and told me the kitchen was closed and my food wasn't happening.
She had taken the order herself! Never mentioned a cutoff and let me sit there for 30+ minutes without telling me there was a problem. When I asked about it, I got attitude instead of an explanation. No offer to make things right, nothing!
Then, ten minutes later, food was brought to someone AT MY OWN TABLE who had ordered only minutes before me. When I questioned it, I was simply told they ordered first.
I asked when the kitchen closes and was told 9:00 every day. That's difficult to reconcile with karaoke being advertised every Friday and Saturday evening, especially since friends of mine have ordered and eaten here well past 9:00pm on weekends. Either way, a party of twelve with an 8pm reservation should know about a 9pm cutoff before having its food order taken. What probably happened is she forgot about my order and by the time she remembered and entered it, it was too late.
Then came the bill. I paid for my two drinks and signed. Earlier, another person in our group couldn't get anyone's attention, so when I finally flagged the waitress down, I asked if she wanted to order a drink too. That was her drink not mine and not my tab.
After I had already paid, she came back, told me she had voided my completed payment, and charged me for three drinks instead. She reversed the entire transaction and made me pay again. It took a back-and-forth to correct it. Why didn't she ask or just charge me for the extra drink she thought was mine? why void the entire transaction?
After two hours, I left with two drinks, no food, and virtually no service.
We walked to El Aguila Dorada on Broadway, where we were greeted, seated, given drinks, and served actual food. We stayed until about 11:30.
I never write reviews. I rarely have the time, and never take the time to do it. This is the first experience that made me feel it was worth sitting down and writing one.
The food at Casa Lupita might be excellent. I wouldn't know.
