It really saddens me to leave this review because Pappasito's has always been one of our absolute favorite places to eat whenever my husband and I are in Atlanta. We've had great experiences here in the past, which is exactly why our visit on Sunday was so disappointing.
We arrived around 4 PM and were seated almost immediately. The young man who seated us let us know that our waiter would be with us shortly. He didn't give us menus, so I asked if our waiter would be bringing them. He initially said yes, then said he could get me one if I wanted one. Yes, please!
About 10 minutes passed, and we watched several tables around us get seated and waited on while no one had come to our table. My husband finally went to the front desk to let them know. He was told that the young man serving the table next to us would be with us shortly, but a few minutes later a young lady named Tatiana came over and became our server.
We ordered a strawberry lemonade and a soda, queso, and shared the Pappasito's Grill. We requested the steak medium-well and also ordered an extra side of beans and rice.
We also had to ask for the tortillas that should have accompanied our meal. Since we were sharing the entrée, we were given only three tortillas between the two of us. We asked for additional tortillas, but unfortunately, those never came either.
When our food arrived, there were several problems. The steak was closer to medium-rare than medium-well, the carrots and peppers were still basically raw, and even the bacon wrapped around the shrimp was undercooked. The chicken was really the only part of the meal that seemed properly cooked.
We sent the meal back, and our waitress apologized and told us they would get us another one along with fresh, properly cooked vegetables.
After waiting approximately another 30 minutes, what came back was even more disappointing. Instead of receiving what appeared to be a freshly prepared meal, it seemed that the food we had sent back had simply been cooked further. The steak that was initially undercooked was now well-done, the vegetables had been removed completely, and no replacement vegetables were brought out. By this point, the extra beans and rice sitting at our table were cold.
Two different managers came by on separate occasions to apologize, which we appreciated. One of them asked if we needed anything while we waited, and my husband asked for a refill on his drink. Unfortunately, the refill never came--just like the additional tortillas we had requested earlier.
To management's credit, they ultimately comped our meal, and we did appreciate them doing that. However, the food that was brought back out was left sitting on the table untouched. At that point, after the long wait, receiving undercooked food, having it returned overcooked and incomplete, and repeatedly asking for things that never arrived, we had simply lost our appetite.
What makes this so disappointing is that this has NEVER been our experience at Pappasito's before. We didn't come looking for a free meal--we came because this is one of the places we genuinely look forward to eating whenever we're in Atlanta.
Unfortunately, after this experience, we'll be taking a break from Pappasito's for a while. I truly hope this was just an unusually bad day because this was nowhere near the food or service we've come to know and enjoy over the years. read more