04/08/09

How could service be so bad?

by JoeCitizen

We went to Z-tejas for my birthday, but there was no celebration, just a couple & a baby, out for a meal.

The hostess sat us, apparently ignoring the toddler in my arms. She left, and I assumed she was headed off to get a high-chair. A few minutes later, I see her walk by, and I ask for a high-chair...another few minutes, and I have to ask her again. This time, she shows up with it, and rather than pull out a chair to accomodate the HC, she drops it off behind one of the chairs. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over.

We're off to a stellar start. I ask the hostess, with forced courtesy and masked irritation, if she could find the server (who was about as absent & absentminded to our presence/needs as the hostess) so that we could order drinks. He stopped by the table as an afterthought, and things just went downhill from there.

I'm no expert on customer no-service, but I did spend 13 years in the restaurant business, managing and training for some of the largest names in town. I know a skid-boot when I see one, and on this special evening, I was at the mercy of two of the finest.

I refuse to go back.

When my friends report that they've had bad service there, I just laugh, and muse at how someone perpetuating crappy service can continue to keep the lights on.

This town must be full of suckers.

• Pros: We had a table
• Cons: The server that came with the table

01/19/09

Sides Still Count: side dishes and out-sides

by tacotx

On a Fri. night, restaurant was busy and bar was packed. Why do they own outdoor heat lamps, place them precisely on the patio, and then choose to not use them?? I felt more sorry for the waitstaff and the hostess though than I did for myself for having to wait for the quoted 2 hours. Waitstaff and host staff should not have to belly-up or trample customers just to walk through the restaurant.

About the food... main dishes are mainstays for good reason; however, the sides were so bland that I no longer have true love for the 2 main dishes that brought us there in the first place.

WERE those boxed mashed potatoes?? (tasted like 'em) Why serve bland rice and beans?? People can go to Magnolia Cafe to get those. Plus, if that shredded zucchini and carrot medley was the 'vegetable of the day', then that was a bad day.

10/19/08

Nice place for large groups

by tww49

I've been to the restaurant twice with large groups. Both times we made reservations for lunches, and was seated promptly. The food was good and no mess-ups on taking orders or splitting bills. I particularly liked their Chile Relleno, which was not fried (healthy), and full of flavor and surprises, very much like the kind of chile relleno you get from inner mexican cuisine rather than tex-mex. There are also a hand-full of other dishes my friends enjoyed (while I ordered Chile Relleno over and over). Everybody I know likes this place. Only downside is parking. We've always car-pooled and parked on the side of the streets.

• Pros: Great downtown feel, great mexican and tex-mex food, great for large groups
• Cons: Parking, kinda crowded, a little pricy but hey it's downtown