El Topo Mexican — Restaurant in Sydney

I came to enjoy taco Tuesday with my friends and have a dietary requirement of being vegan. Originally when I asked what I could eat as part of taco Tuesday the very friendly bar tender informed me I could get the fried cactus taco made vegan. When I paid it cost me $6 instead of the $3. When I queried that with the lovely member of staff he said it must be a mistake and that he would get the manager to come speak to me about getting a refund. The manager then refused to come over to speak to me and sent the other staff member over to say I couldn’t get a refund.

I then had to go to find the manager, Tim, to raise that I am disappointed that there are no vegan options in this deal. I very politely asked him if he could raise at the next managers meeting about adding vegan options to this. He was then incredibly rude to me and instead of acknowledging the request or any disappointment on my part, proceeded to tell me that the reason the tacos are twice the price are the different wraps. I myself work in hospitality and would never dream of speaking to a customer in such an aggressive tone. It ended with me realising that I would never be listened to and having to walk away.

Review update: following a response from the Marketing Manager myself and some friends returned to El Topo and has a much better experience. The manager and staff on duty were delightful and the vegan food was really good. I understand that the manager on our first visit was unaware that vegans were part of the taco Tuesday offer (which they are!) and that he has now been briefed - I am sure that this was an isolated case with one manager and I sincerely hope that he won’t deal with customer feedback in...

Went here last Friday night with a group of 12 or so to celebrate my dads birthday. The evening started out fine, however 45 minutes later and we were still waiting on some of the orders to be delivered while others had finished entirely. Upon inquiring about the delay, we were told somehow two numbers were printed for our order and another table had received our food. Apologies were made and a fresh lot of food was sent to our table. Drama averted.. or so we thought. Wait times for cocktails varied from 10 minutes to 45 minutes depending upon the gender of the person who ordered the drink - I was promptly served however my dad had to wait over 45 minutes for two margaritas. The night carried on and the gents were ordering rounds of expensive mezcal - without mixers and ice naturally. Mistaking one of the glasses for an almost empty cup, the waitress took the glass and poured it down the sink. After trying to chase her down and explain that the glass wasn't even touched, we were met with hostility from the bar staff, claiming we had fabricated the story as they didn't recall seeing the waitress pour anything down the sink. Thoroughly disappointing end to the evening, the food was great, service was sub-par but overall attitude left a bitter taste...

I went there on a Saturday night with 7 others, family and friends. We ordered the $45 per person set menu. This menu consisted of 1 taco, 1 cracker with some salmon? , a small piece of corn, some beans (actually really tasty), and some corn chips with dips. The menu was not clear as it included a main meal from the selected items but did not state that you have to pick 1 main between 2 people as part of the set menu. Not sure what would happen if there was a odd number of guests. As there were 8 of us we could only order 4 mains. We ordered the backstrap lamb which was good, but the chicken could have been from the local chicken shop. Not much flavour. The menu also included dessert but everyone in our group had to have the same dessert for some reason.We ordered the Donut balls which were not Churro-like, and were a bit doughy. We were charged for extra Margarettas on the bill (which they refunded) however we also ordered $5 craft beers and got charged $9 per beer. The booths were very cramped and dark, and I was glad to get out of the corner after the meal. The staff were friendly enough, but seemed overwhelmed at times. The bill came to $500, but definitely not good...