Native Tongues Taqueria - Britannia Plaza — Restaurant in Calgary

I’ve been a loyal fan of Native Tongues for years, but my most recent visit on September 25th left me extremely disappointed.

The experience started poorly with the host. He wasn’t friendly and didn’t seem to listen when I mentioned we had a reservation. He initially tried to seat us at what was arguably the worst table in the restaurant, in a busy corner. When I asked to sit on the covered patio, he told me those tables were reserved for people with reservations, despite the fact that I had made one specifically for the patio. We were eventually seated outside, but crammed in a corner next to a large party with a screaming child, while at least seven other empty tables sat unused for most of our visit.

Our server was friendly, but the timing of service was way off. Our appetizers arrived 5–10 minutes before our mojitos, so we were almost done eating by the time our drinks came. One of our drinks was also taken away before we were finished, and unfortunately the server had her finger inside the glass so there was no option to stop her.

The food was the biggest disappointment. The menu has changed (sadly, the incredible flautas are gone), and while some of our favorites are still there, the quality has clearly slipped.

Guacamole and Esquites: Dips were still tasty, but the chips were no longer hot or fresh, just like something out of a bag from Costco.

Tacos: We ordered carne asada, pork belly pastor, fish la baja, and frijoles. The frijoles were consistent but noticeably smaller, and the tortilla was stale. The carne asada taco now comes with soggy French fries and a slab of tough meat that didn’t fit in the tortilla, forcing us to saw at it with a knife and fork. The fish taco was soggy and fell apart in our hands. The pork belly pastor was completely unappealing, processed-looking, and so soggy it also had to be eaten with a knife and fork.

We did end with dessert, since I knew from past visits that Native Tongues makes the best flan I’ve ever had. And while I may not be coming back anytime soon (if at all), I couldn’t leave without it. Thankfully, the flavor was still there, it was delicious, but the presentation was sloppy. I also had a coffee with dessert that tasted good, but it was barely lukewarm when served.

Overall, this was a major fail, Native Tongues. I truly hope they turn things around, because right now it’s just...

My husband had a great experience here with his friend and was excited to bring me. We went this Sunday afternoon (04-28-24) and I am sad to say, we were so disappointed. The server ("c") didn't smile, and really just took off for most of the time we were there. We asked to sit in the sunnier area he said no its full. It wasn't. Whether they were closing the section they didn't say but other people got to sit there after us...they sat themselves.(as in, not a reservation) So we ordered an appy and drinks which came quick but the server didn't return to take our order for maybe 15 min? He seemed surpised we were ordering even though we said the appy was a starter. So food came out quick. 2 tacos fo rme and the first of 3 tostadas for my husband. All tasty. I saw his last 2 sitting tostadas there waiting to be served to him for over 10 minutes. Sitting on the counter. I saw them being placed on the counter. It was not busy. Lots of staff. so many including our server, just walked by them. In fact, someone else brought our inital food. I wanted a straw for my drink and waited so I just got my own. I am all for people having fun at work. We saw some having fun, some drinks etc laughing and thats fine but why nobody brought my husbands food before it got soggy sitting on the counter? That I don't know. He tried to eat most of it. Listen, the food (except the soggy late stuff) was great. The one busser was working hard but our server? Barely came by, really didn't care and we left as soon as we could as we didn't feel welcome. This is the ONLY negative review I have ever given. We have both been in the food service industry so we have a lot of patience and understanding but this was a expensive (almost $100 2 drinks, chips & quac, 2 tacos and 3 tostadas) disappointment. :( We went grocery shopping afte rthis and had better service from teh check out...

We went because this place was recommended to us, from the beginning when we entered a lady with black hair and colored highlights, told us to follow her to having a table for us, we greeted her in Spanish since we knew we could do it when we heard her accent and she proceeded to respond in English, we did not want to bother her and continued in English (we thought that maybe it was the restaurant's rules to do it that way). Then we wanted to ask her a question about the place and she proceeds to ignore us and walk around the place, it was quite uncomfortable and we thought maybe she didn't hear us. After that we were served by other very nice and attentive ladies. The food was exquisite and everything was very fast.

We were about to leave, we wanted to ask for the bill and again the lady with colorful highlights in her hair was near, we asked her if she could please give us the bill to pay, and she just ignored us and continued walking to the patio without doing anything. We thought it was rude enough so we asked one of the other nice girls for the bill and asked her if the other rude lady speaks Spanish, she said yes and that was when we confirmed that for some reason she has a bad treatment towards us as customers without understanding the reason.

I have worked for customer service in previous jobs and have NEVER treated others poorly no matter how bad a day I had, it is something that needs to be improved. I did not want to give less stars for our experience (as uncomfortable as it was) as it is not right to damage a restaurant's reputation because of one...