The Taco Shop — Restaurant in Edmonton

I visited The Taco Shop on Bourbon Street twice, and the difference in experiences between the two visits couldn’t have been more stark. My first visit was enjoyable, with friendly, attentive service and good food, leaving a positive impression that made me want to return. Unfortunately, my second experience on Halloween at 7 PM was nothing short of disappointing and raised serious concerns about the customer service standards at this restaurant.

From the start, it was clear that the staff on this second visit lacked the professionalism and courtesy you’d expect at any reputable establishment. We waited over 10 minutes just for the hostess to greet us, while other patrons stood waiting as well. It wasn’t even busy inside, yet the hostess seemed unconcerned and moved at an unreasonably slow pace, setting a poor tone for what would turn out to be an even worse experience.

Our waitress was the primary issue. Her attitude was blatantly rude and dismissive from the beginning. I noticed she treated us differently compared to the table next to us, almost as if we were an inconvenience. When our food arrived, I had a simple request for a nacho cheese dip. Rather than accommodating this request, she brought a completely new appetizer without asking and responded with an inappropriate, dismissive look when I clarified what I actually wanted. She even walked away abruptly, saying “FINE” in a tone that was unprofessional and shocking. After this, she made a point of avoiding our table, so much so that I had to go to the bar myself for a refill – an unacceptable practice in any sit-down restaurant.

To top it off, when I wanted to speak to the manager, the hostess refused to provide a name. This evasiveness only adds to the impression that customer concerns aren’t taken seriously. It was frustrating and made it impossible to address my concerns directly with management.

As a business owner myself, I understand the impact that poor customer service can have. Good food and decor mean nothing if the staff treat patrons with such disregard. The difference in staff attitude between our first and second visit reflects poorly on the restaurant’s consistency and training standards. Without improvement, this kind of service will inevitably drive customers away.

Despite leaving a $20 tip, I left the restaurant feeling disrespected and undervalued as a customer. I hope this review reaches management and prompts action to address these issues. Until changes are made, I won’t be returning and can’t recommend this...

My family was visiting from Ottawa last week and decided to eat lunch at this restaurant. Lighting, ambiance, and food were above expectations. Service is where there was a bit of a hiccup. Though it was a Monday afternoon, the service was oddly slow, and with 2 young children, we felt every minute. Our waitress was a doll, and fortunately, she made things better. Surprisingly, it was the assistant manager on duty that nearly ruined our visit. I'm still upset writing this a week later and had to take time to write this to avoid leaving a scathing review because of 1 unprofessional individual.

We ordered our toddler a quesadilla off the kids' menu. It was not quick to arrive, but again, that's ok. What we ended up with was literally only tortilla and melted mozzarella cheese. I guess this is fine, but my toddler wouldn't eat it, and neither would we. I've never sent an item back or asked for a refund because I've worked in kitchens and would rather give it to my sisters who were also shopping in the mall with us. So our waitress asked how things were, and I was honest and said this item wasn't a hit, but everything else was 5/5.

Waitress took the plate without another word. I assumed either she was getting rid of it or they would take it off the bill (I don't know their policy here) Unasked. About 10 minutes later, after a bunch of whispering and looking back at us, the assistant manager comes over and announces slowly, loudly, and condescendingly that everything INCLUDING the quesadilla were made to standard and they would NOT be taking it off the bill. We were too stunned to respond as we should have, but also too polite. I think if there wasn't the huge forced smile from her, it wouldn't have seemed as condescending?

We were having a great day and meal until this, and I tried to salvage lunch, but my husband went quiet, and we eventually left. Our waitress saw the encounter and thankfully came over as we were packing up and apologized for assuming we were asking for the plate to be comp'd. It should have been the assistant manager, though.

It was an unexpectedly offensive encounter, and it sucks that she did that during an otherwise lovely day at West Edmonton Mall. It was a while before we could shake off the embarrassed feeling.

Won't be going back if we see...

Decided to try out this place with my family for my birthday lunch. We didn’t have a reservation but was told by the young woman in the front that the wait would be 15 minutes which we were fine with. We gave them our number to call when a table was ready. We were called in about 8 minutes that a table was ready so we go up to the front to let them know they called us. Another young lady in the front tried to find out where we were being seated on the seating chart, then the first young woman we talked to looked up at me and gave me a smug look telling me we weren’t even on the list for available tables yet but I told them they just called me telling me a table was available, she didn’t even look at the chart while and even before she talked to me. A third young woman quickly got involved and solved the problem and we were shown to our table. I decided to not be bothered by the first young woman’s smugness but my family was not happy with this person being so rude. Overall, the food was not bad but nothing to rave about either. Overpriced tacos for something that could’ve been made at home. Service was okay. The first young woman that we spoke to should never be put up in front service. It doesn’t matter what she was going through, her attitude was unprofessional and unacceptable. Everyone seemed to still be learning and figuring out what their job was. It seemed to be mostly unorganized young servers and hosts. And not because I wanted anything free but usually if a customer tells you it’s their birthday they a usually go out of their way and give a small treat to the birthday person but nothing was really done to make me feel a little bit special there. We even ordered and paid for a cake from there and there was no candle or happy birthday written on the side. The owners need to work more diligently with their employees because no one really smiled and most seemed to have a weird smug attitude. We have never felt this kind of vibe from any other restaurant we’ve been to ever besides this one. Too bad because I absolutely loved the atmosphere and decor of this place. It had so much potential to be a fun, happy vibes place but we will not be back here...