Taqueria El Norte — Restaurant in New Tecumseth

Never again. Not following covid protocols or basic health regulations! When I see that kind of disregard for public health it makes me wonder what other safety protocols they might be disregarding when it comes to food safety. I also see from other posts that I am not the only one treated very rudely. Made a point of going to a small local place this weekend because I know they are struggling, and many placed larger orders for fresh ingredients having expected patios to be open. I cooked, bartended and waitressed for years so I know how hard it is and I am patient and understanding when mistakes are made or if things take longer. I rarely leave bad reviews. I was pleased to see that they say they have curb-side, and the order process asked what kind of car I have so they could bring out my order when I arrived. When my order was ready I got a chummy text saying to call when I got there and they would bring it out. When I called I was told to come in, and when I indicated that I requested curb side he said in a tone dripping with sarcasm “ya, well, so, we don’t feel comfortable coming out to the cars” and I was quite puzzled. I am high risk, as is my husband, so we try to avoid going in anywhere at all, which sucks because we love going out. I didn’t want to go in, but we had bought $150 worth of food and local craft beer, so I put on my mask and stepped into this tiny place to find that they have people eating inside (not allowed under current restrictions) and the staff were not wearing masks! (Others have posted about that, too.) This place is small so between people eating at a table and the the guy behind the counter there were three people within 6 feet of me not wearing masks, and I had no place to maneuver to get away if I wanted my food. I politely (like for real polite not cold fake snotty polite) mentioned that I ordered from them in large part because of curb side service, and they should remove it from the website if they don’t offer it, because I am high risk and should not be coming into places. Had there been a simple apology or ‘thanks we will get on that’ I would not be writing this. However, the man who seems to be the owner was incredibly rude - first childishly pretending not to hear me, and then when I patiently repeated myself he became belligerent and I was treated to a second dose of his sarcasm. Don’t get me started on how raising your voice without a mask on means more spit flying through the air... this is all a blatant and even aggressive disregard for the well-being of his customers, plain and simple. Not cool. And again, if you can’t follow basic regulations to keep us safe, how can anyone trust that food safety is being followed? I have seen too many things working in restaurants in the past, and when there is disdain for customers or public health rules there is almost always scant attention paid to food safety regulations. It’s a mindset to be wary of.

So yes, still support local restaurants. I highly recommend: Kitchen at Mono Mills (AMAZING food and service) Chicco’s pizza, Caledon Hills brewery, Taste of Freedom... but stay away from this place.

Sad, too, because not only do we love Mexican food, and hoping to be new regulars, but we were looking over the affiliated grocery website and planned to place a sizeable order from them next week and ideally into the future, but we’ll take a pass on that too. The Cheese Boutique in Toronto has all the same stuff and more, similar prices for meat and produce, sources from local farms, delivers up this way and even up into cottage country for free, and is a small business that treats us like gold ... including being extra careful with health and...

This was our third visit but the first with guests (more on that in a bit). The restaurant is small especially if the patio isn't open. I would strongly advise you to make a reservation, walk-ins seem to cause them angst. The venue is very eclectic and has a good vibe. Music was a bit loud but it seems to be like that everywhere lately or maybe it's just me. Our server was very friendly and she took the time to explain the different dishes on the menu to our guests. They have an extensive bourbon (my favourite tipple) and tequila menu. At present I am trying to avoid bourbon as long as the Americans are trying to annex us. The beer choices are heavily weighted to IPAs and very light lagers with the odd stout thrown in. No mainstream Mexican choices as far as I could tell. The food is very nicely presented and there is a good selection of dishes. This is not an authentic Mexican menu but as was pointed out us defiantly as "Modern Mexican". Having spent considerable time in Mexico, in non-tourist areas, for business I would describe the food as "Sanitized Meximerican". I found everything quite bland and thought more seasoning, salt & pepper seemed lacking, and some heat was needed which the salsas did not provide. Overall quite a pleasant meal that our friends really enjoyed as they are "spice adverse". When we went to pay is where I really was peeved. We asked to split the $230.00 bill in half and were summarily told they would not do that, it's their policy. I have never in any restaurant in any country at any price point been told that. I ended up paying for all of us. As we were leaving I spoke one of the other staff thanking him for the nice meal but suggested they might want to expand their beer choices to include some other styles of beer. I was summarily lectured that they can't sell other types of beer as their clientele won't buy them. Well I'm a client and would have bought them but the snark level was getting high. Sorry your other patrons have been suckled on Bud Light and Miller Ultra. I also inquired why they wouldn't split the bill and again was told it's policy. I said I understand that but why do you have this policy it's not something I have encountered before. Employee's snark level is now increasing. We would have to charge you a 2.5% fee on each bill to do that because otherwise we can't keep our prices low if we had to pay that everytime someone wants to split the bill. I said so if I we paid cash there wouldn't be an issue? He did not like that!! So should we go with a group again I will insist on splitting the bill paying the 2.5% surcharge and adjust my tip appropriately. If you visit please enjoy but take my...

I am an avid supporter of local businesses and was so excited to finally try taqueria el Norte. When you walk in, you’re greeted by eclectic cool decor a server greeted us at the door and asked if we have a reservation we did not but they were able to get us seated anyway. I want to start off by emphasizing the food was fantastic and would highly recommend the service on the other hand…. I had a few issues with. I had my one-year-toddler with me. Since my toddler was sleeping, we brought in his stroller so that way he could lay down while we proceeded to have our meal. We were then told that we weren’t allowed to have the stroller brought in because it would take up too much space and it is a tight venue. I completely understand but a few chairs could have been shifted around and room could’ve been made for servers to walk around and for customers to come in and move about. It would not have been an issue as it did not take up that much floor space. Next the server asked us what we would like so we placed our order for appetizers as well as some tacos. Come to find out that as more people are being seated that same server proceeded to tell the other customers about their specials and recommendations and we did not get any of that, a few other customers who were seated after us received their food first as opposed to us when we start ordering first. and lastly, the thing that really irks me is another party came in who also had a stroller they were told that they cannot bring the stroller in because of the same space issue however they so ok and still brought the stroller in!!!! same thing as my stroller and they were permitted to bring their stroller with the car seat that would be the same amount of space taken up so at this point, I’m feeling very devalued as a customer and almost borderline racialized because we were the only brown customers. I don’t want to bring any racism into this, but it just feels that way when you’re telling one you can’t have a stroller and making us return it to the vehicle but then allowing the other party to then proceed and bring it in when it is just as bulky the same size and everything as the one that I wanted to use. Alliston is very lucky to have a place like this because the food is amazing hats of to the chef, but the service and the servers ARE RUDE and DO NOT TREAT customer equally they really could use a lesson in customer service and...