AGUA DE LEÓN Bar Restaurante — Restaurant in Cartagena

Disappointing Experience

I have to express my disappointment following my recent visit to the restaurant, which did not meet the standards of my past visits. My party and I arrived around 1:30 PM, at a time when the restaurant was not overly crowded, with plenty of seating available for many more patrons besides the few couples present.

Upon entering, we were greeted and seated by a staff member who I could identify by a distinctive silver ball piercing under her lower lip. We were placed near the entrance, somewhat out of sight from the main dining area. Unfortunately, our seating location seemed to result in a lack of service, as we waited for about 8 minutes without being approached for our orders or offered drinks.

I eventually decided to inquire about the delay and encountered another server who seemed genuinely unaware of our presence and quite embarrassed by the oversight. It became apparent that the initial staff member who seated us was more engaged in a conversation near the cashier's station with other team members, neglecting to notify her colleagues of our arrival and seating location.

I fondly remember times when this restaurant stood out for its excellent service and dining experience. It is disheartening to observe such a shift in priorities, where customer service seems to have taken a back seat. I hope the management and owners consider this feedback seriously, and put in efforts to enhance the service quality, especially during the Sunday daytime shifts. Maintaining a proactive and attentive customer service approach is key to sustaining a successful operation in the bustling Cartagena culinary scene.

I remain hopeful that with focused management and dedicated staff training, the restaurant can reclaim its previous status as a favorite destination for both locals...

Worst restaurant in Cartagena. - We just left there and had an awful experience.

First of all, it was empty when we arrived. There was only one other table with guests. The rest of the people in the location were staff members. All hanging out and visiting with one another.

They brought the “Complimentary” bread to the table as the waitress so proudly announced.. not so sure what restaurant in this era doesn’t serve bread.

We inquired about substituting the risotto for pasta on one of the dishes on the menu, and we were told this simple accommodation could not be fulfilled.

We proceeded to place an order. Ceviche was ordered and water to start - they brought the water and then we waited. And waited and waited for the ceviche that never came out. After nearly 40 minutes, the ceviche came out only to be served to the table next to us who had arrived way after we did.

So I asked the waiter to assist me and he said “ there has been a confusion; we can’t find the ticket and not sure where your order is” they were gonna make us wait even longer to get our appetizer. At that point, we decided to leave and have dinner in any other restaurant in the city as they are all excellent and provide a 5 star services.

Another staff member chased us down on the way out and demanded $48,000 pesos (about 12 dollars) for 2 bottles of water. - what makes this story even more repulsive is the fact that restaurant manager was present during this whole ordeal. She instructed the waited to charge us the $12 dollars after her staff ignored us for almost an hour and completely messed up a simple order.

Do not bother visiting this place. Honestly the worse experience in Cartagena - the ladies selling fruit on the street have better customer service than the manager at this...

I really wanted to like the restaurant since it looked charming from the outside. My experience was less than pleasant- We went to Agua de Leon last Tuesday, January 7, 2020. We had a reservation for a party of 5 at 7:30 pm and we arrived on time. The host walked us to the roof top where we would be sitting, however, despite of having a reservation, our table was not ready. We had to wait about 10 minutes until our table was ready. It is important to note that the restaurant was not full- so we could not understand the wait. After we sat down, it took over 20 minutes for the waiter to take our drink orders. Once we ordered some drinks, we waited another 20+ mins for the food menu to arrive- AGAIN- we could not understand the wait and the lack of hospitality. The waiter didnt check up on us, it was like one was on their own in that restaurant. After about 40 mins of waiting for our food - our full meal arrived. We ordered the octopus, half dijon chicken, house salad, and lomito- and every item was a disappointment. 1) The only good part about the octopus was the show... they used a torch lighter to "roast" or "warm" up the octopus 2) the half chicken was dried and tasted old. We even complained about it and nothing was done. 3) the salad was not bad 4) the lomito was dried and lack lots of flavor. I dont recommend this restaurant: food is a disappointment and restaurant team is rude and could care less about...