Casa FRIDA Valle de Gpe — Restaurant in Baja California

Our visit was terrible for Mother's Day celebration! We were shocked at the bad attitude of the receptionists as we approached the entrance: The first thing they said to us "do you have reservations"? I replied no. (Side Note: It's Friday, 4pm, a small crowed is observed.). Patio ahead looked empty, just a few people sitting. The Restaurant's down below looked empty. Then the police officer moonlighting started frisking me ... a gentleman without my permission; then the 4 woman, Checking purse.. They never said hi, or greetings, welcome to Frida's. They sucked at customer relations. Their attitude were degrading/demeaning.

Now they asked my friend's daughter how old she was 18, but had left her ID/passport in her hotel room. Then the girl immediate said we are restricted from going upstairs or in the patio. So they suggested we would enjoy sitting in the far end of this location way down pass the restaurants, there was a large patio and a DJ in a booth across a bridge. There was no one to greet us so we walked in to the end wall, then returned to a front table near this entrance and asked if it was OK to sit there, they said yes. The DJ Music was loud. We ordered drinks after 10 minutes of waiting for a server to stop at our table. There was only two couples sitting behind us in this area and no on else. Three workers were standing around making each other laugh. Finally, we waved our hands to finally get their attention. After another 10 minutes we got our drinks and ask if we could sit at the restaurant table to our right. They said no, it was for only dinner guests. But we observed two ladies sitting there since we walk in drinking glasses of wine. Did they eat dinner or just drink wine?

Because the DJ music was loud we ask if it was OK to sit in the patio area toward the tequila gift shop, they man said yea. So we all moved there taking our own drinks, they never offered the mother's a choice to take their drinks to this table. We paid for our drinks and left them a 20% tip and exited this dull place.

This place had bad vibes and poor customer services. It 's a place where people want to be seen and Showoff. Not much there but people watch...to see how they dress there. Very Boring. Don't waste your time or money here at all. Move on. There are better places and King & Queen is way better and offers excellent services. Also Sol de Barrio. Yea Man! Moving right along in this Valle. OH, WHEN we got back to our hotel rooms, we noticed they overcharged us for drinks and we tip them good. So be aware of the misleading thieves working here. Scamming and gouging prices for their personal benefit....

About a week before revisiting Casa Frida I made a reservation for 10 people at their Lake Deck, which actually required us to pay $5,000 pesos ($250 USD) ahead of time. This price would eventually go toward our total lunch bill. The reservation system also asked if we had any people that had dietary restrictions so they could make accommodations. I made sure to note two vegetarians would be dining with us. Upon arriving the staff greeted us at the podium and walked us over to the table. They sat us at a table that could only sit six people comfortably. I explained that our reservation was for 10 people and that this table was too small. I noticed a larger table on the other side of the restaurant and asked if we could sit there. At that moment our server said "umm, well, hmmm...well that table is worth....let's see... $10,000 pesos." He had clearly just pulled the number out of his butt. I politely declined and we squeezed in 10 people around every inch of the table that they offered us originally. After looking at the menu we noticed that there weren't any vegetarian options, so we flagged down our server. We asked what vegetarian options they had and he explained that this restaurant does not have any vegetarian options.... I explained in our reservation that Casa Frida's website asked if we had any dietary restrictions and I had noted them in our reservation. He was unable to make us any accommodations, except for a small hummus plate. We apologized to our vegetarian friends and let them know we'd find something else for them later on in the day. Overall the food was sub par and the drinks were just ok. Also, the "Lake" is more of a swamp and the reeds/plants around the swamp sent tiny fluffballs through the wind all over our food and drinks. At the end of the meal our server mentioned that our total was about $50 less than the $250 pre paid for the reservation. The remaining $50 would not be pro-rated and could not be used as a tip for the server. As we were walking out, our server stopped me and reiterated that the $250 did not include tip. I politely explained everything that went wrong with our meal and that I would not be leaving a tip for a restaurant that left me and my guests feeling very unwelcome and undervalued. I've made sure to tell many of my friends and family this same story to help them avoid making the same mistake I made in...

Only complaint was that we didn't come sooner!

We were looking for somewhere new to spend our last day in Valle de Guadalupe. After looking through multiple blog sites, reviews, articles, etc., I found Casa Frida and though, "Why not." Well, I'm so glad we did.

We got there at 11:15 on Sunday and it was already pretty busy. The reservations for food were already booked, but we only wanted to do a wine tasting, which luckily, they had availability for. We were escorted into the main building on the compound which was a long room with multiple sitting options and a long bar. At the bar we found an employee to help us: Perla.

Perla was by far one of the nicest, most hospitable and genuinely caring people we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She guided us through a four part wine tasting menu, offering up facts about the wine, how they were named, and other little bits of history associated with Casa Frida. She was amazing. When we finished the wine tasting, we weren't ready to be done yet so we asked Perla if we could share a tequila tasting too. Again, she was fantastic: so knowledgeable about the tequila and it's history.

After the tequila, and during talking with Perla, she mentioned they have an underground wine tasting room, Cava Chavela, so of course we had to go there! Perla walked us through the property, which is beautiful with lots of outdoor seating, multiple terraces and lovely views of their vineyards, to the Cava. There we were introduced to Diego who was going to guide us through the 'higher-end' tasting.

Diego, much like Perla, was fantastic. So knowledgeable, so pleasant and friendly. We shared a wine and chocolate pairing which were amazing. Don't get me wrong! The wines upstairs are great, but they pale in comparison to the offerings at Cava Chavela. The experience at Cava Chavela was so nice. Wine, chocolate, amazing atmosphere, and a lovely little audio/visual treat that tied everything together. We're so happy Perla mentioned it to us.

At the end of the day, we left with multiple bottles of wine, a bottle of tequila and the desire to come back again to try the restaurants as soon as possible. Thank you so much to Casa Frida, Perla, Laura, Diana, and Diego for providing an absolutely amazing end to our last day in Valle...