Café La Habana — Restaurant in Mérida

We are vacationing in Merida for one month. we stopped at the La Habana Rest after seeing their specials. Once in there total lack of welcoming. We ordered from the menu before we realized te specials. There was no explanation and total lack of interest. My wife and I ended up with three soups, 2 beer, 4 limonades. We just plain ignored everything that was happening. We each had pescado fillette (1 garlic & 1 breaded). Great soup and vegetables but why so many individual servings?? The garlic was excellent but the breaded was all mush as if it had been reheated. When we got the bill, everything was charged for (total of ~$50. At this point there was no point in arguing but I did want to make sure management was aware of this situation. The most senior individual just didn't care. No adjustments, apology or explanation. Finally he said "just don't give a tip!!!!" You are kidding me. It wasn't the servers fault. so after I paid the outrageous bill, I gave the server a cash tip. Take the problem out on a helpless server!!!!!!. We are seniors and have traveled the world and this is just plain discussing. There are so many great places to eat in Merida & this sure isn't one of...

I'm not quite sure how this happened, but it was excellent the first time and mediocre the second time.

The first time we got Claudia as our waitress and I showed her pictures of what we wanted, and everything was almost perfect! My long chorizo crepe thing was perfect, and the cake we ordered was also delicious, though we could have gone without the corn on top.

The second time, I ordered the Beef Torta and it was absolutely disgusting! The beef was done chicken-fried style and completely inedible! Also, I don't know what was wrong with our waiter, but he kept forgetting we already ordered drinks and coffee, then he walked by our table and literally moved our utensils a couple centimeters for no reason.

If you don't know Spanish, you have no idea what you're ordering. Google translate app is completely useless, if you don't have WiFi or data roaming, so they really need to make the menu available in English or at the very least put pictures of the food.

I also strongly recommend paying with cash at the table, because if you pay with card at the register, they'll manipulate you into leaving them...

Stopped in to grab a morning coffee and tea for my wife and myself. The staff was very accommodating and patient. I needed to use Google translate to help me and we all laughed together when I made my mistakes.

After my great morning experience, I decided to take my wife there for lunch. What a MISTAKE! Item I requested was not available. Waiter suggested something else, pointing to a menu item of approximately equal value. 10 minutes later, my wife received her food. I told my wife to go ahead and eat. My wife was on the last 2 bites of her meal when mine FINALLY ARRIVED! I sat eating my meal while my wife sat waiting for me to eat my meal. When I finally finished, we asked for the bill, only to find out the waiter ordered and charged me for the MOST EXPENSIVE item on the menu, and not what he had pointed to. Not having a good command of Spanish, making my complaint known to the cashier was of no use. Finally just paid the bill. NO TIP OF COURSE! Not a good way to keep tourism...