Oliva Enoteca — Restaurant in Mérida

Visited last night for dinner after getting a recommendation from a friend. The food was good, but sadly the service was the worst I’ve experienced. We had a male server who from the moment we sat down made us feel unwelcome. As soon as my boyfriend and I sat down, he quickly removed the other 2 place settings and when I told him we were with one other person, he begrudgingly put one plate back. He then continued to walk past our table a handful of times, set up a table which was never used, and even looked at us multiple times before finally bringing menus. Once we gave our orders (in Spanish), the waiter continued to look annoyed the entire time and was clearly avoiding making eye contact with us when he responded to us sternly. I could understand if he was having a bad night, but as soon as he’d leave our table we’d see him chatting with his coworkers and laughing or using his phone. Every single encounter with this man felt incredibly uncomfortable and as if we were a big inconvenience even though the restaurant wasn’t too busy. After we ate we asked if we could order dessert and he said something about us asking so late and why we didn’t ask earlier, even though he didn’t give us a dessert menu early on or give us a heads up for last call. In the end we were still able to order and even finished up before the restaurant closed. We even waited for an uber outside for over 15 minutes and the restaurant still seemed busy and no one else seemed to be rushed out.

I wanna note that I am Mexican Filipino and my boyfriend is Filipino and we noticed that once I started speaking Spanish, which I’m not fluent in, the waiter reacted weirdly and continued his rude behavior. I really hope it has nothing to do with that, but regardless, the way we were treated was horrible and should not be acceptable behavior towards anyone. I just hope the restaurant owners do something about this and vet their employees better if this is behavior they...

My wife Stacy and I last ate here New Year's Eve 3 1/2 years ago for our anniversary. It was wonderful then and we are happy to report it is still wonderful today.

We started off sharing the Tonno, a tuna tartar (which was amazing) and the Caprese Salad, which had the best buffalo mozzarella I have ever had. I tried a new beer, a Belgian blond ale which was teriffic.

For our main course Stacy had the lobster ravioli which was stuffed with lots of tender, perfectly cooked lobster and a delicios sauce. I had the caccio e pepe which was so delicious I am determined to learn how to make it at home.

For dessert we shared the Limone, which was honestly one of the best desserts I have ever had. We were initially disappointed they no longer had creme brulee on the menu, but the limone was better than any creme brulee I have ever had.

Our server was wonderful. I am pretty sure his name was Edgar, but not 100% positive. He was friendly, efficient, knowledgeable, and he spoke excellent English (which was good because my Spanish is muy mal).

Perhaps the coolest thing of all was that when we left, Victor (I think the maitre d' ?), not only remembered us from over three years ago, but he remembered exactly where we sat.

I cannot recommend this restaurant enough if you ever get to Merida. Now, if we could only get into their tiny sister restaurant,...

Food is great, service as well. It's a shame all of this goes down the drain with a manager who treats the clients with disdain.

Here's the situation... I was part of a party of four, two of which had ordered a house wine that the manager had recommended. It turns out the the wine was sour and one of our party complained to the waiter. The manger came to the table and told us, it is what it is. We tried to make the best of the situation and enjoyed the rest of our meal. When it was time to pay the check we filled out the comment card stating "the sommelier's recommendation was not good and he should be more mindful of his choices". Well, the sommelier and the manager is the same person and this is where the fun begins.

Mister manager came to our table with the comment card in hand and said "over the 20 years I've worked in this industry I have never received a comment like this. You should be grateful to have gotten a table at our restaurant. When you order wine by the glass you can't expect quality. Next time order a bottle. This night would have been better if you had not showed up".

Customer service failure on all fronts. Oliva has a great restaurant, they deserve a better manager. Very...