Restaurante Emplumado — Restaurant in Mérida

Just put a wheelchair ramp and make the whole experience memorable!!!

A heads-up about Emplumado’s wheelchair friendliness: A ramp is definitely needed, but if you’re on a wheelchair and planning on attending, call the restaurant in advance and request a table near the side door; it is still wheelchair unfriendly but it’s only 1 step. Also, about the toilet, although I did not witness it, staff said they had an accessible one on the ground level (regular toilets are on the upper level).

Now, the place itself is beautifully decorated. There’s no doubt the look of this restaurant is enough for making the visit worthwhile. However though, it was so dimly lit that it was hard to fully enjoy and take in the place in its fullest; probably attending while there’s still some day light would make it more appealing to the eye and, of course, more suitable for social media posts. As a comment, I have really never put much attention to Merida’s iconic monument (Monumento a la Patria), but Emplumado has a privileged location from where such monument looks gorgeous!!! Go for a table near the window or at the upper-level terrace (not wheelchair accessible) and enjoy the view.

Moving on, the menu I would say is more international-cuisine oriented. Of course, some Mexican and Yucatecan hints are present, but this place is definitely not a Yucatecan cuisine showcase. Overall food ranges on the ‘very good’ tier, with some ups and downs and still with quite some way to go before reaching the ‘excellent’ tier. The grilled octopus and the catch of the day, for example, were really tasteful, while the tagliatelle felt cloyingly sweet (for a pasta) due to the fried banana.

Mixology, on the other hand, is outstanding!!! Some of the best in town and could rival any major city’s. Each cocktail is around $15USD, which though seemingly pricey at first, is actually within a reasonable price range, especially when presented in such a beautiful way; definitely worth some Instagram posts.

And finally, service. All staff is friendly, courteous, polite, knowledgeable about the menu, and always willing to assist. Although there’s still some room for improvement from a classy point of view, truth is complaints are nonexistent. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Raul N. –our waiter– for such an...

I'd like to leave this review specifically for foreigners Last night we went to the Emplumado restaurant. There were six of us, 5 foreigners and 1 Mexican. Two of my friends (foreigners) who were ask for the wine list. From the start, I noticed the waiter insisted they choose the most expensive bottle of wine, around $2,500, but my friends chose a less expensive bottle of Mexican wine, around $1,500. They served us our appetizers and the main course, the food was good, everything was perfect until we decided to order another bottle of the same wine. The waiter let us know that they were "out of wine." They only had two bottles left. Curiously, they only had the first bottle of the most expensive wine ($2,500) they had offered us at the beginning, and a rosé, which was surely similarly priced. I asked to speak to the manager of the place, I told her that I found it shameful that such a well-known restaurant didn't have a reserve wine list, only having two bottles. She apologized for the situation and excused herself, saying they had been very busy. There was a very large table next to us, and apparently they drank all the wine in the restaurant. By the way, I didn't see any empty wine bottles on the table, but she assured me that the restaurant had been very busy the last few days and that they would receive the wine on Thursday (the next day). The interior of the restaurant wasn't full, maybe three or four tables, and the terrace had maybe two or three tables, including ours. So, it seemed to me that she was lying. In the end, we decided to leave because it honestly seemed to us, that their intention was to sell the wine more expensively because they were Foreigners. It's very shameful for me as a Mexican that my friends see themselves being treated this way. I recommend not going on Wednesdays, in case they don't have the drinks you want. I'd like to let the restaurant know that just because they sell more expensive items doesn't mean they'll make more money. We intended to spend the whole night there. We visited last year and had a very good experience.

Definitely a place we Won't return to and personally Won't recommend.

The food is good, the place is nice, but the service and the way they make their customers feel is...

Was so excited to try this place. My bf made a reservation a week in advance for Valentine’s Day dinner. The day before, we received an email that our reservation is cancelled. We called to inquire about this and at first they said they can’t respect our reservation and that they only had lunch slots available if we wanted to come in still. I asked if there’s any dinner slots and they said not really, only after 10 PM.

We expressed our disappointment in the situation and then they checked with someone and returned saying that they can respect our reservation, but that we can only stay for 1.5 hours and then they may have to move us or something to accommodate other reservations. It just didn’t sit right with us and felt like we were inconveniencing them by having our reservation respected. After considering it and then expressing our concern, they said maybe we can stay 2 hours. At that point, I just thanked them for trying to make it work, but that we were no longer interested. We don’t want to spend our special evening feeling like an inconvenience to them and like second class customers. They welcomed us to try their other locations after that and only then did they apologize. 😒

I would be wary if you’re trying to make a reservation for a special occasion and don’t want to be scrambling last minute or treated like a second class customer. Extremely disappointing.

Edit: See their reply. This is what they prefer to reply instead of simply apologizing for how they treated us or something. Gives you more insight into the rest...