El Diez — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

I am well traveled and dinner at El Diez makes the top of my worst dining experiences in the world. You do not want to go here unless you are looking to be served a big plate of disappointment for dinner.

For starters Maria Esther spent most of her time playing on her phone instead of waiting tables. Nearly 30 minutes after being seated, she finally came to take our order. The empanadas de carne fritas were ok, but dry and burnt. The wine selection by the glass consisted of only 3 Malbecs and a few whites. I settled on a glass of the house El Diez Malbec which, I did not care for at all, and a glass of Torrontes for my wife as well as a bottle of water. Maria did not bring the water and we had to ask another server for it.

I ordered the Vacío, cooked medium, and my wife orderd the Arrachera, well done. 30 minutes later, what I got was a steak pulled straight from the freezer and charred on the outside but still frozen inside. Maria never came to check on the table, so again I had to ask another server to have it cooked further. It took another 30 minutes. In the meantime, my wife had finished her Arrachera, Torrentes and water, and the whole time Maria never came back. We had no wine or water left, and honestly, after the empanadas and wine, I didn't want anything else.

When my steak finally arrived for the second time, it was completely burnt throughout. I have never seen such a burnt black mess of meat. I told them I would not eat it and so they took my plate away and started on a new steak. After yet another 30 minutes, I finally got a new steak. By this point we had been there 1.5 hours. I'm starving, we had never been offered more wine, water or appetizers while we wait. When the steak arrived, the check came with it. No offer for dessert or anything, and in Playa, the check doesn't come until you ask for la cuenta, so this was her passive aggressive way of asking us to leave. I told her I won't eat the steak and to remove it from the bill. After another wait the new bill came and she even circled on the bill "tip not included" and "suggested tip 15%" as she uttered something under her breath. Needless to say, she was getting nothing from me that night. Even without the mishap with the steak, she payed way more attention to her phone than our table and the minimal interaction was hurried and rude.

I can only hope that my experience was unique and Maria was having an off night, but no patrons should have to be treated like that. As if the burnt empanadas and poor wine selection weren't enough, the frozen steaks, poor service and attitude guarantees this is a restaurant I will never return to and will advise others to stay away from when asked for travel tips to Playa.

Others have commented that the prices are high, but I do think they are reasonably priced to other restaurants in the area. My bill for 2 empanadas, 2 glasses of wine, 1 bottle of water and a 10oz steak was $810 MXN ($42.63 USD). Still, given my experience, that is $42.63 too much. I would have much rather given my time, money and patronage to any of the other fine restaurants...

do not bring a large party of people here, or anyone that you are trying to have a special time with because you are going to be disappointed in the food and the service. It’s very very very very hot in there. They do not have enough fans or air conditioning. I was served basically a raw piece of steak even though I ordered it medium well. And when I asked them to take it away, they never even showed any kind of remorse and did not ask me if I wanted to order anything else or bring me a dessert as a apology. Meanwhile, the rest of my party was eating their food. This restaurant just does not get it. 10 years ago it was good but now it’s over. And their meat is very very low quality. There was another party there of about six people and the mother was about to scream. She was so angry with the service, and as soon as all of their food arrived, because they had been waiting so long, the party paid and got up and left. That’s how much they wanted to show that they had been disrespected. This place I’m sure will be replaced soon by a better and more professional restaurant. Do better Diez…or let someone else take your amazing space on fifth Avenue. A corner lot? And you offer terrible service and awful food? It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Do not go here if you want to have a nice time. I can’t think of any reason to go there, but definitely do not go there if you are with people and you dont like being...

Edit: I returned two weeks later and this time ordered the flank steak and creamed spinach. It was early in the afternoon and the atmosphere was very mellow and peaceful.

The flank steak is a much better choice than the New York. I think the NY might be slightly tastier due to the marbling, but the flank is much easier to actually eat, and tastes great! I was expecting something more blended for the creamed spinach, and I absolutely loved their more leafy version.

I would continue to go back, but never again get the NY, sadly.

Original: Delicious but super tough New York steak. I would eat there again, give them another try, but would never order the NY again. About a third of the steak was inedible and I got really tired of trying to saw through the meat with the dull knife. The parts that were edible were really really good and I enjoyed those a lot.

I’m a spice wimp and the two spicy house sauces are both tame enough for me, and taste great with a beer.

The service was adequate but not exceptional. The atmosphere is pleasant, but the little street children begging at my table were really sad. Poor things.

Given the terrible tough steak and the beggars, I’d say the place is overpriced. It’s roughly USA prices but the experience was not up...