La Vaca Gaucha — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

TERRIBLE SERVICE! I went there last week with my friends as we were on holidays in Playa del Carmen. As we love Argentinian food, we wanted our friends to try it. Unfortunately we didn't choose the right place, the food was okay, very salty but overall, fine.

The service, TERRIBLE! As soon as we arrive, the waiters looks annoyed that we were sitting down and making them work. We were 3 people speaking Spanish and the rest English, the waiters clearly spoke English as well but they didn't even try to speak it. I understand is a Spanish speaking country and my partner and friends tried their best to speak Spanish but the staff made it very difficult for them to understand.

They spoke so fast, even I couldn't understand being from a Spanish speaking country. My partner asked for the beers and the waiter told them too fast, when he asked to repeat it again, the man made an annoyed face and I had to tell him that he said it too fast even for me to understand.

All through out the night, they all looked annoyed to be serving us but at the end, they asked for a 15% tip that they didn't deserved. When I asked if it was mandatory the man looked shocked and angry, telling me that ''I'm paying for the service''.... A TERRIBLE SERVICE

Apparently they don't get paid properly and the owner of the place takes 8% of their salary as far as the waiter said. It is their job to do well the service, without even expecting tip. Normally we do give tip without asking but if you do such a terrible service, do not expect anything from me because you...

Food: 2 stars Service: 2 stars Venue: 3 stars Cleanliness: 4 stars Accessibility: 1 star

I have tons of reviews on Maps, and most often I am probably even a little liberal with giving stars, but this place... I just couldn't be nice with outright lying.

Note, I am a Playa resident, so my ratings are largely in comparison to other local options.

Food: Huge good salads, ok Argentinian Chorizo app, "steak" thinner than a French fry (photo below), salmon so undercooked that more than half it's thickness was still completely uncooked (as in raw) when it was asked that it be cooked well. Anything over the 1 star minimum is a nod to the good salads.

Service: They were seriously aggressive about clearing the table... so much so that on two separate instances I had to ask them to return stuff I was still using. The server was also specifically told to NOT return the same piece of salmon that they initially served grossly undercooked. He brought back the same (unmistakable) piece.

Venue: Nice, but unremarkable.

Cleanliness: The place was in nice shape, tidy and sanitary. Bathrooms were not visited, so this is a statement of the dining room.

Accessibility: One stair and one stair only to access the dining room and bathrooms. Unfortunately that is a pretty big stair. There are a couple tables at street level right on 5th though. No bathroom visit so can't comment on that with respect to accessibility.

Overall, I would eat at McDonald's before eating here again -...

I got a steak with veggies/salad, and it was kind of just ok. Like for the price, I feel like I could have gone to a nicer place with air conditioning and a quieter atmosphere. Be warned that they let the street people bother you for your entire meal - people will come and try to sell you things at your table, and people will set up speakers and blast music at you, or do a dance and want tips, etc. It's part of the experience for some I'm sure, but to me it was really annoying, and I used to be a street busker. What really bothered me is that when I first sat down, I asked the waiter before I ordered if it was going to be like this the whole meal (pointing at a particularly loud street performer clap-dancing), and he said no. He could have said "Yes and some people really like it." So, minus one star for dishonest staff, minus one for mediocre food at these prices, and minus one for the bombardment of noise and people selling stuff...