El Faro Restaurante y Club de Playa — Restaurant in Quintana Roo

Worst Dining Experience in Costa Maya and Worst server "Jorge" (or George)-- Avoid at All costs

This restaurant completely ruined our trip to Costa Maya. If you want to leave your vacation angry and disappointed, this is the place to go. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and stay far away.

First of all – they’re scammers. The menu prices are not what they charge. We were supposed to pay around $30 ($10 for chicken and $20 for lobster taco), but the final bill came out to $53. They subtly inflated the prices of individual items and then added tax on top of the inflated prices. When we pointed out the discrepancies, they insisted the new prices were correct. We had to argue repeatedly just to get the correct prices applied. Even then, they kept the overcharged tax. This kind of manipulation is dishonest and unacceptable.

Secondly – the service was appalling, especially from a server named "Jorge". He ignored us most of the time. When we said we needed more time before ordering drinks, he simply never came back. We waited over an hour just to order a single taco, which then took another 30 minutes to arrive. Completely disrespectful.

But the worst part? When we asked for the bill, Jorge casually said, "Are you on vacation? Or are you crew members? I thought you were crew." Excuse me? Regardless of how we look or who we are or how much we order, a customer is a customer. It felt discriminatory – whether it was because we’re Asian or because he assumed we were cruise staff, or how much we spend money for them, the comment was offensive and out of line.

And suddenly, it all made sense – no wonder he ignored us for most of the meal and took forever to bring our order. Apparently, in his mind, treating “crew members” poorly is acceptable. Absolutely disgraceful.

In short – this place is shady, rude, and disrespectful. Save your money, your time, and your mood. There are plenty of better places in Costa Maya. Don’t let this awful place ruin your vacation like it...

Pay attention to the bad reviews. They are thieves. They show you a menu with one set of prices that are plenty high, but that is only the beginning of a bad experience.

We ordered a fried red snapper that came with shredded cabbage and other vegetables, tortillas, and some beans, as well as two chicken burritos for the kids and some guacamole and chips, and four drinks. With the prices on their menu, that food would cost about $109 American dollars (not worth it). But when they brought the bill, it was $328. When I asked to use a card to pay, they took me to another place to run it, and they added $100 for a “tip”. They multiplied it by 22 to convert it to pesos (the correct exchange rate was about 19 pesos per dollar). So when I got back to working cell phone service, I could see that they hit my bank account for $490. They scammed me at every turn.

Moreover, the food was not particularly good. They kept us waiting a LONG time for our food. I’m sure the purpose of that was so that we could be subjected to a constant barrage of peddlers. There were probably 20 of them, and some of them came around two or three times.

Take my advice and steer clear of this place. If you don’t, you’ll wish you had. Their modus operandus is to take full advantage of people too good natured to resist...

Disgraceful and shady.. and not because they have umbrellas. The people at El Faro are fake and unkind. Beware the shuttle from port that drops you off literally in front of this restaurant. Waiters are standing there to scoop you up as soon as the shuttle arrives. The waiter talked us out of looking at their menu but saying he would get us one and then starting small talk. He instead offered to verbally describe meals.. we settled with chicken nachos. I have had better nachos from snack shacks at t-ball games. Cold black beans, chips tasteless and burnt, cheese sauce instead of actual cheese.. no salsa, no guacamole, no sour cream. My wife and I ordered 1 corona, 1 mojito, 1 coconut water, 2 water bottles, and the nachos. Our bill was $115. They did ask where we were from and California was probably an answer that contributed to our bill. Do not pay them this money. We took the waiter over to explain why the menu in front of the business said prices that didn’t match the receipt. They had no answers, said they didn’t make up the prices, yet literally doubled the price of every item. Beach is small and lame. Pretty water, but not worth a single penny. I ended up refusing to pay that bill and left them $50. I did contemplate not paying all together. Do...