Bar Pintxos — Restaurant in Makati

I have been in touch with the management regarding an incident we had last month, wherein we were overcharged - however, I think it’s important I leave a public review for the benefit of all - including the establishment.

Last Feb, we had dinner with my in laws who were visiting from the UK. We brought them to Bar Pintxos which used to be our favorite spot, dining 2x a week. They paid for the bill with a foreign card. It was only the following day when the transaction was emailed by their credit card, showing a charge that was way too high to be correct. Turns out, our bill was doubled supposedly by accident. We had an item simply listed as “drinks” for PHP 7,000!! Their explanation is that there is a button for consumable drinks that was on their PoS, which the server accidentally clicked.

Whether it was an honest mistake or not, it is an alarming form of negligence that could have easily been overlooked by customers. Yes, we should have checked the bill first but, being regulars and having already trusted the establishment, we were not as alert. Also with the currency conversion it is easy to miss out on the amounts.

The staff escalated it to the management immediately, and the management reversed the overcharges quickly, by depositing it to my local bank account. However, I had to remind them of the adjustment on VAT and SC. They also offered a 20% discount for the next time we dine, but would need to coordinate with them first. As a recovery gesture, this is laughable.

You’d expect an upscale restaurant like this to extend a better offer for an issue such as this. They could have easily reversed the entire bill charge, or offer a more generous incentive for us to return and continue to patronize them. However, this experience has put us off going again.

TLDR: reminder, check your bill...

We ordered jamonburguesa (bec they brought it back), salmon pintxos, foie pintxos, chopito frito, and Berenjenas. Sad to say, the quality of food is different already. I hope it’s just a branch problem.

The patty of the jamonburguesa is overcooked, it’s dry and not as tasty as it was. They said they changed the recipe and used wagyu instead of their salpicao meat (old recipe) hence the price change to 950. Even the bread wasn’t toasted like it used to.

The foie and salmon pintxos, they served it with stale baguette bread. We had to ask for a for bread replacement which was properly toasted and tasted fresh. These pintxos are not cheap ha. I think the salmon is 238 and the foie is 610pesos.

The chopito frito is alright. The aioli dip also tastes a little different.

It’s a bummer because we’ve been going to Pintxos for quality Spanish...

We had a confirmed 7:00 PM reservation for seven, including three senior citizens and one PWD. By 7:20 PM, our table was nowhere in sight. Instead, we kept being directed to sit at a “temporary” table for four, as if cramming us in was acceptable.

The staff member “assisting” us, Mitch, delivered nothing but empty apologies, no real updates, and repeated attempts to seat us at a table far too small.

This wasn’t just poor service, it was complete disregard for reservations, planning, and basic hospitality. Shameful treatment of guests, especially...