LA RECOLETA — Restaurant in Alicante

I recently had the bad luck of trying la recoleta. Inicially i convinced myself it was a nice place even though the manager definitely did not like having a handicapped man around(she charged me when I ordered my first and second drink and then again when I ordered water.) when I left I went inside and paid to avoid the embarrassment of being charged every time while other people were just charged when they were leaving.

I went and came back since it was the closest place to the train station and my hostel, I had a portion of frozen dumplings they quick fry, it was 6 euros. I had another one since it was just 6 small bites each and I could afford it. Cheap food sold expensive but tasty. When I was there for the second time I asked her to please charge me each time so I wouldn't be embarrassed again, after a while I asked the manager, the same older woman with glasses from before, to please watch my bag while I went to the store since I am, you know, handicapped. It's hard to carry everywhere. She said no and I said no problem. Came back with the items I bought for the bus and bought a platter of deep fried vegetables in batter and a couple of drinks. But When I went inside to pay the manager insisted I hadn't paid for a drink earlier in the day. Showing her the receipts wasn't enough, she wanted me to pay another drink. I just said fine after a moment because she was sweating and getting quite stressed and I didn't want a shouting match. This was the same woman who had insisted on charging me every time earlier. I bought a whiskey and drank it outside quite angry because my evening had been publicly marked by me looking like someone who doesn't pay for his tab. When I went inside for the last time and stood waiting for service she said to her employees "we need to get him out of here, he's just standing there looking at me and making me nervous"(i was trying to deal with another employee since I could tell she was unstable) The other employee dealt with me and told her "it's fine, he's ok" I was feeling really quite ridiculous at that moment with people eying me. Ive never had this happen to me before. I looked at the reviews for the place and this is not a isolated incident, a mother here complained about the same woman not doing anything about the pigeons that are there everywhere and this manager lady accused the mother of raising a liar and a thief. She is clearly unstable and ruined my evening completely. The owner needs to ask her to work less and maybe the family should step in....

Great value, simple and tasty tapas A lovely little spot for classic tapas, located in a quiet square. The menu is straightforward, with regular tapas that help keep prices affordable. Quality was solid and portions were fair. Bonus: there’s a kids’ playground right next to the terrace, making it perfect for families. A great choice if you’re looking for good value...

We got a nice surprise discovering this place. They have a tasty spicy sauce on the Patatas Bravas that we enjoyed. We have to come back to discover more delicious dishes. The service could be better but it's good enough...