La Merenguela. PASTELERIA-CAFETERIA — Restaurant in Ames

The cashier who took our order was not very pleasant. We were on our Camino and I will have to say that she wasn't pleased to see us at all. Food was ok, but after the treatment we got not much can be said about anything. I came in with my 2 daughters and we spoke broken Spanish, but up to this point on our Camino have been able to get along just fine. When I ordered my meal, she frowned and asked if the others were ordering as well, and frankly, I didn't know. I also didn't just order coffee, which looks like what most people in there had. My one daughter ordered a pastry and got the same treatment. I asked here if they had WiFi. She said yes, but immediately walked away. Very dismissive. I could go on,... but basically pilgrims are...

Warning to pilgrims: they don't want your business. I'm a Spanish speaker and bought a pastry "para llevar" (to go) so I could sit outside. I sat down at a table outside to eat it - with an eggroll I bought at the establishment next door placed on the table, too. An employee came out to scold me for eating there, saying (in Spanish) "we have to deal with this constantly! Look, it's on the table in Spanish and English, in case you don't understand: no food NOT from Merenguela. I held up the bag from her restaurant and she said in Spanish, "That's 'to go.' You have to leave." There were lots of empty tables, so not as though customers with bigger orders were waiting either. The pastry was...

I am writing this review solely in the hope that future pilgrims passing by will see it and decide against stopping here for coffee.

Despite the fact that our group of five people spent about €10 per person in this establishment, at the end, the waitress started scolding us in Spanish. We couldn’t quite understand why, but it was likely due to the apple on the table near me, which wasn’t purchased at this café – they don’t even sell fruit here!

All the tables were dirty, and the service was extremely slow. Please, do yourself a favor and find a better place to rest, somewhere you can relax without...