El Descaro — Restaurant in Estepona

With a plethora of food options in the area we made the choice to eat in El Descaro and sit in the beautiful square. After receiving our food, a young waiter dropped glasses from a tray which smashed on the ground. My wife was sitting right beside where it happened and a piece of glass cut her leg. The young man left without asking was she OK. I called over the manager (Martin) who was in the area to alert him and show him my wife was bleeding. Upon seeing this he replied oh and walked away. The young waiter returned and brushed up some of the glass. But there was large curved shards still all around our feet on the ground. I called over the manager again and alerted him to this, he again did not respond but sent over another waiter to "clean" the area. At no point was my wife asked was she OK or if she needed anything and ended up being kindly given a plaster from people on a table around us. When I asked the bill the manager came over and just said "cash or card". He never acknowledged what had happened, apologised or asked if my wife was OK until I confronted him about the way the situation was dealt with (or the lack of dealing with it). He then said the waiter was new and he would be spoken to, but I made the point that it was his inaction we were displeased with. We appreciate that things like glasses dropping happen in a restaurant, but this was terribly dealt with and even at the end was met with passing the buck and shrugs. In the end, he looked at our bill shrugged and said 40 euro. I was not looking for anything free or money off, just horrified by the way the situation...

El Descaro in Estepona is located right in the heart of Plaza de las Flores, you definitely pay for the setting. The ambiance is lively, and the service stands out as a highlight, from the charming tall waiter with a piercing to the sweetest busboy lady who made us feel truly welcome.

The food overall was good, though not amazing. We gave it 4 stars mainly because while the flavors were mostly on point, the portion sizes were quite small for the price. Everything we tried was tasty, the tortilla española, croquettes, ensaladilla rusa, and chicken fingers were all enjoyable. The croquettes in particular were excellent.

That said, a couple of dishes missed the mark. The “huevos rotos” were a disappointment: the menu stated they came with chorizo, but they arrived with Serrano ham instead, and the potatoes used didn’t mix well with the rest of the dish. It lacked flavor and felt thrown together. The poultry meatballs were undercooked inside, a serious issue, especially with chicken.

In summary: great service and a lovely spot to sit, but the food doesn’t fully justify the price tag. With a few adjustments, it could be a top spot, but for now it falls short of being...

Head waiter is a problem! My wife and I went for cocktails and tapas in early Novemeber. The waitress and assistant (busboy?) couldn’t have been nicer. We were having a great time until there was a misunderstanding about which tapas we ordered. They brought 3 tapas (we only ordered 2 - they brought 1 that we ordered and 2 that we didn’t). The “head waiter” (a tall guy with dark hair and down vest) came over and had a really bad attitude. It was their mistake and it was no big deal to us, but he was nasty, glowering at us, and lacked any modicum of graciousness or pleasantry. He ruined what was otherwise a pleasant experience (especially conversing in Spanish with the lovely waitress). Frankly we were shocked at his treatment of us. I now see that other guests had a similar experience (see other reviews). To the owner (who hopefully is not this guy) - please train this guy in customer relations! The waitress and busboy...