Pura Cepa Ronda — Restaurant in Ronda

I rarely write negative reviews, so I dislike writing this one. We picked this restaurant as it was one of the few highly rated ones open before 19:30. All the reviews were praising the high quality of service, so I expected at least a decent one. Unfortunately, the service was one of the worst we've had in a while. Maybe it was because they were understaffed, but still, there were too many red flags to ignore considering their prices when compared to the local competition. First we were sat down to a dirty table full of crumbs. So we had to clean it ourselves. Then, we were ignored for almost 25 minutes until someone came to take our order. In this time other patrons were seated, their orders taken and even served before us. During the order, the advice on wine we got was a bit contradicting as we double checked it online, specifically regarding the different types of Sherry wine. Last nail I the coffin was that the main course wasn't the one I ordered. But a different one that sounded similar. All that aside, I would have disregarded the service if the food was still worth it. Maybe I was spoiled with other restaurants in the area, but the food was a mixed...

The warm starter came cold at about the one hour mark after ordering. The cold cheese platter came at about the 1.25 hour mark after ordering. We had to ask about the delay numerous times before having it addressed. They also ended up substituting ordered items without asking or communicating in advance. The atmosphere of the restaurant is good but there must be something fundamentally flawed in kitchen management and/or the communication/coordination between front-of-the-house and the kitchen in order for something like this to occur. Adjacent tables ordering hot entrees at the same time were already served by the 30 minute mark. Many restaurants would be apologetic and provide something "on the house" as a gesture in cases like this. I would highly recommend AGAINST ever visiting this establishment.

The server with dark ponytailed hair and glasses was extremely overloaded with customers but helped explain the cause of the mishaps. We understand and appreciate her situation and believe this is an issue of kitchen management and team...

We just finished hiking up and down both sides of Ronda and were sweaty and needed hydration and wanted a light snack instead of a full dinner. We got a table in the shaded corner furthest from the road (the patio is on a corner) and enjoyed some sweet red vermouth that hit the spot (we aren’t wine connoisseurs and have had vermouth like 4x in our lives but we like it!), then ordered some sliced chorizo that was delicious and fresh asparagus that was perfectly cooked to our tastes (crunchy, but cooked, olive oil and a little sea salt). We had a slice of a view of the valley and were perfectly happy sitting and relaxing, drinking 4 glasses total and eating lightly for 90-minutes. Both staff we interacted with were friendly, checked on us, didn’t rush us, asked if we enjoyed the food. Perfect for what we needed...