La Pirula — Restaurant in Santander

I am writing this review to share a truly awful experience at La Pirula. From the moment we arrived, the service was shockingly bad and the staff's behavior was completely unacceptable.

I approached the manager to ask for a table. When I tried to ask how long the wait would be, explaining that I don't speak Spanish, the manager became aggressive and loudly declared, "I don't speak English." His tone and manner made it very clear that foreigners were not welcome. It was an incredibly uncomfortable and demeaning interaction.

Thankfully, a younger waiter who spoke some English took our name and promised to call us in 30 minutes. We waited patiently, but after 30 minutes we watched as other people who arrived after us were seated at the now-empty tables without any reservation. We repeatedly tried to get the attention of the staff to ask what was happening, but they simply ignored us.

After being completely disregarded, we gave up and left. The combination of the manager's hostile behavior and the rest of the staff's blatant disregard for us made this one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had in Spain. It's clear that this restaurant has a serious problem with both its customer service and its attitude toward non-Spanish speakers. I would strongly advise anyone — especially tourists — to...

We were having a couple of nights in Sardinero prior to the ferry. After walking to the Maritime Museum and then into town we were ready for lunch. We wandered around the back streets looking for something "Muy authentico"and the menu del dia looked to fit the bill with plenty of local trade to recommend it. We were made very welcome and given a table by the door which was fine as it provided fresh air. The speaker above the table provided classic Rock which we didn't mind. The starters were substantial rib sticking stuff, followed by more modest mains. My wife was a bit suspicious of some bits of the pork fillet which she thought was a bit under done.I thought they were OK. The postres were the usual stuff. The meal was accompanied by a generous basket of crusty bread and my glass of red wine turned out to be half a bottle of a very drinkable red probably from Valdepenas. It was nice to be treated just the same as the Spanish customers with no condescending snotty waiters which we had experienced...

Fuimos el verano pasado con unas amigas y me quedé con las ganas de comentar la experiencia, así que perdonad el retraso. Tras buscar por toda la zona un sitio para cenar, el señor del restaurante la Pirula nos ofreció de cenar ahí. Nos sentamos y pedimos, hasta ahí todo bien ya que las camareras eran bastante amables. Pedimos varios platos para compartir y probar un poco de todo y cuando nos lo trajeron... los pimientos del padrón parecían comprados en el mercadona y calentados en el microondas con 5 litros de aceite, pero no le dimos mucha importancia ya que no necesitabamos que fuera un pimiento de diseño. También pedimos pastel de cabracho y no nos disgustó pero tampoco era ninguna maravilla. Pedimos más cosas de las cuales todas eran fritas y refritas, pero el colmo de todo fueron las croquetas, que después de haber ingerido por lo menos 10 litros de aceite durante la cena, nos las trajeron que parecían "croquetas al aceite de girasol" al no poder comer más por el empacho que llevabamos ya de aceite, muy amablemente le dijimos a la camarera que las croquetas ya no era posible comerselas, que no podiamos más. La camarera fue muy amable y nos dijo que ningún problema, pero delante nuestro se lo comentó al señor dueño de la Pirula y la solución que encontró fue reirse en nuestra cara con superioridad, darnos la espalda para reirse de nosotras en la lejanía mientras nos miraba descaradamente. La incomodidad era inaguantable así que decidimos pagar e irnos con un empacho de aceite y un mal cuerpo horrible. Este señor nos invitó a entrar cuando nos vio indecisas de dónde cenar, pero si te vas a reír de tus clientes ante una crítica amable y constructiva, no los invites a entrar o chapa el restaurante directamente. No es actitud para estar...