Tortilla Watford — Restaurant in Watford

16/10/2025 Spoiled Rice, Health Issues, and Rude, Offensive Management — Deeply Disappointed

As someone of Southern American descent, I know good food and I can handle bold flavours. I came to this restaurant with a friend, excited to enjoy a meal and expecting quality. What I got instead was spoiled rice that smelt and tasted like rotten garbage/ decaying food, stomach cramps, and a manager who treated me with complete disregard.

I ordered the beef mixed rice bowl (£14.80), which included both white and smoked rice. The dish looked okay a little sloppier than expected , but from the first bite, I noticed a strong, putrid smell; like decomposing rubbish. With each bite, the taste got worse, and it became clear the rice was spoiled.

I politely returned to the counter and asked when the rice had been prepared. I explained my concerns calmly and respectfully. The server stayed completely silent, then simply opened his arm in the direction of the manager. The manager came over to the counter with no greeting, no concern, and no apology.

She spoke to me in an unfriendly, condescending, snappy manner, immediately dismissing my concerns. She said I was the first person to mention it and that other customers hadn’t complained and then pulled a smirky face and shrugging her shoulders; implying I was either mistaken or lying.

When I asked her to smell the rice to demonstrate I wasn’t lying and to show her I had only taken a few mouthfuls as these had a sour, garbage-like odour; she refused.She claimed the rice is fine and is changed every two hours, yet couldn’t say when it was last cooked or replaced.

She then tried to explain that the rice was smoked and contained lime, and implied I hadn’t tasted this kind of rice before. She compared the spoiled smell to the natural aroma of smoked rice and suggested I was uncultured for not recognizing it. This was not only inaccurate, but deeply offensive. I know what smoked rice tastes like, and this was not it.

Most shockingly, she continued serving the same rice to other customers without checking its freshness or removing it from service. Her tone was defensive and completely unprofessional. I was refunded only for the bowl, not the full meal deal, despite returning the entire dish. It felt like she was more concerned with protecting the restaurant’s image than ensuring food safety and customers health.

My friend, who also noticed the strange smell, chose not to complain and ate hers (burrito with rice) and has since been suffering from stomach pains and diarrhoea . I myself only had a few mouthfuls and had to run to use the bathroom about 30 mins later, I continued to experience cramping and toilet issues the following day.

Rice safety is no joke. Improperly stored or reheated rice can harbor Bacillus cereus, a bacteria that causes food poisoning, leading to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Spoiled rice typically emits a sour, musty, putrid smell : exactly what I experienced. These symptoms are consistent with what we’ve gone through.

The manager acted as if the problem was me ,not the food ,but it absolutely was the food, and it was of extremely poor quality. I will be taking further action and reporting this incident to the appropriate food safety authorities.

I strongly advise others not to eat at this premises unless they wish to have diarrhoea and health issues. The food safety standards and customer service are unacceptable and in the greatest respect need to be looked into and addressed...

Ive worked at intu centre for over 7 years and been going to this restaurant as i like the options and chipotle wasn't an option. Service has always been nice and clean restaurant. The reason i’m leaving this review is because the services at these restaurants are getting out of control and if you calculate getting a meal at least once to twice a week they've made money off of me. I went in to make my order. I see what seems to be a team leader doing delivery orders. I waited patiently only not to be acknowledged, as i waited patiently i guess staff saw i was waiting and directed me to the self service machine as he was too busy doing other orders, this is what he actually told me. Mind you there’s like 3-4 other staff so im sure one of them could have served me, which thats how it usually is and should work, as delivery customers are just as important customers as walk-ins. I was so shocked at what he said i said excuse me come again. As he caught me off guard and was being rude he corrected himself and said could you go to the machine to make order. I said no as i like my bowl a certain way, he was rude and theres other people that can help. He didn't try to do anything to take my order as the machines and online dont give certain options. I took it as he didn't want my money as if he doesn’t realise these machines his sending me to will soon take his job. I left to go to chipotle. It was a little bit further. Waisted my time waiting patiently thinking i was going to be served. The service at chipotle was amazing and the food taste better including the chips. Will not be going back to tortilla. If the team leader doesn't have proper training how do you expect the rest of the...

Absolutely shocking service and attitude from the staff. My friend and I both ordered a large burrito. My one was 50% smaller than my friend's and the person's directly in front of us, despite choosing almost the exact same ingredients. It had significantly less filling. I pointed this out to the staff and suggested I should only pay for a medium given the size difference, or they should remake it.

The staff refused both options and offered no recourse, but instead shamelessly argued with me about this and created a hostile atmosphere which made everyone present uncomfortable.

Then who I assume was the manager (a short, overweight, belligerent woman) got involved and embarrassed herself by claiming there was "barely a difference between them". This was a blatant lie. I proceeded to tell them we would not be paying for the meal and I would be leaving a bad review, to which the woman claimed I was threatening her personally. I assured her it was not a threat, but a statement of intent. She then became extremely rude and demanded that we leave immediately.

This occured on 4/4/24 at around 8:15pm.

I have never encountered such a group of snide, deceitful, argumentative, pathetic workers in any restaurant I have ever visited. Tortilla ought to look into both their hiring practices and their training.

I wish I could give zero stars and I urge readers to beware of the toxic nature of the staff in this...