Don Tito — Restaurant in Arlington

I was in love with Don Tito's until today. Unfortunately, they have lost a customer who has raved about their tacos and put several friends on to their "Taco Tuesday". I am highly pi$$ed with the experience I had today. I watched a bartender as she dipped a straw that she put in her mouth to taste one drink then had the audacity to put the same straw/same side in another drink. I didn't think much of it at first with so many drinks in front of a small group of people, I figured they were all friends and sharing drinks. I had just seen another guy take a sip from a drink from the same group of drinks a few minutes earlier and place it with the drinks, so I figured it must be his personal drink. As I caught my waiter coming out of the back to grab drinks, the guy whom I just seen drinking from one of the drinks, handed my waiter the same pink drink I witnessed the bartender dipped the nasty straw in and bring it to my table. Before I could catch myself I told him, "I do not want that drink, take it back and you can take my food back. I'm done." He was stunned and asked about the problem. I informed him of what I witnessed and he apologized. I asked him for my tab so I could pay for the tacos and drink I had just eaten. I saw him speaking with the manager(I assume) who came to my table to speak to me. I explain to him what just occurred. I even said to him, "hey I understand her tasting the drinks to see if it was okay WITH A DIFFERENT STRAW, BUT NOT THE SAME ONE AND SAME SIDE! I get it- make sure you made a good drink! His response was, "Ma'am they taste drinks to make sure they are okay, but you are seeing things that did not happen". He wasn't loud or nasty, but what he said to me, he might as well cursed at me. The feelings I had inside....my my my. I said to him, "Do not insult me. I am very intelligent and I can definitely see! (20/15 vision with glasses...lol) Please give me my check so I can pay for my meal. Needless to say, he gave me the meal free, HOWEVER, I made sure my waiter received his tip because he was great- attentive and very pleasant.

This IS my last visit. I will pass this on to my friends. The staff was nice actually, but the comment from the manager and the bartender's actions WAS and unacceptable and disrespectful. As someone who worked in food services before, I have never heard or seen where it is okay to share your germs (especially from your mouth) to someone else! As someone who works in healthcare, I see firsthand how people get sick because of the lack of cleanliness or respect of others who refused to perform a simple "handwashing" to prevent others from getting sick... but from your mouth! You do not have my permission to share your germs with me. I have a duty to give you good service in healthcare and respect your health. You also have a duty to provide me with good service and make sure I don't get sick because of your disregard for my health. How many others have you done this too? This also makes me question the guy who I witnessed drinking out of the glass. Ugghh!

FYI: My waiter is the only reason why they received the 1-star. I now wonder about the cleanliness of someone preparing...

My 2 cousins and I got a 4 top patio table at Don Tito in Clarendon on June 15. Our server's name was Adrianna.The night started out pretty badly with a $10 mostly-soda-water mojito and a bowl of chips sitting in a puddle of oil. When we ordered our food is when things went sharply downhill. We all ordered at the same time. Two orders of tacos (2 tiny tacos for $10??!!), a Cuban sandwich, a side of yellow rice and a side of avocado fries. I also ordered a frozen margarita. About 20 minutes went by before we saw any food (which isnt unreasonable) but the only thing that came out was the tacos. My cousin and I waited another 10 minutes (enough time for our tacos to get completely cold) before we just started eating while my other cousin still had no food. We FINISHED our tacos (another 8 minutes) before the Cuban sandwich came out. Another 5 minutes and the bowl of yellow rice came out. We hadn't seen Adrianna in about 30 minutes at this point(our food was brought out each time by a different server). After asking someone to find her and waiting another 10 minutes we were finally able to wave her over and explain that a) she hadn't given us silverware or napkins b) we'd finished our tacos before they even brought out the rest and c) cancel my order of avocado fried because those STILL hadn't come out and d) I still didnt have the drink I ordered over 30 minutes ago. She tried to tell us that the tacos normally come out first (really? 20 minutes before a bowl of yellow rice?) and asked what drink I'd ordered. I should stress that Don Tito was NOT crowded at the time. I told her never mind because my cousin had already gone to the bar to get the drinks(two margaritas that were so sweet we didnt finish them). Adrianna took the bowl of yellow rice back with her (who wants to eat just a bowl of yellow rice, without utensils?). We asked for the check. I told Adrianna she forgot to remove the yellow rice, which she did, and I paid for our meal. 10 minutes go by as we're finishing our drinks. Another server we hadn't seen all night comes to our table and actually tells us that we have 3 minutes before we have to leave. He claims they are breaking down the patio area. I was actually speechless at how rude that was. You dont tell paying customers they have 3 minutes to finish the food and drink they paid for. After he left I turned to one of the other 3 tables and asked them if they had been asked to leave. They hadn't. No one at any point had told them to leave the patio. We were the only paying customers that were asked to leave! This was the absolute last straw. We left. Upon walking by the establishment 20 minutes later, the other two tables still had their patrons at them, enjoying their drinks! I really could not believe it! To say that our night was a disappointment would be putting it much too mildly. It was downright insulting. Do not spend...

I am writing about my first time at Don Tito's. It was an unpleasant experience. I am not used to being treated rudely by the personnel at bars and nightclubs.

My friend ordered a drink for her and one for me, without asking me if I wanted one. When I told the bartender that I didn't want the drink, she scoffed and immediately and rudely poured out both drinks. (I'm mentioning that the bartender was of Asian heritage only for identification purposes for employee re-training.) Both my friend and I had a shocked expression on our faces because her drink was poured out too. We felt insulted, and so decided to leave and go to the second floor. When we were waiting in line to go to the second floor, the bar manager came up to me with the bill and said, "You either pay for these or leave!" (When I later asked for his name, he said his name was Jimmy, but refused to give me his last name.) I think this was racist for the following reasons.

There is a huge mark-up on liquor sold at a bar. My $8 drink only cost the bar about $1.76. It is standard practice for a bar not to charge for a drink that is made improperly or that the customer doesn't like. My friend and I were perhaps the only Black patrons. If we had been White, I think he would have said something less hostile, such as, "Excuse me, my name is Jimmy. I'm the bar manager here. So, did you not like the drinks that were served to you earlier?" or "So, could you please tell me what the situation was with the drinks?"

If it is Don Tito's policy to charge customers for drinks they do not want, then, when a customer says he or she does not want a drink, the bartender should not be rude, but rather should indicate that the bar's policy is to charge for the drink and then ask the customer if he or she would like the drink replaced or removed. Also, there was no reason for the bartender to pour out my friend's drink. I am not sure the bar manager knew exactly what happened. That is why he should have made an effort to ask the bartender exactly what occurred. And then, just in case she had misrepresented the situation, he should have tried to find out from us what had taken place, instead of giving an ultimatum.

Long story short, we ended up leaving because I could not stand to be there any longer. There is no point for me to give my patronage to a place that discriminates and does not offer respect and politeness to their customers. To add insult to injury, the bar manager was...