bartaco — Restaurant in Atlanta

Unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy the food + drinks at this location due to poor service before the food arrived.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about bartaco, as it is a new buzz place in Atlanta. This location is 5 mins from my office, Building 14 at Piedmont Towers. Upon arrival, I admired the overall aesthetic of the restaurant. I entered the restaurant and was not greeted/acknowledged, but rather just stood awkwardly at the front of the restaurant. I figured they were busy so I didn’t ponder on it too much. I eventually located the section of the restaurant labeled “Take Out”. I walked there for assistance, which lead to me placing a to go order to take out to my office to eat. As a young professional, before every summer I inquire about part time work to pay for extra expenses (like trips and concerts). I figured this would be a cool place to work at since it is close to my day job, and seemed very modern and eccentric. I informed the employee assisting me with the take out order that I was interested in employment. He stated that he would find someone for me to speak with. He guided me to a table to wait at the front for my food + speak with the manager. I did inform him I was on a lunch break so time was limited, but I was not in a rush to be interviewed. I waited at the table for about 10-15 mins but noticed the manager (a tall, darkskin man) I was suppose to speak walked by me without a greeting or even eye contact several times. I figured once again maybe it is just super busy. Until, a group of women walked in and the manager immediately went to greet them. He even went to the back to personally give each woman a menu. It was amazing customer service, I just wish all customers were treated that by. By a manager specifically. I’ve been to several restaurants and even if the manager isn’t directly serving my table they take the time to greet all guests they walk by. I was now waiting over 20-25 mins for two basic chicken tacos, and a conversation with someone that didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I was limited on time so I walked up the manager and expressed the issues with my experience thus far. I informed him I was no longer interested in employment, but just wanted my food. His explanation was that he greets “his guest” first and I wasn’t greeted because I was “just an interviewee”. Even though, the first thing I did was order food. I stated that a simple “Hey, I’ll be with you in 5.” is not only good customer service, but decency that all people deserve.

I am assuming a guest is someone that “pays” vs someone he assumed didn’t pay and just wanted an interview. It was off putting because anyone entering a business should be considered a guest cause anyone has the potential to purchase something at any point. He only apologized for not knowing that I did actually purchase food, and that was my primary reason for visiting the restaurant.

The arrogant attitude of being someone of leadership or even ownership was very sad to witness. I converse with several people in a 15 floor office building several times a day, and would have loved to recommend this bartaco location to them since it is only 5 mins away. I’ll be sure to do the opposite.

I, a masculine presenting Black woman, who is often dismissed and ignored was yet again ignored and dismissed. I do very well for myself working in sales for a major startup and often remain ignored until I speak or my resume is seen, due to people profiling me based off my appearance.

The group of middle aged white women that the manager quickly greeted seemed to thoroughly enjoy their meal.

I really hope that someone cares to address this. I personally do not care what gender, race, religion, political party, or even football game someone likes. Everyone deserves respect and acknowledgment when they enter a business, and shouldn’t feel like they don’t belong or like a stick in mud. I do want to give credit to the one young lady that cared to make sure I was helped even though I noticed she wasn’t even assigned to that section of the...

I usually go to the Buckhead location, but came to this location with my sister who wanted to celebrate me and because it was closer. There 8s no parking for the restaurant which is already a negative for me, so we spent 20+ minutes looking for parking. I feel like this should be mentioned when you pull up a restaurant. I get in and they need reservations, so you have to sit at the bar or make a reservation and wait, which the Buckhead location does not do. This is another negative, because the restaurant wasn't even packed. Then there was the issue with payment. We didn't feel comfortable w/ having our cards saved, so we wanted to pay or bill and eat our food at the bar where we had no choice to sit due to the time restraints that we had. I decided to go to the bathroom and was told I couldn't through the left side of the bar, which I first understood. I went around the and 2 -3 steps from the bathroom I was met by a lady that told me she couldn't allow me to go that way either, so I had to go all the way back to the front and further around to come back to the back to get to the bathroom 2-3steps from where the lady stopped me the second time. It's all inconvenient and unnecessary. My friend and I paid separate bills and our food came on the same plate. The back and forth with the bartender to pay our bill and lack of attention after, and the bathroom smelled of pee, and the over all experience. The food was decent, but not as great as the Buckhead location when it comes to the flavor profile and the amount of food or great customer service. Needless to say, this was one and done. I will not be coming back to this location. I will stick to the Bartaco Buckhead location. I don't mind making that drive for a better overall experience...

UPDATE: More than a year later we go back for lunch. The ordering process remains just as annoying. Food was fine (I got 3 tacos: Baja fish, chorizo, and pork belly w/ Chicken tortilla soup) which was again good but nothing to write home about. Service was fine (but again we have to flag someone down at random if we need anything). No complaints, but not blown away.

ORIGINAL POST: This was my first time visiting Bartaco; a group of us went for lunch. The ordering process was absurd. You have to order through thier QR code app. So instead of being able to socialize and relax we spent the first 10 minutes each of us heads-down on our phones trying to get our orders placed. When we finally succeeded, we all submitted our orders at different times so the orders came out at different times. Ironically, despite being placed from different phones at different times almost none came out correct; several of my tacos were combined with my co-worker's and others had similar problems.

Also because of the ordering situation, there was no one clear server for our table. This made it hard to get any recommendations on what to order, what was good, etc.

The food was indeed good and price at about $3 per taco reasonable. I tried the falafel taco, baja fish taco, and chorizo taco. All were good, though I wasn't blown away. The salsa was OK, salsa Verde better, and the guacamole was very good. The chips were large round chips (like flat corn tortillas) which were novel but made for awkward sharing, especially if you didn't want to eat the whole thing. The mint ginger iced tea was probably the most enjoyable concoction.

Overall, it was OK but the ordering was so frustrating that I wouldn't...