Muchacho — Restaurant in Atlanta

I have been going to Muchacho for a while now. As a person with IBS, I can no longer recommend this place to those of us with gastrointestinal issues or those of us who are sensitive to spicy foods. Their menu item’s recipes are not consistent and it doesn’t seem like management cares at all. I have brought this to their attention via email before and received no response. I went in January and ordered a shrimp burrito. Something that I had ordered before and been fine to eat. I always ask if food is spicy in case there has been a change in recipe, I was told this was not. When me and my friend got our food, we ended up having to swap meals because the shrimp was so spicy in mine. His food, the chicken burrito, was not spicy at all. After that, I resigned myself to only order the chicken burrito there because obviously they had changed their shrimp recipe. I emailed management to let them know what happened and received no response. I did a survey listing my concerns as well and no one reached out. I was hesitant to go back but the next few times I went I ordered a chicken burrito with no pico and was fine. Fast forward to last Tuesday, I went to Muchacho’s Bar Besties event with two friends. Me and my other friend both ordered chicken burritos. We received them promptly and both quickly noted after eating several bites how the heat was building and the burrito was actually pretty spicy. My friend doesn’t have ibs but isn’t crazy about spicy things. I had asked the cashier about the level of spice and mentioned I didn’t want anything spicy and they said I was fine with the chicken burrito. My friend was so bothered by the heat of the burrito that we BOTH ended up taking antacids and she ended up with a stomach ache. This is almost the exact same thing that happened to me in January, the recipe was switched unbeknownst to the customers. Either that or the cook is not following a standardized recipe. It hurts me to give Muchacho such a low rating, but the lack of care/response from staff and management combined with inconsistent recipes is too much for those of us with food intolerances. The cashiers gave out bad advice on several occasions. On top of all of this, there was someone inside with their dog and I saw no staff member ask them to take the dog outside. I saw a small sign on the side door about leaving dogs outside but I’m not sure if anything was on the front door. This dog was not labeled as a service animal and was being held. My pet allergies were irritated by this and I saw several staff members walk right past this person in line holding their pet and no one asked her to take the dog outside. This establishment doesn’t seem to sympathize with those of us who have allergies and intolerances. I will reach out to them again regarding my experience but I don’t have high hopes for change or response. As a chef, I find the inconsistency in the recipes to be irresponsible. As a patron, I find the lack of response to be disheartening. I could not eat the rest of my food and ended up getting plain fries to...

EDIT: Thank you to Brad, Mina, and Marissa for making a tremendous effort to give me a chance to experience Muchacho at it's best. Brad emailed me personally and requested the opportunity to correct what was clearly just an off day for the Muchacho team. I expected to come in and have a few tacos comped, but was actually blown away by the turnaround of my first experience to my second. I came back on a Thursday and Mina immediately greeted me and apologized for missing the mark and grabbed myself and my partner drinks at the bar. In a similar fashion to Tiger Sun, he executed a unique "Muchacho Omakase" experience and just brought out the best of the menu. The food was incredible (faves were the corn ribs, tuna tostado, and the tres leches cake) and Marissa crushed it with the cocktails. It felt like a warm neighborhood vibe, the weather was perfect and garage doors were open so we watched people on the beltline and saw many people come in and hug Mina and the team. Lighting and music were perfect. 10/10 so happy I got to see the better side of the restaurant and can't wait for my next ride down the beltline so I can be one of the friends stopping in to see Mina and the crew.

P.S. I'm not a nighttime coffee drinker so Gabe was so kind to give me a voucher for a coffee - so if I didn't already have an excuse to come back I will DEFINITELY be coming to get my long awaited golden latte.

Pretty disappointed with my first experience here. I went to Tiger Sun a few weeks ago and had an incredible experience so I've been dying to try Muchacho. Came in today for breakfast and sat at the bar for over 15 minutes before being greeted. We had to grab a menu from another patron. When the bartender did finally take our drink order she didn't really understand what I was asking for (an Irish coffee) so I just tried to make it simple and asked for a latte with their coffee liqueur on the side. She brought my friend her drink and the shot of liqueur and I waited for the latte for about 20 minutes before a guy came and asked if we were good. I just politely let him know I was still waiting on a latte but saw they were backed up and understood. He went over and spoke to the barista and walked away. We sat there for 20 more minutes and my friend finished her drink and at this point, being there for an hour, we just left without the coffee because it wasn't worth it anymore. Can't speak to the food because we never got an opportunity to order but probably will...

Saturday evening around 6pm was my first visit to Muchacho, and it was a disappointing experience. I was with a small group, including my two young children. We stood in a chaotic line while I scrambled to find a menu and figure out what we wanted before reaching the front. To make matters worse, there were no kid's items listed on the menu. My friend informed me that the kid's menu was separate and only located by the cash register (WHY?!). This is not parent-friendly, especially since I was expected to know my order by the time I reached the register.

Because the line was long, a second Muchacho employee opened a new register and called for the next person. When I stepped up, she rudely asked, “Aren’t you with them?” gesturing to my friends in the other line. I explained that I was ordering separately, but she acted like I'd done something wrong even though I was next in line.

I told her my order, and after each item, she would abruptly ask, “Is that it?” When I added something else, she seemed annoyed that I wasn’t ready with a complete order and that it wasn’t finalized by the time I reached her (this was my first time, after all).

When I asked if they had lemonade for kids, she flatly said, “No.” I then asked if they had any drinks for kids at all, and she pointed to some bottles of Mexican soda, saying, “We only have those.” I said we’d just have waters instead. Later, I noticed that my friend—who had ordered with the other employee—had gotten her daughter some kind of juice in a cup, exactly what I had asked for.

The food was the best part of our visit. However, the rude service and the sense that I was being made to feel like I was doing something wrong (when I was simply a first-time customer) really soured the experience for me. To top it off, the suggested minimum tip on the screen was 15%. Honestly, I felt the service didn’t warrant any tip at all, but I was so rushed and flustered that I ended up leaving the 15% and sitting down.

A super disappointing experience. Muchacho, do better.

Edit to add: I emailed the owner per her request on 8/12. As of 8/20 I have not received a reply...