La Calle — Restaurant in Baltimore

Update: Not a good choice for black patrons! The female bartender is extremely RUDE and was ONLY providing friendly proper service to the Spanish speaking couple next to us. We visited for their very short happy hour. Her service was horrible and her communication style was annoyed and condescending.

She took her sweet time greeting me then told me I had 2 minutes to order when I had already been ignored for 5 minutes. I first ordered drinks for my friend who was parking, she waved her index finger in my face saying I could only order one drink. Then she returned to ask which drink was for my friend and proceeded to make her drink, but not the drink for me, until after my friend arrived. She didn’t even offer water and I had to ask for it after being there for 15 minutes.

I asked for sauce for my own tacos, since the waiter didn’t leave any for my taco implying I had to share for my entree due to my friend having barely any sauce left over from her tacos. She had an attitude about this. She never even asked if we wanted to refill our drinks, or order more food. She barely spoke to us at all and seemed like it pained her each time she did.

Read other lower reviews here and you will notice a trend! I wanted more food especially churros but they don’t deserve my business! We left and went to BANDITOS where we had an amazing time!

Previous visit: The visit did have a bit of a rough start. We were looking for a restaurant with open reservations during Easter weekend and were able to secure one here.

Initially there was resistance from the host over our seating request of a two-top in a less crowded section. After my boyfriend spoke up, he obliged. Next, the same host was standing near the kitchen opening in the rear, with full view of the restaurant, yet no one stopped by our table for FIFTEEN MINUTES. As the host eventually walked past our table, we made eye contact, which was when he asked had we been helped. He then took our food order. He had a stern word with the server, however service is a team effort, and the host should have noticed within 5 minutes that we had not been helped. After all, he was just standing there in the back doing nothing.

The server seemed to be overwhelmed and did not interact with us much. I asked for dessert and he asked did I want it to-go, which to me said he was ready to go home, so we needed...

I’ve been to this restaurant multiple times before, and while the food was good, the service was just okay. I decided to gather my friends there for my farewell dinner and made a reservation for 25 people. When we arrived, they had set up two separate tables instead of one long table. We asked if they could combine them, but they refused, which meant I had to move back and forth between tables just to socialize with my guests.

They started serving drinks but refused to take food orders until everyone was seated (hello???). On top of that, they wouldn’t allow us to order entrées right away because they insisted on taking appetizer orders first (hello???). We let it go and placed our orders. I ordered my food at one table with a different waiter—who was very polite and understanding—then continued socializing at the other table.

At that point, another waiter was taking orders, and I witnessed him being rude to one of my friends just because he ordered nachos while the waiter was now taking entrée orders. Like, who cares?! If I want nachos, I don’t need to order them at a specific time just because it’s more convenient for the waiter.

Later, the same waiter came up to ask for my order, but since I had already placed it, he got visibly upset and was extremely rude. My friends witnessed the entire interaction. He even told me that this was why people should stay in their assigned seats! At that point, I was frustrated and told him to skip me and move on. I didn’t understand why he was making such a big deal out of it. His attitude was so unprofessional that I felt embarrassed for bringing my friends there.

To make matters worse, he refused to split the bill separately, claiming it would be “too much work” for the restaurant. Instead, they put everything on one bill, which meant I had to pay the entire amount upfront while everyone else had to remember what they ordered and send me the money. Who does that??

Maybe he didn’t care because he knew the 18% gratuity was already included for a party of 25, so there was no incentive to provide decent customer service. We had planned to order more food and drinks, but his attitude made everyone so uncomfortable that we decided to pay the check and leave for another place.

Overall, the food and drinks were good, but the customer service—especially from this one waiter—was beyond...

My girlfriend saw this place from the Baltimore Sun so we were curious. I'm so glad we did because this place is amazing! Everything we ordered was just fantastic, full of flavor, and the right amount of food.

We ordered the octopus with nopales as an appetizer. The octopus was fresh and tender which was perfectly complemented with the pickled nopales with slices of jalapenos and red bell peppers. The correct amount of salt and savory to start the meal.

We shared the barbacoa and the sea bass a la veracruz. The barbacoa came with fresh guacamole and a side of pickled nopales and corn tortillas. The sea bass was served over a delightful and light, buttery wine sauce with small potatoes, radishes, capers, and cherry tomatoes. Again, we were blown away by the taste of each entree. I was given a glass of Chilean malbec which was a good pairing for the meat.

The barbacoa was juicy and oh so tender, practically falling off the bone. Succulent and mouth watering. Normally, meat beats fish all day, but the fish ended up being the winner. The skin was crispy to perfection! The fish meat was just right and really was magnified by the sauce. It was my favorite part.

For dessert we shared the flan and tres leches bread pudding. Once again, we were just floored by the food. Both were the perfect amount of sweet and the portions were very generous.

And all throughout the meal, the service was impeccable. Our server was enthusiastic and extremely friendly. He shared with us the vision of the chef/owner and told us what makes the food so special. I was even able to shake hands with the chef and briefly give him my praise!

I've never had Mexican food like this before, but I cannot wait to go back and try other items on the menu.

Hands down the whole experience was just fantastic and memorable. We will definitely be...