Jalapeños Downtown — Restaurant in Bellingham

$3minimum for parking in a small city like Bellingham is outrageous. It's not the restaurant's fault but definitely part of the experience. The restaurant is in a very crowded "trendy" /bleh area but is pretty nice inside with a decent atmosphere. After being seated, were given a very long time to look at our menus. The serving staff DISAPPREARED. It was so long that we were joking with the people at the table next to us that if they finished and left nobody would ever know. Bellingham has ALOT of Mexican restaurants so to stand out you need to have good food at a reasonable price to even keep the doors open. Jalapeño's is MASSIVELY overpriced. Before writing this I took a look at the menu they have online and it is WRONG. It must be an old version they depend on you to look at because most people won't walk out of a place if it's expensive because, well, they are already there. Everything on the new menu is at least $2 more AND if you want any other protein besides beans or ground beef you will be paying $2 to $4 PER ITEM! So if you have a 2 taco combo plate that's $17 and you want shredded beef you are looking at a $23. Shrimp would be $25. Finally, at the very bottom of the menu in tiny writing is the "3% KITCHEN CHARGE on all dine in, carryout, or catering". So....on everything. That's 3% because they have a kitchen, where they make food, because they are a restaurant. 15 minutes after we sat down we still had not seen any wait staff so we left. I may be wrong and the food is so outstanding that's its worth a long wait but I will never know because I don't like being lied to about the price. I assume that the wait staff from yesterday did not even realize we were there and gone but for all I know they may be after me for 3%, per person, booth rental for the 15 minutes we were there...

I like Mexican food. My wife and I go out seldom any more, but Mexican food usually gets the vote when deciding what to eat. Jalapenos makes it very well. That being said, I have a problem with one of the newest trendy policies enforced at this establishment. For parties of eight or more, a 16% "gratuity" is added to all participants' tabs. I work in the service industry and know the importance of tips in the income of the people who serve for a living. I always leave a tip, even if the service was poor. The service at Jalapenos is usually excellent, and my tips will reflect this because THAT is how I, as a consumer, choose to reward the careful attention I have received. This time, however, the place was crowded and the staff a bit overwhelmed. Our service was friendly, but slow. Our table of 12 all ate, some with appetizers, and each had at least two drinks from their fabulous drink menu. Needless to say, our collective tab was impressive. The service, however, was not. Not impressive enough to amount to $16 that was added to my bill. All together, our "gratuities" amounted to far more than what they would have received for the same service from six separate dining couples. The spirit of "gratuity", in fact, the DEFINITION, is that it is a gift. It is a gift inspired by service and should be a measure of the quality of the overall experience. If management feels their staff needs more money to perform by forcing patrons to do it for them, they should either hire more people, or give...

I just canceled my to go order. I haven't been back since my mom died and this was our spot. The man taking my order was really rude and short with me. For fajitas, carne and 2 drinks was $90! I wanted to get a drink as I waited for my food, so I asked if I could wait in the bar and he told me, no go to wait outside, so I asked even if I wanted to get a drink? And he walked away saying he had to ask his manager or something. Then pointed to the bar and said go sit and walked away again. When he came back he told me where to sit down. And walked away again. There was no cushions left in the seats. It sunk way down and were uncomfortable. He comes and said what do you want. And at that point, after the long day and then the meal being almost my entire paycheck and the rude customer service I said I wanted to cancel my order and he starts yelling at the bar tender to cancel the order and walks away again. I meet him in the front he asks me for my card and I do. Wait again and was told it would be 48 hours to get the money put back. The manager said sorry and he try to get the money put back sooner but didn't seem to care about anything else or do anything. Again... they had no idea of my day, they had no idea I was splurging to surprise my family and that financially this was a big deal, they had no idea how much this place meant to me but I would never eat anywhere where I felt as uncomfortable and unwelcome as I did...