Painted Burro Brookline — Restaurant in Brookline

I went for Mucho Mania Monday which is their ACYE menu. All the foods are smaller servings which is great for trying everything off the menu. I love love love their tuna ceviche with the plantain chips. Their meats for their other foods such as tacos and enchiladas is a little dry but it is still good. I think their food is very light and you wouldn’t get that heavy feeling after eating AYCE.

EDIT: I went back for Mucho Mania Monday today with my friend for dinner. When we were first seated, I showed my phone to the waitress to use the PB discount. She was slightly confused but after conferring with another staff, she said we were able to use it. After the meal, the waitress ask us again about the membership and I opened the app again. Another person, which I guess was the manager, came over and ask us ,”How do you want to pay?” in which I said card and took away my card which was on the table. (btw my phone was open to the PB rewards page for the discount and was placed next to the card which she took) I thought it was weird that they took away my credit card. However, they came back with my receipt which was charged the full amount. Before this, no bill was presented to the table with the total amount. After we saw that, we went to ask why the discount was not applied, to which she responded that she cannot do anything about it since the bill has closed and that we could try it the next time we dined in. She told us that she did come over to confirm if we have the membership and we just gave her the card. This is false! She only came over and ask us how would we like to pay, which we said by card and then just took our card. We assumed the discount went through and thought that she was going to bring us back the bill. But no, she brought us the receipt for us to sign the tip and total. Anyway, we tipped and left but it was a bad experience for us. We felt gaslighted because she kept saying she did confirm with us even though she did not. We also felt weird that the restaurant did not show us the total bill before swiping our card. After thinking about the bad experience we had, we decided to call the restaurant when we got home. To our surprise, we were told that the person we did talk to was in fact not the manager. The manager said it was possible to reopen the bill and reapply the discount but it was too time-consuming. This meant that the option was open to us when we were already at the restaurant! The “manager” at the restaurant kept reaffirming that the bill was closed and no changes could be made to it when we asked about it in the restaurant. This left a worse impression for me. They deliberately told me a resolution was not possible when it was. Also, the whole experience made me feel like a nuisance to their business. No one was apologetic for the experience we had, not even the manager we talked to on the phone. The manager offered me a $20 gift card for the next time I come back and immediately hung up. However, now that I am rethinking it, I don’t think I will accept. I don’t think I will come back to this...

Treated myself to some good food and great cocktails for my birthday. Definitely want to come back!

Had 3 cocktails throughout the night: Oaxacan Fig, Beautifully Ordinary, and Beet the Heat, all pictured. All were really tasty and well-balanced. The Oaxacan Fig being my favorite, but the foamy aquafaba in the Beet the Heat was really nice. At $13 each, they're not exactly cheap, but by no means expensive; it's easy to find $16+ cocktails around here.

Started with the Shrimp al Ajillo (no picture). That really really great. Shrimp had no bounciness or chew to them lime they sometimes do; firm and crisp. The buttery sauce was nice and warming and smooth. They also give free chips+salsa. The salsa is very tasty and seemed freshly made, but I'm no expert. The chips didn't seem homemade, but I can't complain, they were complementary!

Also had 4 tacos: Birria, Short Rib, Crispy Fish, and Mahi Mahi. Like the cocktails, all were really great with a solid variety of flavors, textures, and temperatures in each. The birria might be the exception, as it doesn't really come with toppings like the others do. Plus, it was too hot to even touch when it came to me. That said, it was ultra tasty and probably my favorite. It's also worth noting that tacos are $7-8 each, which is definitely pricey. they're large tacos, but definitely more than I'd like.

To top off the night, my server came over with a big slice of what I believe was tres leches cake topped with caramel-y icing, strawberries, and a candle for my birthday. I had indicated it in my reservation. This was unexpected but really, really nice! The cake was incredibly delicious, but I was super full at that point so I could only eat about half of it, unfortunately.

The space is bright with lots of colors and great decor, definitely a nice spot to hang out with friends or solo. I sat at the bar, so one of the two bartenders served me. I didn't get his name, but he was nice and let me keep to myself. I might've liked a bit of chit chat, but he was clearly busy, constantly making drinks, so I can't fault him for that. My only knock comes from the volume level: It was a bit on the loud side (but what restaurant isn't?), though maybe that was the booze talking.

Overall I spent over $100 with tip, but I was treating myself. 3 great cocktails, a slice of cake, and more food than I could comfortably eat? Not bad. I will definitely be coming back. You should fully expect this place to be packed on Friday/Saturdays, so maybe weeknights are...

We frequent this location on a regular basis, but after tonight, we will never return and we hope that others will remember the importance of Customer Service.

I went in to get a drink and wait for my partner to pick me up after a long day's work.

My partner arrived and ordered a drink, but was hungry and also requested chips and salsa and queso: indicating that he was willing to pay for the food.

The retort was "kitchen's closed," but they had no problem serving me two drinks and him one. Chips and salsa, btw, is not a "Kitchen's closed" issue. The kitchen need not do anything to execute the service of chips and salsa and, by law, food is required with the service of alcohol in all on-premise institutions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Watch as this issue is brought to the liquor advisory board.

When the bill was placed on my $1000 laptop (instead of on the bar, which is, according to any logical bar worker, more appropriate etiquette), my partner and I were trying to enjoy one another's company when we noted that the bar staff were taking shots with patrons while there were still open tabs on the bar.

We ran our credit card, left a tip, and on the charge slip, I wrote: "When serving guests two or more drinks, patrons must must be offered food by law."

When the bartender took the charge slip and went to close out the payment, he turned around and briskly grabbed our drinks (which were still half full) and yelled, "Well, we wouldn't want to break the law."

He did not allow us to enjoy our drinks and I believe he cancelled our cc payment, but I cannot be sure and we will have to check our statement at the end of the pay cycle to ensure there are no fraudulent charges.

Our bill was nearly $40 and the staff treated us like trash. We simply asked to be treated like civilized patrons. Perhaps, they thought I had already gotten special treatment because I had asked them to plug in my cell phone charger. Shame on me.

Shame on YOU. Shame on this business. Shame on your brand. You'll turn over soon with treatment like this. Best of luck in what is certainly a flawed and failed endeavor and an exemplary situation of poorly...