Bugambilias Cocina Latina — Restaurant in Buffalo

I was shocked by the service we received on our last visit. We had eaten at Bugambilias before and really enjoyed the food, so we returned for some of this tasty food and margaritas. We were greeted, or should I say seated, as this gentleman did not offer a greeting or even a small smile. After we were seated, we were greeted by a pleasant female server and ordered our margaritas. Two of us received our margaritas, and I took a sip and could taste nothing else asides from tequila. Now I am by no means a hardcore drinker; however, unlike my mother and sister can handle if a drink is poured a bit stiff. When I say I could only taste tequila, I mean I could only taste tequila; there was barely a hint of the mango I ordered. When the female server returned, I kindly said: “I am so sorry, but this is so strong I can’t drink it.” Mind you, it was 1:30 pm, and we were driving from out of town. I said I did not need another and would stick with the water I had also ordered. The female server apologized and took my drink. At this point, my mother and sister had tasted theirs and said they could only taste tequila as well and could not drink them. Shortly after the female server left, the male server, who had seated us, returned and asked if there was a problem, and I explained. He immediately asked if we wanted him to make us another; we declined (politely again) and said we were fine with our waters. We then ordered an appetizer and main dish to split between the three of us; the remaining two margaritas stayed at the edge of our table the entire meal. This male server returned a couple of times and refilled our waters, and brought us some more chips; I politely thanked him every time. We asked for the tab on his last stop, which arrived shortly after. The two untouched margaritas that remained at our table were still on the tab. My mother went up to the front and found the female server to explain we did not drink these because they were too strong and did not think we should have to pay for them. Before she could finish, the male server came out of nowhere and asked, “is there a problem.” My mother then explained again and returned to the table. The male server returned with a tab, set it on the table, and, while walking away, stated in a not-so-friendly manner, “do not order alcoholic beverages again, I tasted them, and they are fine.” I responded with, “don’t worry, we won’t be returning,” and he retorted, “that is just fine.” I don’t know what we did to deserve such a nasty response, but I have never been treated like this in a restaurant. I previously worked in the food industry for over six years as a server and know how challenging some customers can be. Asides from saying we didn’t like his margaritas; we were not difficult in any way. In fact, we were very polite and patient. I still do not understand what we did to make this man so upset with us. We did not drink half the margaritas and then complained. We did not put up a fuss or say any mean words. Maybe he was just having a bad day. However, to treat paying customers this way is just not ok. We love Bugambilias food; however, after this experience, we won’t be returning...

We called in a pick-up order on a Saturday at 5pm. The website suggested calling ahead due to high volume during dinner hour. The young man who answered and took my order was difficult to understand. I had to catch him before hanging up to give him the time we wanted to pick up food. The menu was lacking some info so we ordered a side of rice that wasn't mentioned as being included with a meal and we ended up with a LOT of rice. We also received chips and salsa that we were not expecting (nice bonus!). When my partner entered the store to pay and pick up (we were told we couldn't pay over the phone), the store was chaotic and there was no clear pick-up location. She went to the counter to pay and asked the young man about our order and he shrugged and said he didn't know if it was ready. After standing around for several minutes, my partner asked a woman working there if she would let us know when it's ready so she could wait outside. A few seconds later, the food was brought out to our car with a big smile. I ordered fish tacos and it had too much of a fishy flavor and none of the usual crunchy veggies or sauce I'm used to getting. My partner had pork enchiladas and she said they were good, but a bit on the salty side. The beans and rice were delicious. The best part of the entire meal was the margarita kit! It did cost us an additional $60 at the liquor store on the way home, but it makes 4 large drinks and they are SO GOOD! Overall, we agree that we will give this place another try in the future. So many interesting menu...

I was hoping for a nice evening with my friend, it turned out to be a potential disaster. I found a good sized metal shaving in my food. We did not feel comfortable taking even one more bite of food after this was found. The waiter was very nice and accommodating towards us (as I’m sure it was not his fault and he did feel very bad about it), but it was not until we talked to the manager and expressed the potential danger of what had occurred that he said we did not have to pay for our meal. Something to this degree could have caused a lawsuit if I didn’t feel like being so nice. This could have been fatal had the piece been ingested, it was very jagged and could have torn asophogal, stomach or intestinal lining. This is nothing to mess with and there is honestly no excuse for this. We both are still nervous from this experience (as it just happened a couple of hours ago), and are trying to flush our systems just incase there were any smaller pieces that may have gone undetected and swallowed. I hope this was not an intentional act. If it was, I stand my case to let it be known that nothing goes unnoticed under the eyes of God, and Karma is very real. We cannot escape the fate of our...