Mariscos El Barco — Restaurant in Charlottesville

I drove my best friend and her kids here for her birthday last night from culpeper as this was where she asked to eat at. As soon as we got in it was crowded, full of people so we expected to have to wait to be seated. Thankfully, they were able to get us seated relatively quickly. My friends daughter mentioned to the staff that we were here for her mother’s birthday and asked them to sing to her. They agreed to do so later. Once seated, Our waiter took our drink orders then took our food order after delivering the drinks. And that was the last we saw of him. Other staff dropped off our food which didn’t come out at the same time and was cold. The food was mediocre at best. We needed drinks refilled but couldn’t find our waiter. Over 45 minutes passed and no one came by. My friends daughter located the waiter again and reminded him we were here to celebrate her moms birthday and requested they sing, they said they’d be right out, but no one ever came. A staff member came by to take the menu we had at the table still (because we knew we’d be ordering more) I handed them to her and asked her to get our waiter, i explained it’s been over 45 minutes since he’d stopped by. She asked us to point him out and we did. About 5 minutes later, i decided to start a timer to see if the waiter would come. 15 minutes later, and he had not. We flagged down an older, heavier set woman working there with blonde hair, and mentioned we still had not been helped. At this point the restaurant has begun to close and there are not many customers remaining. She asked if she could clear the plates and we said yes, she asked if there was anything else, and the birthday girl asked for another drink. After waiting another 10 minutes with no drink, we decided it was time to go.

We had to walk up to the bar (since no one was attending us) to ask to pay. I I took this opportunity to tell them that the service was horrible. The birthday girl also mentioned that it was terrible service. The blonde woman smiled and apologized, and that was it. I reminded her that we had been waiting 45 minutes before another. One of their staff members only came by to collect the menus and I asked for help and still no one came by. Then we had to flag her down for help and we still didn’t get our drink. She smiled and apologized as She handed me the check. The waiter the came to try say he was busy, I turned to remind him we waited over an hour and then said it doesn’t even matter. I paid it and walked out. Food was sub par but service made this a...

Be aware! The sign above the front door says 'Gaslight' and it foreshadows what you experience at this restaurant. We ordered the 'CHICHARRÓN DE CAMARÓN' which were supposed to be crunchy, deep fried and lightly battered shrimp. When our food arrived that was not what we ordered, it was not fried and it was covered in a sauce. When we asked about the wrong order the waitress encouraged us that it was correct. Another waitress came over and said that it is correct and this is how they 'fry' food. She then proceeded to point a picture on the menu that was an EXACT photo of what we were served but the caption was camarones de Cucaracha ( Shelled shrimp cooked in your choice of huichol sauce. )and tell us that we ordered that. When we asked why is there 2 things on the menu that are apparently the 'exact same? She indicated that the difference is the size of the shrimp. The meal was already taken from our table to the kitchen and then we were told we have to pay for the shrimp even though they were no longer at our table or eaten. We questioned this and told them to bring the shrimp back if that was the case. They then proceeded to say we could order something else instead - we did and the check still came out with the wrong item. We we're exhausted at this point so we paid the wrong amount and left. So in short, apparently if you want the same exact meal but at a cheaper price - just order the chicharron and you'll end up with the same thing as the cucarachas but way cheaper... or if you appreciate being gaslight, this...

Today was supposed to be a day of celebration. My husband and I were on cloud nine—payday, my new job, everything felt perfect. We had everything planned out even our food order, But the moment we walked into the restaurant, the excitement quickly turned to disbelief. There were only three tables including us , and at least five servers, yet we were completely ignored. We sat there for what felt like an eternity—twenty minutes, thirty minutes—waiting in silence, no one so much as glancing our way. It was like we didn’t exist. No greeting, no drinks, nothing. I could feel the frustration bubbling up, but I kept hoping things would change. When I finally couldn’t take it anymore, I stood up to leave, empty-handed and disgusted,And then, I saw it. Every single one of those servers, sitting comfortably, completely relaxed, as if we weren’t even there. It was like a punch to the gut. I couldn’t believe it. How could they treat us like this? After all the excitement and the anticipation, we were left feeling invisible...