Diego's Taqueria — Restaurant in City of Kingston

I wanted to love this place but unfortunately I didn’t . I came here on a recommendation from a happy customer but this person was there before Covid And I think a lot has changed for the restaurant since then and not for the better . I had reservations for 8pm and when I arrived there was a family in front us with no reservations and they were seated at the last available table in the restaurant and then they had me wait with my elderly mother standing up . I will say when they saw that I was upset for good reason they scrambled to put two small tables together and apologized. It then took forever to get our order taken and once it arrived my taco had only One piece of chicken in it… Yes One Piece Of Chicken and it was $18.00 . How does that even leave the kitchen ?? My Mom had fish tacos and said she had 2 pieces of fish in hers which isn’t great either but at least better then my one . It was late and I just didn’t have the energy to complain or express my disappointment but no one would be happy with that experience. I paid my $80 bill for empty tacos and poor service and even with all that said I left a 20% tip but I Will not be go back . They were telling us they were short staffed since Covid so I think things have definitely changed for them but what’s the excuse for our meal . They seem to be great people with a great product but they have some serious improving to do if they care about people...

I was that parent tonight.

I brought my two year old to try the restaurant since we're new to Kingston and have heard many great things. She ended up having a "terrible-two" episode to the first degree right as our meal arrived. I stepped outside twice to try to cool her off and not inconvenience any of the customers. I was feeling completely distraught and emotional because I couldn't get her to cooperate.

The service, price point and atmosphere was perfect, BUT the owner went above and beyond to completely make my night. Since I didn't want to go back into the restaurant with a screaming child and as emotional as I had become, the owner came up to me and asked if I would like to have our meals packaged up and my things brought out to me. When I offered to pay he wouldn't accept because he knew I was really struggling with her.

His response was something along the lines of, "Don't worry about it! Times are rough. We all need to treat one another better. We'll see you soon. Have a good night!"

THAT was the most heartfelt customer service I have ever received!! THAT is how we should treat each other. THAT is the kind of business owner you want to support. THAT was a completely selfless act and I'm so thankful.

The food was absolutely delicious even when we got home. Everything was fresh and flavorful! I cannot wait to try everything...

2 stars for an excellent strawberry margarita. But other than that we wished we would have spent our meal in Kingston somewhere else. Upon entering we were told the menu was online but when our phones had no service( Verizon) and we asked for the wifi to view the menus she told us she didn’t know it. We asked them if they could find out so we could view the menu. they returned to say they couldn’t give it to us but we could all go look at the sandwich board outside that had the menu on it or we could look at the old menus but the prices were wrong and they didn’t have an extensive number of items listed that were rattled off. She gave us 2 menus for the five of us. Served ourselves the rest of the outdated menus after some time. Walked up to the bar to order a beer after being ignored for too long and was told everything on the beer menu chalkboard was also wrong and they had just one (unlisted) beer. Finally ordered. the food was just fine. Nothing to make up for the unsettling start of our experience. I understand this is a stressful time for restaurants and that this is an obviously very casual restaurant but an updated menu board for the inside patrons as well as the sidewalk patrons would be a simple enough fix for the menu issue. Pricepoint of “street” tacos increases your expectations for the experience. Very...