Publico at BullStreet — Restaurant in Columbia

We came in after waiting out a rain delay at a Fireflies game. We got to the hostess stand about 10:15 and asked if the kitchen was still open, and she said it was. We were immediately seated. We ordered a tea and a beer. The beer was not cold and they were unable to give me the iced tea because they had already dumped it for the night. I ordered a soda instead. For dinner, we ordered and split cauliflower bites and Cuban nachos, with the cauliflower coming out first. They were served extremely hot and tasted great. We waited quite a while for the nachos, which were served cold. They were room temperature, but we hadn't eaten and ate what was in front of us. When our server came to ask about the food, we told her they were cold and she took them back to the kitchen right away. After another ten minutes or so, she came back with more nachos. The serving was smaller with the guacamole on the side. Our server said she was trying to keep them warmer. The cheese sauce and beans were only slightly warmer than room temperature. She came back to check on us again and asked if they were better, so I told her the truth, that the problem was with the cheese sauce because it was pasty and cold. She apologized, we asked for a to go box, and she asked if we would also like the check. We told her yes. When she came back with the check, she told us the manager would take half the cost of the nachos off our total, which was fine. When the check arrived, our server disappeared for quite a while before she brought my card back. While not entirely her fault, she also had a pretty large party she was handling with no help, who walked in as our appetizer was being served. There are a lot of things which could have been done differently, but it really felt like the restaurant's response was simply, "Meh." If a guest asks if the kitchen is open and is told yes, they deserve a great experience whether they are a party of two or twenty, regardless of what time they arrive. It's sad when something like this happens to return customers (or any, but we are just...

I went there today for the first time. Saturday lunch on a beautiful, sunny day so we sat outside on the covered patio - that was the ONLY good thing about this lunch. Our server was quick to come to the table when I arrived(my companion had been there for a few minutes waiting for me). We weren't ready to order but ordered sparkling water which puzzled our server for a moment or two. She wasn't sure if they had any. She brought the 2 bottles - no glasses - soon so we needed a couple minutes before we ordered & asked for glasses for the water. Well she came back eventually and we were more than ready to order. The food took a very long time and was NOT worth the wait. We ordered a 5 taco plate - choice of tacos & 2 sides - for $28.. First of all, the tacos were very tiny, like tapas size, starters. They were small round tortillas topped with the filling. We got 2 fresh avocado tacos, 1 pork rib & 2 Shrimp. Bland & just drippy wet. The avocado were just a single slice of avocado with some type of slaw & dressing and because they were so drippy they came on 2 tortillas which was just too much tortilla. They shrimp were practically raw & unseasoned. I did not personally taste the pork rib but my friend said "this place isn't any good" . I am disappointed because the owners other restaurant, Boku noodle house is much better. There are 2 locations of this Publico but I won't be going to either one. My friend was excited when we first sat down because she saw it was a place she could come eat where dogs are allowed. But after our meal, she won't be doing that. Too bad. I forgot to mention the 2 sides we got -choice of 2 w/ the 5 taco plate. Caesar salad was $1.99 add, small & Soso. The "kimchi" was not even as complex as coleslaw and the dish was the size of a dish you get for soy sauce at a sushi...

We’ve had several good experiences here, but last night we took friends there (after telling them how good it was), and I was ultimately embarrassed that we took them. Three of the four of us ordered tacos and one person ordered a chicken sandwich. The tacos came out…no chicken sandwich. Our server came over to check on us a few minutes later and was surprised the sandwich was not there, so she went to check on it (and get us the other serving of fries we were missing). About fifteen minutes later (as our friend was literally standing up to tell the server to just cancel his order at this point), the sandwich finally came out and it had an undersized piece of chicken that was not even piping hot (confusing because he had waited so long…for what?), and the server seemed oddly unapologetic. The rest of our table had eaten most of our food but each left one taco (cold by this point) so that he wouldn’t have to eat alone while we stared at him. The server was not very apologetic and eventually brought us our bills and we were shocked that nothing was comped or discounted. I brought this up to the server and she said “management is really strict about anything like that but I’ll try to ask.” She then brought back the bills and the manager had agreed to give a 25% discount on the chicken sandwich. As someone who spent years working in restaurants, I find this completely laughable. Had the chicken sandwich or an appetizer or a drink been comped, okay no big deal, but the poor way in which this was handled left a really bad taste in everyone’s mouth. I found this to be a really questionable management decision when this issue could easily have been made right. Where is the...