El Patron Grill Cantina — Restaurant in Riverview

I should have written this when the memory was fresh, but when my husband brought up the experience yesterday I knew I had to come tell you a quick tale of two Friday's.

Friday No. 1: In March '23, we visited this place because of the frozen margarita's in the review pics. It was almost empty, but very loud and the employees were moving quickly. I think only one fair-skinned male spoke English; he did a great job training a newly immigrated employee and help him learn the English translations for our order. (He may have also been the bartender?) There was an older gentleman serving as well, and he appeared to do a great job.

Our tandem wait staff split off when a large order of Spanish speaking customers were set to come in, giving our trainee the opportunity to show his magic. He lit up, and it was nice to see. Our primary waiter took over, brought us drinks and food in great time, and then left us our check in a little treasure box. The Birria tacos were awesome, the drinks were perfect. We tipped on the card and in cash (since there were two waiters) about a $40 tip.

Great experience, happy to return every Friday for a recurring monthly engagement. Yay, tradition.

Friday No. 2: In April '23, we returned to find only the older gentleman still serving, with a few new/different faces otherwise. A confident darker-skinned Latino came and took our order. He refused to make us frozen margaritas because it was "a waste of our money" and they "didn't have any liquor in them", told us to get this and not that because of some reason or another, and made fun of me for ordering the Birria tacos (I believe he called me a white girl? I am almost as dark as him.)

He then sang loudly as he slammed in and out of the kitchen doors for multiple songs. The birria was AWFUL and horribly greasy, the drinks were bad, and he kept staring at us the entire time as if we were going to dine and dash. Mind you, we are grown adults in business attire and we are all the same skin color... what in the world was his issue? He rushed us off even though the restaurant is empty, standing at the table after bringing the check until we gave him a card. He then stared at us from the register and I finally looked at him like, are you okay? He smirks and then brings us the bill with 20% added gratuity included.

What a sad, foolish young man. We would have tipped you more even with your horrible service! Comparing the two bills, he also overcharged us for drinks and included an item we never ordered to pad the bill (hence why he refused to leave the bill on the table).

As you can see, both Friday's were $100 evenings with vastly different experiences. The owner really should do a better job checking in on employees, because if I had walked in on this employee at any point during the hour we were there (on a Friday night no less) I would have promptly began the write-up process and planned for termination.

Best of luck to anyone who eats here. If you can ask for the older gentleman with glasses he may be the only competent server available. Not sure about the cooks? Anyway, if you see a guy who looks black, ask him a question; if he has an accent go ahead and drive somewhere else. He's about to ruin your night.

Signed,

An Afro Latina who can find literally thousands of other places to spend money and bless the employees...

El Patron Grill Cantina Riverview Florida Review with a dilemma Food - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 Business Practice - Confused....Frustrated

Alright y'all. I'll get right to the issue. Check the image of the receipt. As I went to tip I noticed the bill seemed very high for what we got. I examined it and found it. Forced 20% gratuity was already added in. Our party was two adults and three kiddos under seven. I'm not fond of this at all. I loved the food to be fair but I've never eaten at a place that did this on the check. It actually frustrated me quite a bit and makes me consider not going back. I know a few of you have written reviews, was your check this way?

California Burrito - It was fantastic. It was loaded full of chicken throughout the entire burrito. The pineapple sauce confused me when ordering but it brought such an awesome flavor. I definitely recommend leaving it on. All of the added toppings were fresh and flavorful as well. This burrito is a must try.

Enchilada Supremes - This was another extremely tasty and fresh dish. My wife preferred the chicken and cheese enchilada and wasn't a big fan of the ground beef or shredded beef. I however found all four to be pretty delicious. I would have ordered this for myself.

The service was pretty good. I wasn't happy when she dropped the f-bomb in front of my kids but I think it was an accident.

Again it comes back to forced gratuity. My wife and I tip fair and I don't think it's a restaurant's place to decide or dictate what that amount should be. I have to disagree with their business practice. The food is wonderful so it's just a weird spot to be in with this. Thoughts?

Update:

I've attempted to call the store for the last 5 days and speak with management and ownership. Each time I informed that they are not available to speak with. Today the same man answered and then immediately hung up on me and when I attempted to call him back he would not...

Check your bill before paying! I usually don’t leave reviews but felt like I really needed to for this restaurant. This was my second time visiting this establishment and my last because I’m so disappointed. My friend and I came in around 6:45pm on a Tuesday. There were only 4 tables taken and a few people at the bar so after a few minutes of waiting at the entrance, we were told to sit wherever we wanted. There was 1 bartender and 2 servers. It took over 10 minutes for one of the servers to take our drink order and it took another 10 minutes or so to receive their complimentary chips and salsa (only because I asked for it as our appetizer). From the beginning, the server told us the bartender would also be checking in on us in case we needed anything. The bartender primarily took care of us (took our orders, made and brought the drinks, brought the check and to go boxes). We were there for over 2.5 hours when it should NOT have taken that long (mind you, we’re only a party of 2!). The worst part is that we were overcharged for most of the items and the employees did not want to do anything about it. The server told me that they have 2 restaurants so the menu does not match their price in the system (menu is less than price in their system). I told the bartender and server that it was not my fault their prices were incorrect. I asked both of them to bring me the menu to show them the price on the check did not match the menu..neither of them did. I’m responsible for and going to pay the price that’s listed in their menu, not their system. They had to call their boss who only offered a 10% discount. I honestly don’t think this place will last if they continue like this. Although the food is good, it was not busy and should not have taken over 2.5 for us to eat and receive the check. Highly recommend staying away! It’s not worth the...