Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Fresno

Was in the mood for some fajitas or a steak, was thinking either saltgrass or Lupe. Decided to give Lupe a shot since it’s been a long time. There was no wait when I arrived and seated immediately. Waiter came by and seemed too eager to push the fajitas. So much so that he said other items on the menu were taking longer since one of their ovens was out of order. I could understand the need to push other items if that is the case. Don’t want a bottleneck in the kitchen. After trying to decide I asked the waiter if I could get a fajita taco a la carte on top of my order of steak and enchiladas. He went off to put in the order very quickly. So much so I was unsure if he knew I wanted my steak medium since he didn’t even ask. While waiting I caught my waiter as he made rounds to verify that my steak would be cooked med. he assured me that they shoot for medium rare-medium with all the meat. I felt like there wouldn’t be a problem. My taco arrived and it was delicious. After I finished up I was waiting for the rest of the order, the waiter asked if I would like a dessert or something else to which I responded I was saving room for the rest of my order. He said he misunderstood my order and that he only took my taco order. That he was very sorry and put a rush on the rest of the order. I waited for about an hour to receive the food. The plate was sizzling hot when I cut into the steak It was very medium in the middle but it lacked seasoning. I could tell when I received the plate that it didn’t have any seasoning on the crust so I asked for salt and pepper immediately. But it was very bland even though it was bacon wrapped. I asked for some lime butter on the side to help it out. He said he would come back with that asap. While waiting one of the managers came by and asked if everything was good, I told him what was wrong and he offered to go get me the butter while I was sitting but thought my waiter would return faster than what actually happened. It took him longer than expected because he went to bring a drink refill to the table next to me, while my steak continued to cook on the cast iron. After he left and came back with the lime butter I was still left unsatisfied because the steak was very grainy and dry. Which threw me off since it was still pink but figuring there was a rush on the steak it didn’t have time to rest for the juices to be reabsorbed. Afterwards all that wait I just was over the Lupe experience and wanted to go. As my waiter brought the check I asked for the manager, to see what they could do to make things right with the quality of the food. He came by and really wanted to reassure me by apologizing (albeit very smugly and in a condescending way) that they strive to make every meal with their best effort. Again he really wanted to say that their fajitas were what they were known for and that I should get the fajitas next time, even though I did get the fajita taco. He mentioned that he would comp me my drink to make things right. As a chef I know I would never send out a subpar meal if it didn’t meet my own personal standard. Sadly this place doesn’t have the same ethos, just fajitas and...

My family and I came in for dinner on a Friday as a group of 5 adults and a baby. The wait list time was about 30-40 minutes for us, which was not terrible. The host, Aka, sat us inside at a table that was right under an air vent. The section we were sitting in was freezing cold! I asked the host if it was possible for the cold air to be turned down as it was blowing right at the table and, again, was freezing cold. He put his hands up in a shrug saying he didn’t have control of it and started walking away without waiting for a response or asking if we were even okay with the table. I asked since he could not, if the managers could do anything about the freezing cold and he turned back to us looking and sounding annoyed that the best he could do was ask. I am not sure, but I really doubt he asked about it as he never returned to give us an update. Then our waitress, Suyapa, came to get our drink order and I asked her if they could do anything about the air. She said she was not sure because she thought it was automatic, but she would ask. She took longer than expected to come back with our drinks, but when she did, she told us that they could not do anything about the air because it was as low as possibly already and if would affect the whole restaurant if the air was turned off. She also said that people had been complaining about it all evening. The food took long to come out as well. We noticed other tables that sat after us that got their food before us. This was a bit understandable since we were a larger group. The food and drinks were okay, but their rice is not my favorite. While we were eating, Suyapa did not come check on us more than once or twice.

We could not fully enjoy our dinner because of the freezing cold, so we tried using a broom that was propped against the wall to close the vent pointing at us. Then, Isaiah, from the kitchen, walked over and asked if we needed help with something. We told him we were just trying to close the vent because it was so cold. He said for us not to worry about it and he would take care of it. I watched him walk to the other side of the room and simply turn off the air. FINALLY! We were so grateful for him!! We were able to enjoy the rest of our dinner and evening. Isaiah was not our waiter/watress at all, but he was the only one that resolved the biggest issue of the night for us. He knows real customer service and problem solving. After the air was turned off, it was much more comfortable to finish our meal.

If it was not for Isaiah quick problem solving and excellent customer service, I would have given 1 star only. Because of the poor service from the other staff, and the okay at best food, I cannot see myself going back anytime soon, we usually prefer...

Myself and 5 of my coworkers arrived during the lunch hour and were seated pretty promptly. The restaurant was not very busy considering it was peak lunch time. It took about 10 minutes for us to be greeted by our server, Suyapa. This should have been my first indication that we made a mistake by choosing this location for lunch. Keep in mind, there was a manager or supervisor at the host stand who did not seem to notice that we had been sitting for a while without chips or our drink order being taken. When Suyapa approached our table, we informed her that we were on our lunch break and that we would like to order our drinks and food at the same time, and also pay our tabs asap so we could eat and then leave. We paid our tabs in advance with no issues. About 30 minutes after we had placed our order, one of my coworkers got her meal (nachos). From what I understand she was happy with them. About 15 minutes later, the rest of the table still had not received their food. Suyapa was very apologetic and said the food should be coming out shortly. 5 minutes after that, a manager (finally) touched our table. He apologized for the wait, said the kitchen manager had gotten involved, and offered to refill chips/drinks. This was the only time we were spoken to by a manager. Our food was then delivered another 5 minutes or so later. From my estimate, it took roughly 45-60 minutes to get out 1 order of lunch chicken fajitas and 4 taco salads. I have been to Lupe's many times in the past (although not this location) and I have never had to wait that long for food. Especially since we informed our server that we were in a hurry as we have a limited time for lunch. On top of our food taking forever, the meat on all the salads was ice cold. I understand that the salad bowls are cold, the lettuce is cold, and other ingredients are cold, but when the meat goes onto the salad, it should be hot. The meat wasn't even lukewarm, even the ground beef taco salad meat was ice cold. This tells me that the salads had been sitting for a while before getting dropped at the table. We boxed up the majority of our cold food and left because we did not have time to stick around and confront the manager who seemed to disappear after apologizing the first time. We paid for food we didn't eat. I blame our poor experience on the lack of foresight from the management team, who did not seem to notice that there was clearly a problem at our table until it was too late. We will not return to this location again.

I reached out to the Lupe's Corporate via voicemail and email on 11/22/2021 and have yet to hear a response. I guess customer service is low on the priority list at...