Vegan By El Zamorano — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

Service and quality control is bad. Food is good (when they get it right).

Went for lunch and ordered a burrito with avocado and other things. Got the order, started eating the burritos, realize there's no avocado. Took it back inside and asked them to make a fresh one the way we ordered it since this one isn't hot anymore. Staff refused and just gave us avocado on the side. So much for customer service.

May seem like a minor deal to some, but this is after having multiple other mishaps at this restaurant over the past few months. Last time we got the totally wrong breakfast burrito. They eventually gave us the "correct" one only to find that they put all the avocado at one end of the burrito. So you basically eat 9/10 of a burrito without avocado, then your last two bites are almost 100% avocado. Plus the person you're with is done with their meal by the time your replacement food is prepared. And never an offer to comp the meal.

It's not like this is cheap drive-thru fast food. These burritos after you add avocado are about $25. You'd expect them to take more pride in the food they serve. But that's clearly not the case since it happens regularly. Not to mention the "pre-tip" that you give before even receiving your food only to receive the wrong item and poor service.

We eat at vegan restaurants all over OC/LA/LB several times a week and have been sorry to see lots of amazing places with awesome food and fantastic service (SubVegan, Munchies, and Vegan Galaxy) have to close and go out of business this past year or so. We try to support our local spots. But Vegan by El Zamorano seems to just not care much about quality or taking care of their customers. So we won't be...

I've never in my life been treated with such disrespect, hostility, and outright cruelty--especially while 36 weeks pregnant.

I placed a to-go order at this restaurant, unaware that they don't allow takeout customers to sit and eat. When I arrived, the staff was immediately rude and dismissive, but told me I could stay if I ordered a drink--which I did.

While waiting and sipping my drink, I began to feel lightheaded (again, very pregnant), so I took a few bites of the tacos I had just purchased. That's when the owner, David stormed out and berated me in front of other customers. I calmly explained I was feeling unwell due to the heat (it was nearly 90°F outside), and he actually had the nerve to say:

"Your pregnancy is no excuse. You can eat in your car."

This was while the indoor dining area was almost completely EMPTY. I apologized, told him I'd finish my drink and leave--but that wasn't enough. He returned moments later, aggressively got in my face, reached for my plate, and said he had "watched me scarf down my food" and would now be escorting me out. He actually got in my personal space and tried to grab my plate of food- I was shocked.

Then came the final blow: he told me I was being trespassed.

Absolutely outrageous. I left feeling shaken, disrespected, and on the verge of tears. I can't stress enough how inappropriate, unprofessional, and needlessly cruel this entire experience was.

Avoid this place at all costs--especially if you value being treated like a human being.

I didn't get to finish my food and now it tastes terrible...

Went to check this place out with my family for an early supper. It was fairly easy to find. It sits on the end of a strip center with a few other places in the lot. Upon entering there a foul odor. Not sure what it was be we decided to try the place anyways.

The woman that assisted me was nice. I was super bummed because they were out of quite a bit of items. Things like flour tortillas, potatoes, fish taco filling and more. We really wanted to try their burritos and carne asada fries but we settled for the taco plate and nachos with a cookie for dessert. The inside only had high top tables that seat just two people so we had to sit outside. It was cold and sprinkling this evening and their outdoor heaters were out of order but we dined outdoors anyway. It wasn’t too bad. There was still a foul odor out in their patio area as well.

Let me tell you, the guacamole, meat substitutes that they had and cheese all tasted delicious. The nachos had chips on the edge/outside of the plate with all of the filing in the middle. We didn’t know that so our chips here pretty much gone before we got to the middle of the dish. The beans and rice were good. All the food was seasoned nicely. Nothing had a kick to it though.

I spent about $35 for the nachos, the taco plate and the cookie. I wasn’t able to get my itemized receipt printed for what ever reason, so I could only attach their print out. They did have items/merch that could be purchased in the inside and I seen what appeared to be regulars entering and...