La Chiquiada — Restaurant in Decatur

It’s amazing how an apology on a mistake or mishaps on your business practices can go a long way as you treat a potential customer can leave a long lasting impression.

I live in Decatur and love to support small business. The red flags were given to me despite being warned that the food was not bad but not great considering their over priced items by fellow patrons who actually live in the building but it didn’t deter me from giving the establishment a shot.

Friday September 1st, I called in 2x to ask about the significant price difference between their website menu vs their online ordering menu but no one answered. I figured they it must be a busy night and it’s only around 7pm and it states that they are open, I won’t stress the money. I was 7 months pregnant and was starving. I proceeded to order and wait my time to drive out with a little traffic, about 10-15mins. I didn’t find parking due to a busy night in the neighborhood and had to double park and send my daughter to go pick up the food. She comes back empty handed and proceeds to tell me they are closed period and there were other people also arriving to find it closed and were also super confused. There was nothing noted on the door to advise they were closed etc.

I was extremely irritated as anyone else would be. Why would an establishment that is closed still have posted online that they are open for business and still processing online orders… they close at 10pm and my order was placed just after 7pm. Now I have the whole inconvenience to find another eatery, spend more gas and money, and waste more time that evening.

To be honest, I totally understand that mishaps can happen and was sure that I would be refunded my money in timely manner and keep it moving and even possibly try them again in the future.

I emailed the restaurant about the refund and a complaint about their posted business hours.

Next day I received an email with no reply but just a receipt for my refund. To my surprise, I was refunded everything except my tip amount… LOL… I am not a fan of electronic tips especially from somewhere I have never eaten from and I usually leave a cash tip when I pick up my food but this day I didn’t have enough cash to cover 15% so I tipped $5.00 on my card with the rest to be in cash. The next day I emailed them again and called more than 6x, no answer. I found the owner Catherine’s email on a previous yelp review and cc’d her in. She did respond that Monday that she would refund me back that afternoon… Days passed and I hadn’t received anything, emailed multiple times following up until days later she finally decided to respond telling me to be patient (as if I am the annoying one) and if I couldn’t wait that I had to go to the restaurant to collect the $5.00 in cash. LMAO! So she wanted me to drive out the way, pay for parking to collect my $5.00…. I just didn’t respond because I was going to lose it but in person and I am pregnant so I calmed down and figured they must not understand the definition of a “tip” and she def needed the $5.00 more than I did. I would/will just leave the reviews everywhere possible for the $5.

On 9/22 I was finally refunded my $5.00. This whole ordeal is ridiculous and totally uncalled for. I did consider not leaving this review but based on how Catherine treated the situation… nahhhhh, I would have never received the $5.00 if I didn’t complain at all. Who does that? Lol

Catherine never at any moment acknowledged nor apologized for the inconvenience of her business practices. Says a lot about her personally and red flags that there are issues internally at that restaurant.

I will never recommend and will deter anyone from eating here. If you must, order in person… There are plenty of other restaurants in the area that have amazing customer service and delicious food without feeling you are gonna get...

As a recovering West coast, Mexican food elitist, I was psyched when Eater Atlanta posted a million articles about a new Mexican place opening in Decatur.

While we already have Raging Burrito and TDS, I never felt we had proper Baja style Mexican. So, expectations were hight when we walked in. The multiple 5-star reviews made is mandatory for us to pay a visit ASAP.

It's a nice, if slightly clinical space. There is none of the warmth and flair of a typical Mexican establishment but the covered patio and the fountain in the shared garden is nice. I was ready to award 4 stars and be done at this point. I don't give 5 starts unless you're spoon-feeding me caviar on a flying elephant.

I ordered a Margarita, a few tacos and sides while my wife ordered a quesadilla and sides. Our server was lovely.

4 stars so far.

Then the food and drinks arrived.

I could honestly walk into a Publix, get a margarita mix and make a better drink than this one. One star shatters on floor.

3 stars.

The tacos and quesadilla came on supposedly hand-made, corn tortillas. However, you might be mistaken for thinking that they were hand-made by ancient Aztecs, preserved in the dry Mexican deserts before being shipped to La Chuquiada. Cardboard is the consistency you're thinking of, not to mention flavor. Most places with actual hand-made corn tortillas have to double stack them because fresh corn tortillas will disintegrate faster than a politician's grasp on truth when faced with some moist, juicy taco filling. These were single stacked because a. Cardboard and b. the filling was literally competing for being drier and chewier than the tortillas!

The sides including rice, cabbage slaw (ancient Mexican recipe!) were tasteless to the point of being inedible. The rice was gummy, mushy paste while the cabbage was literally just doused in vinegar.

The quesadilla was marginally better since the cheese wasn't completely like cement. The "foraged" mushrooms were decent.

The website claims that the chef is from Oaxaca. Maybe he was a cardboard manufacturer there because he clearly hasn't done much cooking.

I am hoping this place gets its act together but not getting a single thing right about the food makes me very pessimistic.

On a bright note though, Muchacho is soon to open a location in Decatur and El Tesoro and the many Mexican Taquerias on Buford Hiway are still only a few...

It was a chilly day outside, and the air was on, so we were all cold the entire time..I asked if they could do a carne asada without it being a torta..they were confused and eventually asked what all I was wanting..I got a bowl of chunks of beef..I’m expecting carne asada be a full skinny steak…this was not it..the rice was in a separate bowl so the juices from the steak in the rice were non existent. The refried beans were also in a separate bowl. I also ordered veggies and they were in a separate bowl..they were big chunks of peppers and onions..I ordered two chicken tacos for my daughter..she didn’t like it..and my bf ordered one fish taco with refried beans..he ate the taco..didn’t eat the beans..we got three juices..total of seventy something dollars for food none of us really liked..and who doesn’t know how to make carne asada…that’s the most basic thing I didn’t know could be messed up..carne asade is a meal on a plate not separated bowls..no high chairs for smaller kids and babies..but the service was really good..it did feel weird to have a white waitress charging me for sides instead of just a regular carne asada plate, while the two Latina women were only busing tables and passing out food. I can see why the line for the Mexican spot around the corner was literally a line around the corner…because this place..is just NOT it…we were the only ones inside eating..one couple at the bar..and a few people sitting outside but didn’t have food..sorry..I’m not coming back..the menu sucked..food was very mid..and the vibes were off with the staff. I did tip fairly but only in case they have to share the tip because everything was mid in general. The street corn was not tasting like street corn at all..I can go to Local Green for better tacos and way better drinks..and way better...