La Taberna de San Roman Spanish Restaurant — Restaurant in Doral

This restaurant practices a fraudulent Bait-and-switch advertising technique. Something we would've expected from tourist packed restaurants on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach but not in this far west place targeted mainly for locals in Doral. We found this place by accident as we felt hungry and decided to make a quick stop on the way to somewhere else. The big chalk board standing at the front door (see attached photo) was noting MENU DEL DIA for $10.99 and beverages like Colada (type of coffee) for $2 or Cafe con leche for $3 (coffee with milk) from 11am to 4pm (we were there around 3pm). Inside, an owner or a manager explained us that the Menu del Dia was only for Monday through Friday and since it was Saturday he showed us the menu for today. That was totally fine. We picked the paella with cod fish and asked for the Colada coffee which we noticed on the outside menu, one hot and one with ice. We got two hot coffees instead but since we are easy going, we didn't even mention that to the server as it wasn't a big deal. The paella was OK (even though the size of the fish chunks in it were not much larger than the size of green peas but the flavor was alright and the price was reasonable). When the waitress brought our check, to my surprise it was just a hand written total dollar amount on a small piece of paper without any listed price breakdown of items charged and the amount seemed to be too high for the things ordered. So I questioned it by asking how much was each item. The server told me the correct amount for the meal and she said $3 for each coffee. So I told her to double check the billed amount because it was too high for the item prices she just told me. So she called the manager (or owner, since he said he was from Spain and this is a Spanish theme restaurant) and he said the Colada coffee we got was actually $6 each and he charged another $3 because we asked for some milk to it . So we paid $15 plus tax and plus tip for the two cups of coffee (we still decided to leave a tip). On the way out I challenged the manager/owner by showing him the chalkboard and asking why he charged 3 TIMES MORE for each Colada coffee than what was noted on the menu board!? ($2 advertised vs $6 charged). He said that "this price was for a pick up at the bar and go and we sat at the table and had it inside". Please look at the attached photo and you will see that there is no mentioning that these prices are "for pick up only"! We told him it was very misleading but he completely ignored every word we said replying that "it was not!" without giving a single logical argument. The MENU DEL DIA on that chalkboard didn't even note that it was for Monday to Friday only, but that's a secondary issue. Obviously the Menu Del Dia noted on the same board was NOT for pick up only. So we were supposed to guess that some items on this outdoor menu were for grab-and-go and some were for dine-in? It's an obvious bait-and-switch practice and we felt cheated. A professional manager would try to resolve an issue with dissatisfied customers but this person didn't offer any resolution or apology for the apparent misinformation. He just stopped listening in the middle of the conversation, abruptly blurted out something like "have a nice day", turned around and went back inside leaving us speechless. We would not...

Forced to buy a wine bottle. Lack option of the glass. Basic flamenco show. The lady repeated the same movements over and over. Not an engaging show. The guitarist has talent but the dancer needs to display more energy and passion for what she is doing. Flamenco is about that passion... Food was "mehh". Nothing tasty even though I tried the speciality of the house. The dish was ultra salty. I guess that pork is like that but I wish I had been told about it. Side orders not on the menu. I wanted to eat Garbanzo and the waitress gave me a response that totally confused me. I wasn't sure if it was an entire item or a side order. I ended up not ordering it. Overall, not worth another visit.

-- EDIT -- Responding the owner. I don't need to go to the theater to watch a good show. There are other Spanish restaurants with way better shows and way more entertaining. Unfortunately this weekend I decided to give your business a shot. Also, I don't need to watch a show with several people like in a theater but if I will watch Flamenco (under any situation, small show or theater), it needs to have passion and energy. Your show did not have that. In addition, it seems that you have a response to all my complains. I guess that you are not leaving room to improve your business! No wonder why this business had 6 tables full on a weekend night. If you are not willing to improve the business from the opinion of your customers I hope you are already working on a new idea for a business because this one is going down. And to anyone reading this, here is how much management cares about their customers. So if you decide to visit, you are taking...

TL;DR 10/10 would recommend

My partner and I had early dinner there this afternoon and we had an amazing night! We ordered from each of the sections off the menu. It was a date night and we wanted to go all out.

Stared out with a cheese and meat platter and the cod croquettes. Then we ordered churrasco with rice and plantains that also came with their amazing potato salad. My partner ordered the sirloin with fries and also had some “Gambas Al ajijo” on the side (garlic shrimp scampi app). We shared a lovely bottle of tempranillo (calto from Ribera del duero) which I would recommend to anyone. And finished the night with a crema catalan and an almond cake plus an expresso to finish off. If I have to say one regret or one issue? I don’t have enough stomach to fit everything else I wanted but I guess that’s what another visit is for.

I have to thank Ramon and his staff for the wonderful service, we came in and ended up staying a few minutes past closing and staff treated us as if the whole place was in full swing. I will absolutely be coming back as well as bringing our families and recommending this...