Shoma Bazaar — Restaurant in Doral

I am writing to express my extreme disappointment and frustration following a deeply upsetting experience at your establishment last night. What was supposed to be a celebratory evening for my friend’s birthday turned into an infuriating and disrespectful encounter—primarily due to the unprofessional conduct of your general manager, whose behavior was shockingly dismissive and downright rude.

Our group ordered several dishes and consumed a substantial amount of food. While the adults stepped over to the bar to order drinks, a waitress approached our table and asked my 15-year-old daughter if she could take the plates—even though they still had food on them. Rather than offering boxes to take the food to go, the waitress took it upon herself to start clearing the table without any clear confirmation. My daughter, understandably distracted on her phone, replied “I don’t know” and, being polite as she was raised to be, handed over some plates—not realizing she was giving away everyone’s unfinished meals.

When we returned to the table and saw all the food had been taken, we asked to speak to a manager. The waitress who was involved disappeared and never returned. Eventually, we had to track someone down to request a manager again. That’s when the general manager arrived, and what happened next was utterly unprofessional and unacceptable.

Rather than attempting to resolve the issue with any level of care or courtesy, the general manager took an immediate defensive stance, showing zero concern for the fact that we had just lost a significant amount of food—after spending over $400. She dismissed our frustration and coldly said, “Let’s check the cameras,” as if her goal was simply to prove us wrong rather than understand the issue.

She then had the audacity to blame my 15-year-old daughter, saying she helped the waitress and even going so far as to imply that my daughter “looked older.” Not only is that completely inappropriate—it is also insulting. Your staff took advantage of a minor’s politeness and turned it into justification for discarding our food without checking with any adults at the table.

To make matters worse, while we were still clearly upset, one of your waitresses was seen laughing at us, and my husband witnessed it firsthand. This kind of behavior is absolutely unacceptable. Meanwhile, others—like staff from the bar and even a kind employee from the Italian restaurant—made more of an effort to help than the general manager ever did. In fact, she contributed nothing to resolving the issue and instead made it worse with her condescending, cold, and unprofessional demeanor.

This experience was not only frustrating—it was insulting. You automatically add gratuity to the bill, yet think it’s acceptable to laugh at guests, dismiss a valid concern, and put the blame on a child?

I will never return to this establishment, and I will be sure to share this experience widely. I sincerely hope you take a hard look at the general manager’s behavior, because someone in that position should be setting a standard—not tearing down...

Dear Shoma Bazaar Management,

I have always enjoyed visiting Shoma Bazaar as one of my favorite spots in Doral, where I was born and raised. The ambiance and environment have always been a great place for me to work, relax, and enjoy a cup of coffee or a meal. However, after today's experience, I am reconsidering where I invest my time, energy, and money.

Earlier today, I had an uncomfortable encounter with the General Manager, Juan Carlos, though I wasn't aware of his position at the time. I was trying to charge my laptop and was adjusting a bin in front of an outlet when a man in a suit approached me. Without saying a word, he waved his index finger in a "no" motion and then returned to his meal. Confused, I tried to ask if there was an issue with the plug or if I had done something wrong, but he ignored me he ignored me (mind you, I was less than 10 feet away from him), shook his head as if upset, and continued to dismiss my attempts to clarify the situation.

Eventually, when I managed to get his attention, he simply said "no" and looked away. He then stood up and entered the bar to wash his hands, which is when I realized he was part of the staff. I am not one to belittle anyone, and I always try to spread kindness wherever I go. I wanted to address the situation calmly and clarify if I had inadvertently caused any offense. However, I found his attitude and approach to be dismissive and unnecessarily harsh.

When I asked about the issue, he informed me that customers are not allowed to use the outlets to charge their devices because "he protects his space." While I understand that different places have different policies, this was the first time I encountered such a situation, especially one handled in such a disparaging manner. As I told GM Juan Carlos, i'll stick to my local friendly Starbucks or small-owned cafés that are inviting (and do not mind people charging their devices while sitting and enjoying their coffee or food), which he said, very evidently, "we are no Starbucks," and that is 100% true.

While this experience may not have had a significant impact on Shoma Bazaar, I wish for it to continue flourishing! However, it has left me feeling unwelcome, and I will be going to other local/small businesses where there is a welcoming, embracing energy. I wanted to share this feedback in the hope that it might contribute to a more positive experience for future customers.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sending positive thoughts to the entire Shoma team.

With...

Just as its name suggests, Shoma Bazaar, aims to bring several different kinds of food varieties, primarily centered around Latin cuicine, into a market-style common place for families to enjoy. Compared to its more upscale and better conceptualized cousin, Time Out Market, the place is without exaggeration a major disappointment. This one star review has been earned on several grounds: First, and the primary culprit, is a matter of value. The quality of the food is simply subpar, particularly when considering its high price tag. A small plate of three mundane, below-average flavor, and relatively uninspiring cuts of meat will set you back $50. You can get significantly better tasting meats at Texas de Brazil, Toro Loco, or Gauchos for the same price, or even cheaper. Attached are two photos of an item that immediately appealed to me, at least on paper: a $16 Cuban-inspired arepa containing cheese and pork grinds. I literally had to force myself to eat half of it since, as you can gauge from the photos, most of the pork grinds consisted of bland and flavorless pork fat. The cheese was not only relatively flavorless, reminding me more of silicon tablets than cow milk, but was also poured on the arepa as a cold melange that never quite began its melting process. Simply put, I would much rather gorge on a Cheese Gordita at Taco Bell, packing 10x the flavor, boasting better ingredients, and being 5x cheaper. To be fair, my wife and my sister-in-law ordered a plate of beef tacos that were decent, though I submit once again that they do not rise to their price tag (8 out of 10 times I would still pick a Supreme Taco at my local Taco Bell). The second issue with Shoma Bazaar has to do with customer service, or rather the lack thereof. Despite having a significant number of servers around each stall, and the place being relatively empty, the servers seemed untrained and unable to offer any kind of meaningful engagement with their clients, that is beyond heading to a table, yelling out a name a few times, and dismissively dropping off a tray table or two. They truly lost an opportunity, particularly given the rather informal and fast-paced setting, to have people offer small bites of food for folks to sample, or to engage families during the ordering or dropping off process to ensure that customers are having a good time. To wrap up, I will not be returning to SB anytime soon, at lest until I see more evidence that they have turned this place around, both in terms of food quality,...