PURE Taqueria - Duluth — Restaurant in Duluth

My fiance and I thought we would try out the Duluth downtown/Main St/square area, for the first time, for dinner. We have been to other PURE locations so thought that would be a good bet for the evening to scout out the area. We arrived around 8:45/9pm and were seated immediately. 1 server came over finally after about 10 mins and simply told us she would bring water and chips and salsa (but didn't ask if we wanted to order appetizers or anything else to drink). She was gone a solid 5-7 more minutes before another server came over and asked the opening questions again. We paused and told her another server had already asked us and she said "ok".

The second server came back with our waters and chips/salsa and asked if we wanted anything else to drink. I ordered the "Pineapple Shot" and she informed me if I wait for a train to roll by it would be $2. I asked her when would the train pass by but she couldn't tell me so I told her it was alright I would rather have it then and not wait. We also ordered an appetizer at this time. 10 minutes went by and the server brought our appetizer (she dropped it off quickly without asking if we needed anything) and as another 10 minutes rolled by I still had no shot and by then a train had gone by so my fiance tried to flag her down multiple times before getting the first (not our) server's attention to which she replied she would check on the shot. The second server brought the shot moments later with no apology even after I tried to lighten the situation by making a joke about the train having passed and waiting on it.

The food came out moments after but my fiance's order was incorrect. I wanted to wait for him to also have his food to eat but it took him another 5 minutes to get any server's attention even to get refills on our waters which also took entirely too long as we watched the servers laughing and talking near the kitchen. When he finally did the server realized the mistake and took the plate. Not even 5 minutes later my fiance's fish tacos came out and we started eating. I could not even finish my food, it was very under cooked and my fiance felt sick and became worse when we arrived home.

Needless to say having worked in this type of industry before if they were short staffed or anything in that realm on a Saturday night it would have been good for them to pull people from other stations to help because it seemed like those 2 servers were the only ones covering the tables and they were busy enough even that late. The original server was very nice the few times we had to flag her down to get anything fixed and kept making excuses that she got "cut" and that is why she didn't know she should be on our table. I can't understand why anyone would get cut on a Saturday night but this might be something for the Duluth location to revisit in the future. I definitely won't come to this...

I had dinner here last night with a friend. I looked online and saw photos of the menu and was excited to try it! I loved the layout of the restaurant--not too crowded, and the music they had playing was awesome. The service and food, however, was less than stellar. Our waitress was Liliana. She took our drink orders and brought them promptly. Although there was a problem with my drink that wasn't fully resolved (I asked for a sugar rim and was given salt...instead of a fresh glass, I guess they tried to rinse the rim but left most of the salt still on, so I had a very salty sugar rim...lol), this issue was not a big deal to me. Liliana took our appetizer orders...then disappeared. By the time the calamari and cheese dip came to our table, they were already lukewarm. I started to eat the calamari anyway (because it was seasoned very well), but Liliana did not bring us chips to eat with the cheese dip, nor did she bring us plates to share the appetizers.

After waiting for these items to be brought to the table, the cheese dip was cold. When my friend asked for fresh dip, she offered to just heat up the dip we already had. Ok, no big deal. However, when the cheese dip was returned, it was still only lukewarm at best. At this point, I was so put off by the disappearing act of our waitress, I decided to forgo ordering dinner and skipped right to the dessert. Now, the tres leches was AMAZING! I have NO complaints about that piece of heaven that was on my plate. But the espresso that I ordered with it was given to me...you guessed it...BARELY LUKEWARM. Lol. My friend and I kept looking around the restaurant to understand why weren't able to receive reasonably prompt service and hot food.

Because the food that I did have was well-seasoned and seemed like it would be great if I could manage to get it while it is still hot, I am willing to try this restaurant again. However, based on my first impression of service and food temperatures, I have to give a low rating.

Edit: Out of curiosity, I looked at the most recent low ratings, and it seems that poor customer service has been a complaint from multiple people. And yet, four weeks later (the time between the most recent review of poor customer service and my review), poor customer service is...

If there was a way to give a -* I would. I had the WORST service at this location. I have eaten here 3 times. My first time the server was nice, but not friendly. The 2nd time my husband and I went and the server was nice, but didn't come back for the basics - refresh water, ask if we liked our food, etc. He actually seemed annoyed when I asked a question. So I gave it one last chance thinking the 3rd time was a charm. My waitress, Anna, was rude. In addition the other waitstaff stared at me when I would try to get her attention. When she came to my table, they gave me dirty looks while she rudely talked to me. My tacos had onions and I don't like onions. What I ordered wasn't listed on the menu, but an item she described to me. I didn't hear her say onions. When I smelled them, I immediately asked her if there were onions on these. Her response - with much attitude "I told you there were onions on them. What is it you want me to do for you now?" Then, when I left they told everyone else to have a nice evening. Me - I got disgusted looks from the entire waitstaff.

I will NEVER go back and I am telling everyone not to eat here if you believe everyone deserves respect and fair treatment in a public place.

I hate to bring this up, go to this place, or to even think it, but I was the only person of color in the restaurant, EVERYTIME I went. It was like they were smiling at me, but it was fake. I felt so uncomfortable as I received glares and disgusted looks from everyone that worked there. Honestly, I went for the food. The Fish Tacos are delicious - some of the best in town. The service if you are of color, is questionable. I was hurt as each time I still provided a tip as I know servers work hard. Guess I am the not-so-smart one as they talked about me anyway, regardless of my tip. Not going back and thinking about reporting them to the Better...