Corralito Steakhouse (Airway) — Restaurant in El Paso

I am writing to express my profound disappointment with my recent dining experience at Corralito on Airway on Saturday, October 12th. I had hoped for an enjoyable evening, but unfortunately, the evening was marred by subpar food, slow service, and a glaring lack of managerial attention to what unfolded.

We had a reservation for 7:45 p.m. with seven people, and while the party size changed, the host, Barry, easily accommodated us. Our waitress, Wendy, was prompt and polite, ensuring drinks and appetizers were ordered. However, things quickly went downhill from there.

We placed our dinner orders around 8:20 p.m., yet it took over an hour for our food to arrive—this despite the restaurant being far from full. To make matters worse, we noticed other diners who arrived after us were served well before we were.

Now, onto the food itself: I ordered a 12-ounce ribeye, medium-rare, with an Amor salad. The salad was delightful, but that’s where the positives ended. The steak was a disaster—underwhelming in appearance, with marbling that was far below the quality expected of a $36 dish. It was bland and had a strangely acidic, aged taste, making it nearly inedible. It was as if no real care was taken in the preparation or seasoning.

My grandmother’s chicken enchiladas were even worse. The chicken wasn’t even inside the enchilada but merely placed on top, while the entire dish was cold. She couldn’t enjoy it and I had to stop her from trying to force herself to finish something that clearly wasn’t worth eating.

Another guest ordered a medium steak but received one that was almost well-done. When this was brought to the attention of the staff, a new steak was brought out—only for that guest to pull out of his mouth a five-inch black hair cooked into the steak. The entire table lost its appetite at that point.

Shockingly, the manager never came to address the situation. Instead, our waitress, who was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, had to manage our complaints on her own. Not only did the food fall far below expectations, but the lack of a managerial presence during such a blatant health and quality issue is inexcusable.

To add insult to injury, the billing process was also problematic, compounding an already terrible evening.

I am not seeking compensation or a free meal—I am writing this because I have seen this pattern with this restaurant before. Five years ago, I was unimpressed and hoped that things had improved since then, but they have only deteriorated. This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in El Paso, and I urge the management and ownership to seriously reconsider how this location...

Didn't like the snouttyness, but loved the steaks.

On the way, I called at 6:22pm, made a reservation to ensure a minimal wait. I was told 10 minutes over the phone. Once we arrived (6:35pm), we weren't greeted or even acknowledged.

At 6:38, we finally got to talk to someone, the hostess, they didn't count our reservation. We couldn't make one, per the hostess, "the time only counts when you arrive." What was the point of calling ahead or making it seemed like we made a reservation?, if we still had to wait.

After waiting 10 minutes (6:50), A group of 3 arrived 10 minutes later, they were given a table immediately. It was a slapped in the face. We were the only ones waiting, maybe it was because we didn't come in speaking Spanish.

At 7:01pm, after 26 minutes we were seated.

At 7:09, the waiter finally arrived, we ordered our drinks, but it was a struggle. The waiter had to lean over heavily to understand us, not because of a Language barrie, but because the customes and music were too loud. He was very knowledgeable and precise over the drink descriptions. We ordered 3 drinks. The noise did give us some privacy as we were still able to have a conversation.

At 7:11, we got our drinks, however just 2 of 3. The non-alcoholic drinks were rich in flavor, we were impressed. We were finally able to order and we decided om the Arrachera Steak (Signature House Steak) and the Rib Eye.

At 7:35, we got our water amd chips.

At 7:39, we got our food.... it was worth it.... The steaks were perfectly cooked. The food was amazing. Like, they have killer cooks.

I would understand all the shortcomings if this was a "hole in the wall" type of place, but we came to have a nice dinner date and had high expectations that were simply not met. This is supposed to be a high-end location, or at least it pretends to be, it isn't.

Overall, it turned out to be a nice dinner with amazing food, it just didn't have that premium feel we...

My intention is only to share my experience with this place. Me and my husband were very excited to go to this restaurant I have been there before and the food is usually awesome. However this last time I went there was Awful 😖. I was only expecting what I paid for. The food came out cold 🥶 but I overlooked it for some reason, then when I bit into the fish. It tasted sour and bland (no seasoning or salt). I decided to add salt hoping that would be that. So I bit into the enchiladas my husband order the cheese was raw it was like eating shredded refrigerated string cheese (very nasty). I was super super hungry at the moment🙃 and everything was horrible 🙃. By this time I am disappointed in the whole situation 😑 but still being professional and curtiouse. I let the server know I was unsatisfied with the food, so she brings the manager. Now the situation is already displeasing and the manager seemed like I just wanted free food or something. I was telling him the situation and he was not having it. He said because I ate some of the food all he can do is offer a military discount (btw I am military, I was already going to get a discount) I explained to him I only wanted to let them know so the next customers don't go through this. He was acting put out and offended that I even spoke up at all. Did not apologize or showed empathy. At this point I just want to go home. The server brings the check and doesn't come back for a while so my husband pays with cash and leaves they money and receipt on the table. As we walk out she stops us hastily and desperately (like we were stealing) and says did you put cash on the table. No thank you or anything just worried about money. The management and servers all look new. I prefer the old management. I felt so disappointed in this location 😞. I have never been through that ever. I would have taken photos but didn't come to mind I went in hungry and left...