Garufa — Restaurant in El Paso

It has been years since I posted a restaurant review but my experience at Garufa last night compels me to do so now. I am a businessman from Houston, and I fly into El Paso for 3 days every week to work with one of our clients. The colleague who accompanied me this week is new to El Paso and isn’t familiar with many restaurants here. I had eaten at Garufa some time ago and I enjoyed the food so, even though we are staying on the east side of the city and the restaurant is on the far west side, I suggested we go there. At about 6:20 p.m. I phoned the restaurant to make reservations for 2 at 7:15. The gentleman I spoke with advised me that while he could make the reservations, they really weren’t necessary since it was a Monday night and as they weren’t going to be very busy, we could just walk in. I told him that would be fine and would remove any pressure to get to the restaurant at a specific time. I asked him what time they close, and he responded 9 p.m. We arrived at Garufa at 7:30 and were greeted at the door by a young man. I requested a table for 2. He asked if we had reservations. I advised him no and told him that I spoke with one of his co-workers about an hour before who said we wouldn’t need them. He told us that because we didn’t have reservation, the restaurant was closed. I repeated conversation I had had earlier that evening on the phone, word-for-word. He repeated that the restaurant was closed but said he would speak with his manager. We waited for a few minutes and an older gentleman came up to us and identified himself as the manager. He asked what we wanted, and I requested a table for 2 and reiterated my earlier phone conversation in detail. He remained adamant that because we didn’t have reservations, the restaurant was closed. He then pointed into the dining room, which was about half full, and said that he was expecting 2 large parties and wouldn’t be able to seat us. This didn’t make any sense because both men had indicated if we had reservations, they would be able to seat us!!! Additionally, we were standing right next to the bar that had only 2 customers sitting there, with plenty of room to seat us but he didn’t even offer that! Overall, the manager was rude and not accommodating at all. The conversation had gotten a little tense and it was obvious that we weren’t going to be seated, so my colleague and I left. We drove all the way back to the east side of town and we went to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. There we had 2 awesome steaks, delivered with impeccable service, all without reservations. I will never go back to Garufa and, if anyone asks me about the restaurant, I will tell them they will have a better evening with better service if they just go to McDonald’s. The manager at Garufa badly needs training in manners and...

The pictures online do not reflect how classy, elegant and thoughtful this restaurant actually is. It is our favorite place in the city after going last night. We almost didn’t go because of the fact it didn’t look very upscale online….but we are SO VERY THRILLED we went. The dishes were extremely elegant, and so delicious. It ranks nicer then Ruth’s Chris even, which we went to just the other night as well. They have unique items like bone marrow and the best sea bass I’ve ever had in my life. The rack of lamb was also very good. The staff is professional, polite and not too quick but not too slow either. The ambience is romantic- such thoughtful decor, truly gorgeous interior and the live music (guitarist) which played in a romantic Argentinian style absolutely made the place. So very impressive. The only downside was the large TV facing the room. It’s supposed to be for their small bar, but it brings down the ambience of the place. It’s a bit loud and it is intrusive. No one sitting there is watching it, because everyone there is going for a romantic meal, not a bar scene. So everyone is trying to talk and focus on the people they’re with. Even the one single guy who sat at the bar the entire time didn’t watch the tv at all (and it was the Super Bowl!). Because that’s not this crowd. He was on his phone. And when you have a tv flashing in your face and on volume too, it does clash with the setting. But with that, we will be returning because of the other elements which make it so fantastic, and we are glad to have found this restaurant.

Edit: tonight (we went again), the volume was off the tv! Wonderful! Next I recommend turn the TV off. :) I also want to point out to people complaining about service speed and who are clearly American born and bred and I highly doubt they visit fine dining restaurants frequently. Fine dining is all about relaxing, taking a mini vacation and enjoying someone’s company for awhile. Fine dining should not be a rushed experience. South Americans and Europeans understand this better then Americans do, and they do not rush people as a standard rule. This place does not have bad service at all! It’s respectful and NORMAL service for fine dining and reflects the concept of valuing your time to talk to the people you’re dining with. The service is totally high quality (and I am quite picky about quality of service) and what I’d expect in a high...

The General Manager Broke a FEDERAL LAW and refused to honor our reservation that we had for at least a week because we had a Service Dog.

My husband and I arrived at the restaurant a few moments before our scheduled reservation and the way the GM reacted to us just walking in, he threw up his hands in utter disgust. My husband confirmed his name and party size, and the GM at first told us "I cannot serve the service dog." He then retracted that and tried to say that my service dog would be within six (6) feet of other tables, and we could not be sat due to the health guidelines/precautions of COVID-19. We were so hurt and angry that we were treated that way, that we left and went to a restaurant a walking distance away.

I called the GM the next day, and he stated that our reservation wasn't honored because my service dog was "jumping around" and when I called to speak with him about it, he was incredibly short with me, he stated "I do not want to talk about the dog anymore." The way that he handled the situation inside of the restaurant was unprofessional, cruel, and rude. His attitude on phone today was insincere, cold and rushed.

Glad to know that this is how you treat your Service members and their Families. This was a shock to us that anyone could be so disrespectful.

I HIGHLY recommend the restaurant next door to them, Mi Piaci Ristorante! They were MORE THAN ACCOMMODATING of my service animal, and their food...