Zócalo Folsom — Restaurant in Folsom

You have really high expectations when you walk into this place as the decor and ambiance is 10/10; one of the top 5 most beautiful restaurants I've eaten at. But the host and hostess were standoffish and cold. They start you out with Tortilla chips and a salsa and black bean dip. The bean dip was spicy and covered in parmesan [weird] and did i detect bacon? (Helpful to mention beforehand to those with food restrictions) and the salsa was fresh, spicy, and small portioned. We finished the salsa before half the chips were gone. Then we ordered drinks which were very strong (a good thing) and well presented. Then we ordered food, which was slightly more challenging than placing our usual Mexican cuisine orders as things are called by different names so be sure to ask if you don't see something on the [somewhat limited] menu at first. The servers were nice and helpful up to this point. The food came fast and was beautiful to look at. And this is where things went downhill. The enchiladas were smothered in a thick, very tomatoey sauce that drowned out every possible flavor in the enchiladas except for the parmesan cheese which was odd to have on an enchilada to say the least. I would have much more preferred a monterrey or even a mild cheddar. These tasted more like a cheese ravioli than an enchilada, truly. As for the side of rice and beans; while the rice was tasty and was a pleasant lime-cilantro version of the usual, the black beans were not a favorite accompaniment, lacking in flavor except a saltiness that didn't make them enjoyable enough to want to eat by themselves. Boring and tedious to eat. My husband's carne asada (called something else there) had great flavor and was tender and moist but the portion size was very small and didn't fill him up. It came served on a small grilled mushroom and topped with a grilled jalapeño which is passable as part of the meal, but only just. We missed the grilled onions and bell peppers that help bulk up a typical carne asada, especially with its smaller portion here. Still being hungry we asked for the dessert menu which had only 2; churros and something else not tempting enough so we passed. Then we waited [and waited] and waited for the check. The restaurant was not that busy to justify the long wait or lack of "checking in" throughout the meal. So customer service could use a boost for sure. The bill? Typical. But not worth the food or care we received. We chalked it up to paying for the ambiance. Really wanted to love this place, as it seemed a hidden gem in the folsom area, but sadly we...

'21/9 1st review/customer (in group of 12, outside dining area): -- All around could earn a 5 Star through inviting indoor/outdoor dining spaces, very good wait staff, and good food/drinks--not to mention fun sparkler candle in bowled ice cream-churro for birthday members of the party. Plus easy/plenty parking, and navigatable for the mobile impaired. The decent final bill price comes at the expense of quality service though (see below). . -- There are a few personal/consumer irks that dropped 1 star from the rating for this patron: 1.) Outdoor seating area's music was: A.) pop-like (vs. more authentic music to match the cuisine), & B.) too loud (perhaps to drown out East Bidwell traffic noise the outdoor dining area backs up to?). Either way, could pose a challenge for hearing impaired, and quite difficult for our table of 12 to converse end-to-end. . 2a.) Menu--overall run of the mill salads, bowls, plated/ala cart enchiladas, tacos, meat. 2b.) Menu--No shrimp/prawn dishes/choices. . 3.) While it's the sign of the times to QR code cell-phone scan & pull up a menu, it doesn't make it any more acceptable to also have to click on menu items to order AND pay when the point of a higher quality, sit-down restaurant is decent service. If I wanted to do that, I'd scroll through my local delivery service's app and eat it on my couch. . 4a.) Food brought to table by a "delivery person" (staff who has NO idea who ordered what at the table). While this up front doesn't appear to be an issue, it REALLY breaks up the flow of the table's conversation as the delivery guy arrives with food calling out what it's called on the menu (like we remember that after a few drinks)...and, one dish he called a soup to which no one claimed until they shot back some other possibilities (wherein he admitted he had no idea what the dish was). HUM, this is fast-casual server quality (where they just bring out food to table with a number marker posted at edge), NOT where 20% service tip by patron is expected. . 4b.) Another mixup created by this madness is the "deliverer" also has NO idea if the plate called out was special order. He just called out the menu name, to which the guest on my right claimed. As it turned out, the guest across and 3 down from me ordered the same dish but without the side of beans. The plated difference was not known to all until the second same-named plate was brought out (sorted out by table guests, NOT wait-staff). Oye vey! Gripe about tip issue spelled out above applies here too. . 5.) Paltry dessert menu: vanilla ice...

I am sharing my experience of trying to book a large party with both their Roseville and Folsom location. For reference, I myself grew up in the restaurant business, and then used to work for a fine dining steakhouse for almost 20 years as a server, a corporate trainer, and (you guessed it) their Banquet Manager. I have never come across a group of people more unorganized than the group of people that book large parties for Zocalo. The emails and contacts listed on their websites are out of date; this is not hard to update. When you click online to try and request more information, it brings you to a website page that is not working; unacceptable for a restaurant chain. If it's not working, then take it down and simply add a line that says to call the restaurant for more details. So I call the restaurant and ask to speak to a Banquet Manager; you can never just speak to one, you ALWAYS have to email them. I email them for details and dates at both locations, for the same party, trying to widen our options. The Folsom location is our preference, and Kendall (sp?) says that another party is booked for the same time and location we are requesting, but never signed a contract. So he was going to reach out to them every day (this was on a Saturday) and give them 8 full calendar days. If by the following Sunday, no one from that party had responded OR if they did and they gave him an answer either way, he would call me or email me by the following Sunday and let me know. I waited 8 days, but no response. I emailed Kendall, no response. I called the restaurant and was told to email him. I called the restaurant 3 days in a row and was told all 3 days to email him, which I did, no response, no phone call. With time ticking down for our event, we had to choose a different location. Fast forward almost 2 months later, Kendall just called me to see if I was still interested in coming in next week for my event....

Please do yourself a favor, and do not book a large party here. Smaller parties, date night? I'm sure they are wonderful. But if your party requires organization, planning, invitations, or anything of the like, please go somewhere where a seasoned and professional banquet manager can help you secure a date, take a deposit, help you choose a menu, and help you rest assured that your date is available for your event. This is mis-management at best, and unfortunately, soured our taste of the restaurant in general. Large parties take a certain finesse and Kendall and Zocalo just...