Taqueria El Vecino — Restaurant in Georgia

So this review is long overdue after my last 2 visits, of which the last was a TOTAL NIGHTMARE due to being Incredibly Disrespected, Verbally Abused and treated in a Downright Abusive manner by their new manager Chris.

So let me backup here to give you the full story so you can judge for yourself what kind of a business this is.

I first started coming here back in the late Summer/ early Fall of 2023 on a Sunday for brunch and the food was good as was my server. Suffice it to say he is no longer there.

Then I started coming for dinner on a semi regular basis which evolved into a regular basis and most of the staff were nice to me especially a few of the managers.

As time went by Lindsey left and was replaced by Nick who was very nice to me.

So Brianna who was one of the other managers who also served on occasion went on vacation right around Labor Day as did I and when I came back I found out she had left as well and they have a new manager " Chris".

So that first visit under the new manager Natasha was my server and was very attentive so things went well or so I thought. Then I get the check and I question why I'm being charged TWICE for Iced Tea when I'm mixing sweet and unsweet like I always do. She tells me that she has to ring it in that way so I ask for the " manager" Chris.

He proceeds to give me a hard time and act like I should be indebted to him for being allowed to drink so much tea even though it goes down the drain when they close. He then says " you're gonna make a big deal over $2?"

So I just paid the damn bill and stayed away for a month hoping that the next time I went there he wouldn't pull that crap again especially after talking to the owner who said " he'd speak to him about it".

Round two: I go back a month later and of course he is there. So what I thought I spoke with the owner.

So Grant is my server and he brings me a pitcher of tea with the 2 mixed perfectly so all is going well or so I thought. I ordered a spinach and mushroom quesadilla and add black beans and extra cheese and it was delicious!!

Then I get the check. So check this out. Not only am I being charged for sweet and unsweet tea there is a $5 charge for paper with the word custom in parentheses!!

So I ask Grant about it and he gets the manager " Chris" who comes over and says what's going on. So I tell him I'm NOT PAYING THIS BOGUS PAPER CHARGE OR FOR TWO TEAS and that's when he tells me it's the " Managers Discretion" and says that he can do WHATEVER HE WANTS BECAUSE THE OWNER TRUSTS HIM " COMPLETELY"!!

I tried to explain my condition to him and he cuts me off and says " I don't have time"!!

He then proceeds to speak to me in a condescending manner and tells me I'm what they call a BAD CUSTOMER and that the other managers probably didn't have the " GUTS" to do this!! I told him you're REALLY SOMETHING and he smuggly says " I appreciate that"!!!!

Then things got interesting. I told him I'll pay for my food and one tea and his response was " you're gonna get Law Enforcement" involved??

I said I don't know if I'll EVER COME BACK AFTER THIS and he said I tell you what I'll take the $5 off of you agree to NEVER COME BACK!!

At that point I just paid the ENTIRE BILL and as I was leaving the server on the patio said " Have a Good Night Sir"!!

I told her that was impossible after I was so RUDELY DISRESPECTED, INSULTED, VERBALLY ABUSED, ETC. and she told me she had NEVER BEFORE IN HER LIFE HEARD A CUSTOMER TREATED SO BADLY EVER!!

I told her I was gonna talk to the owner about this because this guy NEEDS TO BE FIRED NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTS!!

And so here we are gentle reader. If you're STILL READING THIS I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. So rewind about 6 weeks and I make not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 Good Faith Attempts to reach the owner and due to space limitations suffice it to say I reached the owner on the 3rd attempt but he blew me off and told me to call him back the next day. When I did he wasn't there so I left my 3rd and FINAL MESSAGE AND OF COURSE I NEVER HEARD BACK FROM HIM!! So...

So let me preface this review by stating that this is my 4th visit in 2 months and my first review. This could have easily been a solid 4 or 5 star review because things started out great from the start!!

My server came out and introduced himself and was friendly. I placed my order and my food was good!! This was the first time I tried the chips and salsa and I was not impressed!! The salsa was watery. Both the red and green varieties!! My server Nathan was attentive AT FIRST but after awhile seemed to have abandoned me. Then the most perplexing thing happened. Other than me handing him my basket of chips early on he seemed AFRAID TO TOUCH THE PLATES, CUPS, ETC. ON MY TABLE AND IT REMAINED THAT WAY!! Finally I SAID SOMETHING and instead of REMOVING THE USED PLATES AND CUPS SO I COULD HAVE SPACE FOR MY CHECK HE HAD ANOTHER SERVER CLEAR OFF MY TABLE WHILE I WATCHED IN ASTONISHMENT!! Did he think I was SOME DEGENERATE OR HOMELESS PERSON?? Oh and he also had the audacity to charge me for a half and half tea, sweet tea and unsweet tea. When I saw this I told him this is unacceptable. I had him bring them separately after the first 2 as I was trying to make things EASY ON HIM!! UNBELIEVABLE!!

I FELT TERRIBLE LIKE HE THOUGHT I WAS A LESSER PERSON AND A WORTHLESS PIECE OF EXCREMENT!!

I still left him a very generous tip of 40% only because he was so nice to start out with but I doubt anyone else would have done so!!

To add insult to injury I noticed that all his other tables were THANKED AND HE WOULD SAY " ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR NIGHT"!! Of course I wasn't thanked let alone told to enjoy the rest of my night. I paid my check and sat a bit to finish my tea wondering if he was EVER GOING TO TAKE THE CHECK FROM MY TABLE!! After waiting about 10- 20 minutes I noticed that was not gonna happen!! At first I wasn't even going to mention the servers name because I didn't want to get him in trouble!! Then I thought if the owner should decide to respond to this review I'm sure he's going to ask me his name!! And you know what's really strange is that my previous 3 visits I had a different server each time and at least 2 of the 3 never introduced themselves or told me their name and yet they did maintain the table for me and...

This has previously been my go-to Mexican restaurant near Emory. I hadn't been there since pre-COVID until today. Honestly, if you are a restaurant owner that is this paranoid about COVID, just do to-go orders. They are literally seating people out in the parking lot, NO ONE eats inside. They don't have enough room for that many tables so they literally put tables in the parking lot, I thought I was on Candid Camera. Today was windy and cool, not comfortable for outdoor seating and looked like it could have rained any minute. So what happens when it is colder or starts raining? Had to shove our napkins and all light objects under other things or would have blown away. If you ask for a paper menu they won't take it back (I left mine on the table). So you can touch the pen to sign the bill but not the menus? Pens are COVID free? No more variety of salsa samples like before. Had to ask for specific ones and we never got the spicy salsa we asked for twice and wait staff kept confusing regular Cokes for Diet, the two women looked overwhelmed and frazzled. I ordered two cheeseburger tacos like I used to get, and they came out flat and in such fancy presentation it was almost impossible to eat them like a regular taco folded in half. Who wants to eat tacos with a knife and fork? Needless to say we were disappointed that another former favorite bites the dust. I will stick to the small joint near my home that manages inside dining in just as small of an area with no problems keeping people safe. SINCE I CANNOT RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THE OWNER BELOW: First, my name is LORRA. Second, we were told at the hostess stand that there was no inside dining at all. (Curly haired, heavy set girl). I asked her if inside dining was available at your restaurant and she told us no. Not that no tables were currently open, that it was not an option. So please speak...