Mi Pueblito — Restaurant in Houston

I’m writing to express my deep disappointment following my recent visit to this establishment. As a long-time customer who has enjoyed dining with there over the years, I was extremely let down by the service we received this time—and unfortunately, it may be our last visit.

Upon arrival, we informed the hostess that our party consisted of four people. She noted my phone number but did not ask for a name. We were told the wait would be approximately 10 minutes, which was completely reasonable. However, shortly after, a group of ten and then another couple arrived. Despite also being told it would be about a 10-minute wait, the larger group was somehow seated before us after a brief conversation with staff. That was disappointing, but we chose to be patient.

Moments later, the hostess began calling out a different name and gesturing toward where we were seated. I clarified that it wasn’t us, as she had never taken our name in the first place. She apologized and we were seated shortly after.

Once seated, our drink orders were taken—but that was the extent of the service we received. Multiple tables that arrived after us were not only seated but had their orders taken, meals served, and were finishing up as we continued to wait—without even being acknowledged by our server.

After over 45 minutes of being ignored, we flagged down a manager simply to pay for our drinks so we could leave. When we explained the situation, the response we received was a brief apology and a statement that the restaurant was “very busy.” While I understand the challenges of working in a high-traffic environment, that response felt dismissive and lacking accountability. A simple acknowledgment that things were running behind, or an occasional check-in, would have gone a long way.

To illustrate just how poor the experience was, the table behind us—who arrived after we did—had completed their meal by the time we left, without having even placed an order ourselves.

I sincerely hope this feedback is taken seriously. I’ve always enjoyed this place in the past, which makes this experience all the more...

This will be a very strange one-star review in both Google and Yelp. I do reviews on both but not very often and I'm pretty sure every time I've done one it's been five stars out of enthusiasm. It is strange because I am not complaining about the quality of the food, the service, the atmosphere nor the employees. And I'm not going to complain about the prices because frankly inflation has made it expensive to eat out anywhere.

This is my wife's favorite restaurant. We have been here a number of times without incident. Today I believe the manager was making the rounds to chat with customers and when he approached our table he noticed my plastic bag with five habanero peppers in it. My father was from Mexico so I'm half Mexican and I love picante.

The manager told me that I cannot eat my habanero peppers and it is prohibited to bring in outside food. I commented that it's not as though I were bringing in a bag of hamburgers from a fast-food place or any competitor and that these peppers came from my refrigerator and I tend to eat habaneros with almost every meal. In short, he said the rules are the rules and I put the bag in my pocket.

He did tell me that they have Tabasco and jalapenos. I told him I quit using Tabasco when I was 13. I have been bringing peppers or extra picante hot sauce to Houston restaurants for 40 years and love to joke that I pack heat. Not once have I been told it is unacceptable to spice up my meal to my liking. My wife is from Colombia and I am well aware of the fact that most Colombians do not like spicey hot food. She told the manager we will not be coming back.

Maybe we will. If we do, I will chop my habaneros, leave the bag in my pocket and discretely put them on my food to spice it up...

If you are looking for a place with authentic Colombian food this is it it is pretty pricey but what to you expect from a exotic place dress code casual so let me brake it down for you guys food has great flavor and the pastry selection is big you got from classic sweets to more modern with a twist I had the chocolate moose coffee cup it was delicious the chocolate had a great balance not to sweet or bitter the lemon moose was acidic yet sweet for my diner I had the fish salad and a arepa fish was great needed a bit of lemon pepper but the dressing made up for it the salad was great that dressing was almost like a pesto and I go to say big fan over here the arepas were delicious and the empanadas were too a bit oily but good now this is where the 5 stars become 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Because of costumer service the waiters have a bit of a attitude and smart mouth so that’s my only complaint and we’ll also when I was in line with my mom the waitress skipped us so that was rude. Now if you are hungry and you wanna get your food fast this is not the place it honestly gets really packed and well if you want good quality it takes time so you gotta have patience here . It is a family friendly environment the menu for kids is great and the lemonade is made out of scratch not too sweet at all so is perfect for kids umm is pretty clean and you can see the chefs cooking in the back which is pretty cool now will I be coming back we will see I do love Colombian food and foods from around the world I’ll keep you guys...