Del Taco — Restaurant in Irvine

Disappointment would be an understatement!!!

Last night, April 15th we stopped to pick up food on the way home from work at 9:34pm as we or I usually do two or more times a week. Upon arriving home, the tacos were so greasy the grease was literally dripping through the wrappers and onto the bag and the shells were so saturated they were falling apart at the touch. I called and asked if they drain the excess grease, and Christine became defensive and said they don't do anything to the meat. The food was inedible, so we drove back.

When we got there just after 10pm, members of the crew were in the parking lot working under the hood of a car and walked back in with us and didn't even bother to wash their hands before preparing food! We speak with Christine who has an attitude because she's offended that she thinks I accused her of doing something to the meat. I take the food out of the bag and placed it on the counter and now she becomes defensive. She picks up the fry box and said "Really" implying we ate some of them which I found to be nothing more than a projection because she was embarrassed. I let her know how offensive it was for her to even suggest that I would attempt to get over on Del Taco over a French fry! Are you kidding me!!

(Side note) If you look at other posts in the reviews others were complaining about half filled fry boxes so that's on Del Taco.

I kept my cool because I didn't want to be the typical ranting customer, but she was making it quite difficult for me, but I managed in spite of the fact that she was obsessed with defending her position repeatedly. She gave me a refund without so much as an apology or a remedy to the inconvenience of having to return.

The next morning at 9:38am, I called to talk this over with someone in charge and spoke with Cele and explained to him what happened. Without missing a beat, he says "So, what do you want me to do...do you want free tacos?" What! Did he not just hear what I said regarding the food, service and the way we were treated for the inconvenience? We can pay for our own tacos as we've done for years there.

Cele failed just as Christine did to understand the lack of customer service, inedible food and the inconvenience. I wanted a full throat apology that let me know he understood how offensive the entire event was, but he couldn't give it.

They have lost really good customers, not over one bad night but because of their inability to handle it with professionalism and understanding and the accountability for it when they failed. That is...

I ordered the number 5 and the number 10. Number ten is the macho burrito combo. I spent 15.60 here. I get my burrito and my wrapper looked like they wrinkled it up opened it and wrapped it with my burrito. I bit into my burrito and the taste was horrible. I got fries and they were cold and for some reason there was hair or fuzz on them. I lost my appetite right away. I called the del taco and left message. They called me back. The manager tonight 12/22/2018 at 4:52 was not helpful at all. She started arguing with me. Pretty much saying I'm a liar and there's no hair on the fries I just checked them. I did do the drive thru. I saw that there was one person working and no manager around. They said do you use credit card i said no cash. She said that's a big problem. She also asked Me if I walked here or drove like huh. What does that have to with my horrible food. I'm not a happy customer at all. Don't eat here the service is bad customer service is horrible. They also kept the fries out for hours you can tell when you ate them. I never talked to manager who didn't have respect for the customer. I couldn't believe how I was spoken to for there mistakes. Yelling at me over the phone. I dont want my money back or coupons. I want fast food restaurant to have pride in there jobs. People are spending there money for food. We want the best. We don't want hair in our food or fuzz. We don't want horrible wrapped burritos. We don't the wrapping that looked reused. We just want the food that we pay for to be great at...

Del Taco Review:

We stopped here to grab a quick breakfast before an early doctors appt and we wanted to eat inside the restaurant, but it was still a few minutes before the dining room was open. They let us in early and the restaurant was already spic and span. Every table was clean, the floors were clean, and the atmosphere was inviting. My husband ordered 3-layer nachos and after we finished our transaction he realized too late he had a reward for a free iced coffee w/purchase but we didn’t have money for another purchase. When our food was ready the the manager, Cele handed my husband an iced coffee and said “It’s on me.” and smiled. It’s this kind of clean environment and on-par, gracious service that makes an experience at one particular location of a large food chain...