Chelo's Taco & Burrito Express — Restaurant in Island Lake

SHAME ON YOU! - We visited on 08-13-2018 at a quiet time of the afternoon to utilize an "Entertainment 2018 Book" coupon for a buy one get one free offer with up to $9 savings. We presented the coupon and ordered two "King Burrito Dinners" for $9 each. The waitress wrote it all down on paper as we pointed it out in the menu so there's no confusion? Our meals should have came with sides of beans, rice, lettuce and such to fill the plate and make it a dinner. All we received is two smaller than average burritos that sell for $5.95 and presented to us on a big dinner plate with plenty of room to spare which should have had me realize that they didn't give us what we ordered, but I was too uncomfortable with the "issues" they had with accepting the valid coupon offer we presented. We did receive some chips with a small amount of salsa before our meal as we expected and the food was good overall. You (Owner?/Manager?) "BICKER" with new customers who patronize your establishment and cheat us with smaller portions and withhold part of our order while charging us for it so you don't give us the true value in your advertised offer. What should have saved us $9 at best saved us maybe $2 and then factor in an undeserved tip given for such crappy overall service. I'm definitely on the loosing end of this transaction. I might be back in the near future during a busy time with a similar coupon if just to give them the same uneasyness they gave us upon our first and probably last visit. Shame On You !!!

A Response To The Owners Reply -

First off... You still got our order completely wrong after the waitress wrote it all down and we even pointed to the pictures in the menu to avoid any miscommunication. You both were so concerned during our entire visit about a VALID coupon that you didn't care to come close to giving us what we ordered or charging us properly for what we received. You cheated us. I guess that's your example of great service and prices?

Second... Advertisement costs money wether it's TV, Radio, Billboard, Newspaper or someone holding a sign out in the street. NO ONE is ever going to just make up advertising for YOUR restaurant for FREE. Make no mistake about it... YOU paid for it. It worked in getting us into your establishment and you back down and didn't care to live up to your obligation without making us feel uncomfortable like we did something wrong... Well we didn't... YOU DID... Oh by the way... It's a book not a magazine... "Entertainment 2018" is published yearly (30+ years that I know of) and is sold as a fundraiser for groups & charity and also sold online. New issues come available Nov/Dec and are valid until December 31st of that issues year. So here we are in AUGUST 2018 you want us all to believe that in all of Chicagoland with all the people with these books out there, We were the first you've ever seen of this coupon that we presented... Yeah! Right! Now who's honest and...

As someone who has been a loyal customer for over a decade, it is sad to see how the owner treats her customers, over petty things.

A little over a year ago, I was told I could only get 1 salsa cup per taco and for each additional cup, there would be a charge. Fine. Times are tough, I get it.

Today, I bought 6 tacos, and asked for 6 salsa cups. The girl at the counter was about to give them to me, but hesitated. She then claimed that I would be charged for "extra cups". I said I was confused, as I am allowed 1 cup per taco. She claimed that it was 1 cup for every 2 tacos. I asked when this went into effect. She lied and said that it has always been like that (It hasn't, I picked up food there like a week ago). I asked how much more it would be and paid it. I politely suggested that they could cut down their contrainer costs if they filled them more than half way. At no point did I raise my voice, say anything inappropriate, or harassing...

As soon as I get home, I receive a phone call FROM THE RESTAURANT. I answer and the owner immediately began scolding me about how if I want extra salsa that I need to pay for it. She then accused me of yelling at the counter girl, while ironically yelling at me on the phone. I tried to explain that I was talking in the same calm demeanor as I am on the phone, but she kept yelling/talking over me. She then said that if she sees me again, that she is calling the police! ...Over salsa...

That will not be necessary because I was already planning on boycotting that business. I've never seen an owner treat someone so poorly about something so minuscule. More concerned about $0.25 worth of salsa than the $50-75 per month that I was typically spending there.

I hope she resolves her personal issues, which are causing her to...

We presented a valid paper coupon from an "Entertainment" coupon book BEFORE ordering at Taco & Burrito Express. They said they'd honor the BYGO offer even though they claimed to have ZERO knowledge of any relationship with "Entertainment". They then proceeded to give us obviously smaller sized servings along with not including everything that should have came with what we ordered. These actions by Taco & Burrito Express had caused us to basically pay the regular price for "lesser versions" of what was advertised saving us NOTHING. The tip we left wasn't at all deserved because they took our order wrong in the first place, they passed off SMALLER PORTIONS and they did nothing but leave us feeling as though we (or Entertainment) were cheating THEM the entire time we were there. Someone is not telling the truth or being honest. WHICH IS IT... Taco & Burrito Express -or- Entertainment ??? I think the all the evidence leans towards Taco & Burrito Express doing all they could to cheat us out of a valid offer they didn't want to honor. Had we not been the ONLY customers in the restaurant at the time they would have not treated us as they did. They made for a totally unenjoyable experience for...