El 42 Cantina — Restaurant in Issaquah

Positive comments first…. Food was good- carne asada x2; burger: halibut ceviche and tacos. Food was seasoned well and cooked to specifications except for ceviche which was somewhat bland. Definitely couldn’t taste the jalapeños. Overall we would eat here again except for the customer service is horrible. Our waitress that night was working too many tables therefore we had to wait on ordering another round of drinks. The real issue comes after we left the establishment. I noticed I had left my purse (or thought I did) at the table once we arrived back home. I tried to call, and no one answered. I left a message, went online and left and message through their messaging system on their website no response. I left another message the next day first thing in the morning no response. Called at 4 PM when they opened the next day and when Madison answered and I told her why I was calling she immediately told me she did not have time to look at that moment, but that they did have a lost and found, and she would look when she had time and call me back. This would’ve taken 2 minutes to look in the lost and found and check, however she couldn’t even take two minutes. she called back 35 minutes later to say that she did not find the handbag, but if they came across it, they would give me a call. I called back and I asked if I could speak with the manager and the next young woman told me we have already asked Mike and he didn’t find it either. I asked if they had cameras available and she said yes . I asked if she could please have Mike call me so that I could at least see if I walked out with the handbag on my arm. I waited for Mike to call me back which he did not. So I called him again the following day and sent an email To The email given to me on their answering system. Again, no response. When I was talking to the second young woman, she mentioned that they did have A company that came in to clean the establishment at night and perhaps they took it. I quickly told her that anyone could And that I didn’t think that it was appropriate to accuse their cleaning Company. Part of my reason for this review is I am in customer service on a day-to-day basis and if a concerned customer calls myself or my office I know that at that moment in time, they made a choice to visit my establishment and if they have questions or concerns, I need to be prompt with my response and make sure that I treat them with respect. Small businesses rely on customer service and we don’t treat our patrons respectfully.then we lose clientele.

I eat atJak’s At least 2 to 3 times a month and their service, food, Employees and management are always top-notch. Unfortunately.El42 Cantina has missed the mark on customer service. And their management is lacking in customer relation. 3 days and still don’t have a call back from Mike...

Our waitress was very nice. My wife spilled her drink into her tiny half order salad and lost both after eating only a tiny bit and our server (who was the only taking care of the whole section was super fast) brought fresh drinks and salad for her! She was very friendly and attentive and fast.

Warning. There is a lot to improve in this place. If you want authentic Mexican food this is not the place to go. Almost gave 3 stars but the churros with ice cream + the waitress made our experience to 4 star!

Food wise their peanut sauce is excellent. Can't tell if it's from a bottle. It probably is.

But my margarita was mediocre (super spicy could not really taste the guava syrup supposedly in it, and expected a better glass than the cheapest generic glass for the price). Generally their drinks have lot of synthetic tasting feel to it.

The "fresh" plantain chips are not warm as you might expect but cooked earlier and cold. They were crisp but tasted burnt.

The fish in my fish tacos supposedly fresh tasted rubbery and fishy. Seasonings on tacos tasted incomplete and bland for a "Mexican" place.

But the worst part was the "red" generic salsa which was not fresh. It definitely was from a bottle or made a few days ago. Not fresh tomatoes. Then mushroom tacos were better with good quality premium mushrooms but lacked the good salsa again. Nor much on it except the same cheap red salsa dots (see photo of salsa).

Taco used for tortilla was mediocre too. Not bad. But not what you expect from reviews. Cold and dry. Was not even warmed out of the box or wherever it came from. And boy the salad was tiny! Even for a half portion. Had two tiny pieces of avocado. Not even a quarter of an avocado though it tastes ok.

I normally don't do reviews if food is 3 star but give me our expectations from reviews (made 3 trips to get in) I was a bit underwhelmed compared to other places in greater Seattle area, and yet service was great so had to do this detailed review.

For me, I won't go back just because for me food...

My first visit was October 28th, sitting alone at the bar. I noted that the bar stools did not fit well in the space allowed at the bar. Based on available space, two of the bar stools should be removed, leaving four on the left and three on the right.

When going to a Mexican restaurant I always try an enchilada or one of their signature dishes. On this visit, I had the enchiladas verdes with lobster and shrimp. The food was plated and served somewhat cold, with the cheese already congealed on top. The server even noted that the enchiladas looked dry and customers that like enchiladas typically order a side of sauce or extra sauce. The dish was served with one large serving of rice and refried beans, and a slice of lime. I was a little surprised that the dish did not have any greens, even a fleck of cilantro nor was salsa offered. I did try two different types of salsas and they were fresh and well prepared. I had a tempranillo that was undrinkable though. I did arrive shortly before closing, suspect the food will be better at brunch or earlier in the evening. I rarely leave negative reviews, but this one was worth noting. I will try this restaurant one more time at brunch or earlier in the day before making a the...