El Tiempo Cantina — Restaurant in Jersey Village

Was very disappointed with this visit 3 days ago on a Sunday night after a long 12 hour hard shift at work, as opposed to my visit here 3 years ago. Previous visit, prices were very reasonable, and the food was great. In a 3-year period, I cannot understand why the menu item I had increased in price by $8.00. Patrons are not there to pay extra money to help you recover your possible losses during the pandemic. Until you drop your prices way back down to where they belong, I promise I will not ever step foot in this place again. I felt very misled when I ordered the same item that I did last visit without even looking at the menu, as I wasn't expecting this 'surprise'. An a la carte item of a tamale is $6? Having a barcode scanner tag at the table to look at the menu downloaded on my phone afterwards to see how high up the prices have gone was a new stoop to a new low. I bet Mama Ninfa herself is rolling in her grave right now seeing these menu prices! And a la carte cheese enchilada is $7? Why? Those items taste about the same as many other family-owned Tex-Mex restaurants, and I am not going to pay more than twice the price for an ala carte item for the same quality. You're even higher prices than Papasito's! I honestly feel like I got ripped off and don't appreciate it! yeah you will probably cop out and say well you should have looked at the menu prices before ordering, and if I did that, we all would have left and gone elsewhere! the fact is I was used to what the prices used to be, and this was in unexpected and especially unwelcomed surprise! These kind of surprises I absolutely despise! While your food is excellent, your prices are absolutely terrible right now. Everybody knows prices on menu items should not go up between 35%-45% in a 3-year stent. Sorry, I have to tell it like it is. I did not want to leave three stars on here, but that is the fault of the business's management, as the prices are way too high!!!!!! Hurry up and drop the prices...

We went last night for a gender reveal dinner with close family. We had a wonderful experience until the bill came. I am 16 weeks pregnant and when the bill arrived the drink I had ordered was shown on the receipt to have vodka. When I ordered the drink I pointed at the mocktail version of the drink and did not mention any sort of alcohol be added to the drink. I read off the description to the waitress and pointed at the 6.99 price point. At the bottom of the menu it says add your favorite alcohol. But I obviously did not choose one of the options they had listed. Not only did the waitress go ahead and add in alcohol for me…she added the most expensive option on the menu. Obviously upset because her response was “oh my gosh” and then walked away, I asked to speak with a manager. The manager I will admit was a little better but we were still just given a basic “oops” response. I understand that it was probably my bad for not saying multiple times non alcoholic. And it was obviously my bad for not tasting the alcohol in the drink but three other members of our party also tasted it and couldn’t tell there was alcohol in it. I do not drink normally even before pregnancy and feel like I definitely would have tasted it or even felt the 2oz of vodka that supposedly were in my drink. So the question then became…did they just charge us for an alcoholic version of the drink, or did they actually put alcohol in it and we just couldn’t taste it because it was vodka. Regardless an “oops” response was definitely less than comforting. I am saddened that it happened as we genuinely love El Tiempo. I just really was disheartened by their response. Obviously I have checked with my doctor and all is well. But just assuming what alcohol and choosing the most expensive does not sit...

Compared to other similar restaurants in the area, this one failed in all areas. Service was below par. We asked for "no cheese" and a mix of tortillas (half corn, half flour), and she brought cheese and only flour. The pen she was supposed to write these things down with, left a mark on my shirt, as she had it sticking out like a cigarette when reaching for the menus. She apologized for the order error, and brought the dish back after having scooped most of the cheese off, but lots were still left in the sour creme. The flour tortillas were very greasy, the beans and rice both had an odd unidentifiable taste. The steak fajita pieces were small and few. We got the medium sized order that should feed 1-2 people. We both had 3 tortillas, and were able to put 2 pieces on each, so in other words, they gave us 12 pieces of steak fajita on an order for 1-2 people. They had mixed lots of onions in with the meat, I guess to make it seem like there was more meat than there actually was. The fajita order was $49, and a glass of iced tea was almost $4. The order of guacamole as an appetizer came on a very small dish that barely had any guacamole on it. That was $11. With tax and tips, it came out to $80. This is clearly overpriced, likely due to the location, and portions are tiny, and service bad. Oh, and in the middle of us eating this food, another lady came by and asked if she could remove our plates. We were clearly not done, so not sure if they just wanted us out of there and new ones in. Finally, the way this restaurant is designed inside, any and all sounds reflects back and forth on the circular brick walls, so it is impossible to talk to each other without yelling. We will not be going back here, but return to our trusted El Palenque, where the service, quality, price and atmosphere are all superior...