Bossa Nova Brazilian Cuisine — Restaurant in Lawndale

The service at this place was the absolute worst I have ever experienced anywhere. Never going back.

This is in response to the owners request for additional information.

We arrived for a small birthday gathering. There were two tables. We sat at the empty table. We waited for approximately 15 minutes and no server ever approached the table. I flagged down a server who pointed out our server and advised me that she worked a different section.

Two or three minutes later our server came to the table. We gave him our drink and food order.

I ordered water to drink. Not one time did the server come back to refill my water. Not once.

I asked about a dish - I can't take a lot of spice. The server told me that it wasn't really hot/spicy. I ordered it. The dish had good flavor, but the spice hit the back of my throat and I knew I was in trouble. I flagged him down with tears in my eyes and told him that I could not eat the dish. He took it away and I ordered another dish with no spice. It took quite some time for the second order - not their fault - and in the interim I nibbled on other things at the table.

By the time my food arrived - delivered by the female server who previously told me she worked a different section and couldn't or wouldn't take our order - I was no longer hungry and asked for a to go box. She didn't even acknowledge my request and walked away. I was very confused. She came back a few minutes later with a box. So, she heard me. She just chose not to actually acknowledge my request.

We were there for approximately 2 -3 hours. In that time he never even came back to ask us how the food was or if we needed or wanted anything else. I was so thirsty and was never even offered a refill of water. I finally got up and found two containers of ice water sitting on a cart just to the side of the table. Frustrated, I poured myself a glass of water.

As the night wore on, I asked for a bag for the to go box. That request went unfulfilled. Eventually, someone in our party retrieved a bag from that same cart sitting next to the table. It was literally a few steps away and the restaurant staff could not be bothered.

After such lousy service we had to pay a mandatory gratuity of 21%. Yep. 21% tip for absolutely lousy service. I don't even think you could call what we received service. The server was completely inattentive.

And really. The food is just okay. Not awful, but not great. The mashed potatoes taste like they come from a box. They do not taste like fresh from a potato mashed potatoes at all. If I could take spice, the first dish was quite tasty. I took the second order home and didn't even eat it because I was just so done with...

I come here most of the time. However, today was the worst experience of my life. Placed an order online like usual. Arrive to pick up my order. On the app it stated that my order will be ready around 6:03 PM. When I arrived, it was 6:05 PM. It was a young lady and a general manager by the name of Gabriel. They both assisted me looking for my order and they told me they couldn’t find it. However, Gabriel got frustrated and told me that he does see my order and I asked how come it’s not ready he said well if you didn’t take too long to pick it up, maybe we wouldn’t have sent it back to the kitchen with an attitude ! Stated Gabriel. I ask why is he yelling at me? I also showed him my app and showed him that it’s only 6:05 PM and the time for pick up was 6:03 PM. He told me you need to sit back down pasta only takes 10 minutes. At that very moment the energy was so intense and I felt very uncomfortable, but look in his eyes made me feel so scared and uncomfortable and I lost my appetite. I spoke with the manager Francisco about it and ask him is if he can talk to the person named Gabriel, which I didn’t know that was the general manager at the moment and asked him for an apology because I felt very uncomfortable and I still had to wait an extra 20 minutes to get my food . They had to cook my food all over again. When I got my food, Francisco stated that Gabriel was not going to give me an apology and Francisco, apologize for him, and told me that Gabriel was wrong for what he said to me and that he heard what he said to me and that he sincerely apologize for him because he wasn’t going to do it himself. I will never want anyone to go through this experience . Gabriel continue to greet Guests , and sit others down and walk past as if nothing ever happened I felt I was racially profiled I hope that corporate can take care of this . I hope no one has to go...

We tried out this new location this week. It has about 10 dedicated parking spaces behind the building with only one way in and out. The environment is cool, but the setup was confusing. This is not a traditional sit down restaurant. Nobody greeted us at the door - the free coffee tasting woman actually acted as the host even though she doesn't work there. She joked that "they said they would have to put me on the payroll if I keep doing this" -- which to me is a huge sign that they have a problem they need to address. Finally, someone came up to our table and informed us that we needed to order at the counter and then sit down and they would bring out our food.

At the counter I asked about food allergies per the instructions on the menu and was told to tell them what I wanted and they would tell me if it had that allergy in it. I asked for a few of my favorites, but they said no to all of them. Just FYI - they include gluten in most of their food/sauces, even in things that are typically free of gluten. I asked if they could give me a suggestion on what I could eat that would be safe but there were no suggestions given. Due to this, I only ordered a small appetizer for the family and left to go to another restaurant for lunch. The appetizer was not up to the standard of taste as it has been at the other locations.

I love this establishment and have been a loyal customer over the past 10 years prior to my gluten allergy. I would highly encourage the restaurant to consider having some options other than the listed Vegetarian items to meet the needs of customers that might need to avoid certain items. Even having a few choices is better than turning a...