La Carreta Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Londonderry

Extremely dangerous and unacceptable experience for anyone with food allergies:

I have a life-threatening dairy allergy, which I clearly communicated to our waiter—my fiancé was present and can confirm this. Despite this, the waiter only marked “no sour cream or cheese” on the order, but failed to notify the kitchen that it was an allergy—a critical omission, confirmed by another staff member who showed us the receipt (which would have noted the allergy had it been properly communicated to the kitchen, according to her).

My dish came with a side of lettuce, beans, and guacamole, where melted cheese was hidden in a section of the lettuce. I took multiple bites not realizing it was there, only to eventually notice a different texture in one spot and discovered a clump of cheese barely an inch from my fork and from where I had just eaten. I immediately dropped my fork and when I flagged the waiter, I told him there was cheese on my plate and that if I have consumed any, I could go into anaphylactic shock from it.

Instead of concern, his first response was: “We have no money here today.” I was stunned— No concern or urgency that I was in danger—but an immediate accusation that I was somehow trying to scam the restaurant.

Then, he stuck his fingers in my plate, grabbed the clump of cheese, flung it onto my fiancé’s (cheese-covered) plate, and accused me of planting it there myself. Unbelievable. I was horrified. No apology. No ownership. Just false blame.

I asked for the manager and was told no manager was available. When I approached the hostess counter, she pretended to be on the phone to avoid dealing with me. Eventually, another woman came over. I explained what happened, reiterated the severity of my allergy, and how dangerously close I was to a potentially fatal medical emergency—my throat could close—and only then was my meal removed from the bill. We paid for the rest, left no tip, and we left angry, shaken, and honestly, traumatized.

This is the second time that the same waiter has mishandled my allergy at this restaurant. Which is a documented fact, as I wrote a review three years ago with my other gmail account about the first time he was careless. This is not a coincidence—it is negligence. I had hoped the first time was a one-off mistake, but this confirms it’s a pattern of negligence and disrespect. This individual should not be working in food service, and this restaurant clearly has no proper allergy protocols.

I spent the entire night managing a serious allergic reaction with numerous anaphylaxis symptoms due to that trace amount of cheese— and I still felt the effects a day later.

I was on the edge of anaphylaxis because of a careless, dismissive, and accusatory server—and a restaurant with zero allergy protocol.

This wasn’t just a bad dining experience. It was a potentially fatal event caused by carelessness, denial, and a complete lack of professionalism.

I will never return. If you have food allergies, this place is a danger to your health. They should be held accountable—and that waiter should be removed from food service...

I have eaten at the Londonderry location many times over the past 4 years and NEVER in my life have I experienced such verbally abusive service from the waitstaff and/or total disregard by a manager on duty for the wrongful actions of their employees, as I did tonight. I order the same thing every time I go to this restaurant d/t dietary needs - grilled chicken quesadilla with no rice, no beans. And, a side of French fries. With that meal comes sour cream and guacamole. I speak perfect English. The server got the order wrong and I was served a chimichanga. Quesadilla and chimichanga do not sound alike! Having to send back the food, I waited for the right meal to be served. In the mean time, the server came over to me to accuse ME of ordering the wrong food! She did not stop there, she blatantly lied to me and my husband... she said "every time you come in here you register a complaint". I have NEVER once complained because I have never had any reason to complain. She did not stop there, but rather she went on and on blaming me for the order being wrong rather than taking personal responsibility in placing the wrong order with the kitchen. She NEVER apologized. My husband had to step in and tell her she was wrong and that she was lying! The waitstaff even tried to charge me an additional $6.00 for something that was included in the price of the meal. The manager on duty was not very responsive and could have cared less that I told her that we wouldn't be back. Having the wrong order is one thing, but to be blatantly lied about by the server to my face and in front of my husband, who knew she was lying because we always go together, was a step too far! We...

My husband and I came for dinner and each got a drink… Both were very strong and tasty. I got a skinny margarita with Milagro and he got Kettle One and pineapple juice. The chips and salsa were good - chips were thin, salsa was spicy. Our food was actually terrible, though. My husband got a steak quesadilla and really just didn't like it… I didn’t understand what the problem might’ve been as it looked OK… I tried a piece of steak and it was downright gross. Zero, and I actually mean zero flavor, and a weird texture… As you can see by the photo, there was a lot of steak inside, but it really was just nasty and tasteless. Quantity over quality might just be their idea here… My husband said he would not even feed this meal to our dog, which I think speaks to the quality as our sweet pup would love steak, LOL. I got fish tacos and to be 100% honest, they were also disappointing. Apparently they were supposed to have a signature slaw and salsa verde … They came with purple cabbage and pico… Not my favorite, would not reorder. I actually looked up the description once they arrived because I was surprised by the chunky tomatos … No way was it salsa verde. It came with three tacos, I ate the filling of one. The rice was very good if that counts for anything. I would eat the rice again but that is all I would recommend from our visit…. Also to note, there was a party behind us that thought it was appropriate to use the bar space next to me as their dumping ground for empty drinks, haha. I didn’t love that either. I would go elsewhere for food in the future but definitely recommend...