Kalaveras — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I hate to write poorly about a business, but I did reach out to corporate directly after a bad experience last Wednesday, 08/02/2023. Waited a week without a response before posting to Google, OpenTable, and Yelp.

The first time I visited, 07/02/2023, was a great time. Loved the food (amazing chips, carnitas tacos, and custom mocktail) and service. Could not wait to bring more guests back and had been recommending. Last week, however, did not go well.

My guest and I sat in the area by the bar. Because the establishment was short-staffed, no one attended to us. After about ten minutes, my guest walked up to the bar to get us two waters. The bartender did not think to communicate that to a server. When I finally found the hostess, it took about another 20 minutes for her to locate a server. I asked that server to speak with the manager. I then caught her from afar snickering and pointing at us with the hostess. Had to ask a second time for the manager, 15 more minutes.

It was the manager's response that pushed me to write this negative review. Instead of apologizing for staffing issues, she (not sure the name, Wednesday evening shift) said, "Well, I can give you a discount, but you are not getting anything free." I had asked after a few minutes of back and forth what she could do for us at that point, and that was her response. My guest and I decided to just leave and go to Chipotle, instead. As we were exiting, she said, "Okay, bye", in what I perceived to be a rude tone.

As a trained professional in hospitality, I would hope she would work by the assumption the customer is always right and never to allow someone to walk out. I am reading similar reviews, with a copied and pasted answer by someone named Stephanie G. saying, "Sorry. This helps us [sic] improve." I think that response is telling; instead of apologizing and reaching out privately to rectify and actually address these issues, copy. Paste.

Anyhow, this said, I would have given the place a second chance during a different shift if I had heard back from corporate. If you go, I hope your experience mirrors my...

Yikes. What a disappointment. We have been so excited for a good Mexican place to open up in the neighborhood and this was really disappointing. First of all the main dining area is so loud, it feels like you are in a night club, and that’s truly not and exaggeration. The music was so loud my boyfriend started getting a headache and we requested to move to an area where it wasn’t so loud. We were not brought water until the food came and only after requesting it. The regular non alcoholic drinks were not on the menu, but I ordered a coke which was actually a Mexican coke and my boyfriend ordered an iced tea. The coke costed $7.50 and the tea was $4.50 - absolutely outrageous pricing.

The guacamole was $15 and was bland as f- we never got the chips and salsa when we sat down and after asking for salsa, it was like a smoky chipotle ish salsa, not my favorite.

We ordered two tacos and the diavola enchiladas - it all arrived ice cold and was just… bleh. All of it was so bland, no seasoning or deep flavor at all. The enchiladas were so bad and cold that I sent them back to the kitchen and they were taken off the bill. So we were charged $40 for an iced tea, coke, 2 tacos and guacamole appetizer. I would never come back.

They need to adjust the menu, make more small plates and happy hour options for the bar since the bar looks like where they will make their money. The restaurant is too big as well, with this food and ambiance they will never fill it.

Advice: Have certain nights that have a nightlife focus for young people who want to socialize and even dance. The rest of the week, put sports on the screens to bring in the sports crowds. IMPROVE THE FOOD. The food is bland and just not good. Weird combinations. Just take classics and perfect them. Don’t reinvent the wheel just to be cool. The enchilada didn’t even have cheese in it. Idk just revisit your revipes. FIX YOUR PRICING. The pricing is absolutely outrageous. They are acting like they are this hip upscale Mexican restaurant but the food and ambiance is horrible, and then you have a...

Saturday around 6pm.

Got greeted by a friendly worker, and shortly the manager or host of the space. The host showed us to our table. After waiting a while for a server to get to us, we finally place our orders for what brought me there, the flights. The guava flight was delicious and I was thinking of ordering a pitcher after having their delicious nachos. Which were very messy to eat with no napkins given to us. I looked around for napkins to steal from another table, there was none. Our server (whose name escapes my mind) had zero attentiveness, had an attitude, didn’t give us any complimentary chips but gave everyone around us chips. I sat under the ever changing ambiance of the wannabe sports bar establishment, thinking if me and my partner did anything to disrespect this server and receive this lack of attentiveness. Maybe they were short staffed. After a few conversations with friends on social media, they also can attest to the bad service in this establishment.

I really wanted to order a pitcher and chill outside as there is a seating area outside but the servers lack of attentiveness just made me go down the street to the AMC and spend money on overpriced Captain America’s Patriotic Punch instead.

To finish this bad experience, when I asked for the check, they charge your card right in front of you and stand in front of you to wait for you to tip. My bill was 60 and change. I tipped 6 dollars. “Do you want a receipt?” I said no it’s fine. “You can just add 6 to the total on that” as the server hands me the receipt.

My suggestion from a fellow customer service/host worker, leave your ego and problems at home when you come to work.

P.S. The music sucks, ya’ll Peruvian, stop trying to conform to the crappy music...