El Tarasco — Restaurant in Louisville

My family wanted Mexican food, and originally intended to go to El Nopal. Unfortunately they were packed to the brim so we decided to try out El Tarasco which is quite literally across the street.

Red flag number 1 was the fact that while El Nopal was packed, we were the only patrons at Tarasco. We figured why not give it a shot because after all, most El restaurants are usually similar in quality and food. We were sadly mistaken. Red flag number 2 seemed to be that there was only 1 floor staff, the waiter, in the entire building. None the less we pressed on.

I went in with low expectations and was still disappointed. The complementary chips were OK, but perhaps cooked too long and were tougher than expected. Drinks were not served in glasses, which in itself isn't a problem, but it meant that ordering even water was an extra dollar. You cannot ask for tap water. Chip refills, while complementary at almost every other Mexican restaurant I've frequented, were also another $1.25 to add to the bill.

The food was not particularly stellar either. The queso cheese that you'd expect dishes to be smothered in was watery. The nachos we ordered quickly became a soggy mess because the queso had no thickness to it. It was practically cheese flavored water. Likewise the mushroom quesadilla had so little cheese we had to visibly inspect it. It was not immediately clear. We also ordered a set of 8 chicken wings, which was supposed to come with celery and ranch. They did not, and when we asked for ranch we were given a packet of ranch you'd get from McDonalds. Also, all the sour cream we had seemed to have been cut with water. It was very runny.

Our waiter was not particularly good at her job, and there were a few misunderstandings where we needed to repeat ourselves multiple times. She was at least nice.

I only give it 2 stars because I ordered the Taquitos Mexicanos and actually liked them more than El Nopal's. And their spicy salsa actually had a little kick to it. But, everything else from the depressing atmosphere, subpar food, and the nickle and diming made the experience wholly unenjoyable. You're better off just walking across the street...

We actually called the store while we were sitting there. (We were the only table in the restaurant.) It was a joke, but the server was rude, "I'M BUSY CAN't YOU TELL?!" With the phone still in her hands when we asked for more salsa and chips. We've been here before and it's this same server who complains about not having enough to get-by with her kids, expecting a higher tip.. I get it. But when we went back this last time and this person never checked on us- asked us if we needed anything after food was dropped, or just in general being nice. I don't like the service and I definitely didn't appreciate her over speaking me when I was trying to order, and this person not even listening to what I wanted when I stated it twice. then speaking to me in a demeaning manor. You never tell- OR YELL at your customers that "I'M busy! what You want??!" ESPECIALLY when we were the only table in the entire place, yes it was a joke, but clearly this person could care less and was rude and nasty. Theres a reason they are slow and never have a lot of customer's. Because it's not about customer experience, it's about how easy we can make it on the...

Worst experience ever!. My lady and I were seated in the rear room and no other tables were seated in the rear yet. The chips and salsa were next margaritas came at the same time 3 other tables were seated. At this time we are ready to order and the server takes order from the last seated table. I let that one go, then she goes to take the order from the table that came after them and I asked why we were not having our order taken and she told me to hold on she was busy. That pissed me off and I asked for my check and she asked me to hand her the menus, I told her to get them herself and left. I'll never be back. The only reason I am putting 1 star is it won't let me review without a star rating. And the Margaritas tasted...