El Nopal — Restaurant in Manchester

Placed a to-go order on Friday evening and was told it would be one hour, the male server I spoke with asked if that would be ok. I said yes that’s fine, and then the server voluntarily offered that if it were ready before then, they would call to let me know. I did not ask him to do this, he just said that they would. We live very close, so that would have worked out well. However, after we hung up I remembered the last time I had placed a to-go order, our food was cold when I picked it up at the quoted one hour, and no one had ever called me.

So I arrived at the restaurant forty minutes after placing the order, figuring that I would just wait inside for it to be ready. When I got there, there were a few orders sitting. I saw the ticket next to a bag that had my order on it, so I got in line to pay.

When it was my turn at the cashier, I told the girl working that I had been told it would be an hour, I showed up early and saw it was ready, but that I just wanted to make sure it hadn’t been sitting for long since no one had called. The girl was new, I think, and said she didn’t know how long it had been sitting.

As we were talking, an older woman walked by and stopped, talking down to the girl and explaining to her how to check the to-go orders. I even watched her tuck the girls hair behind her ear. The girl was clearly very uncomfortable with being infantilized and said she knew how to do it, but was fumbling with her words trying to explain.

I very politely re-explained what the girl and I had been talking about to the woman, that I had been told it would be an hour, showed up early, saw my order was ready and that I just wanted to make sure that my food hadn’t been sitting for long. (I have no idea where the guy was who actually took my order and told me he’d call me if it was done early.)

Before I could even finish explaining that last time this happened my food was cold and that was why I wanted to check, this woman snapped at me and was incredibly rude and condescending, saying that the orders had just come out of the kitchen. The way she said it was so unnecessary that I literally put my hands up in defense and said “woah, okay, I was just asking”. I was shocked, literally too stunned to speak, so I just paid for my order and left.

Once I got home and opened my boxes to find cold food, yet again, I realized how insane the interaction was. I was a polite paying customer, who was just trying to explain in order to make sure that I wasn’t taking home cold food, again, and absolutely did not deserve the way I was spoken to.

I served and bartended for most of my life, doing everything from fine dining to dive bar, and I would have never even dreamt of speaking to someone that way. Although we enjoyed your food frequently, we will NEVER return. There is no excuse for treating a customer that way. This is now Tuesday and I am still really bothered by the way I was spoken to.

Not only do you clearly need to re-examine the way you handle to-go orders, but you should also make sure your staff has decent enough manners to interact with the...

20 Years of Loyalty — Gone in One Visit

I’ve been coming here for nearly 20 years — first as a kid, now with my own kids. But after this visit, I’m done. There are plenty of good Mexican restaurants in the area to go to that sell pretty much the same food. When a place starts leaning on hidden fees + extra fees instead of quality and service, it’s not hard to take your business elsewhere.

Let’s start with the extra charges. There’s a fee for ordering a “grilled item” — even though nearly everything on the menu is grilled, and there’s no option to get it any other way. It makes no sense to charge extra for something that’s already the default. Even worse, the food didn’t even taste or look grilled. The salsa was just average and the chips were stale too.

Then there was an undisclosed credit card surcharge — no signs, no verbal notice, and not listed on the receipt before I paid. That’s not just shady, it’s illegal. Businesses are required to clearly disclose surcharges in advance and the amount on the receipt, and they can’t charge more than what they’re actually paying to process the card.

When I raised the issue, the server (who I later found out was also the manager) didn’t seem to care. I even gave him a cash tip out of habit, only for him to respond immediately after with, “Go call the cops then.” That level of dismissiveness and arrogance from someone running the floor says everything you need to know.

I’m not upset about the fees — I’m upset about the lack of transparency and the complete disregard for customer experience. If they had just been upfront and respectful, I wouldn’t be writing this. But hidden charges and a manager who can’t be bothered to handle concerns professionally? That’s a dealbreaker.

After two decades of loyalty, I won’t be back — and I’ll make sure others...

We have been going here for years and tonight was the last time!! I ordered 2 beef chimichangas with ground beef (for pick up), something that I order every time. My son said the lady that gave him the food was really nice. When I opened our meals I was surprised to see 3 half pieces! It wasn't the 2 smaller sized chimis that usually come with the meal. I called and spoke with what I would assume was the manager. He went to ask the kitchen what happened and he tried to tell me that this was common practice with ground beef. (Never had the before here) He also was trying to convince me that he was not ripping me off. He told me thay he couldn't credit my card but he did offer me a $10 gift certificate (total for meals was $26) or he could have the food remade and I could come pick it up. I explained to him that I would take the $10. He then backpedaled and started arguing with me, after he told me he didn't want to argue with me. I repeated that I was happy to come and pick up the g.c. and he continued to talk over me. I have to say, I am so disappointed! My family always tries to support small businesses but this is one business that we will never frequent again!! It seems to me that they are shrinking their portions and charging the...