La Qchara — Restaurant in Melrose

I took my 5 and 3 year old to the Tuesday kids night yesterday and while I was grabbing some crayons and coloring books my 3 year old reached into a large hole in the seating bench and pulled out a classic mouse trap. Thankfully it was sprung and my kid was not hurt but I don't know if he sprung it and got lucky, or if it was already sprung when he picked it up. Either way I was horrified, because if it went off on one of his fingers they likely would have been broken. I brought the trap to the girls behind the counter and they said "sorry" and that they would let their manager know. I then went and checked the other large hole in the bench seats and there was another trap in there that WAS set. I let the girls behind the counter know in the hopes that they would remove it, or at the very least cover up the hole so another child could not reach in and grab the trap. Their response was "We didn't put them there, the pest control guy did.". When I pressed that they do something because that trap was very dangerous to children (as my 3 year old demonstrated) they just said "no. I called my manager and I can't do anything." Being fresh from my 3 year old being just luckily avoiding serious injury their refusals to do anything and stubbornness was infuriating as well as irresponsible. When a child's safety is in danger you should not have to wait for direction from your manager to take action. If they were afraid to touch the trap that's understandable but they easily could have covered up the hole. I let them know I would be sharing this online and with other parents they just said "go ahead".

We were regular customers there. The food and service was always hit or miss but we live in the neighborhood and liked it's convenience, plus the kids liked the frequent trains going by. We heard from friends that the owner is a nice guy so hopefully this is just a case of bad employees. Also, I was so caught up in my anger over my kid almost getting hurt and the employees doing nothing that I completely overlooked how disgusting it was that they required mouse traps in the dinning room. You can see how the food is stored through the glass door around the corner so I don't want to think about the sanitation issues they might be having in the kitchen. Regardless, I was extremely angry and disappointed so we will no longer be customers. I tried emailing the owner but there was no email on...

I’ve been coming here over 10 and have never had any issues, in fact I would rave about this place to everyone!

Recently I have felt extremely uncomfortable by the staff. Particularly a situation happened to me recently really bothered me:

I went in one morning for a sit down breakfast with my laptop. I had gotten arepas and they were delicious. I suddenly got called into a work meeting I needed to be home for, so I asked for a box for my leftovers. I politely asked woman working for a box and she said no. I was a bit confused thinking she did not hear me correctly, so I asked again and offered to pay for it. She denied again just saying “no”. Suddenly, a busser who heard my initial request came over with a box for me no questions asked. It became clear that the woman working was doing this on purpose to me. I was very uncomfortable and concerned that I did something to offend her. I have worked in restaurants so I understand how it can be tough and I believe in treating everyone with respect. I refrained from writing a review after that because I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Flash forward to today. I go in for a juice. She is there. She death glares me and then says something to the rest of the workers, they suddenly all get very rude to me. I felt deeply uncomfortable being there and it was really upsetting because I love it there. If I have done something to offend anyone, please tell me so I can correct the behavior. I am honestly really upset by this.

La q chara, tell your workers...

Update I spoke with their manager, Rebecca and she apologized for what she said was not the type of customer service experience she wants people to have at her restaurant. She didn't know why it happened the way it did but offered to give me a gift card to give them another chance. I appreciate the olive branch gesture and will try them again. I will add that the food that did come, was pretty good. We will be giving them another shot.

Horrible customer service experience. It started off with them being far later than what was initially quoted for delivery. When we received the food, one of the dishes was missing. I called to ask what happened and the woman told me they ran out of the material to make it so they just didn't make it. I asked why no one called to let me know to pick something else and she replied she was busy. I asked if she had refunded my dish and she said no. I asked if she was planning on it and she said no. I then asked for a manager and she said none were available. I asked for her name and she mumbled something then hung up. Incredibly unprofessional. I will never order...