El Porton — Restaurant in Memphis

I have not eaten at El Porton in many years. The last time was at the Bartlett location and the food was delicious, the server was attentive and the service was great. Recently, while visiting another restaurant in the area, I noticed a location on Poplar.

I visited the Poplar Plaza location on 03.23.2023 during the 1400 hour to place a carry out order. I walked in, the young man at the podium addressed me to ask, how many? Not a hello, nor a smile. One other gentleman walking to counter, greeted with a hello and smile, advising that I needed to place my order at the counter which is the bar.

The young lady at the bar stated, I am ready when you get ready to place your order. I knew what I wanted due to looking at the menu online. I proceeded to place my order, which was a fairly large order. This young lady never made eye contact and there was something about her persona that was not quite right. I continued to look at her to see if she would make eye contact. On my fourth order, I decided no, I am not buying anything here. As I enter an establishment where I am spending my money and someone looks at me and not address me in a manner that they are excited that I decided to eat there, as well as the person taking my order and not giving me any eye contact. No I can not support your business. As I walked away, the young lady yelled something at me. I am not familiar with the dialect, but I am sure that it was pretty bad. I never turned around, I kept walking; however, another worker who was smiling as I was leaving gasped so loudly, her smile was no longer there, completely gone. She threw the towel she was holding down on the table she was cleaning, folded her arms and stared at the young lady. She stopped clearing her table, stunned and looked at the young lady for a long time. She was not pleased at all.

Not sure if El Porton wants this person to be the face of their business. This behavior was totally uncalled for, and I am sure that this is not the first time this has happened. I decided not to place an order, I have a choice as to where I want to spend my money. I am quite sure that she may have said something racist. I plan to have this incident investigated. The reaction of the other worker said it all. I will not be returning and will make sure that I let everyone that I know that this is not the place that you would want to spend your time or money. Whatever happened to service...

The food was decent but a little overpriced. I got the rojo burrito. Cut of beef was good but under seasoned. Rice and beans were good. Service was great and our waiter was very friendly. We went around noon, but the restaurant is very dimly lit so the atmosphere wasn’t great.

Also, they add 18% gratuity to your initial bill, which is fine, but they should advertise that to the customer. We were a party of 3 at noon and gratuity isn’t usually automatically included at that party size/time of day. However, the main issue is that this restaurant will charge a gratuity on your bill and then request an additional 15-20% of gratuity.

For example, if your bill is 80, they automatically add 18%, which is around $15, so your bill is $95. However, they then have a “suggested gratuity” at the bottom of the receipt based on the $95 (gratuity included)instead of the $80 and the receipt has a “tip” line as opposed to “additional tip” that most other restaurants use when doing auto grat. Very easy for someone to double tip. Sneaky practice.

Otherwise, food is decent and service is good.

Edit: we have gone back several times since our last review, and the food and service, once again, is good. But still there is a sneakiness for tipping. The server will bring out an itemized list of the food and the included gratuity. (Every ticket gets a “service” charge). Then when you pay, they take the itemized receipt and bring you back just the signature receipt so you can’t see the itemized gratuity. The signature receipt does not have an “additional tip” line. Just a “tip” line. Tricky to people who weren’t paying attention that they already tipped. I wonder if the restaurant actually gives the servers the gratuity or takes it for themselves.

Here’s a bit of advice:

When your servers take the ticket for payment, come back with the signature receipt AND the itemized receipt and tell them that additional gratuity is appreciated but not required. Cmon now. But good food...

I have dinner with a dear friend every Sunday. When asked where I wanted to go we chose El Porton. We were seated in a corner and I went to wash my hands. I came back and the chips and salsa were on the table and my friend told me he ordered us cheese dip. Our “server” brought an ice tea for my friend and asked what I wanted to drink. I got a margarita and my friend said bring one for him too. Our “server” didn’t ask what size, he just left and brought a small one (I thought ok whatever). Still didn’t bring the cheese dip… moments later I asked for our dip, he pointed to his head and shrugged it off. Brought the dip. We then ordered, I got the locos chicken burrito and my friend got the chicken fajitas. Our “server” walks away and then comes back and said “you wanted the beef burrito right? I said no chicken and if you get a chance, can you bring me a water please? He said yes again pointing to his head and shrugging it off. The robot brings us our meal and he puts our dishes in front of us. Mine is right but my friends was wrong he brought steak fajitas. We get his attention again and asked if this was steak he said yes, my friend said I ordered chicken. Again, he points to his head and shrugged. I began to eat my meal because I was hungry and didn’t want it to get cold. My friend gets his attention and says her water? He just acted like we were asking for something wrong but accommodates me with water. Moments later our “server” brings the chicken fajitas out for my friend, never once apologizing. We get our check, I said we are separate, he redid our separate bills and my friend said he’s not getting one dime as a tip from me. He said I really feel like getting a manager. We walk to the door and the greeters were up there. I asked if I could see the manager. They walked away and our “server” came walking up!!! I said, oh no!! That was the worst service I had ever gotten there and was so disappointed that he never apologized...