La Catrina Mexican Kitchen — Restaurant in New Albany

Update: In owners response he states there were attempts to rectify on the spot but there were NOT, as my post said, they said; just can't sell you that drink because it would not be a Margaretta. Mistakes do happen but it is not about the mistake it is about how you handle it. The mistake on the drink is fine it is clearly a training issue, . Also, the owner said I made no reference to food but I did, I stated; it was just okay. Again just okay is fine if the service is good hence the Chick-fil-a reference...... Original review: Disappointed, to say the least. The food was just okay which is fine and the waiter was nice. The real issue arose when they refused to serve us the Margarita we ordered. It was my wife's birthday and she ordered the El Dorado off of their drink menu, ID Checked good to go. This was the only drink on the ticket and it was our first and last drink here. The Menu states recipe is Lunazul Reposado, Triple-Sec, and Lime so basically a simple Margarita. She asked the waiter to have the bartender leave out the Triple-Sec because she is allergic to it (so basically less alcohol for the same price, we do this all the time if it has an orange liqueur in it). I watched the bartender/manager make the drink he used 1800 Gold instead of the Lunazul Reposado and put the Triple-Sec in it. When the waiter came to the table I let him know politely that the drink was wrong to please have it remade the way we asked for it and with the correct Tequila. The bartender/manager gave the waiter a hard time for about 5 minutes but eventually, the waiter came back to the table with his tail between his legs (I assume the waiter was new and I felt bad for him) and begins to explain that he can not sell the drink the way we asked for it because it is not a Margarita without the Triple-Sec. (FUNNY STORY they have a Margarita on the menu called Skinny Margarita and it has no Triple-Sec lol, hahahahaha) And that was it no drink for my wife on her birthday (did not recommend the Skinny Margarita or anything else, nothing). Come on bartender friends you know there are many ways to make a Margarita, right? From a business perspective especially a bar, since when do you care what a customer orders if they want a Margarita with Captain Morgan and Jägermeister (Yuck lol) charge them appropriately and take their money lol. But, I can't sell you this drink and now we have nothing, no choices no suggestions just no drink. I have owned bars, run bars, and restaurants and have been to high-end and low-end places all over the world and of course in the US and I have never run into this before. I have had people still do what I wanted and try to educate me on the item which is fine but never refuse to sell me what I wanted. Clearly a matter of not knowing how to run a business along with poor training. So we will just have to not frequent this place anymore. Unfortunately for them, I love this story so I am telling everyone I know and a lot I don't because it is just hilarious and everyone is like, WHAT??? you're joking!!! but sadly I am not. The old saying in the industry when you have a good to a great experience at a place you might and I mean might tell someone about it. If you have a bad experience you will tell several people about it. Every customer is potentially a goldmine or a nightmare. Please take away from this funny story, customer service is what brings people back to your establishment, food can be just okay and I will go back to places all the time if the customer service is good. A perfect example is Chick-fil-A their food is okay but, lots of people have good chicken but, the service is usually better...

SERVICE: our waitress Vanessa was not knowledgeable of the menu or just doesn't care. Tip#1 when you order a Coronarita for$12 you should ALWAYS tell your customers that it's actually $17 ! (Upcharge for grande) how?? they only come as grande!!?? If any smaller it would have just been a beer!?! Again, NOT on the menu. 3 of us ordered an $8 margarita per menu price. ALL were upcharged $5 EACH! Making that a $13 margaritas! QUALITY: extremely sweet, chunks of ice, foamy and couldn't use a straw AND little to NO alcohol in ANY of our drinks. Now if I'm paying for a $13 a drink or a $17 drink by God they better be amazing and STRONG! FYI: Expensive, 4 star steakhouse restraunts drinks don't even cost that and those have alcohol!! The appetizers were decent/ok. The queso fundido was burnt when you got to the bottom of the already burnt skillet. Our waitress VANESSA had poor customer service skill and zero personality. She was extremely irritated by us not being pleased with her service for starters nor our reaction to the drink quality!! Not to mention the $104 BILL!!!! This is NOT fine dining!! PROFESSIONALISM: Vanessa then takes our bill back to the counter to discuss with the entire staff. The staff was giggling and staring at our table. They did NOT want to fix our bill. Our waitress never once apologized for her mistakes or her less than par service. She could care a less about anything at this point. The bartender and others reluctantly reduced our bill to $74. After trying to justify the charges. Sorry dude it's NOT on the menu!! Last night my entire family was trying to find a new restaurant to celebrate my sister b-day. I can't tell you the last time I was treated that bad by an ENTIRE restaurant's staff!! Although the Apps were decent and the restaurant itself was absolutely adorable but that entire staff needs to be retrained OR replaced!! I am not sure that VANESSA even likes her job there? If she does we sure couldn't tell last night. We will NEVER come back to this place and will warn any friends before they go!! The guy at the door had the audacity to walk us to the door like we caused a scene ... If you're looking for a GOOD margarita (not a crunchy watered down slushy) IT AIN'T HERE! Dont waste your time here unless you're going to just eat and ASK questions before committing to an order!! El NOPALS margaritas have alcohol plus their service is always really good. Guess we should have stuck by with that instead. I really don't want to give this place 1 star. Lastly Vanessa STILL got a tip because my brother is a good man. I would have given that as much consideration as she gave us in CUSTOMER...

My wife and I decided to try this new Mexican restaurant after leaving a theater a couple blocks away one evening. We were not impressed with the food or the service. A couple times we were trying to get the attention of our young waiter to request condiments and additional items, but he was too busy on his cell phone to look over at us.

To start, we ordered chips and queso. The plate of chips we received were obviously from the bottom of the bag as half them were small crushed and broken pieces. Oh, and unlike any other Mexican restaurant I have ever been to, salsa does not come with the chips and queso. It took awhile, but we finally got the attention of our waiter and ordered some salsa for additional cost.

Typically the wife and I would order a burrito but none was offered on the menu. I have never been to a Mexican Restaurant that did not offer a burrito. So we settled for two "naked tacos.” An asada (grilled steak) and cornitas (crispy pork). They were served on a couple of small soft corn tortillas. The portion size was very meager, 10-11 small pieces of meat on the tortilla. They were out of rice, so we ordered the refried beans, which was okay, but tasted like it came out of a can. We also, ordered a side of guacamole. However, the restaurant does not offer just a side of guac, so they brought us the appetizer version which cost $10.

For our money there are better choices in southern Indiana for good Mexican food, as I doubt we will go back to...