Cantina 33 — Restaurant in New York

Two weeks ago, on a Wednesday, I went with my wife to have dinner at your restaurant. I ordered the tacu tacu , which I had enjoyed on previous visits. As I always do, I made it very clear to the waitress that I cannot have anything spicy. Even a small amount of pepper can severely irritate my intestines and potentially put my life at risk.

When the food arrived, I began eating the skirt steak, which tasted fine. However, after just one spoonful of rice, I noticed tingling on my lips. Immediately, I felt something was wrong. I asked my wife to try the rice, but she didn’t detect any spiciness, so I initially thought it might be in my head. I continued eating the rice and onions until I began feeling burning pain in my stomach, with the tingling spreading to my throat and lips.

Concerned, I asked the waitress if there was anything spicy in the rice. She assured me there wasn’t. But as my symptoms worsened, I became nauseous and had to rush to the bathroom to vomit. Shortly after, the waitress came back and admitted she had investigated further. She discovered that the onions on my plate had been marinated with jalapeños, and those onions had been placed on my rice. This was the direct cause of my reaction.

I became ill again and had to run to the bathroom once more. When I received the check, I noticed I had still been charged for the meal. The plate was only comped after I specifically requested it — despite the fact that I had clearly communicated my dietary restriction and had become seriously sick because of the kitchen’s negligence.

I found the waitress to be kind but inexperienced in handling a situation this severe. What upset me most was that the cook, whose mistake could have endangered my life, never came out to apologize or take responsibility. I received only an apology from the waitress, which I appreciated but felt was inadequate under the circumstances.

Now, two weeks later, I have only just finished my antibiotics and am starting to recover. Sadly, I can no longer trust your establishment. I will not be returning, as I cannot risk my health or my life in a place where such a mistake could...

A month or so I eat here and food was really good, service was also good. The walls have beautiful paintings. So today I decided to go again. The service was really bad. The table was dirty so we asked the server to clean it and she did, but there was still garbage around us. Then she brought the water, we were 3 people and brought 2 plastic cups... Wait to see if she realized we need an extra and she didn't so we asked for the extra cup... Nothing we had to ask again... I said thanks and she didn't even look at me... I ordered a margarita with casa amigo and salt ring and for the first time I get a margarita in a plastic cup... That was not nice neither and offcours no salt ring... Maybe because we were out side? I thought in ordering another but here was noone to ask..,.When we got the food she didn't bring the utensils we have to ask and it seems she didn't like us asking for that utensils...Her customer service was very poor... At the end there was another server who was great, we got a wrong order of eggs but she made sure to fix it even if she wasn't our server...When we asked for the bill it include the tip... It was a party of 3, with very bad service and a automatic tip... Maybe that's why she doesn't even care about giving a good service... I liked the food... But I don't think it worth it.. There Are more Peruvian restaurants with good service, if I go to a restaurant I'm expecting good service, if I just want the food then I order...

I'm obsessed with the food here, especially the chorizo wantons and lomo salteado. The staff is great too, or should I say, the ONE staff who's always doing it all. That is my one gripe about this place. The bartender is usually also the only wait staff, even on a Friday night! So he'll forget small things like plates/utensils or bring out 1 drink at a time but u can't even get mad at him like that bc he's literally a one man show for several tables & ppl at the bar. They need a dedicated waitress asap bc service suffers for this & it hurts the customer experience which is all ppl care for, sometimes even more than the food itself. I though, continue to support bc those wantons are crack! And I love a local small business. Only other down I'll give, that's an easy fix, they play the music wayyyyy too loud, for such a small place. Their DJs need to learn to read a room. It's not a young crowd here, it's more like 30-45 which is better bc we spend beaucoup dinero, but it gets annoying when I can't have a convo w/my besties or if on a date. Just saying, reading a room would be helpful to the whole experience again. I still recommend a visit for the great food and the ONE super staff guy lol. Despite being overused, he's always super pleasant which is appreciated. Drinks...