El Coco — Restaurant in New York

I was really upset with the whole experience. The waitress was not friendly at all and she seemed annoyed from the very beginning, and throughout the whole dinner. I would say she was pretty unprofessional. We started off by ordering drinks. Yes, they’re $5 but the cups are extremely small. I also couldn’t understand why they can’t add the flavor into the cup for frozen margaritas, but you can add them to margaritas on the rocks (it’s literally just a syrup). We ordered chips & guac, 6 empanadas, and elote to start, as well as tacos and burritos for dinner. When she brought out the chips and guac, I asked for us to get small plates and she looked at me and said “you need plates for chips and guac?” ….. uhmmmm, yes, it would be nice for us to have plates in general and yes, we would like them for the empanadas that we ordered to share. Then the empanadas ended up coming with our dinner. The steak empanada was my favorite. Chicken Tinga empanadas were rather dry, but better with the sauces that come with the table. I’ve also never had elite as spicy as this restaurant serves it. I don’t mind spicy, so I was ok with it, but I was looking forward to a nice good elote. My friends loved the carne asada burrito, and I enjoyed the al pastor taco. Barbacoa was also good, but better with the sauces that came on the table. At 10pm on the dot, the waitress came over right away with the check, before asking if everything was ok and if we were ready. I finally understood that the place was closing, but it would have been nice if we were given a heads up with a last call. Oh and last but not least, a drink ended up spilling on the table, but the other waiter was more concerned about us ordering a new drink and when he asked if we needed anything else, I said, yes it would be nice if you can help us clean the table as we had no napkins! It was a very awkward pause and I was just confused. Food wasn’t bad but boy oh boy do these severs need to learn some...

Came here for Restaurant Week expecting a decent $30 dinner deal, but it was a hot mess from start to finish. We were hungry for restaurant week and passing by when we were intrigued when we saw the sign out front clearly advertised a complimentary original margarita. We asked our server twice before placing our order if it was included, and she said yes both times. When the bill came, we were charged for the drinks anyway and the waitress said that the promo didn’t apply to the Restaurant Week menu after asking her manager. You would expect us to be cleared of the miscommunication but there was no apology, no solution, and we were briefly checked on the entire night.

What’s worse, the food didn’t redeem the experience. My friend’s Southwestern salad was missing the vinaigrette which is one of the only components of the dish, and it was extremely underwhelming. The entrées took forever to arrive even though the place wasn’t busy, and when they finally did, my pork chop was lukewarm, gamey, and when I checked near the bone with a flashlight, I realized it was undercooked and visibly pink. I couldn’t tell because of the dim lighting that what I was eating was a health hazard. Maybe the cheap liquor is to make up for the mediocre food. Staff stood around gossiping behind the bar and near the kitchen. The bathrooms? Disgusting. No soap, one of which was literally ripped off the wall, and no toilet paper. The only somewhat redeeming part of the meal was the elote appetizer and the tiny Mexican style tiramisu.

Anyways, if the $30 deal is going to be this low-effort, don’t even offer it. We would’ve been better off ordering one solid entrée and calling it a day. This...

Worst service I’ve ever had in my life. My partner and I went to this restaurant on a Friday night. The hostess was very accommodating and tried to find us a regular table as soon as possible. She was very professional, however that was the extent of the service at this place. The couple seated next to us left early, after looking incredibly frustrated and complaining about the service out loud - we should have taken this as a warning sign.

When we were seated, there were no utensils at the table, and none came with the food. It was only after physically getting up and walking inside the restaurant to ask a server for utensils that we finally obtained something to eat with. We didn’t receive any water until the very end, after asking twice. The food was bland and flavorless and arrived cold. The hot sauces were so flavorless, it felt like I was eating red and green paint. Correction - even paint has a flavor.

When the drinks arrived, they were the wrong order and the waitress had attitude when we pointed it out. We got the chips and salsa, which were incredibly flavorless and a very small portion. The shrimp and crab empanada was 4/5. The salad was very underwhelming and the quesadilla was unremarkable. The only plus point was the frozen margarita, which were delicious and well-priced.

The aesthetic and the music were definitely plus points, but the music was very loud and hard to hear over if you were inside. While the pricing is low, remember that the portions are small. You’re in NYC - there are endless other options for delicious food and impeccable service, and...