El Encanto De Lola 2 — Restaurant in New York

Found El Encanto de Lola pre Covid. Was stoked to return to this place. This is the third time we had dinner here. Aside from the server Luise's initial lack luster welcoming till he realized we were in the industry the place was decent. Food was okay if you prefer Americanized Mexican food. Mexican cuisine is about the add on's like the sauces, cremes, seeds and limes. You got to have a lot of lime wedges when serving Mexican food not one tiny semi dried out lime wedge for the entire meal of two diners.

One could say dinner was decent till we asked for the check since Luise did not bother bringing by a desert menu nor offering any coffee. While reviewing the tab we noticed an 18% gratuity was added to the total. Mind you we were not notified, informed nor did we read this anywhere on the menu. Then when we got the credit card slip this clever resturant not only after adding 18% gratuity had the audacity to add a line for tip then a line for a new total. While offering to make tipping easy by having percentages listed on the bottom of the slip along with a place for your signature. This people have some nerve.

In general we totally understand the gratuity thing. When informed we tip more as well. However, something about how grimy this establishment went about charging for gratuity made us feel violated. Violated in the worst way possible because we could sense our server and his coworkers contempt towards us throughout our dinner experience.

Would I recommend this place? No. As a born and raised Mexican the food served here is far from authentic, the staff is surly and those whom own this place have questionable business practices. Trust me when I say I really wanted to love this place. Its blocks from our space and has such a great name. If only they could just be cool about certain things....

If you want a great place with authentic Mexican food in Manhattan on 10th avenue between 46st and 47th street on the westside of the avenue is the best place in the city. Legit good food good owners and operators great place to visit.

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The food was definitely good but parts of the service and the inconsistency between what is displayed on the menu and our bill will not likely result in another visit.

We were a party of two and my bf ordered a Michelada while I was still deciding what I wanted. After about 10 minutes we asked about the michelada's whereabouts and workers told us they would "check with the bartender" but did not come back with the drink even after they took the rest of our food and drink order. It was only after about 15 more minutes had passed and the same question brought up 3 more times that we were informed they were looking for the beer that goes with the drink. It would have been much more helpful and well received if someone had simply said "we don't have this specific beer but can replace it with another if you'd like".

As far as the bill goes, there is a note that parties of 4 or less have 18% auto gratuity and parties of 5 or more have 20%. Our bill came with the 20% instead of 18% and when I asked, I was told the computer just automatically does that when they print the receipt. Shame on management for not updating their systems to reflect what is displayed on the menu. You are subjecting your employees to awkard, unnecessary situations and creating distrust with customers. Either update the menu, your computer system, or have your employees give a verbal notation of the ACTUAL auto gratuity.

Our server was well meaning and nice but these are avoidable and fixable issues with communication and displaying correct information.

If you don't care about these issues yourself and would just like to enjoy some food, feel free to go here! The experience might leave a bad taste in your mouth but...

The service was extremely extremely slow. We went in around early in the afternoon. The outside dining area had maybe 3 guests, plus the inside was maybe 1/4 full. I put my timer to see how long it would take to get served 🤔 It took about 17 minutes to get utensils on the table and water. It took about another 10-15 minutes after that for a waitress to take our order, and that's only because I had to flag her down twice. Another few minutes later, we got water, and our order was taken. We ordered two 🍸 🍹 and a tray of nacho chips with what they call the works 🙄. Whatever minutes after that, we received our drinks and not the nacho chips. The drinks were so-so 🫳🫴 okay, and somewhere, when the drinks were half drunken, we received our nacho chips. I don't know how this happened, but the cheese was cold, and the nachos were soggy. For those three items, it costs $80.61 plus the tip they already added. They had the nerve to request that I pay more for tips with their suggestive tip crap.. Now, I don't mind tipping if the service is great 👍 but why should I have to pay for crapy service and food 🤔. Needless to say, I will never come back here again. And i'm one that I'd like to go out and eat, and I tip extremely well when the service is fantastic and the servers are attentive. I mean, I was even willing to order two more drinks before i asked for the check . But because the waitress was either on their phones or just missing, I decided to leave infrustration. I will never recommend this place to anyone, and I'd rather walk four more blocks to another place than...