Guacamole Taqueria — Restaurant in New York

I ate at Guacamole in Inwood this past Sunday evening, April 7th.

First off, there were several problems with the service. The guacamole, which we ordered first, came out after our food did. It was also not the type of guacamole we ordered (we ordered the one with mango and pomegranate seeds, and just got the traditional guacamole).

The main problem I’m writing about is that our server, Edwin, added gratuity to our check (our party was 5 people). The menu states that gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or larger. So he should not have added it.

Even worse, after paying the check on my credit card, we realized his mistake, and called him out on it just to make a point. He claimed to have changed the amount charged to my card, gave me an updated receipt to show the refund, and I left a $20 cash tip on the table (slightly higher than the 18% added gratuity, even though the service was not quite up to par).

However no credit/refund ever appeared on my card, just the original charged amount including the incorrectly added gratuity.

First, it was dishonest of him to add the gratuity in the first place. The check also states that we had 12 guests, which again it was only 5 of us.

It was even more dishonest of him when he gave me an updated receipt to show an adjusted amount without the added gratuity, but without actually changing the amount charged.

To be fair, the food itself was decent.

However, unscrupulous business practices like adding gratuity when it should not be added, and furthermore, claiming to adjust a check to get a second tip, are appalling and absolutely...

If I could give this business 0 stars I would. My boyfriend and I came here on May 5, 2018, a Saturday, for Cinco De Mayo. Once we entered we noticed that a couple was standing waiting to be seated. My boyfriend and I stood behind them to wait to be seated as well. We waited for several minutes and no one greeted us or the couple standing in front of us. The waiter walked by us several times and did not acknowledge us. I said hello to him when he walked by and he did not acknowledge my presence. I asked the couple who was standing in front of us how long they have been waiting to be seated and they said 10 minutes and they still have not been acknowledged. Keep in mind we stood by the bar and the bartender did not acknowledge us either. Finally I approached the waiter and asked him if we could be seated and he told us and the other couple in front of us that they were to busy to seat us. Please note that the place was not that busy for them to turn away customers. The worst part is, if I did not speak up and say something to the waiter, we would probably still be waiting to be seated. The place is clearly poorly run. For a Mexican themed restaurant you would think that they would be well staffed for...

I really would like to like this place. The decor is decent. The location is good for people in the upper portion of Inwood. However my experiences here have generally been negative.

$17 for a jack and coke - nope! In fact the drink prices are all over the place every time I have visited. Watch out.

Food is always decent - good (although not necessarily any better than similar options in the area). Alone 3.5 stars.

The failing point for the place called is the service, which has been highly variable (not so great more often than not). Frequent mistakes with orders. Forgotten items. Being openly ignored. Once we were left waiting for our food while the staff were sitting in chairs on Broadway (like it's some kind of beach...) and the remaining waitress was engrossed in her phone for 30 mins. Bartenders are useless for anything but margaritas - and not particularly artful at that even.

My basic home points are - go here if you dont want to walk/travel too far from home for a mediocre - decent tasting dinner, with limited drink options, a high potential for bad service, and a pretty good chance they will try and game you...