Kandela — Restaurant in New York

Ordered food for pick up at 12:45 PM. Entered the premises at 12:40 PM. No one at the reception counter so I waited...and waited. Waitress passed by several times without acknowledging my presence. Another young woman came to the desk but before I could say what I was doing there (waiting), she pulled out a phone from her bag and began speaking to someone.

After a few minutes she made eye contact with me and indicated that she would be with me in a moment. I nodded, Ok and proceeded to wait. After her phone call, she walked away and began speaking to a gentle man standing by the bar. Their conversation seemed to center around changing what was on the TV screen over the bar since she pulled out an iPad and used it to change channels. I'm still waiting, no further acknowledgment of my presence.I'm still waiting.

In the meantime the waitress walked by and did not acknowledge me - almost ten minutes have passed. At this point the main door opens and a lady walks in. Immediately the waitress shows up and addresses he. She indicates she is here to pick up an order and is is instructed to pay at the bar, which she does. I'm still waiting, thinking the waitress will acknowledge me next...Nope! She walks away.

I'm still waiting when two people walk in the door and the waitress is about to address them. I've lost my patience a bit so I approach her and ask: "Am I invisible?" She looks shocked and I say that I had been waiting ten minutes before the other lady came in and she has not acknowledged my presence. Get this! She said: "I did not see you!" So I was invisible...to her!

Finally after I explained that I was here to pick up an order, she directed me to where I could pay. I looked back at the woman who came in after me and I apologized, to which she said, "I saw you when I came in" (so I'm not really invisible).

Eating the food with my wife. I told her the story. She asked if the food was worth the aggravation. We concluded no!

I hesitate to inject race in this but did I mention the woman who came in was white, and I am brown? Maybe the waitress really did not see me standing in the open but the other woman did and she said she will be with me, but then left me standing.Extremely poor...

I've been there a total of three times once when they were just opened I thought it was very good food was wonderful and the prices reasonable as I said I've been there three times second time the staff or our waitress was a bit rude and was hurrying us perhaps she was overworked or had too many tables we tried to give her the benefit of the doubt when the bill came there was a gratuity already added of 18% which I questioned because according to the menu the gratuity would be added if the it was a party of five or more I don't mind tipping and I usually tip well when the service is wonderful but in this case I wouldn't have tipped that much third time I went is the last time I will be there atmosphere was quite a few were in a department store during a big sale rush rush rush no introduction by the waitress no hi hello no would you like a drink it is for that food was not as good the prices have changed to where if I were eating in Manhattan I wouldn't mind if the food was good but for Queens it's not worth it especially with the attitudes of the waitress of the bartenders One complaint I've always had and I told everyone that's ever waited on us or the bartenders if you look at the drink menu The first thing you see is a pina colada which when I ordered I've always had in the tall glass straw and a cherry talk last I mean something 7/8 in not counting the stem I've never been served up Pina colada in a regular glass and charge so much money for it it's crazy something that was very good reasonably priced has become something to avoid The proud of my believe is that we don't have anything nearby to compare with and actually see what we're really getting but if people continue to go there and pay those crazy prices for food that is not all that great if you take a short or maybe long ride into Elmhurst Jackson heights there are far better Mexican restaurants then this I don't take any pleasure in this review believe me this was a wonderful place even to have drinks that happy...

With all my reviews, I'm as honest as possible.

This was my first time going here for what else, but Taco Tuesday. Their website stated that they had Tacos Tuesday deals with tacos as cheap as $3. So when I went in with my friends, th only thing I was focused on getting were as many tacos for the best possible price. However, when I asked the server for the tacos deal, they said they didn't do that anymore. I was very confused and disappointed to say the least. They had a new deal that gave you 3 tacos (all of the same variety) and 3 tasting cups of their margaritas. And the margaritas had a free refill. All for $20. I say that's a pretty good deal at the very least.

The waiter kind of hovered over the table rushing me to order, so I got the birria ramen. I don't know if I was too disappointed to enjoy anything else, but as I ate the ramen, which was just simple pack noodles (and no I wasn't expecting freshly made ramen from a Mexican restaurant), the broth of the soup felt tasteless. Like there wasn't any flavor. The birria meat, tender as a dream. It's exactly how you'd want meat to be. Fall apart, melt in your mouth. However, I just couldn't taste anything flavor in my mouth. I even added the extra cilantro and onion they had on the side and I could taste that, but the broth, nothing. $22 for the ramen.

The grilled chicken tacos were basically a grilled chicken ceaser salad in taco form.

I think the best part of the meal were the drinks. $9 for a piña colado and It's one of the best I've ever tasted for a $9 drink. Strong and flavorful.

We came here around 1 in the afternoon. Music was nice, tvs with the US Open on, and plenty of seats. My friends seem to love this place and vibe, very fun atmosphere. I think I'll be back here in the near future, but I'll be sure to try other things to see if maybe it was...