Rosa Mexicano — Restaurant in New York

This is a warning to people with food allergies. I cannot believe the experience that I had at this place. I'm a native New Yorker and have never been treated this way by a restaurant in this city before. My friends and I went to Rosa Mexicano Lincoln Center on March 8, 2024. My friend, who has a peanut allergy, ordered the half chicken. She immediately began having a scratchy throat and she said that the mole sauce tasted like peanuts. My other friend and I tasted it and agreed that it tasted like peanuts, so we asked the waiter (whose name I did not get) and asked if there are nuts in this dish. He said no and that there are pumpkin seeds but no nuts. We also checked the menu and saw no peanut symbol next to the half chicken (mind you, my friend would never order anything with a nut symbol next to it). My friend ended up getting sick from her allergic reaction. Thankfully, she is alright and did not require medical assistance. I called the restaurant wanting to make them aware of what happened. I did not ask for my meal to be compensated, I did not threaten them. I made it clear that my only prerogative was to make them aware of what happened so that it does not happen to someone else. I spoke to the manager, Jeff, and was met with a defensive, rude attitude. I am not a Karen. I worked as a retail cashier for years and have had my fair share of verbal abuse, and I would never disrespect an employee. He kept telling me that the half chicken dish has a nut symbol next to it and that he was looking at the menu right in front of him. I mentioned that maybe there was a typo, and he said no, the menus are all printed at the same time in the same place. I told him that we did not see the nut symbol, but fine, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we did miss it (although I really don't think we did because why would my friend with a peanut allergy not notice that?). But that does not excuse the waiter telling us there were no nuts in that dish. Jeff kept going on and on that all of the staff is trained and they know how to handle food allergies. I'm sure you do train them, but that doesn't mean that our waiter didn't make a mistake! He never went to check with the kitchen, he never checked the menu. All he did was tell us no and that there are pumpkin seeds, but no nuts. Jeff did not apologize to me. All I got were excuses. He hit me with, "Well, what can I do for you then?" I told him that all I wanted was to make sure this doesn't happen again because I don't want anyone dying! He did not offer to look through the menus to make sure that every menu has the correct symbols. He did not offer to talk to the staff and tell them that if they are not 100% sure that there are no allergens in a dish, they should check with the kitchen. He did nothing to make this right or to ensure that this doesn't happen again. You can never be too careful when it comes to food allergies. Jeff kept saying he takes food allergies seriously, but clearly he doesn't because he would've assured me that he would take action in regards to food safety. Again, I'm not writing this review because of some vendetta against this place or because I want money. I want this to not happen again, and I want assurance, not a cocky attitude, from management! I didn't even want to write a bad review, which is why I called first. I was left with no choice after the...

Oh how the mighty have fallen! At one time Rosa Mexicano was considered the pinnacle of Mexican cuisine in NYC. No more. This may have been one of THE WORST meals we have EVER had and absolutely THE WORST Mexican meal. Let's start with first impressions: we were seeing a show at Lincoln Center and stopped by beforehand to make a 9pm reservation. We were informed that they had NO tables available but we were welcome to drop by and if available, sit at the bar and eat. After the show we stopped by again a few minutes after 9pm and literally lost count of the number of EMPTY tables available both inside and out...remember, they told us they had NO tables available....so why did they brush us off earlier that evening? There's no way they had THAT many cancellations. We were seated and then proceeded to wait at least 10 minutes before anyone came over. Finally we ordered the Queso Fundido and "Rosa's Own" Caesar salad to share. Appetizers came out quickly. The queso fundid was good and the ONLY thing we ate that night that was edible. "Rosa's Own" Caesar salad was so over-dressed that I literally poured the excess dressing off the plate. It was completely inedible, but we needed something to cut the fat from the fundido so we ate it anyway. Then came a nearly 30 minute wait for our entrees. By this time the restaurant had begun to clear out so we couldn't figure out why it was taking so long. Entrees finally arrived and I can honestly say this is where the biggest culinary crimes occurred. The Half Roasted Chicken wasn't even close to being a half chicken and was so incredibly overcooked it was nearly inedible. The chicken was cooked separately and was NEVER simmered in it's mole sauce making it bone dry and the mole was just mediocre at best...and the rice was so overcooked and hard that I had to pick it out my teeth. The only thing that was edible on my plate was the sautéed spinach. Had it not been for the vegetable, I would've gone hungry! My wife and daughter both had the Roasted Mushroom Huarache and this too was HORRIBLE! The dish was tasteless and completely devoid of flavor (how about some salt and pepper??). Some of the mushrooms on the plate were so tough, they couldn't be cut through with a knife. With the exception of the bussers who kept our water glasses full and cleared our plates, service was MIA. Not once did our server check on our table during the entire meal. We will NEVER go back and I tell anyone reading this that there are many, MANY better options for Mexican food...

Let me start this review off by saying, I used to LOVE Rosa Mexicano and have frequented their other locations in the past. This was my first time at a Rosa in years and my first time at this location. I came in after work to grab drinks with a few friends and was horrified by the customer service (or lack thereof) that I experienced. It was humid out so I asked the hostess if the outdoor booths had fans and she returned a blank stare, before answering 'No' rudely. I then asked whether I could get a table for 3 and that my friends (who were in transit) would be joining me shortly. She responded that they could not seat incomplete parties. Note: It was 6:30 PM on a Wednesday and the restaurant (which has two floors and outdoor seating) was largely empty save for 2 tables inside. I responded by telling her that my friends were on the way and she then asked whether we would be ordering food or not, and if not, we had to sit at the bar. In honesty, we were hoping to grab a few drinks before a dinner reservation somewhere else nearby however, I've never been asked that by ANY restaurant before. After much back & forth, I was given a table and after reviewing their lackluster Happy Hour menu, ordered a (full priced) drink. My two stars are because the margaritas were solid!

My friends joined shortly thereafter and the hostess continued to walk past and shoot dirty looks my way. Further, our waiter asked us several times, after we all ordered full-price drinks (at $20 each), whether we'd be ordering food and said that he had to take the menus if not. We asked to hold onto a menu and after 10 minutes he came and swiped it from the table.

The complete & utter lack of customer service from every team member, disregard of what we DID order and overall treatment we received was abysmal and truly shocking. Clearly, the staff needs more training in hospitality and they should be more worried about their empty tables on a prime night & in a prime location than the poor treatment of the people who actually choose to patronize their restaurant.

I'm saddened to see a restaurant that was once so beloved treat its PAYING customers this way. It begs the question, "Do they treat everyone this way?" Really, really disappointed in this experience and will NOT...