Ted's Café Escondido — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

I am changing my previous 4 stars down to 2. I don't know what changed at this location, but the food, service, and atmosphere has gone downhill. We arrived around 6pm. The lobby was partially full and we were told it would be 15-20 minutes for a table. While we were waiting, we could see several empty tables & at least 5 employees standing around with nothing to do. We counted 1 group of 3 people leave between when we arrived and when we were seated, but as we were walked to our table we counted 15 empty tables. Why did we have to wait when there were so many empty tables? Our server, Evin, seemed absolutely disinterested in serving us. She was watching other tables while taking our order. When she brought my drink refill, she plopped it on the table without a word and quickly left. While waiting for our food, the manager was speaking with a couple beside us. The couple had complaints about the quality of their food (burnt chicken, lukewarm drinks), which the manager tried to justify why it happens sometimes. The formerly excellent, fluffy flour tortillas were greasy, dense, and bland. I didn't finish my food because the taco meat was unseasoned and my tacos were more lettuce than anything. The refried beans were the best part of the meal. I was absolutely underwhelmed. I'm not sure if this is a location issue or if there's been a change company-wide, but Ted's will quickly be put under by Uncle Julio's & Hidalgo's if they maintain this level of poor...

My best friend from undergrad swung by for a visit and was all like, "I've been hearing a lot about Ted's," so we agreed to meet at this particular location because, let's be real, it's consistently awesome. We met at the restaurant, which is easy to find, and were quickly greeted by a super friendly managerial type guy. He was all smiles and showed us to our table. Then, a server popped by with chips, cheese, and salsa, and asked if we wanted tortillas and relish or atomic salsa – we opted for tortillas, because, priorities. The server took our order, and my friend and I just chilled, munching on those delicious tortillas, crispy chips, hot cheese sauce, and fresh salsa. Our food arrived hot, fresh, and crazy delicious. We never had to ask for iced tea refills because our server was on it, bringing us fresh glasses whenever we needed them. We both loved our meals, had leftovers, and obtained a to-go container. I paid the check on the POS device at our table, and we requested sopapillas, which arrived hot and fresh – we inhaled those sweet treats in like two seconds. We hung out for almost three hours, eating slow and catching up on old times, reminiscing about our OSU shenanigans. We never felt rushed or interrupted, and the cherry on top was the bill – a whopping $35 for lunch, which is usually what I pay for just myself. All in all, it was an epic experience, and I'd gladly drive past other Ted's locations to eat at this one – I'm never...

I have eaten at Ted's many times and have always enjoyed the experience . That being said I was disappointed with last night's visit . The food was excellent as usual . The problem was with the service , and overall experience interacting with the employees . We were not greeted in a friendly manner . Our server seemed distracted and was not very attentive. We had to ask for drink refills, tortillas and more queso , which was never brought out (queso).

Upon leaving we were not wished a good evening or thanked for our patronage . We walked by a group of employees talking at the reception desk ,so the opportunity was there .I left the customary 20% tip , I will always leave a tip unless service is absolutely terrible . Was just disappointed because we have come to expect a great atmosphere as well as excellent service to go along with the excellent food . I hope last night was just a bad night . I will definitely go back , but if complacency and poor service become a trend , that will change .

I am posting this for the Outlet Mall location .

Update on review...I was contacted by Ted's management team . Talked to one of the managers, he apologized for our experience and said he would send me a certificate for a couple of free meals to help make up for the poor service . That was two weeks ago, still...