Condesa — Restaurant in Philadelphia

This is a tricky review for me to write because there is SO much about this restaurant that is awesome. But there are policies and procedures that make it almost 0 stars for me. This review is based on 2 happy hour experiences and 2 dining in experiences.

Firstly - Food and drinks are amazing. The carne asada is DELICIOUS. Atmosphere is chic and beautiful. I didn’t drink last night but at past happy hours, the margs are some of the best. Flavorful, competitively priced, and will get you drunk.

Now for the cons:

This is the only restaurant I know of that threatens to charge a $25 PER person cancel fee in order to make the res. This has never been a problem for us because we haven’t had to cancel last minute (and rarely do). But the principle of this is the problem for me. It’s ridiculous. It’s the #1 reason I don’t like to come here and if we do, I don’t like to be the one to make the res. I understand the principle behind it, but I don’t know of other restaurants in the area that has this policy.

They will not seat you unless your entire party is present. Not a fan of this. Especially because when we arrived, the restaurant was not packed. This forces me to go to the bar and order a drink instead of sitting at our own table and ordering a drink. I know other places do this, but I don’t see the point.

I should note - They selectively enforce these policies. Last night, when dining here as a party of 4, we saw crowds of Erin express people coming in and sitting - without their full party. It’s like they lost control or didn’t care.

Lastly, once we did have our full party and got seated, they put us immediately next to the entrance which was cold because of the door opening and closing. There were a dozen open tables elsewhere in the more attractive dining room area (which is the area I selected when I booked the res), but for some reason, we were placed in the patio area which was cold and loud. I didn’t say anything about this but wish I had.

The food is amazing but the threat of being charged for a last min cancel and the “we won’t sit you right now” policy is enough to make me not want to come here. It’s the principle of the thing.

For me, this may be a happy hour only spot. And only if someone in my party requests it. I love Mexican food and a good marg, but I’d rather go elsewhere to avoid all the hassle. I’ll probably be back for the carne asada because it is that good.

EDIT! (3/18/25) Within a few days of this review, I was contacted by the general manager, Stephen, regarding my experience(s) and we had a lovely chat. The fact that he reached out and was interested in hearing more was incredible. We ended up having a phone call and he was receptive to, and even grateful for, some of my feedback. He was incredibly courteous and professional. This left such a great impression on me because it shows that management truly cares about the...

I rarely leave negative reviews, but the experience at Condesa last night was too frustrating to ignore. I arrived around 6 p.m. to celebrate a friend’s birthday and was told I couldn’t go upstairs to join my party. I explained that my friends were already seated on the rooftop, but was instead offered a table downstairs. A younger and more reasonable staff member eventually stepped in and said I could go up, but that decision was quickly overridden. This pointed to poor communication and a lack of authority from management.

I don’t want to assume intentional bias, but my friends upstairs noted that two other tables, none of whom appeared to be people of color, were allowed to remain without issue. The only people who showed any real courtesy were a woman of color and a man of color. She directed him to send me up, and he kindly walked me to the elevator. But just as I got on, he was apparently told to have me get off. That moment, like so much of the evening, reflected poor communication and reactive decision-making. In contrast, the initial staff member who addressed me was curt and dismissive in his masked attempt at customer service, insisting I redirect my party downstairs despite my clear explanation that our table had already been seated upstairs.

Meanwhile, my friends had been seated for some time, but couldn’t hear my calls because of the rooftop noise. No one on staff thought to communicate with them directly, leaving me stuck downstairs and them confused upstairs. After several missed calls and having to raise my voice on the phone, they finally heard me.

While I can understand extreme heat being a reason to close the rooftop, the temperature wasn’t a surprise. The forecast had been clear all day. This shows poor planning on management’s part. If the rooftop was going to close early, offering guests clear timing and direction would have shown forethought and care. Instead, the handling felt last-minute and impulsive, which only added to the confusion and frustration.

On top of that, the rooftop service had already been lacking, according to my friends. First, they were told the kitchen was closing. Then it was the bar. At no point did anyone clearly communicate that they needed to come downstairs due to weather concerns, further reflecting inconsistent messaging. We weren’t trying to extend the night; we just wanted to share one last drink together.

The disorganization, poor communication, and lack of basic courtesy made the night feel more stressful than celebratory. Condesa may market itself as a polished, guest-centered experience, but what we got felt sloppy and dismissive. If the staff wear earpieces, why weren’t they used to actually...

We'd just had the pleasure of meeting the famed owner of Condesa, Greg Root in the lobby of Pod Hotel, where we are currently staying. As the hotel itself has no amenities and since we'd been directed to the restaurant when we inquired at the front desk about ice machines the night before, we thought it was appropriate to ask at the restaurant if we could borrow some cutleries for the room. This, by the way, was okayed by the waitress who also checked with another staff member AND at the hotel desk. Then as we were waiting for the elevator to make our way back to the room, Mr Root confronted us demanding that we hand the cutleries back to him, right now (his own words). He asserted that since it was "his restaurant", and he himself was the owner, we apparently had no right. First of all, we would've totally understood if you'd explained to us that the restaurant operated separately from the hotel, and at least requested that we bring the cutleries back- instead of talking to us as if we were stealing. If you are running a restaurant in a hotel lobby and you hadn't worked out any arrangement with the hotel on sharing amenities, with absolutely no indication of this stated anywhere, that only says so much about your management capacities. We'd stayed at million other 3+ star hotels around the world and this was the first time we'd ever had this happen to us, let alone a so-called "owner" confront us. Anyways, Mr. Root was so convinced he was in the right, that he continued to argue with us IN THE LOBBY, whilst also refusing to reveal his name. I don't know how your other partners and your investors would feel about your immature and very public, outlandish behaviour towards potential patrons, as well as your claiming sole ownership, but I bet they won't be too pleased. Learn some manners and learn to treat people with respect, Mr. Root! Even other patrons we spoke to after this commotion were commenting on how ridiculous you were. I feel sorry for the lovely staff that has to work under such conceited management. Good luck going far in your career with that attitude of yours, you'll need it! :) Oh, lastly I've noticed that any unenthusiastic reviews from Yelp and Google Reviews have been getting mysteriously deleted,...