HABANERO MEXICAN FINE CUISINE — Restaurant in Plainfield

I'm extremely disappointed with the experience my husband and I had during our recent visit to our local Mexican restaurant just outside downtown Plainfield--a place we've supported regularly.

I ordered the shrimp cocktail, and unfortunately, the quality was unacceptable. One shrimp had not been deveined, and another still had the shell on it. I informed our waitress immediately. The unclean shrimp was left on the plate, and the one with the shell was wrapped in a napkin after I had already chewed and had to spit it out.

Instead of addressing the issue respectfully, the manager, Vincent, did not come to speak with us directly. Instead, he sent another waitress to explain the situation to me in English--assuming, based on my appearance, that I was not Latina. For the record, I am Latina and speak Spanish perfectly well. The assumption was not only incorrect but deeply disrespectful.

I was told I would still need to pay for the dish because I "didn't report it right away," even though I did. When I asked to speak to the manager directly, I was told he had "stepped out," but had been contacted by phone.

This experience left me feeling dismissed and disrespected--not just as a customer, but as a member of the community. I will never return, and I strongly encourage others to think twice before supporting a business that fails to take responsibility for its mistakes and does not treat loyal, local patrons with basic respect and decency.

Estoy extremadamente decepcionada con la experiencia que mi esposo y yo tuvimos durante nuestra visita reciente a nuestro restaurante mexicano local justo afuera del centro de Plainfield, un lugar al que hemos apoyado regularmente.

Pedí un cóctel de camarones, y desafortunadamente, la calidad fue inaceptable. Uno de los camarones no estaba limpio y otro aún tenía la cáscara. Informé a nuestra mesera de inmediato. El camarón sucio quedó en el plato, y el que tenía la cáscara lo envolví en una servilleta después de masticarlo y tener que escupirlo.

En lugar de abordar el problema de manera respetuosa, el gerente, Vincent, no vino a hablarnos directamente. En su lugar, envió a otra mesera para explicarme la situación en inglés, asumiendo, por cómo me veo, que no soy latina. Para que conste, soy latina y hablo español perfectamente. La suposición no solo fue incorrecta, sino profundamente irrespetuosa.

Me dijeron que aún debía pagar el platillo porque "no lo reporté de inmediato", aunque claramente lo había hecho. Cuando pedí hablar directamente con el gerente, me dijeron que él había "salido", pero que ya lo habían contactado por teléfono.

Esta experiencia me dejó sintiéndome ignorada e irrespetada, no solo como cliente, sino como miembro de la comunidad. Nunca volveré, y recomiendo a todos que piensen dos veces antes de apoyar a un negocio que no asume la responsabilidad de sus errores y no trata a los clientes leales y locales con el respeto y la decencia básica.

• update *

I spoke with Vincent and explained what happened. He asked me how many shrimps I was given, and I answered about five. He proceeded to say that I should have been given 12, but he would discount half the price because he cannot accommodate reimbursement for everyone who complains. I told him this was truly unprofessional, and I would leave a review. He said he did not care because everyone has their opinion, and they do not read reviews. I hope to meet the owner and speak with him or her about how this is truly bad business.

Hablé con Vincent y le expliqué lo que ocurrió. Él me preguntó cuántas camarones me habían dado, y le respondí unas cinco aproximadamente. Él procedió a decir que me deberían haber dado 12, pero que descontaría la mitad del precio porque no puede reembolsar a todos los que se quejan. Le dije que eso era realmente poco profesional y que dejaría un review. Él dijo que no le importaba porque cada uno tiene su opinión y que no leen los reviews. Espero poder conocer al dueño y hablar con él o ella sobre cómo esto es realmente un...

So unfortunately bad!!!!!!! The bartender, who told us that he was the owner, was so incredibly rude! We came here with a total of about 50 people after my grandmother’s funeral. A few of my family members went to the bar to have a few drinks. We purchased about 15 lime margaritas and a few shots. The total was over almost $500 for the round of drinks. The bar tender shorted my first drink unlike the others…no big deal, I knew we would be drinking pretty much all night. We ordered a second round of drinks and shots and it happened again! I asked the bar tender to top off my drink like every else’s. He asked someone to translate. Then he took my glass and took it to the end of the bar and literally added two drops to it! I asked him what was that and again he acted as if he didn’t understand, someone translated to him again, then he took my glass and added about 5-6 drops on it and gave it back. I told him that this wasn’t right and asked him why he was doing this to me. Again, he acted as if he didn’t understand, someone translated again, he then took my drink and dramatically dumped it out and told the rest of the employees that I was cut off and could not have anymor me and told me that our business didn’t matter. I only had the one 3/4 of a drink. I had not had anything...

I just wanted to give a HUGE shout out to Habenero on route 59!

My family and I went there tonight for Cinco de mayo and of course it was crazy packed. Now we've been there many times and it's always been pretty busy but today was more than the ordinary. My kiddo who is high functioning and has severe anxiety just wasn't having it. She started all her nervous ticks and they became uncontrollable.

I went to the hostess on a wing and a prayer if they had an open table outside that we could switch to and explained why. Literally in seconds she goes "oh of course" and they moved our whole family without a blink of an eye.

After 10mins or so of being outdoors my kiddo was calming down and was able to enjoy her dinner.

Obviously I tipped both the waitress and hostess an extremely generous amount, but I had to post here for the kudos as well.

We love this restaurant and will continue to keep...