Diego's Spirited Kitchen — Restaurant in Redmond

A Disheartening Evening at Diego's Diego’s has always been on our shortlist of go-to dining establishments whenever we’re in town. Its reputation for fine dining and its vegetarian-friendly menu has typically drawn us in without hesitation. Unfortunately, our recent dinner experience made us pause to consider whether it is still the right fit for us going forward. From the moment we walked through the door, the evening had an air of tension we hadn’t previously encountered at Diego’s. Our server—arguably the face and voice of our dining experience—seemed to lack the warmth and attentiveness we’ve grown to expect from establishments of this caliber. Both my wife and I felt the absence of friendliness, helpfulness, and, above all, patience. A fine dining experience extends far beyond the food on the plate; it revolves around how the food is presented, served, and enjoyed. It felt as though our server held an unspoken frustration from the outset—something we couldn’t quite put a finger on but certainly felt. Reflecting on the night, we wondered if some choices we made contributed to this strained dynamic. We opted to pay the corkage fee and brought our own bottle of wine instead of selecting from the restaurant's house wine offerings. Could that decision have been a misstep that impacted the quality of service? Additionally, as longtime vegetarians, we are often quite specific in clarifying menu options to ensure they meet our dietary preferences. Diego’s has touted itself as vegetarian-friendly, a key reason we dine there. However, asking questions about the menu seemed to elicit a sense of impatience or irritation from the server. This lack of attentiveness may have been a small moment to them, but to us it felt dismissive—especially at a restaurant where attention to detail should be a given. While there is no fault to be found with the food or ambiance—both remained up to Diego's usual standards—this dinner, unfortunately, left a sour aftertaste because of the service. One can forgive hiccups with food because those can often be fixed on the spot, but subpar service in a fine dining setting lingers in one’s memory. Though Diego's has been a favorite in the past, this visit has left us uncertain whether we’ll feel inclined to return the next time we’re in town. For a restaurant that prides itself on being a special destination, the attitude and attentiveness of the staff must match the level of its cuisine. We hope that this was an off evening for the service staff because experiences like this might make loyal patrons look for other establishments that more consistently embody the spirit of...

I left Diego's feeling not only disappointed but angry because no one should pay $60 for a subpar lunch they had to share because of the exorbitant prices. Food: We ordered the barbecue shrimp appetizer which had three shrimp for $24. We then ordered the Diego's burrito with carnitas for $22. We felt confident we could share this meal because for $22 the burrito which is a regular bean rice and carnitas burrito should have been huge. It was not. It was mostly beans and rice there was probably 2 oz of meat in the entire burrito. Lastly the Virgin lava flow was $10 which we also shared. Had this been one of the most outstanding meals I've had I would not blink an eye at the cost but it was far from that. Los Jalapenos in Bend far supersedes this restaurant and is half the price. The salsa was way too hot and felt like it came from bottled tomatoes or possibly canned. The green sauce on the burrito was so bitter and tart it was almost inedible. As for the barbecue shrimp, probably the best flavor of the meal, was far below what barbecue shrimp should be; especially considering I just had barbecue shrimp two days ago at Zydeco's which was sublime (and they have five shrimp and a polenta cake for $18).

Our waiter was rude. He made us feel like we were an inconvenience. He was so curt and dismissive he boarded on obnoxious. He gave a general air of superiority which made us feel very uncomfortable.

I have been watching the Bend and Redmond food scene grow over the last 30 years into something really spectacular. Diego's Spirited Kitchen is not it. I would rather go to a food cart get better food for less money and never go back there again which is sad given how good...

I'll start with the positive. The food was delicious! The house salsa is some of the best I've ever tasted. My nachos plate could have fed four people. The service started out good. I dumped the remaining salsa on to my nachos and one of the servers had a new bowl on the table before the empty left my hand. It all went downhill from there. We watched the two hostess gals leave the front at the same time. Immediately after, a woman walked in and despite the bartender being there and a male server at a table right next to the door doing something on his cellphone, no one helped her. She finally spoke to the bartender after approaching him directly. At the time, it was not busy. There were maybe 10 diners in the restaurant total. My wife drank all of her water and I finally gave her mine and set her empty glass at the edge of the table. I started counting at that point. Seven times one of the wait staff walked by us within 2' of her empty water glass before one of them offered to refill it. All the while there were two wait staff near the front door doing things on their cellphones. I try to be pretty forgiving of places especially when it's busy but we were disappointed. When you charge the kind of prices they do for Mexican food, and present yourself as a little more upscale. We expected just a...