El Paisano — Restaurant in Reno

If this review was based on food quality, I would rate this place much higher, but the one star comes from the poor service quality my mother and I received here today. I have had staff make errors at numerous businesses before, but I have never been treated as intentionally poorly as I was by all three of the staff on duty at El Paisano today.

We stopped in around 1:00 PM today and ordered two lunch combo plates, which as seen in the large sign on the front of the restaurant, were advertised as being $8.50/meal, not including tax. We ordered two of these lunch specials and noticed a few minutes after the food arrived that we were being charged around $21 before tax for these meals. We asked the cashier, Josseline, about this, and she immediately gave us a bad attitude and said that it was "because of taxes." We pointed out that taxes would not be that high, and that they were also accounted for separately on the receipt, so we didn't know where the extra charges were coming from. She then changed her story to say that "that's just what the machine rang up, so that's what she charged us."

We asked to speak to the manager, and the manager essentially repeated Josseline's line of reasoning, saying there was nothing she could do for us since the credit card had already been charged. I said this was unacceptable and asked to be reimbursed the difference in cash, to which the manager grudgingly agreed to. Not only was the attitude unacceptable, but also the fact that I as the customer needed to come up with a solution to this problem, instead of her as the manager.

We then returned to the cashier for the reimbursement, and now both she and another employee made snide remarks to the tune of "you're the customer, and we are at your service" as they prepared to give us our reimbursement. One of them also pointed to the menu inside the restaurant and said that "food prices had risen", so lunch specials now cost around $10.50, "as we could see." We said that rising food prices weren't the issue; it was the false advertising in the outdoor signage and subsequent bad attitude we'd gotten about a very simple request to correct an error that was on the business to correct. The employee then added that "nobody else had ever complained about this before," and we replied that this had nothing to do with the false advertising and subsequent lack of taking responsibility. To add one final insult, Josseline (cashier) said that "if we were unhappy, we could always leave a bad review for them online." Ultimately, we received a $5 refund in cash.

This was a very simple mistake to correct, and the restaurant should have recognized they were clearly in the wrong with their huge outdoor sign advertising something that was no longer the case. It was an easy fix that could have been handled with a simple refund, a coupon for a meal at a future time, etc. Instead, we got no acknowledgment and only a refund under duress. At no point did any of the staff even look at the sign outside or our receipt - clearly they were not interested in listening to us or seeing it for themselves.

The food is tasty here, but if you go, be careful that you are being charged as advertised. The foul attitude we received left me wondering whether they are doing this on purpose to defraud people of small dollar amounts here and there that add up over time, or whether they just lack the ability and willingness to display good customer service and perform the basic mathematic operations necessary to run...

It was NOT okay. and Not like El Salvador's by a massive long shot. the hostess and or owner if you can call her that didn't explain very well what the daily special was. All she did was point and say something in Spanish and claims she doesn't speak " American". I should left right then and there after that comment. also she was very abrupt and borderline rudewith me. Sorry but not everyone speaks Spanish. Now I'm 5ft 3 inches and the soda machine is placed way too high above my head. I can tell you that my wheelchair buddy would have a super difficult time getting his soda. The portions are small but I guess that's just the number 6 on the menu or their daily special. They offered stale tasteless chips but no salsa. The service was mediocre but you get what you pay for. And their Cooks need to go back to culinary school and learn a thing or two about cuisine.. I've had far betteir in cheaper places on all fronts. Definitely not returning here. And before I forget please clean up. It's a pigsty in here. The place needs to be checked out by the...

I came looking for authentic Salvadorean food. A salvadorean breakfast that fills you up with flavor.

Instead I order my eggs sunny side up hard (see picture), I don’t know what I got. It was some sort of egg, but not what I expected.

I ordered Fried Plantains (Platanos fritos) a tipical dish of the salvadorean cuisine, (see picture), I got half banana/ half fried plantains.

I still had hopes the pupusa would change my taste buds and my mind (see picture), I did not get a pupusa, I got a tortilla with a bit of cheese in the center. I had to really look hard to see the cheese and to taste the cheese.

I’m definitely not coming back here. I guess this place is an eatery but is not a salvadorean restaurant, selling salvadorean food.

Service - What service? This place is like a gas station where you serve yourself. What they cook is handed to you from the kitchen.

I really had hopes...