Ay Mi Pa Mexican Grill & Cantina — Restaurant in Riverside

I think the priorities are wrong here. The decor was pleasant, but lots of "trendy" restaurants are using the lush fake greenery these days. The restaurant and the restrooms were clean. They originally seated us in front of a loud speaker, and getting permission to move was awkward. The hostess seemed to not want to offend someone who wasn't us, maybe our server or a manager? Anyway we moved. Our server was also the bartender, and he was great! Apparently there was an error in the menu so he steered us a way from one item. I liked my food, ay mi pa tacos with roasted vegetables. My companion had the same entree with rice and beans. He had to pay extra, because the meal came with rice or beans, not both. And he didn't like the peas in the rice. The food did take a long time to come out. Strangely so, because it was not a busy afternoon. There was one group and maybe 4 tables besides us. But again our server was friendly and kept my drink refills coming. Forgot to mention the chips. They were standard, but they came with 3 salsas and little spoons, so no need to worry about double dipping. The salsas were mild, medium and hot, all very distinctive, all good, and complimentary. The big downfall for me was the 4% "sur charge". By walking in the door and ordering, I agreed to pay the menu prices, which were a little pricey, but warranted for the atmosphere, presentation and good service. But I didn't agree to an automatic surcharge. They should just build whatever expense they are trying to cover into the pricing. When I asked about it, our still friendly server said it was for music and entertainment. There was only recorded music over speakers while we were there. Glad I went, and if the surcharge issue is resolved...

I recently visited Ay Mi Pa with a party of two, and unfortunately, the experience was quite disappointing. Upon arrival, we were seated in a dark corner with extremely loud music playing. As soon as we got to our table, the host walked away before we could request a different seating option.

Our initial server quickly brought cups of water and left before we had a chance to ask for anything. When our main server finally came, we asked if we could move to a quieter area. The server curtly replied, “Go ask the hostess,” and immediately left our table.

When we approached the hostess to explain our situation, she questioned why we wanted to move instead of simply providing a better seating option. After we explained our reasons, she declined our request, stating that there was only one server on shift. This was surprising, given that it was 1 PM on a Saturday, a typically busy time for restaurants.

It seems like management put a lot of effort into creating a nice place, but the staff can simply ruin it for them. Given the poor service and unaccommodating staff, we decided to leave and went to Yard House instead, where we had a much better experience.

Overall, the service at Ay Mi Pa was lacking, and the staff did not seem interested in ensuring a pleasant dining experience. I hope the management addresses these issues to prevent other patrons from having a similarly...

Honestly this place is very over hyped! It’s not what they post. We went there for my cousin birthday to celebrate, I told our waitress about her bday .We order our food , the food I gave it a 3 because I got the enchilada plate with one cheese one chicken , the cheese one wasn’t even melted inside of it also the rice was pre heated in the microwave so there was some super dried up rice , they did replace but it had no flavor at all . The worst part was the alcohol beverage that I order which I paid extra to upgrade to don julio 1942 the strawberry had freakin mold , I do have a photo I will not be posting on here , cuz I will be reaching out to the upper and the department , only because how the manager jay handle our experience unprofessional didn’t even want to come talk to us he was avoiding us and when I told the waitress no call him over I wanna talk to him it look like he was on drugs because he would not even look at me keep looking away and i told him him being a manager he should have walk over to our table for reassurance and apologize and for the inconvenience give us a discount not knock off only $2 dollars the worst part about it they include the tip already . I work in the upper and this will be escalated. The photo will be used to show too code enforcement on what’s being served and they never sang to my cousin . I will never...