Habanero Tacos Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Saint Paul

We arrived on Friday at 5:30 pm to a relatively empty restaurant. We were greeted and given menus and told to sit down anywhere we'd like. We waited 10 minutes before finding a server and asking whether we order online or they wait on our table.

We placed our order with at about 5:45 pm, and was given chips and salsa. We ordered two enchiladas, a burrito bowl and kids quesadilla.

Several people walked in shortly after us to place take out orders. Someone had also placed an order online and was waiting as well. It seemed as if the staff were not trained for customer service. We waited patiently but recieved no communication from our server on where our order was in the queue.

We never recieved refills of our water and was never even checked on.

While waiting two of the take out orders were given the wrong credits cards and receipts.

After several people waited 45 minutes, we were all wondering where our food was. Finally a manager was called to the front of the restaurant. Someone who ordered take out asked where her food was or they needed a refund. The staff went and got her food but the order was missing something. Staff took the food back to add the item but she asked them if she could just have the food and a refund.

I also approached as asked about our food explaining we had also been waiting 45 minutes and would leave if we didn't get our food. The person in front went back and checked orders but never checked back in with me.

We left after waiting another five minutes, and all we got was a "sorry."

This restaurant seemed undertrained, understaffed and overwhelmed. It's a shame because it would be nice to have a local place like this but unfortunately the customer service ruined the experience.

I am pretty understanding and patient when it comes to food service, having worked in it for 10 years but this was the worst experience I've ever had at...

Love the story: Their second brick and mortar from a group that started with a food truck, which has always been good, fast street food. Something I always love to see. The street tacos were pretty good per usual--tortillas were obviously fresh and well-steamed. I only needed one and they kept together (vs. some places where you have to eat both and they still crumble to dust). Carne Asada and Al Pastor had great flavor, Tinga was pretty good, Carnitas was so-so (not crisped up like they sometimes are.) Have to go back to try the others and I missed they had elote, which I love. My favorite was actually my partner's dish! Huarache, which I hadn't had. Sort of like a thicker, crispy tortilla made with fresh masa. We had the steak version and I really liked the combination. Pretty early on so definitely a few things to work out. Hard to know when people are seated when they do it themselves so we waited a few minutes before someone greeted us. Could easily be due to staff shortages, which a lot of restaurants are having problems with. Also could use some flavor balancing on few things. My passion fruit margarita was strong, which was great, but a little sweet--though I didn't taste the tequila so maybe it was really well balanced, haha?! We both thought a white onion might be a bit stronger flavor to stand up to the cilantro and other spices (used a red onion) but also know lots of people complain about raw white onions. xD All in all, a few hiccups, but looking forward to trying them again. Want to check out their karaoke (Friday and Saturday nights) and probably chilaquiles for brunch! Plus looks like there will soon be a Michoacana next door we can hit up...

Went in for lunch with family from out of town that I hadn't seen in months. The woman brought out the food, including elote. I told her that I had actually ordered esquites. 2 mins later, just as we were putting our food in our mouths, the server came back to argue with me. He told me that I ordered elote. My kids confirmed i said esquites. He told me I HAD to take it because he had ordered it & brought it out. I told him I didn't want it because I can't eat corn when it's on the cob. He INSISTED I had to take it. I told him it was crazy he was arguing with me while we were trying to eat so he left. He came back at the end of the meal, apologized for earlier then proceed to argue AGAIN! He got super condescending & said "See, I wrote elote here so that's what you ordered. The difference is that elote is on the cob, esquites is in a cup, just so you don't make the mistake again next time". We paid for our meal & stormed out without finishing eating. I know EXACTLY the difference between elote & esquites & order it from restaurants at least twice a month. It was giving "gaslight her cuz she probably doesn't speak Spanish anyways". I used to order delivery from here twice a month but now will never go back. My first meal with my family in over a year was literally ruined by a server that insisted on arguing & implying that I'm stupid over a menu item that costs the kitchen less than a...