Los Ocampo Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Saint Paul

I have been to Los Ocampo many many times and have referred a great many people to dine there as well. That is until last night. I took my son and his almost 8 month pregnant wife to dine there. It was not to busy so there was no excuse for the poor service and the very rude management. First we were shown to a table that had something encrusted on the table. We commented and were moved to the next table. While we were waiting another couple were taken to the same table we moved from and they also were moved. We were then asked what we would like and all ordered the chimichangas burritos and an appetizer. I ordered a beer and my son and wife ordered a soda . My son asked if they gave refills and the waitress snapped no we charge 1.99 for each no refills. My son decided to try a margarita so we both ordered the one with a beer in them. My son got his i did not.soon our meal came and we asked where the second margarita was oh i didnt know you wanted two we both had asked for them so dont know anyway she brought one.. My daughter in law got about half way through her burrito and there was a black curly hair coming out of her burrito, we called the waitress over she had her pull the hair out and took it to her manager then came back and asked what would she like them to do ? Well for one comp her burrito and she brought a new one before the waitress even moved away from the table their was a piece of some plastic like material ontop of her new burrito she again had to pick it off and hand it to the waitress on a napkin so she could show it to the manager. He said it was lettuce it clearly was not lettuce it was melted plastic. We asked for our bill and it came as if we had ordered 4 and the fourth was comped. Um noo asked to speak to the manager he said oh we dont comp anyones dinners. I said getting angry your kitchen messed up I have a almost 8 month pregnant lady here not to mention I've come here several times and told others to come here and your kitchen staff goofs up not one but two meals and you think that's ok so he grabbed our bill and comped the one. Not one apology or emotion gave it to the waitress to bring back to us. I'm in total disbelief at the horrible service and the rudeness of that manager... with so many restaurants to choose from and that treatment I and my family will never frequent Los Ocampos again... Apparently that wont matter but eventually when all customers start to not come back maybe that manager will get a clue not to treat customers so rudely. A simple show of concern and apology would definitly have helped. Maybe a comp of the whole meal could have kept you from losing a customer.....farewell...

I used to live on White Bear Ave and have been eating at this location since they opoened in 2011. Businesses evolve and Los Ocampo is no exception! Coming out of COVID I feel like they changed their approach in the best way possible. For a few years they got too much into the typical Mexican restaurant mindset where the focus was on low cost over high quality. They were doing the standard fill you up with a bunch of carbs (chips/bean/rice) and salt and wash it down with a reasonably priced 32 ounce beer. Nothing wrong with that style of Mexican restaurant but in 2024 Los Ocampo is very focused on serving the highest quality food! Most recently I had a chimichanga with skirt steak and at $15 + $4.25 extra for rice/beans it's not cheap but I was happy to pay $15 for really a fantastic, high quality, served hot, and asthetically pleasing burrito.

On Saturday night, there was a "one man band" playing Mexican music on his guitar and he was playing at a perfect dinner volume so loud enough to hear the music, but quiet enough that we could easily talk at our table. He was really good too and added to the enjoyable dining experience. Our waiter was awesome too and was easy to talk to and knew the menu inside and out! For example, my burrito was too mild so I asked "do you have any jalepenos or hot sauce or something?" Instead of bringing a bottle of Cholula he brought a side of homemade "avocado salsa" that was a perfect level of hot (a bit hotter than Cholula) and wonderful avocado flavor too. I definately recommend asking for avocado salsa on the side if you enjoy a hot meal. The menu does tend to be "Minnesota mild" but that's fine and my middle school aged kids who eat off the adult menu can't handle too much heat yet (they'll learn!) That brings me to my final thought, this place used to be a chain restaurant way back when so they have a large dining area with plenty of space for big family groups with children. There were 3-4 larger family meals going on when we were there, and I can't wait to bring my own group of 10-12 next time!

Loc Ocampo is better than ever in 2024, so if you've never tried it or it's been a few years you should definatley give them another chance. They're...

If I could give less than one star I would. I ordered from this place online after I ordered. I called the restaurant right away to let them know that one of my burritos needed no sauce and no beans. I let them know that the other burrito needed no rice. The front of house girl put me on hold to go tell them about the first burrito and then came back. I told her about the second one. She then went back and told the cooks so then I spoke with a Manager because as she was doing it the second time going back to tell the cooks no rice she then has a attitude like it was my fault or my problem that on the website, they don’t have anywhere where you can make modifications and type it in so I’ve been waiting about three minutes on hold for the manager to come. He comes to the phone I start talking and telling him what’s going on. He instantly starts to talk over me and tells me that I ordered through DoorDash so I have to do a DoorDash not oh hey, I’m sorry it’s not a problem at all remaking your food, but just instantly went to all you ordered from DoorDash so you can deal with them. That’s terrible customer service. I would not recommend anyone to come to this location. My food was delivered through DoorDash and when I got it, everything that I asked not to be on or in the burrito was on and in the burrito I then called back. Talk to him again on hold for 10 minutes. I let him know that the food was still wrong and then he proceeded to tell me that they didn’t know what modifications needed to happen But yet they remade the burritos yeah that’s very weird so I’m making this review because I will never ever go to this location again and I hope anyone of you ever never go to this location because the customer service is terrible and you shouldn’t have to be worrying about if you wanna make a complaint about your food if they’re gonna do something to it just because they don’t care . And I never ordered from DoorDash. I want to the restaurant website and click delivery so with them using a third-party they are the ones that should be responsible for my refund and they’re telling me that I cannot get a refund terrible management terrible employees terrible service all...