Puesto Mission Valley — Restaurant in San Diego

I do not leave reviews but after todays experience I just had to. We are the type of people that if we get bad food or service, we never address it with the manager, we just never return to that establishment. Let me start off by saying we have been coming to Puesto for a few years now and even had our company Christmas party here. The service has always been great especially when you are lucky enough to have Carlos as your server. Today we were seated on the patio with 4 other occupied tables from the time we got there to the time we left. Our server was Emkae and after our experience with her, she single handedly has made it that we no longer want to return to Puesto due to her horrible service. Upon first greeting she had an attitude as if we were inconveniencing her. She took our drink order and we asked for chips and salsa. Our drinks came and we waited about 10 minutes for our chips and salsa. At this time, it was us and one other table on the patio. We ordered our tacos which came relatively quick. Emkae checked on us after our tacos arrived and we asked for more chips and salsa. She grabbed our salsa cup and threw it into the still 1/4 full basket of chips and walked off. After that encounter she never returned. She walked by us several times, never asking if there was anything else we needed, and seemed to purposely ignoring us. My boyfriend wanted to order 2 more tacos but since she never checked up on us that never happened. We also never received the chips and salsa refill that we asked for and ultimately we were charged for on our ticket, which in all of our past visits we have never been charged for chips and salsa. While observing her with other tables, she told the table next to us they were not allowed to order a second alcoholic beverage until they were finished with their first one they had ordered. That table completed their entire meal and she returned with the second alcoholic beverage. Once Emkae walked away from that table, the woman said she did not want that beverage anymore as they were finished with their meal. Another table close to us, walked out after their first interaction with Emkae, as they were 2 elderly lady and they were asking a lot of questions that were answered very short and rudely. The 4th table around us was told they did not offer a Military discount. When the gentleman said he comes often and is always accommodated with a military discount she said I guess I can asked my manager. Our table was cleared by another employee as well as our check was brought by another employee. Emkae returned to take our payment, we paid and left a minimal tip, which generally we tip 25%. She saw the tip amount and walked off with no more interaction. The food is good but service is a huge deal and I do not think she is someone that should be a server. As someone who runs a very successful business, I would want to know if this service was happening to my customers as well as the lack of attention and missed sales due to this type of service. I highly doubt this review will be seen by anyone at Puesto that cares...

Update 21 May 2024

Dined in with our awesome server, Jess for happy hour on taco Tues! Fantastic service, fantastic food.

Where do I start...I'll just talk about the elephant in the room real quick...As some mentioned, $9/10 for a single taco and close to $30 for 2 enchiladas is a pretty hefty price to pay, especially with no sides...At least a little rice and beans, Puesto??? That's not really why I wanted to review this restaurant though, who's name essentially means Taco Stand. We brought my mother in law here for our first time for her birthday. You walk in to a large dining room that's open and airy; atmosphere is great. Our hostess seated us quickly, there was no wait on this Sunday, early afternoon, after church. Our dining facilitator, Carlos, is really the superstar here. He discerned it was our first time and paid extra special attention to us, or so it felt like. We were given the sauce tour and recommendations based on our questions. We tried both the enchilada plates, 6 or 7 different tacos, 5 or 6 different sauces and a couple of drinks. Everything was delicious and certainly made a case for the aforementioned prices. However, again, it was Carlos attentiveness to our table that really pushed the dining bar above other places we've visited. It felt like he was our own personal dining facilitator even though we saw him with other tables. He really made sure the service was above and beyond what you might expect. A birthday pastry with candle was brought for my mom and he joined in a sing-a-long to wish her happy birthday. He was able to speak with her in Spanish as well, which was nice. I think the hand written birthday card, signed by the staff, was really what pushed the experience over the edge. Who even does that nowadays? Fantastic! Anyway, the little that was left over was bagged up in earth friendly, recyclable containers and the bill was dispatched with quickly. I was so moved by the hand written card and service from Carlos I just had to speak with the manager, Reese and let em know what a great experience we had. Reese also chatted me up for a few mins and asked me about our dining selections. I told Reese how much we appreciated the personal service, hand written card and another small gift was proffered for taking time to stop and taco about our experience, pun intended, haha! Thank you to both Carlos and Reese for a great dining experience and birthday for my mom. We'll...

I don’t normally write reviews, I know you’ve heard that one before, but that’s how disappointed I was in this restaurant, that I feel has truly gone down hill. The fact that something similar has happened on two separate occasions says a lot. To start off our party of four were seated and ordered drinks with chips and salsa, of course, and a side of guacamole. Then we placed our orders of a taco each and beans and rice to share. We asked that NO cilantro be added. What was already in the dish was ok but NO extra. The waiter brought the chips and salsa, no guacamole. Then the beans and rice came, covered with extra cilantro. Still no guacamole. Then our tacos came and we asked that the beans and rice be taken away and replaced with the NO extra cilantro that we asked for and could they PLEASE bring the guacamole we ordered, even though it was passed being an appetizer. We waited, then started in on our tacos, with the beans and rice brought out later but with no cilantro. And finally the guacamole. Unfortunately, it was made with so much lime juice it was inedible. Finally we had had enough and asked to speak to the manager. She listened and appeared to agree with everything we said and then took the guacamole away. Never to appear again!! When our bill came the only thing taken off the bill was the guacamole. I am usually not one to feel like we should have been compensated, but in this case I feel like we should have been comped a little something. Or at least the manager to have stopped by to apologize again. Sorry to see a restaurant that cares so little for the customer and...