El Borracho Pike Place Market — Restaurant in Seattle

First of all, for my one and only day in Seattle on this trip, the weather couldn't be more perfect (see attached photos of Space Needle and the weather here this afternoon, as I sip on my Arnold Palmer - also pictured, along with the Nachos - yum! 😋) Honestly, at first I was a little turned off when I first walked in, and no one on staff acknowledged my presence for a few minutes and I did consider leaving, but something told me to give this place a chance. So, I walked over to the bartender and asked him who I had to talk to, to get seated outdoors, and he said, "Me." Not sure if he had seen me when I initially walked in, but if management reads this, you may want to train your staff to improve on their customer service skills, especially where first impressions are concerned. Reading some of the other reviews on this place, I think a couple of other customers were turned off by the service (or lack thereof) as well. In terms of how one places their order, it's all very tech/smartphone oriented. Once you're seated at your table, you're asked to scan the QR code there and place your order. Pretty simple process overall, even when I encountered a slight glitch but persevered on, even customizing my nachos to not include jalapeños, which give me the hiccups (don't ask) while noting that it asks if you want to tip your waitperson as you place the order, and decide how much in advance....excuse me, but how am I supposed to decide how much of a tip to leave when I haven't had an opportunity to gauge the quality of the service throughout, first impressions notwithstanding? I almost begrudgingly opted to do the standard 20% in advance and hoped for the best. Being that my total bill still came to under $25.00, I reasoned that it wouldn't be a huge loss had I been disappointed, and I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly my order was brought out - first the Arnold Palmer brought out by the bartender himself, and almost immediately thereafter my nachos were brought out by another staff person. I will say this: the nachos were satisfying and flavorful, despite the vegan melted cheese and vegan sour cream having a slightly watery texture. But overall, I was happy, satisfied, and ready to resume my walk in Downtown Seattle for the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening.

Pros: Quick service once order was placed, Food fresh

Cons: Unwelcoming...

Staff was unnecessarily rude.

If you have a no kids after 5pm policy, then consider having a better placed sign or signs at every table on the patio especially considering you are a seat yourself restaurant. We arrived around 5ish.

After settling my 2 year old & 6 month old at our table AND placing our orders (which any parent knows takes considerable time), one of the staff comes out with our orders. Without coming over to us or even addressing us, he just shouts "oh my God I cant have minors on the patio!" then swiftly turns and returns inside with our orders. Another staff member comes out and also raises his voice at us saying "you can't be here!" I try asking him where we should sit instead, but he ignored me and returned inside.

After putting both my kids back into their stroller and heading inside, we are then rudely told we can't be inside the restaurant either and that we need to go in through another entrance but we are not given any additional help as to how we should get there?? And then they tell us we "need to leave by 6!"

Seriously, TERRIBLE communication and service.

If they had just told us nicely from the start that we had to sit elsewhere and that we needed to be finished by 6pm we would have just taken the food to go or chosen another restaurant.

We ended up taking the food to go. They gave us extra chips and salsa to make up for our terrible experience.

I don't recommend this place if you have kids....

In Seattle, neat Pike Place, and rave reviews! I am, or was excited! That excitement was short lived. For me, the food was bland, small portions the burrito, you have to pay for chips and salsa and ordering chicken nachos will cost you $3.69 extra with no warning! I get that they have a location in a prime location and for that there has to be higher prices, but to charge for some bagged chips, Juanita's chip boxes are in the hallway and up on the racks of the ceiling for storage, and salsa that failed flat. Ask for a side of sour cream you get a little 2 oz. cup, which most places give you a small bowl; however, again, the location is costly so I can somewhat get it.

When you walk in there are a few tables by the bar. Kids can't go up there or enter that door. I thought that was pretty cool. Walk through the bar and walk down two or three stairs and there is another sitting area with a door that leads to Pike Place Market. The room is small as well, but they do well with the space.

In Sum, I love Mexican food and rarely have a complaint. I need to have small portions, but when I was on vacation and saw that I was paying close to $13.00 for something half the price as everywhere else, I am not a fan. I won't visit this location again that I can think and it really has nothing to do with a horrid story, but rather that there is so many different places to try and this one really didn't do anything that wanted me to...