La Unica restaurante — Restaurant in Smithfield

We've heard nothing but rave reviews from all of our friends about this place, so we decided to go 1/5/24. We get there and there's no parking at all. We thought this was a good sign, as the place was packed. Long line, and kinda am odd way to order, standing in a long line in a sit down joint. We finally order, an enchilada platter, carne asada fries, chips and salsa, queso and guacamole, a cucumber and lime drink and a Coke. All this came out to $59, which I thought was a little steep for 2 people, until they hit me with automatic gratuity. If you're paying with a card, you cannot opt out of a tip. Which is crazy to me, because how do you tip for food and service before you have received it? With the 18% gratuity added, the total was now $71. For 2 people!!

So, we proceed to go find a place to sit. The only table available at the time, was a larger booth, which was filthy on top and under. We wiped off the table and sat and placed our number out and waited. After about 5 minutes, we got our chips and salsa and queso and guacamole. A few later, a waitress comes by and asked how we liked everything. Told her so far, so good and she replied great, and took our number and said enjoy your meal!! Wait, what? We had no food!! My wife had to chase her down and get our number back to get our order. So we munched on our chips and wait. And wait....oh yeah, and wait some more. I get it's a Friday night and busy, but 20 minutes has passed and no one has even stopped to see if we needed refills of anything. We flagged down another waitress and asked for refills of chips and drinks. Finally, a few minutes later, my meal arrives. Just mine, not my wife's. And it looked straight out of a can. No filling to the enchiladas at all. Beans had no flavor. Rice, eh. We had to stop the waitress and ask for my wife's meal. She comes back and explains that they forgot it. The meat had absolutely no flavor at all, and fries were cold and stale. We decided to leave at this point. We could've gone to El Toro Viejo and gotten a way better meal for less money. This was a terrible first impression and sad to say, despite all the great reviews, we won't...

This place used to be the best LatinX cuisine in town. I remember supporting them when they were just a food truck. I remember when they first came on scene, the food they regular, consistently made was even better than some of the most famous food trucks in San Diego, or Long Beach. They did amazing work.

Now? They barely season, the meat is poor quality, with any beef option being mostly grissle and fat. I ordered tacos a week ago, they were mostly filled with maybe a tablespoon of actual beef, the rest was silverskin, fat, and tough connective tissue.

I assumed it was just just a fluke. So yesterday, I ordered a carne asada burrito and got the same thing. This time, it was a mouthful of guacamole, next to no meat, barely any Pico.

I try not to assume anything, but incidentally, I am white. And I have also noticed a very clear, distinct difference in how I'm treated compared to Hispanic customers. Maybe it's just me. But there is an obvious difference in treatment. Especially in wait times.

I've noticed on days I dine in, my wait time can get as high as 40 minutes to an hour. But customers who, whether incidentally who are not white, whether intentionally or not, wait maybe 10 minutes.

I've seen it happen in the drive-thru as well. I'll order, and wait nearly an hour for food. Whether it's motivated by my appearance or not, the wait times are excessive...

I try to be respectful, kind, and generous with everyone, regardless of their appearance or nationality. And I'd hope to receive the same... This location is going downhill in quality, as well as customer treatment. Wait times are absurd... And while there may be some observed potential... Personal reasons why, it's just one piece...

Love the food, but you have to watch them like a hawk. The time before last I ordered a chicken dish, but it came out with pork. The food is good, but the prices are not inexpensive and you have to plan on paying a lot more than menu prices even for takeout. The credit card machine only has fixed tip options from minimum 18% (no zero option) up to 25%. I aways tip, but I'd like to choose my own, thank you. The next time I went, the owner rung up the price and it was double the correct amount and he just waited for me to pay ($80 vs $38). Then I corrected him and while finishing the purchase with a credit card, he quickly stuck his hand out and tapped on the maximum tip for a TAKEOUT order I was picking up before I could change it. Looks like in the reviews, I'm not the only one. He makes a habit of overcharging by a lot....