Pueblito Viejo — Restaurant in South Miami

DON’T COME FOR THE FOOD, DON'T STAY FOR THE FIESTA. As a Colombian living in Miami for 20 years, it's odd that I hadn't visited Pueblito Viejo on Bird Rd. until this weekend. I read some reviews, and despite the warnings, a group of 5 of us (including my teenage daughter) decided to give it a try. The show was at 8PM so we called to make a reservation. They don't take reservations. Got there 40 minutes before the show, paid $6 valet parking for each car ($16 total, including tip). It was raining so there was no place to wait other than a tiny room packed with millions of tchotchkes. Folklore. Awesome! We were in a festive, birthday-celebration mood.

After 30 minutes of standing/waiting, we got a table for 4 w/ one extra chair jammed in, on the dance floor. Even if we were a little uncomfortable, we really wanted to see the show of "trovadores" (improvisational Colombian singers/comedians that make fun of guests with their rhymes). This place is LOUD. The music is loud, the people are loud. Rowdy guests kept bumping into us as they posed for endless pictures next to a wall w/ a neon sign that reads “Check it out, baby.” Hellbent on enjoying our night, we chose to ignore the constant annoyances.

Luck was not on our side because our server was none other than the "José" I'd read about in so many negative reviews. I'd like to report that everyone was right about José: he is unfriendly, impatient, unmotivated, angry at the world & his job and someone who shouldn't be in the service industry. From the looks of José’s physique, he should stick to the gym. The food was overpriced and portions are definitely on the smaller side, but as far as taste, the food was all right. We did not order any bottles of alcohol. Our bill came to $150. By now you probably know that Pueblito Viejo includes a 15% gratuity, whether your service was good or not.

So let's get down to why I'm writing this review. We enjoyed the show and meal, paid the bill, and now we too were dancing. We had been at our table for one hour. We would have had a pretty good night overall, except for what happened next: Magda came to our table to ask us to leave. Simply said, she needed the table and we were done. In disbelief and in need of clarification, we asked to speak to the manager. We were informed that Magda was the manager.

Magda clarified the situation further: The place was packed and people were waiting outside and they needed our table. We weren’t going to consume alcohol. Good night. “Those are the rules,” she said. What rules? Where is it written that there is a time limit on tables? Did we not plunk down $150-plus at your establishment? Does your website not invite everyone to “come for the food and stay for the fiesta”?? We were asked to leave in the middle of our fiesta.

To say Magda and Pueblito Viejo’s “policies” are rude doesn’t begin to explain it. I’ve never been to a restaurant that throws you out when you’re done (unless you’re being rambunctious, rude, or you’re drunk). But this place threw us out because according to them, 1 hour was up and we were done. What if we wanted to order drinks? What if we wanted to dance a little? What if we just wanted to sit for a little longer and watch people dance? Didn’t we pay for the show, the food, the atmosphere and the experience? Something is wrong here. This place is interested in packing the place beyond its limits, extracting money from guests in every way it can (valet/alcohol/tip), and then doesn’t care about repeat visits or cultivating customers.

I read somewhere that Pueblito Viejo is like Disney. Except most of us keep going back to Disney for the experience, and we’ll certainly never visit Pueblito Viejo again. Save your money and dignity and go somewhere else. And by the way, Magda, if you can read this, save your time and don’t...

I had a very bad experience with this restaurant the day of my birthday celebration. I've been to this restaurant many times as a loyal customer and wanted to have dinner here with many of my friends. The arrangements were made and agreed to by both parties many weeks in advance that I would need to accommodate a table for 30 people and the manager's assistant Fresia, agreed. In fact, the day of, I spoke with them again TWICE to confirm my reservation on May 7th at 7pm. They confirmed and said the tables would be arranged. I explained many times that this was a big party and aside from being my birthday, a close friend and current mayoral candidate would also be attending. Again they promised everything would be set to go, and although they don't usually do these kinds of reservations, they would make an exception as my party included local government staff. Imagine my surprise when I arrive to the restaurant at 6:30pm only to be told that our reservation was not valid, the tables had been given away and there was no telling when, or if they would be able to sit our 30 guests. The person at the door, a young gentleman, was extremely rude and raised his voice. He was making comments to other guests (not in my party) about me being uneducated and making light of the fact that my birthday celebration, as I had imagined it, had been ruined. The tiny parking lot was filled with people, cars and inept valet drivers who asked many guests to park their own cars, and still proceeded to charge the valet fee. We were led to believe that something would be done to rectify the fact that our table was not available, but more and more people kept piling in and the line grew longer and longer. Finally 8 from our party of 30 were told they could go inside and sit, and that other guests could join as soon as more tables emptied out. After 2.5 hours of patiently waiting, we grew tired and wanted to leave. The 8 guests who sat inside were told that even though they had only consumed sodas and appetizers, they would have to pay a $25 minimum EACH if they left because they were taking up space in the restaurant without ordering dinner plates. On our way out, valet was a mess, all of our cars took forever to retrieve and the attendants were rude, ignoring our questions and one even yelled at my daughter when she tried to get his attention. Everyone knows it is easy to have a miscommunication with reservations all the time at busy places. However, this establishment and its management were rude, condescending, disorganized, not in the least bit concerned or apologetic about the mistake (because the place would be full anyway). They do not care about the customer experience, they only care that each body represents bottom dollar. If you have ruined a birthday party, why would you allow 8 members of the party sit, with no intention of ever being able to seat the rest of the party, and then fool them into paying $25 per person for "taking up a seat". Terrible experience, ruined birthday plans and just overall nasty nature of all of the employees I encountered the day of. Save yourself the hassle and skip this one out, lest you contribute to this establishment's sense of entitlement and its...

I had a terrible birthday dinner last Friday! They ruined my day! Well, let me start by saying I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone. It was highly recommended by a close friend of mine who told me he had a great time with his family and even offered to reserve a table for us as he also suggested that the place gets crowded and a reservation would be desirable. Both my friend and I called the restaurant throughout the day to no avail. Still, I decided to change my husband's plan to take me to a high end restaurant because I trust my friend's judgement, and we walked in without reservations. Why didn't I just read reviews before hand??? Ughh! I wish I could go back in time! First, valet was $6 and they demanded payment ahead...understandable...but weird, I was basically rushed to get my kids out out of the car (one of them is a 4 month old). Once inside, the greeter asked me if I had reservations and of course I told him that I was calling all day but no one answered. He asked me how many people and I told him 4 baby in a stroller included. He proceeded to sit us in a tiny table and helped us to set the stroller aside...thanks! My husband told him that it was my birthday but he was not acknowledged. Our server was kind and knowledgeable of the menu. We ordered drinks, I ordered a Piña colada but forgot to say "virgin" and a very alcoholic Piña colada was served! I immediately rectified with the server and admitted my error for not specifying sans alcohol and requested to please change my drink. He said that get couldn't replace it and I must pay for it and also suggested me to drink it slowly...funny but no thank you, I'm a nursing mom. My husband intervened and told him that if he had to pay for both drinks he would...my alcoholic Piña colada was never removed from my table or my bill! Food was delicious and served fast. Portion wise...ehh...that's another story but okay! At about 9pm, we told our server we were celebrating my birthday and were there to enjoy their show. He stated that the show would begin in 15 mins. We ate, waited, waited, waited. Asked for desserts, ordered 2 different ones...I expected at least a candle on my dessert...but absolutely nothing! My husband and daughter silently sang happy birthday to me and we digged into our pricey flans! My husband inquired to the server why was my birthday overlooked and he stated apologetically that their restaurant tradition is to charge 20 dollars and the servers would sing to me as well as a coctail and a celebration hat! Ha! RIDICULOUS!!! Oh, we left the restaurant at 10:30pm and the trovadores never showed up! Yay!!! We gave our server his 20% tip just because that's what we do. When we left and got our car from valet they gave us the look of "where's my tip!" At that point, I just wanted to get the hell out of there! Never...