La Paloma — Restaurant in Springfield

I can't remember ever walking out of a restaurant before the meal, but our party of 10 did just that. There were only two other tables being occupied in the entire restaurant (on a Saturday night, that should have been a sign) so the lack of greeting or a smile or any semblance of a welcoming attitude could not be blamed on it being a busy time.

We had to ask for chips and salsa three times before we finally got some. When we did finally receive chips and salsa, the bowls were handed out with the girl's thumb inside each bowl, thanks for touching the inside of all of our bowls!

We had to ask for silverware and napkins three times before someone in our party finally went up to the hostess desk to get them himself. The forks wrapped in napkins were handed to him by the times of the forks, thanks for touching all of our forks!

The last straw was when the hostess/waitress walked by and we asked (for the second time) for a second basket of chips and salsa since we had 10 people working on the one basket they brought earlier. We were told the kitchen is working on the salsa. I asked how long it was going to be since we had already asked before and received a snotty remark. I told her I did not appreciate her attitude since we have been nothing but pleasant but have received nothing but rudeness since we arrived. I then began listing all of the issues since we got there and when I got to the part about asking three times for napkins and silverware, she said we did not need them because we had not yet ordered our food. I told her we had been eating chips and salsa and people had dripped salsa and needed a napkin and it really wasn't up to her to decide when we get a napkin as we had asked for them three times. We decided then and there that we were not going to give this establishment any more of our money, paid for our drinks and left.

We asked her three times for the manager's name but she claims she did not know and did not know when he would be in but then finally said his name was Trevor. There's no Trevor there. After reading the comments, I have a feeling we were dealing with the infamous Carmen.

We drove across the parking lot to El Sombrero and asked if they had room for 10 people. The place was packed and the only table available was a large table that seemed to be waiting just for us. The owner and his daughter took great care of us and we ended up having a great meal with great service! We never had to ask for anything more than once, in fact most things just showed up at the table without us having to ask at all....

I was with a group of 4 and we all ordered margaritas and food. (This is important to note for what the manager (Carmen) said to us later.) Two of our group ordered the Wednesday night special of Fajitas for 2. The price is not listed on the menu. However, on their website it’s listed as $25.99. They also asked for no peppers. The fajitas came and it was mostly peppers! Then the manager (who took our order) said it was her fault, she forgot to tell them to take out the peppers. The two said they would just eat around the peppers, but asked if they could get more meat since it was mostly peppers. They were told no. When the ticket came, they were charged $29.99. The manager claimed that was the price even when shown the website. And even when reminded the order was wrong to begin with, she refused to adjust the ticket! She became very argumentative and rude and then proclaimed loudly for the two tables that were by us to hear, that we had been there since before 5 and that we had eaten 8 baskets of chips so why were we complaining! I have never been so humiliated and treated so rudely in a restaurant before. We were there to visit and have a fun girls night out. And it had only been 1 1/2 hrs. The restaurant was not even remotely full! And the manager was the only one taking orders, so we weren’t keeping a waitress from making tips. I really hope the owner reads all these low reviews and sees what the problem with restaurant is. After checking out the reviews, I see our group is not the only one who have had a run in with her. We have gone to this restaurant several times and used to have a really nice waiter (when I asked her where he was, she exclaimed , “I don’t know, I don’t live with him!”). I was just trying to find out if he still works there! This was one of our favorites even tho it was a little overpriced. However, after our experience tonight, we will...

I have always hesitated to go to this restaurant because of the bad reviews, but some friends wanted me to join them. I picked up two other friends to join the 6 who were already there. The waitress acted irritated that we arrived late (we had just learned of the tragic death of a friend and had to inform the family). The friends already there said it took a long time to get their order, and it was arriving as we arrived. The presentation looked nice at first glance. Anyway, we never got greeted and nobody brought us menus and silverware, so I went to the hostess station and told the young lady that I needed 3 menus. She just looked at me and turned away (maybe she didn't speak English? ) another staff member nearby pointed to where I could get the menus and silverware. So I grabbed the menus and roll-ups and I turned around and met with a woman who loudly chastised me in front of other customers and the girl who invited me to get the menus. The other customer was blown away and exclaimed allowed how rude she was. I didn't tell her that her staff invited me to grab some menus for myself because I didn't want to throw her under the bus. I returned to the table and told the others of my experience. The two guests that I brought with me got up and said we're leaving. The very rude hostess/waitress, the older lady with the red dye in her hair, that everyone is complaining about, is Carmen. Obviously, this review will fall on deaf ears to the company because she is in control. She doesn't change her narcissistic ways. She doesn't care about customers as you can see from other reviews. If you go there, hope that you don't get her and expect to pay elevated prices for average food with a nice presentation and decent atmosphere. But none of the good points make up for getting that kind of treatment. You'll feel as welcome as...