Coyote Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Hamburg

As many of you know I was the winner of the Coyote Cafe food truck party for 20. I wanted to give an honest review of my disappointment and interaction with Coyote Cafe. When I was picked as the winner I received no message, no call, not even a tag on fb. I found out through friends who received an email that the winner was picked. I then reached out, through fb, to the company to confirm I was the winner. When I asked how to go about getting in contact with someone to set it up I was told to text Jeff… as if I knew who Jeff was. After many unanswered phone calls and texts, I got in touch with Jeff, who was extremely unprofessional from the very start. I called Jeff on a Thursday evening. Jeff told me he was watching tv in his chair, and explained how crazy his workday was, he asked me questions about where I am from and how old I am. I didn’t understand why this all mattered but looking back I was a contast winner and he needed to know my location and if I was old enough to win. Jeff complained countless times about having to come to the north towns. We finished on the note that I would call him the next day when he was in the cafe to schedule something. Again, days went by before my phone call was answered again. My mother ended up being the one to get a hold of Jeff and schedule the party. We asked for a 6:30 pm start time and he insisted that was too late and 5:30 will have to do. I work as do many of my guests. To have a truck come at 5:30 and only serve for an hour was cutting it close for all of us. My mother told me over and over again to not trust this man due to his unprofessionalism and continuous complaint of traveling to Tonawanda. Jeff was supposed to send me an email with the menu which I did not receive until a month after that phone call, which I only received because I had texted him to remind him that I needed it.

Fast forward to the day before my scheduled party. I texted Jeff confirming we were set for the next day. I received a paragraph stating he would not be able to get me. There I was 20+ people planning to come to my house for a taco truck and no truck. I responded stating I had this event planned and people would be coming to my house. He responded with “ we will be there one way or another.” In my gut, I knew he’d probably never show. Jeff texted me a few hours before my party stating he would bring catering and that a truck is not available, even though it was planned 3 months ago. Jeff claims his Mother-in-Law is sick and he couldn’t work right now. I’m sure he has many employees he could’ve asked to bring a truck to our party. I understand things happen, and family comes first but a business doesn’t stop. I told Jeff I was disappointed but understood. Jeff had an employee deliver catering which seemed to be enough for probably 12 people. I, as a host, was embarrassed and so should Jeff and his company. I was promised a taco truck for 20 people, I was told I could pay for the extra people in my party. We both would’ve benefited from this party. I ended up texting people of party who not there yet to cancel with them and ended up having to order pizza to feed the guests that were there. I’m sorry to those I canceled on and I hope you understand.

The food was cold and tasteless. We received about half a pound of both pork and chicken, some tortillas, chips with a side cup of queso, and two quesadillas. I am disappointed, and so were my guests. I don’t recommend this eatery to anyone. I have my assumptions on the true reason Jeff would not bring a truck was his travel to the north towns. If you are going to put a contest out on fb and only want to stay in your area that should be noted in the rules. Shame on you Coyote Cafe, you will not have the business of me...

Went to Coyote Cafe for $1 Taco Tuesday, hoping for a chill night of budget bites and good vibes. What I got instead was the dining version of Notre Dame’s 3-9 season in 2007. A forgettable, frustrating, and frankly embarrassing experience that started “meh” and ended with me checking my bank statement like we were watching the Bush Push in real time.

Let’s break it down like a bad defensive series in South Bend.

The tacos? Average. Not terrible, but not good. We’re talking Tommy Rees-at-QB level average. Like "we should be doing better than this, right?" average. You go into $1 Taco Tuesday expecting a bit of flavor, a bit of fun. Instead, I got dry tortillas wrapped around meat with the enthusiasm of a team down 35 in the third quarter.

I figured, “Hey, the food’s mid, but at least there’s a margarita with my name on it.” Wrong. That margarita had less flavor than the Irish offense vs. Clemson in 2020. I’ve had hospital Jell-O with more kick. It tasted like someone ran a lime through a Brita filter and poured it over regrets. I was ready for a post-game celebration; instead, I got the cocktail equivalent of a blocked punt in a bowl game.

So I eat, I sip, I accept my fate like a true Notre Dame fan who’s lived through the Brian Kelly era—and I get the bill: $27.00. No problem. I settle up, and because I’ve waited tables and know the grind, I hand my waitress a $10 tip in cash. That’s over 35%—generous, even by Lou Holtz standards. I leave feeling like maybe I salvaged something out of the night.

The next morning? Boom. $37.00 charged to my card. That’s a full $10 more than the tab. Now, it’s not the money that gets me—it’s the principle. Someone decided to pad the tip I already left in cash, counting on me to be too distracted, too full, or too margarita-bland-drunk to notice.

This isn’t a mistake. This is a Georgia Tech in 2020 kind of performance—just flat-out shady. If you’re running a place where customers have to double-check receipts like it’s a 2-minute drill, something’s wrong. This isn't “oops,” this is “oops, we hoped you wouldn’t see that.”

Look, Notre Dame has had its lows. We’ve been blown out in BCS bowls, we lost to Navy (multiple times), we had a fake girlfriend scandal. But we learn. We move forward. We don’t go back to the same broken system expecting a different result.

Coyote Cafe? This was my Stanford 2022. I should’ve seen it coming. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and suddenly I’m watching us lose to Marshall again.

I won’t be back. If I can’t trust my bill, I can’t trust the business. I’ll take my dollar tacos and cash tips somewhere else—preferably where the drinks have flavor and the staff doesn’t run the tip drill like it’s 4th and goal on ethics.

But like Notre Dame football, I will be back. I will rise. I’ll find better tacos, stronger drinks, and servers who don’t treat honesty like a special teams afterthought.

Because in the end… the Irish always come back...

So this place used to be one of my favorite places to go while my husband and I were dating, as he was a very picky eater at the time. We happened to be headed through the area and thought how nice it would be to get takeout from here and watch the sun set from home. The last two times we ate there we'd had a few issues with our meals and we decided the last time it wasn't worth the cost increase they'd introduced, so we stopped going. This was almost 2 years ago. And after today's experience with the updated menu and yet another price increase since then, I doubt we will go to eat here again.

I love chimichangas, all crispy and deliciously slathered in queso. To me it was a new item from what I was used to getting and it had glowing reviews from several people online so I thought I'd give it a shot. This one was not crisp anywhere, and the "queso" looked and tasted as if it were simply processed nacho cheese from a can mixed with a red sauce or salsa for some flavor. As for the Fajitas my husband got, there were 8 thinly sliced strips of Chicken that probably amounted to half of a breast at best over maybe a third of a onion and half of a green pepper. Even with the "fresh" veggies, guacamole and salads (both of which were so salty to our taste buds we couldn't eat them), it was in no way worth the $19 we were charged for his dinner alone. Bill for 2 entres without drinks -takeout- was almost $38, and the worst part is that our meals didn't come with chips or salsa because apparently they charge for those if you do takeout!!!! This is the only Mexican restaurant I have ever heard of who doing this.

The one and only redeeming quality of our meals were the sopa and the potatoes, our favorite sides. While also salted, the amount of spices helped balance it out. Other than that, both of us agreed there were too many negatives this time to overlook. We will...