Maracas Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Town of Ossining

We had high hopes walking into this local spot, but the experience quickly went downhill. When we arrived, no staff acknowledged us(even though they made clear eye contact)—eventually, the owner had to run out and help us himself. At first we spoke in English but once we realized it was easier for the staff that we spoke in Spanish, we changed over.

The food itself was actually good, which made the rest of the experience even more disappointing. It's also worth noting that this is no longer a Mexican restaurant—it's now Ecuadorian.

Our server was nowhere to be found, so we asked another server, LINDA, for a beer. She brought it over, slammed it on the table and just said “Five” abruptly. We were a little confused, and she clarified (rudely) that the beer was $5. We told her we’d like to pay everything together at the end, but she snapped, “Well, everything else will be with your other server, but I’m charging you for the beer I brought.” The attitude was completely unnecessary. I’m assuming she wanted the $1 tip on the beer.

When it was time to pay, we noticed one of the meals was listed as $18, but the menu we were given said $8. When we asked about it, the server brought a completely different menu and mentioned something about people who speak English or different languages get a different menu, which felt dismissive and unprofessional.

Eventually, we got the original menu back. The owner claimed he had mistakenly given us an old menu—but earlier, the staff acted like the two menus were just different versions. Which is it? Regardless, he offered to honor the $8 price, but at that point, we declined—to make it known that the problem isn’t the money, it’s how the situation was handled.

It’s really disappointing to have an experience like this, especially at a Latino-owned spot in the town I grew up in. I want to support local businesses, but the owner seriously needs to step up: hire better staff, train them on basic hospitality, and get the...

I have to agree wtih the reviewers who said this isn't the great place it once was. This was my first time so I can't speak of its glory days.

When I sat down a young woman came over with a note pad, seeming to want to take my order. I asked for a menu and she looked at me blankly, then conveyed that she didn't speak English. She went to get another worker who did have a slight grasp of English, enough to ask if I spoke Spanish, which unfortunately I don't. The menu they finally brought me was not at all the same menu that is on the website! Food options are very different from what the online menu says. And there are no English explanations of the offerings.

I gave the food a 1 rating but honestly, I didn't stay to eat. Figured it was going to be way too hard to make my questions about food items understood. I have to say that the waitresses were very prompt in coming to the table...

Today I called them at noon for lunch and a woman answered in Spanish. I asked if I could place an order for pickup and the phone hung up. I figured we just got disconnected so I called right back, and asked the same thing again nicely. This time the woman said "No" and hung up. I work locally and am always eating at different restaurants in Ossining and have never been treated in such a way. I assume they were discriminating against me because I spoke English and now I will not be giving them my business. The small deli across the street is excellent and the woman behind the counter is always a pleasure despite the...