Taqueria La Picardia — Restaurant in Town of Rye

It took some time for us to decide where we wanted to go to celebrate our anniversary. After much contemplation, we decided upon tacos and Taqueria La Picardia in Port Chester. The reviews were great. We got dressed up to have a quiet and lovely anniversary dinner. Initially, it was difficult to find parking, but we eventually parked in the train station parking lot. Looking around, we noticed that there must be some kind of Grateful Dead concert going on because there were a lot of Grateful Dead type fans all around. When we walked up to the restaurant, similar fans were seated outside of the restaurant eating. As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we realized this was not a dress up and have a chill celebratory dinner type of place. We were okay with that, so we decided to stay. We really wanted to try Birria tacos for the first time. The restaurant started to fill up and they tended to seat people next to each other, so it really felt cramped and uncomfortable. There were parties on both sides of us and one would occasionally cough. It was a bit worrisome. Our waiter came over and asked if we wanted to order, so we told him that we would order our drinks and appetizers first and then we would order the entree later. I don’t know why we did it that way, but I’m glad we did. Waiting for our food and looking around the restaurant, the walls were filled with Grateful Dead paraphernalia. We realized this was a hang out for that crowd. We were the only non concert goers in the restaurant at that time. There seemed to have been some sort of confusion going on with the waiters. The restaurant wasn’t full to capacity, but the waiters looked confused. It also took a while for us to get our drinks and chips and salsa. It was strange. There were two concert goers to the left that started complaining and saying they don’t mind being Karens, they wanted their food. We finally got our flor de Jamaica agua fresca drink. If you like sorrel, then you would like this. Sipping on our drinks, waiting for our food, our chips and salsa finally came out. I was surprised that it was chips and Pico de Gallo, but I’m not complaining. We were hungry and it was good. Waiting for our tacos, I noticed one waitress tell our waiter that maybe she could help him and get our food. He rudely waived her off and told her, he would take care of us. It was very strange because he didn’t seem interested in taking care of our table. Someone else finally brought the tacos. The Birria tacos didn’t look how I expected them to look, so I asked if these were the same type of tacos I thought they were. She explained to me that the Birria tacos that we see all over social media are more like quesadillas. After she walked away, I realized we were never given cutlery. Our waiter was no where to be found by us. We told the same waitress that we were never given a fork or anything. She literally brought us two forks in some napkins. We needed a knife. We called the other waitress over and asked her for a knife. She brought us two proper sets. She seemed to be the only person that cared for us as customers. The tacos were great. The Birria tacos were full of flavor. You could definitely tell the beef was slow cooked. They were delicious. After we finished the tacos. We literally were just left hanging. Our waiter seemed very consumed with taking care of all of his other patrons needs. He never came to us. It was so bad that the same waitress asked if she could come over and help us and he shut her down with the quickness. I told my spouse that we’re not ordering another thing and we need to leave. My spouse went up to the register and kindly asked our waiter for a check. He waived my spouse off and told my spouse to wait a minute. We were livid. I left as my spouse paid. It is actually really really disappointing. The food is great but our presence didn’t seemed appreciated like all the other patrons. We will not...

I hardly ever leave reviews but after thinking about the “flaws” during our visit, I thought I’d leave a review. Menu is quite small yet expensive for what you get. $12 for a scoop size of guacamole is insane. Don’t buy the overly priced guacamole. Then we got our food and they were almost $6 tacos and $18 for a burrito, mind you these were pretty basic food items, nothing with bells and whistles. The server was very nice and attentive so I had no problem there. However, during our visit, we couldn’t help but notice a man who seemed to be the dishwasher rushing in and out of the restaurant. He seemed to be going in and out of two other establishments and was rushing to bring in plates in and out. We noticed how rushed he looked and how busy he looked. My group decided we could try and call him over to give him an extra tip so we called him over, but he only stopped for a quick second and didn’t get a chance to get the tip from us. The minute the other staff noticed this, they immediately came out and their demeanor changed. They asked if everything was okay but seemed a bit defensive about it. Sadly we know that in the food industry barely any tip money goes to the dishwashers and especially in our community, sometimes businesses take advantage of people. I didn’t like their demeanor at the end, especially since there was already a gratuity fee in our bill and this was something extra we wanted to do for this man, and they didn’t allow this to happen. I’m really hoping they’re treating this man with dignity and are paying him a decent wage because they were for sure working...

The reason i only gave this place 2 stars was very simple. The food was great for taco tuesday...i was there late last night...but the waitress was extremely miserable and horrible attitude. I walked in and she approached me like she just hated her job..she pointed to a table and i asked to sit in the corner table by the window..and she just pointed at the table she wanted me to sit in...then gave a menu...i made up my mind what i wanted and when i told her she rolled her eyes and said that they were out of those tacos...it was so funny that she had to pass by me everytime to serve other people but never once asked if everything was ok or if i needed anything. She preffered other customers in the place. I asked for another drink and it sat at the bar for a good 8.minutes before another waitress served it to me....the waitress that originally served me was more concerned of flirting w the bartender and checking her cell. This happened on Tuesday August 15...and it seemed that the owners were in the restaurant but she didnt care. She was a slighty chubby waitress and taller than the other waitress that was there..which was actually nice. My advice is if you want more business in a important business street like Westchester Ave....have this waitress adjust her attitude or find someone that likes to.work. Because u got alot of competition on your block for...