Horrible service & they stole my clothes! I’ve never given a bad restaurant review before. But I have to now, because I don’t want anyone to go through what I did last Friday night. I ate there outdoors with two friends who saw what occurred.

I asked for Bistek A La Mexicana, cooked medium and with very little jalapenos. The waiter didn’t bat an eye. But when my dish arrived, the meat was visibly well-done, cut in small pieces (which the menu didn’t say), and very spicy. I said this wasn’t how I ordered it and that I couldn’t eat it. The waiter balked at having the cook redo my order. I saw my friend got a perfectly cooked thick NY Strip steak. Because it’s much easier to not overcook a thick steak, I asked the waiter to switch my dish to the Strip Steak – emphasizing I’d happily pay the difference in entrée costs! I even noted I didn’t need new sides, as they were fine, served separately. The waiter said the cook wouldn’t be willing to cook me another steak and abruptly left to go inside the restaurant.

Soon after a female staff came outside to our table. She didn’t tell us her name nor her position, but just proceeded to say there weren’t many jalapenos in my dish. Evidently our waiter hadn’t told her that I ordered my steak medium, but when I noted that, it made no difference. Just like the waiter, she said the cook wouldn’t remove my original dish from the bill and cook a new steak. I replied I never asked for the charge to be removed, instead I’d emphasized to the waiter that I’d pay the difference. Just like the waiter did, she abruptly headed inside without agreeing to put in a new order.

Only at the end of the meal, did the waiter tell me that this woman was the manager. If she was the manager, it was even more unprofessional that she didn’t introduce herself and also that she blamed the cook for not allowing the changed order! Cooks don’t override managers like that.

After she abruptly left, I felt I had no other option but to go inside and speak with the cook. The cook was similarly dismissive, saying, “Well, you got a steak.” The bartender saw our conversation had been heated, so when I returned to my table the bartender came out to speak with me personally about what I wanted. He was quite reasonable, and soon after I got a perfectly cooked steak. The waiter then reappeared and said he sympathized with my frustration at the cook but hoped I wouldn’t hold that against his tip.

But in deciding what tip to leave, my friends and I disagreed with the waiter’s stance. After all, no good waiter nor manager allows things to get to the point where a customer has to speak with the cook! And clearly the waiter hadn’t told his manager about the steak doneness issue nor my willingness to pay for the upgrade.

So we deliberately undertipped to express the unacceptability of service. Rather than maturely accept our decision, the waiter launched into an extended tirade of how it wasn’t his fault, and he had a family to feed, and that all this was coming after an already bad day for him. He again just blamed the cook and never acknowledged his part in the poor service. If he’d taken even a small amount of responsibility, we would’ve sympathized and tipped adequately, but all he showed was defensiveness, outrage, and self-pity.

So where do my clothes come in? I’d brought a long sleeve shirt and sweatpants to the restaurant in case I got cold, and forgot them there when I left. I soon remembered and returned ten minutes later with my two friends to our table. The waiter saw me looking, and said “What, you want your clothes back? You should’ve thought of that when you tipped bad!” I was too stunned to even reply. He then taunted, “What are you going to do, call the cops?”

Of course, I wouldn’t waste the police’s time on such petty spitefulness. Instead, I went inside to see if my clothes had been brought in, but the bartender said he knew nothing of them. I didn’t see the manager so I just left. And you can be sure that neither me, nor any of my friends will ever return!