Los Cuates — Restaurant in Washington

the food and atmosphere at this restaurant were fine. I have been many times with no issue. However, today was different. Our eating experience went great until the bill came. Our server Carmen split our bill on a device before we saw the receipt so we could not confirm exactly what we were paying for. we noticed there was an option to add a tip at the end for 5% or 7% which all of us added not being aware of the fact that we were already charged for a tip. One of our friends actually added a 20% tip.

When the receipts came back, we noticed she had put a 20% auto gratuity on the bill reserved for a party of six or more. we were a party of four, who ate dinner, and one friend, who joined us for a single drink. we asked about this 20% gratuity, seeing as there were only 4 of us who actually ate, and Carmen explained that it was because we were sitting at a table for six people so that justified the service charge when there were only five chairs at the table and only four of us sitting down and eating. The restaurant was fine, but this experience with the server was unprofessional and quite rude. we were not aware of the fact that this auto gratuity was added before we were able to pay, and the reasons for it were completely unbased and unjustified. It really made no sense and I assume the server did so to put the money in her own pocket.

this restaurant has been a favorite for me and our friends, but we will not be...

If I could say zero stars I sure would. I thought the food was Horrible....I LOVE tacos, chips and salsa, all of it was trash. My sister and brother in law enjoyed it (they didn't eat all day so any food would be good to them). I had to send my food back. My brother asked for a side of lettuce, they gave him lettuce that came with his meal with sour cream on top so he sent it back they gave him the lettuce in the picture. When we received the bill they charged an additional 3$ for it. My brother asked why they charged him for their error. The server wasn't trying to hear it. After a few civil words back and forth the waiter shewed us away to leave. Not to mention race but we are black. He said he would call the police we said call them because we were right. He tried to take the plates as he was saying he would call the police, we we're like no we will keep our plate so the police can see what the situation is.. he continued to try and grab the plate, my brother moved it from his reach. Then the serve said to just pay the bill minus 3$. We asked for a updated bill and he would not give us one. We just paid cash minus 3$ and we left. Too much drama for bad food and serve. Super disrespectful but whatever I will never go...

Our first option for the night fell through so we grudgingly went to Los Cuates as it was close by despite the run down appearance and mediocre reviews. Had that been the worst we would experience…. We could tell our waitress was off when she came to our table twice to take our order. The food came out in a reasonable time and was about as expected. Nothing great, but not terrible. I would give the place 3 stars based on food but the service and atmosphere ruins it. When it came time to pay the bill we thought the total sounded high so we asked for an itemized receipt. Three of the items we ordered we were overcharged for. And a 20% tip had been unknowingly been added and we were prompted for a second tip. When we asked the waitress she blamed the computer for the errors. We explained that we expected to pay the prices on the menu and asked for the bill to be corrected so she hesitantly got the manager. He agreed we had been overcharged after having to prove the error to him. This awkward situation took over 5 minutes to resolve. That said I would recommend finding anywhere else to spend your evening as we suspect this is their usual mode...