Mamajuana cafe — Restaurant in Waterbury

If I could give this place a zero, I wouldn’t hesitate. This establishment doesn’t deserve a single star. I should have followed the warning bells in the reviews I read the night before my visit. This place has the absolute worst customer service imaginable. I could run this dump better while blindfolded and tied up. Our nightmare began the moment we arrived at our reservation time, only to be told that we didn’t have one. After showing proof of our call, the reservation magically appeared, and we were told to wait 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, other guests strolled in and were seated without an issue. We waited a ridiculous 45 minutes before complaining AGAIN and being shoved into a cramped four-person table for our party of nine. Once they realized our party size, they crammed next to the emergency exit like we were some sort of afterthought. It took 20 minutes just to get a server’s attention. Our waitress seemed more interested in dancing and socializing than actually working. She finally took our drink order, and after a 25-minute wait, we received our drinks—except one mojito was made without the passion fruit I specifically ordered because “they had none.” Yet I watched as she served someone else the passion fruit mojito that was supposedly unavailable. We waited over an hour for food that NEVER CAME while people who arrived after us were already enjoying their meals. When we asked for an update, our waitress had the audacity to say, “We have bigger parties than yours right now, and they are taking priority.” Seriously? After we expressed our frustration and decided to leave, she suddenly wanted us to wait because our food was “coming out shortly.” We canceled our orders and left after paying for our drinks, which were mediocre at best. I could mix a better mojito with an instant packet from the liquor store. When we asked about a cake we brought for our event, they reluctantly gave it back. We ended up at a McDonald’s down the street. I’m beyond disappointed, especially after hearing about their other locations. As someone who works in customer service, I can confidently say this was the worst experience ever. Do yourself a favor: skip this place and spend your money where it’s actually appreciated and can receive ...

If I could give this place a negative zero star, I would. So, my husband and I went to this restaurant to celebrate our 8 years of marriage, for the food and vibes; thinking we’d get exceptional service and good food. However, that was NOT the case. This place of so-called business is rude and unwelcoming, and the food is not worth the price. Let’s start with the service: when walking into the restaurant, the hostess blatantly acted confused when my husband gave his name for the reservations. My husband also requested a booth, which was a half booth. Okay, cool. We dealt with it… We got seated, but barely got greeted. We put in our order for regular beverages and a drink. For our main course, my husband ordered Seafood Casserole, which he absolutely did not like. I ordered Oxtail Fettuccine, which I asked whether or not this dish was spicy, prior to placing it. The server said it was not spicy. However, I got my dish, and noticed spices, which I currently cannot have due to medical reasons. I tried explaining this to the server, but he kept denying that it was spicy. The server was also very territorial over everything we ordered, and was hovering over us, seeking out steady compliments. Why not just let us at least try to enjoy our meal? But hey, I guess that’s how they do things there at Mamajuana Cafe…. After becoming ready to go, we asked for (2) to-go containers, which did not properly seal our food, which led my husband to decide to leave his. We then decided to take some pictures in the entrance of the restaurant by the garden wall, lit-up word sign, and these swing chairs. I proceeded to sit on one of the swings for a picture, and ended up taking a hard fall to the solid ground, as the swing chairs did not have any support and/ or balance. The hostess saw me fall, looked at me, looked at my husband while helping me get up, and did not bother checking in on me to see if I was okay or not. All in all, this place sucks. I would’ve said it is aesthetically pleasing, but giving my hard fall to the ground, it obviously is not. The food and/or service is not worth $151.00. As a certain ethnicity of business, if you want to attract people outside of your ethnicity, I’d advise...

First time visiting this establishment. Walked in and loved the atmosphere. Were given tablets for the menu, and the heat and music was bumpin! The menu was the whole reason why we wanted to visit here. The food was delicious, unique, and flavorful.

However, if you chose to visit, plan for AT LEAST a couple hours and this is why…We had been greeted and immediately sat (having a reservation). Someone came over to give us water and walked away. We waited 30 minutes for someone to come greet us and take a drink order, before we were discussing leaving. I got up to use the restroom and came back and put my coat on when someone finally came over.

We asked them if they would pay attention to us and not forget about us. We were apologized to and decided to give it a chance. Ordered everything at once. The appetizer came out before our drinks, which was followed up with our server double checking something on our order, where my dish immediately arrived right after. It took another 20-30 minutes for my husband to get his dish, after slowly eating mine. In the time we’re were there, the table next to us had informed they had been there for 2.5 hours and STILL didn’t get the check. They even waved to the manager and he waved back before realizing he was being called over. Another table (both two-tops) had also complained at the timing and the attentiveness.

PLEASE BE ADVISED, they automatically add 15% gratuity on ALL checks, 20% on parties of 8 or more. My thought is that there is a possibility they may not be as attentive because they already get a tip, or they don’t have server sections set up so they are literally running all over the restaurant, making it difficult to keep an eye on their tables.

We decided we would give them another opportunity in the future, tipped our server extra, since she was sincere and apologetic. Management needs to step up the service standards. If you have better service standards, you will also turn more tables, and everyone will make more $$. This establishment has...