El Santo — Restaurant in West Hartford

Had the worst first (and last)experience here on Cinco De Mayo. Waited more than an hour and a half for a table (which was fine - that’s not the complaint) - after we were finally seated, we got a basket of chips from some guy who didn’t say anything to us and then we were totally forgotten. We sat there for literally 20 min waiting for a waitress. No one approached us. We even watched a table of ONE person be seated directly next to us and waited on immediately but the waitress didn’t even look at us. I finally got up to go ask the hostess what the situation was. She was nice, very overwhelmed, but nice. She asked me to inform “the manager” (who I later find out is an owner). He asked me who my waitress was…I didn’t know because I didn’t have one yet. That was the problem, which he didn’t really seem interested in solving. No apology from him. He walked back to the section we were sitting in, pointed at my table as if he was going to do something, and then didn’t. No one ever came back to our table. He tended to other things with another owner (cash register seemed messed up or something). We waited roughly 15 more minutes, watching many workers walk by and then finally got up and left. A table almost next to us said they had been sitting there an hour and just started getting drinks from the bar themselves because no one had come over to wait on them either. Ridiculous. The hostess asked what happened and then apologized as we walked out. I get being a new restaurant and having slow service because you’re new, but no service is absolutely ridiculous. Don’t seat people if you can’t serve them. For the amount of time wasted at El Santo, we could have gone to bartaco (2 hour wait), which next...

Just barely makes a 4 star. I love the look of the menu. It perfectly caters to the demographic here in that it's recognizable to the common West Hartford person. All your favorites are listed. We steered clear of the bar and drink situation based on other reviews. We got chips and salsa to start and that was great! Chips were perfectly salted and warm. The salsa was in such a small dish though. Definitely need to offer more salsa for the amount of chips you get. Then we got a chicken quesadilla and the enchiladas verdes. The quesadilla was perfectly grilled, but it lacked so much flavor. We requested salt and added it inside and it made it a little better. The enchiladas verdes sauce was good, but the chicken inside was completely tasteless. Added some salt and it made it a little better. The rice was horrible. It tasted like it was warmed up in a bag in the microwave so I didn't bother. The service was great. Our server Jorge was kind, attentive, and helpful. I really appreciated his friendliness. We were the only ones there at 4pm on a Sunday which was nice to have the place to ourselves. So, overall we really appreciate the staff and the service (5/5 for sure). We will be back to try some other things on the menu, but we were sad that the other cautionary reviews about the food flavor held up. The food is okay/good but needs some serious improvements with seasonings; as in they need to add some. I shouldn't have to ask for salt to add to my Mexican food, definitely a first for me. I hope they start to take that into consideration. Thanks for the good service!...

TLDR: food okay, terrible service!

We ordered tostones, tacos, guacamole, and pork skin. The pork skin exceeded expectations especially for the price. Tacos and tostones were okay. Chipotle had better guac for cheaper.

Service and atmosphere were terrible however. They purposely put us 2 adults and a toddler at a 2 person table (when they had a 4 person table). The toddler got no utensils, plates, or even napkins, so we shared two cloth napkins between the 3 of us despite all the oily finger foods. And then they kept moving tables and chairs around us for half the dinner which was very stressful.

At the end of the meal, the person eating with me left their card with the waitress before going to the bathroom. The waitress then came to me with the card inserted into the machine and asked me to sign for other person. I had never been asked to sign a bill for someone else 😳 After I asked her to wait for the card holder to return, the waitresses started collecting my plates and utensils when I was still actively feeding my toddler. She then knocked the takeout bag and box over accidentally but only picked up the bag. Another waitress walked by and picked the box up from the floor but put it back on my table and only brought me a new box when I questioned if that box went onto the floor! Then the waitress came back a few more times still with the card inserted in machine. I wish there was a way we could tip less but it’s so hard when they are standing right there staring at you while you put in the tips on the card...