Saturday, November 24, 2007

Restaurant review - Las Margaritas (Kitsilano)

I regret having recommended Las Margaritas to John and Rebecca. Honestly, it used to be much better. But the place has gone downhill. I went there with L, W, K and R for brunch a few weeks back, and the first thing I noticed is that their brunch menu is totally non-existent.

The prices have gone up, and for a simple mango salad, I wouldn't pay $8 bucks (anywhere). The service was absolutely terrible. I was going to order the Huevos Rancheros (which in the standard format are over-easy). But I don't like over-easy eggs, so I told the waitress that I'd like to see if they could do my eggs scrambled and without cheese. She bluntly and rudely said "we won't change our menu for you". I was totally stunned.

Then she basically dumped my glass of Coca-Cola on the table, and continued showing a really rude attitude. Of course, when I paid my part, I gave her a very minimal tip (I would have not left any tip but I was with my friends, who did tip, so I felt somewhat obligated).

With Las Margaritas, it won't be "debut y despedida" but absolute farewell. I am NOT coming back here, and I will not recommend it ever again. At least not until the restaurant owners have fired this woman, revamped their brunch menu and instilled some sense of customer service on their staff.

5 comments:

Mitch said...

Reading back on your blog, couldn't help but notice this...

I agree wholeheartedly. I was employed there for a brief period of time, and found it incredibly rude even then. I've been back twice and NOT once have I had good service.

They advertise themselves as a great place in Kits, but I'd rather go to Hell's Kitchen than Las Margaritas anyday! Rude, annoying, and inflexible in how they treat the menu... I've been in customer service (7 years in restaurants) and it's some of the worst service I have ever had.

Have you had a chance to try the mexican restaurant on Dunbar yet? Mexicali??

Raul said...

Hi Mitch,

No, not yet. I've been curious about it but I end up not going there because I always go to (formerly Soda's Diner, now) The Dunbar.

Anonymous said...

"We had an unpleasant experience at Las Margaritas last night. We were seated in a table next to the bar and had a waitress who served us all night and she appeared friendly.


Gave the waitress a 14% tip. I think this is about normal but the waitress came by and started to give us a speech about how our tip was far less than what she deserved. We found her attitude to be condescending and tasteless. All that friendliness she displayed now appeared contrived and was largely dependent upon a tip far greater than what we had offered. There was no reason for her to engage is such a lengthy dialogue to tell us we badly underpaid her tip.

Raul said...

Hi Jake,

I'm sorry to hear about your negative experience at Las Margaritas. As you can see from my blog, I don't like it either. Too bad management doesn't seem to have found good staff yet.

Anonymous said...

Las Margaritas hasn't been any good since the early 90s.