Taco Rosas

J

jbenko_IHB

New member
Went there for the first time with my wife to check it out.



We were seated promptly, but waitress didn't arrive for the first 15 min or so. I had to flag someone down to come to our table.

We placed our order for a couple of burritos and a side of chips and salsa. The chips were burnt, so it took another 15 min or so to get our waitress to get us another batch. We also had only one set of silverware and napkin. With our order I asked for another. About an hour and 20 minutes of waiting, I had to call for the waitress again...except I couldn't find her so I flaged down a bus boy. I asked about our food that we haven't received yet. This is now almost two hours into the night.

I looked over to the couple next to us and asked if I'm getting service from hell and how their service is. They were in the same boat. They even proceeded to tell us that they had to put their name in twice to be seated. The first time they waited 30 min and found out the person never even wrote their names down. How un-suprising.



Anyway, the food arrived, I asked again for a set of silverware...no problem she said. Nothing...I had to get up and go to the kitchen and fetch me a set so I can eat my food that tasted like garbage.



I spoke to the manager afterwards...he didn't seem to care. He simply said... "Sorry". I repeated a short version of my frustration...he just looked at me and said "sorry" in a half sarcastic way. Fine. I left, whatever.



The bill was rather small...25 bucks and I left ZERO tip. Tip is a charge for service, not an obligation...I served myself.

Next day, my wife calls me over and asks didn't we only charge 25 bucks at Taco Rosas, I'm like yeah...she said our card got charged for 34.50. I called back the restaurant and asked for the manager. I asked why did I get charged 34.50 on a 25 dollar bill. He hung up the phone. Straight up. He said nothing, just hung up. I was shocked to be honest. I eventually called my bank and reported fraudelant charges.



Anyway, not sure if others have issues with them...but I'm never going back. One time was enough.
 
If you?re referring to the location at the Irvine Marketplace, I go there fairly often with friends.

Mostly in the afternoon as a warm-up before going out at nite.

Never been there for dinner.

They have pitchers of margaritas at very reasonable prices and the food is 10x better than On the Border.

I never had a problem with either the food or service there.

Hopefully, it was an isolated incident.
 
That is just shocking! Was this the one at the Marketplace? I've been to the Irvine one a few times and have never been impressed. Thanks to your note, I will not go there again.



I used to like the one in Newport a lot but lately it seems like the quality of food has been declining. Does anyone know if they had a change in management or something?
 
We went to the one in Newport for brunch and had similar service - no utensils and a long wait to get our drinks even though it was a buffet and our waitress didn't seem terribly busy. We also had to ask the busboy to get our forks & find the waitress to bring us our beverages. I thought the food was mediocre which is surprising since I love the specials at their Taco Mesa chain.
 
man, I would have headed to the door after 30 minutes.



seriously, if they don't want your business, go to someplace that does and will appreciate you as a customer.



go to Taco Mesa, go to Avila's if you want sit-down.
 
Wow, so they went ahead and took the liberty of charging you an 18% tip! I'm glad you told us so we can avoid them.



I personally don't like Orange County Mining Company. It has been crappy customer service whenever I've been there. I once ordered shrimp scampi and the stoneware dish they served it in was chipped. I don't think it's good to serve broken dishes (it isn't the first time I've seen them serve broken dishware) but didn't say anything. I just ate a couple bites until I bit down on a chard of broken stoneware. My mouth was bleeding and I thought I broke my tooth. I called the waitress over and explained what happened. I said I would like the bill to be compromised and she said no but offered me a free dessert (!) Now why in the heck would I want to eat something else from them after that! I couldn't even eat the dinner. We just paid and left. They are terrible.
 
That sucks SoCal. We actually tried Orange County Mining once too...some people were raving about it so we gave it a shot. The view was pretty neat especially since disney was shooting fireworks that night, but food was just ok. I guess since I had a "hyped" expectation, I was a bit disappointed. Also, probably not going back. Buca de Pepo is just ok too. Maybe my wife and I are just spoiled from Chicago foods and restaurants.



But no excuse for bad service.
 
I've had a similar experience at Taco Rosa. Bad service and undercooked food. Our family doesn't go there any more and we tell everyone to avoid Taco Rosa. Taco Mesa is still good eats though.



Avila's food isn't very good but the service is usually ok.



Check out <a href="http://ocmexfood.blogspot.com">http://ocmexfood.blogspot.com</a> for OC Mexican food reviews.
 
Thank you to irvine_native for linking to my blog.



The Taco Rosa debacle is unfortunate but does sound like an isolated incident. I've always had good service there even before I ever mentioned them on my blog or before I even had my Mexican food blog.



You might want to write up your complaint and send it to them. The very first entry I did on my blog was about them and I found out later that they found what I said and printed it out and made a copy for every employee so that the employees could see how the customers perceived them, so Taco Rosa <em>is</em> open to input.



Having said that, my blog covers over 200 Mexican restaurants in the county with new reviews added all the time.
 
That is truly shocking!



I agree, blackvault- whenever I go to a restaurant in OC, the majority of the time I am completely underwhelmed. I miss Greek Town, Little Italy,- and in general the mom and pop restaurants that seem like such a rarity in Irvine.
 
Wow, if I were the owner of this restaurant, I would probably fire the manager for doing that. Sounds illegal to me. It also makes me want check my CC statements more closely!!
 
BV: Here's the contact info for their <a href="http://www.tacorosa.com/contact.htm">corporate office.</a> Or you can email them.



Maybe they'll make it up to you with some freebies if you share your concerns. Most companies seem to be good about that. At the very least, they should know about your poor experience so they can talk to those employees.
 
Taco Rosa reviews:

<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/taco-rosa-irvine">http://www.yelp.com/biz/taco-rosa-irvine</a>



Who came up with the "Taco Rosa" name anyway?



<img src="http://whackd.com/images_and_pictures/bs_images/pink_taco/b_pink_taco.gif" alt="" />





==================





I used to live in Placentia and dined at El Farolito:



El Farolito

201 S Bradford Ave

Placentia, CA 92870

(714) 993-7880

<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-farolito-placentia">http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-farolito-placentia</a>



<img src="http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/nVPtE_YR3_ZoEuWvndg8QQ/l" alt="" />





Give them a try -- probably 10x better than Taco Pinko. When you're done, walk toward the railroad and check out the KB Homes for sale. LoL.



Also, try Q-Tortas across the street from El Farolito:



Q-Tortas

220 S Bradford Ave

Placentia, CA 92870

(714) 993-3270

<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/q-tortas-placentia">http://www.yelp.com/biz/q-tortas-placentia</a>



<img src="http://static.px.yelp.com/bphoto/FQVPBPa3vkz33gCaawwC-g/l" alt="" />
 
[quote author="JoonB" date=1231908751]That is truly shocking!



I agree, blackvault- whenever I go to a restaurant in OC, the majority of the time I am completely underwhelmed. I miss Greek Town, Little Italy,- and in general the mom and pop restaurants that seem like such a rarity in Irvine.</blockquote>


Yeah, so far dining in OC is much different then dining Chicago, New York or Orlando. Not impressed, but beaches are nice. :)I guess you can't have it all.



momopi, I read some of the reviews. I guess from now on I'm going to read before I dine. Appearantly I wasn't the only one who had burnt chips based on those reviews.



Restaurant business is an extremely sensitive one. There is nothing worse for the business than having a dissatisfied customer. Bad news travels faster than good news.
 
I had basically the same thing happen to us. Long time to be seated. Long time to be greated by the server. Long time to get sub standard food.



They have the worst Carnita's I have ever had. My wife couldn't eat her food (don't remember what she ordered but it was bad) they even messed up my kid's quesadilla's, they couldn't make it with just tortilla and cheese.



We wanted to send my wife's back but seeing as the waitress never came back that was kinda hard. Since mine was disgusting she decided not to try something else. We asked them to remove it from the bill then we went and had some good old fasion american food at IN & Out because we were all starving.



I am a big fan of Javiers at the spectrum. Loved the one in Laguna but it is gone now.



Jalapeno's is good for quick casual. They have two locations in Irvine. Avilla's and Supermex are also OK. Supermex is good because they are cheap!!!
 
<a href="http://www.lasirenagrill.com/"><u>La Sirena</u></a> is great! Go to the main beach Laguna location for the best locals-only ambiance.
 
[quote author="T!m" date=1231916351]<a href="http://www.lasirenagrill.com/"><u>La Sirena</u></a> is great! Go to the main beach Laguna location for the best locals-only ambiance.</blockquote>


Yes it is. There is one at OH plaza. Food is great for its price. Javier's is good too.



Has anyone had Carrabbas? It's an italian chain restaurant that originated in Florida. Nothing super fancy kinda like Mac Grill, but I love the food. If someone has, is there anything around here that resembles that? Also for pizza, does anybody know where they have great deep dish pizzas? Maybe I can find one like Ginos East...back in Chi-town...sigh...
 
The Laguna Javier's moved to Crystal Cove and ever since then I have had a bunch of complaints left about them on my blog. When I have personally been to about 200 Mexican restaurants in the county it's hard for me to pick one and say it's the only one people should consider going to. El Farolito is good and so is El Farolito Jr. I also like La Sirena but I like their El Segundo location best and hope they can have one like it in OC someday.



BTW, "Taco Rosa" translates as "Rose Taco" (big change, huh?) not "Pink Taco."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top