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Claire Sanford had a head-scratcher of a dinner at: El Tiempo, 5602 Washington.
Sanford writes, “we found ourselves on Washington Avenue at about 7 p.m. on a Sunday and decided to give El Tiempo Cantina a try.
“We walked in and were greeted by two ladies at the hostess stand. We asked for a table for two. We are a nicely dressed couple of native Houstonians from the suburbs. We are two completely regular people who just wanted to enjoy a nice dinner out.
El Tiempo is located at 5602 Washington.: Dave Rossman/ For the Chronicle
“There were three window tables and two inside tables available before the partition wall that divides the restaurant. The back half of the restaurant was virtually empty. The hostess, who had spent half a minute poring over her seating chart, seated us by the restroom. This was also where the staff stood waiting to get food from the kitchen. I asked not to be seated in front of the restroom since there were so many vacant tables. She moved us one table over, next to a crying baby. As more people came in and the restaurant filled up, they never tried to seat anyone at the first table. “Another couple came in, and they were seated at a nice, quiet, out of the way four-top. Maybe they were regular customers, maybe they had a reservation, I don’t know. Maybe we were not pretentious enough for Washington Avenue?
“I ordered the Ranchero Chicken Nachos. The nachos were cold, and there was very little ranchero about them, unless ranchero means dark-meat chicken covered with cheese. My fiancé ordered the carnitas burrito, which was served warm, but it had several big chunks of lard, and it was way oversalted.
“The manager (complete with ear bud that he listened to intently all evening) visited almost every table but ours. It was as if he knew we were not having a stellar evening. My water glass was refilled several times with chunks of ice and no water.
“We cannot figure out what they hoped to gain by giving us the worst table in a half-empty restaurant. Houston has so many outstanding Tex-Mex restaurants that we do not have to put up with this. Next time we want good Tex-Mex, we’ll head to Airline Drive.”
Reader Rave
Alexandre L’Eveille: Costa Brava Bistro, 5115 Bellaire, 713-839-1005
“We love Spain’s Catalonia region for its lively culture and flavorful dishes, so we have been anxious for the opening of Costa Brava Bistro. It did not disappoint. We shared a nice Spanish tempranillo — and had a challenge to narrow down from the nicely curated list. A bread plate with tapenade and one of the most delicious assortments of olives I’ve tasted outside of Spain — flavorful and delicious. My partner had the mussels starter with a mild but tasty broth. Crispy, seasoned frites with a spicy dipping sauce accompanied the mussels — dangerously good. Hard to stop eating them.
“My partner had the duck entree, which he raved about. I chose the tuna appetizer, which was large enough for a meal. The tuna was perfectly prepared and presented over a fresh, crispy medley of haricot verts, baby carrots and potato wedges. It’s nice to have vegetables that are not cooked to mush. We finished up the hazelnut crêpes. Yum!
“It was a great evening. Staff (was) attentive, and the ambiance was warm and welcoming. We’ll be back.”
This reader’s forum is a chance to become a restaurant critic or ask other dining-wise readers for suggestions. Letters may be emailed to syd@29-95.com or mailed to Syd Kearney, P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210. Please print your full name and a daytime phone number.
I had lunch at the original Ninfa's on Navigation today and it was awesome!! I know that is out of the way from where you were, but there are enough good Mexican restaurants in this town that you don't have to go back to a place that didn't please you.
I would love to hear El Tiempo's response to this.
@Claire Sanford: Are you African-American or possibly a mixed-race couple? Just asking b/c I've had similar experiences and can only attribute the lack of service or care to nativist ideology. I'd be surprised that would occur on Washington but one never knows...sorry for your experience.
I go to that El Tiempo with my Asian wife very often and usually get great service and always great food. My wife is picky about seating and she's requested a different table a few times and they've always granted her request.
As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry, I'm sure seating issue at El Tiempo was probably due to the servers' sections. Most people who have never worked in a restaurant don't realize that the entire restaurant is not open for seating.
Each server working that evening is given a section of usually 4 tables - and these 4 tables are all right next to each other (so that the server can serve each table efficiently).
The hostess rotates the sections she sits the customers. For example, if there are 8 servers working that night, she will give each one of them a table (1-8), before going back to server #1 to give him a second table, and then so on. There is a reason for this - if she gives 2 tables to one server at the same time - one of the tables is going to be waiting to get their drinks, etc.
Ms. Sanford was probably being sat in one server's section and when she asked to move tables, the hostess sat her in another table in the same section. The other parties that came in throughout the night were sat in other servers' sections, which is why she believes no one was purposely sat right next to the bathroom the rest of the night.
It's not that these other people were regular customers, or more "pretentious" than Ms. Sanford, it's just that they happened to come in at a time that that section was being seated. It's not that the restaurant is "out to get you," it's just the way the system works.
That said, if you'd asked the hostess to sit you at the window or one of the nice quiet tables you liked, I'm sure she absolutely would have. You just have to let her know exactly what you want.
OK. So much or the seating chart. Really, once you get the feeling that the meal experience is going to be bad it never seems to recover and get good. Before eating much of the food they should have just called the manager over and quietly and politely told him they didn't like his place or the food and wished they would have never set foot in such a rat hole. Then paid their bill in cash without a tip and left.
That's exactly right. And a hostess can't overseat a section bc management AND the servers will be on her case. You seem like you were looking for something to complain about, Ms. Sanford. And let's not forget that ice melts (quickly) and is the liquid form of itself...water. El Tiempo is by far not my favorite restaurant, but this review sounds pretty ridiculous. And you didn't say much about the FOOD.
We had a similar experience at El Tiempo, foodwise. The food was served stone cold and we were charged for a more expensive dish than we ordered. The prices are way above the norm in Houston as well. Just a block away is Los Dos Amigos. Try that next time. Great food and friendly people.
It's amazing how restaurants will hire DUMB people and let them ruin their business. I really like the food at El Tiempo, but have had issue with their staff at the Washington location as well. Too many really good TexMex to put up with DUMB and inattentive staff. Claire mentions Airline, but don't for get Gessner between I-10 and Clay Rd for some great mom and pop TexMex, as well as Long Point. They are not fancy, but have some GREAT food.
Agreed @ Get It Right!!. It's the lazy staff that ruin the experience. However, Cyclone Anaya's has been consistent. A bit more pricey but well worth it for the food (and service).
El Tiempo is overpriced and sympathies to you for not liking your order.
But whining like you were being singled out for bad service sounds insincere. Your water was refilled several times with ice? So you're saying they were attentive aren't you? Complaining about the table selection is a red flag that the complainer is the one that's out of line. Why didn't you request a table?
Then you cried about how they sat others at a BETTER table and the manager checked on everyone but you??? Were you severely neglected as a child? I wasn't there but it sounds to me like the service was great.
It truly was painful reading that. All I could think if was that there may be a reason why they supposedly ignored them if that's how the writer interacts.
Watch out for the Vintage Park/Tomball location. They have no issue increasing the tip on a credit card if they think it's not sufficient.
"Increasing the tip"???,....that's FORGERY! I'd certainly get my attorney on that if it happened to me.
This might be off the subject a little but the story involved a crying baby so I just have to vent. What is with parent these days not being considerate of other people? If you've got a toddler or baby that's hard to control or comfort, please don't take them out to eat with you. It's not fair to the other patrons. I never took my daughter out with me to eat when she was fussy.
Call me "Old-Fashion" if I don't like the table they select, I ask for a new one, if that one is not acceptable, I'll leave. If the service is unacceptable, I ask for the manager, if the manager doesn't solve the problem, I leave. You have a problem, you solve it while you’re there, if you can't solve it, no one is forcing you to stay. Prior to the claims of many, I have never run into a mind reading service staff or manager. I have always had to express my pleasure or displeasure with their food and service verbally and at the time of service.