Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Las Mojarras

1501 E Lake St
Minneapolis, MN 55407

price: $9-$35 for food and $16 for Hornitos (!?)
specialty: overcooked seafood?

Cinco de Mayo is my husband's birthday and so what better way to celebrate than to visit our next Lake Street stop (the former Me Gusta) - Las Mojarras - right? I read Jeremy Iggers' article on TC Daily Planet and thought - "Yes, this is the perfect choice and it even has a full bar.
My husband will love this!" --WRONG! The experience we had was absolutely horrible from beginning to end.

I just want to start by saying that I am a very patient person and generally give people the benefit of the doubt. I also don't give bad rev
iews unless absolutely necessary.

There were eight of us at a large table in the front of the dining room. The place was empty. I guess gringos are the only ones to go out on "Drinko de Mayo". Remnants of Me Gusta are still apparent. We commented on how the ambiance feels like you are outside on a patio - but you are inside - strange.

As one of the only tables in the place, you would think that
the service would have been better. Our server took our drink orders. My husband and his friend ordered a double Hornitos on the rocks. The server brought my husband a low-ball filled with water and Hornitos. Communication seemed impossible. Each of us tried to explain the drink that he wanted to order. Next, she brought out a shot glass filled with Hornitos. He decided to give up and drank it anyways.

I ordered the Ceviche Tostada
. Others ordered various styles of enchiladas and seafood. Communication continued to be very difficult. One of my friends spoke Spanish. Still - the server struggled to understand Spanish and hand signals. This was my tenth stop on Lake Street and the first time that I encountered a complete communication barrier. It was as if she wasn't making an attempt at all.

Our food came to the table. A few of the orders were wrong - no surprise. The shrimp on my tostada was chewy. The tostada was
small for $9. A few of us ordered more drinks and water. The beverages never came. After I ate my meal in about four bites, I tasted my friend's enchilada. It was flavorless. The tomato-based sauce tasted like my grandma's stewed tomatoes (ick!).

We continued to eat, with out our beverages. One of us flagged down another server. Our server began bringing out one order at a time. Frustration was building in each one of us.

The bill came. The total was almost $400! We were charged $16 each for every Hornitos drink that my husband and his friend ordered (6 total). We complained to the bartender, but soon realized it was a lost cause. Then, things got even stranger... Our server stood over us until each one of us filled out our credit card slips. One of us said, "You can come back you know." It was extremely uncomfortable and neither one of us have ever experienced anything quite like it.

As we left the restaurant, we each agreed that that we would never step foot in the place again. The food was bad and the service - inexcusable.

Sorry to say, but it didn't end there. A few days passed and I noticed that my checking account balance was low. The idiot server had charged us twice! There was one charge for $75 (the cost of the bill) and then one for $135 (a completely random amount).

I called the manager and had him reverse the charge. It was hard to believe that this bad experience could get even worse!

food: 0
service: 0
ambiance: 3