Frida Restaurant

05/13/2008 Posted by bEsperanza

Terrible service and bland food!! Do not come here if you have any clue about Authentic Mexican Food! I came to this place with high expectations with my best friend on opening week. We waited about 30 minutes for ANYONE to wait on us. The waitress we ended up with was terrible and made us wait forever just to get melted and runny Margaritas. I ordered Ceviche Acapulco style but they brought me a shrimp cocktail and argued that that is how it should be made. My friend was brought the wrong meal and we had a male waiter serve us because our waitress was no where to be found. When we complained to the manager about the food and service, he ARGUED with me that he had never had a complaint from anyone before! That there was a Frida restaurant in Beverly Hills and it is very successful and that they were not going to change the way the restaurant works. He didn't offer us anything or even an apology. I wasn't going to go back there anytime soon but my mom wanted to go for Mother's Day weekend. I took her on Friday since I figured that it wouldn't be busy and we might actually get decent service. I was wrong! They made my mom and I wait for 15 minutes and there were many tables available!! I think there were 3 tables with people in the whole place and about 30 waiters running around putting candles on tables. When I requested a table towards the back, the hostess said we couldn't sit there because the large wooden ball ornaments that were hanging from the ceiling were not secured properly and they could fall on us! What kind of place is this and why would the airhead hostess tell us this! Once we were seated, we once again waited about 30 minutes for a waitress to approach us and ask if we had been served yet. We said no so she walked away and left us there all alone again. Finally a few minutes later a nice male waiter took our order! The waiter was nice and attentive but it seemed as though he was rushing us out!

Pros: Restaurant decor, design

Cons: Service, manager, bland food, mistakes in the menu

05/12/2008 Posted by ECerda

We dined at Frida on 2 other occassions in the last month and figured it would be a great place to take mom on Saturday for Mother's Day (Since Mexican people always celebrate Mother's Day on the 10th). The prior two occasions I had tried 2 separate dishes and welcomed the opportunity to share my taste with my family. I recommended a dish to mom and dad and my wife proceeded to order something new to try out. The meal was described as a "filet mignon butterflied accompanied by customary sides including a mole enchilada". To our surprise the plate was brought out with "Skirt Steak". When I informed the waiter he said that he would get one of the lead persons. I spoke to the lead person and proceeded to point out the difference between skirt steak which was on my wife's plate and filet mignon which was on dad's plate. He said that he would get the manager. The manager proceeded to come to the table and ask if there was a problem, to which I replied there was no problem that we just wanted to get charged the apporpriate price for skirt steak (which a similar plate was available on the menu.) The manager assured me that there would be no problem to go ahead and enjoy our dinner. We proceeded to finish our dinner and receive a bill that had the incorrect price based on the manager's concession. When I approached the manager regarding the bill error he proceeded to inform me that there was no error and that skirt steak and filet mignon are the same cut of beef just prepared different. I told him that skirt steak and filet mignon come from different parts of the cow. I told him that I wasn't trying to get something for free and that I was pleased with the meal that it just didn't seem fair paying filet mignon priced entree when skirt steak was offered. He finally made the adjustment but I don't think he ever understood why he made it. The manager has very poor negotiation skills and customer service skills, let alone any knowledge of beef cuts and food preparation.

Pros: Decent tasting food.

Cons: Horrible service by wait staff and Manager's customer service skills