El Jarro De Arturo

05/03/2008 Posted by TheServiceAdvisor

I used to eat at El Jarro frequently when I first moved to San Antonio, the food is good- but sometimes a bit greasy- but I've found better around town. The WORST thing about this restaurant is the horrible service. While others rant on that they've had the same servers for years-and that they must be doing something right- I beg to differ. I feel the owners put up with slovenly, unattentive service because MOST of the employees are family members! I am not Hispanic nor a wealthy San Antonioan and feel that this works against me. EVERY SINGLE TIME I have ever walked through the door, the OWNERS and the SAME SERVERS NEVER, ACKNOWLEDGE ME or my guests. Its like I'm not there. I have to always stand in someone's face to get seated. Oh they want your money, but they're not nice about it. The old mamacita who rassles with the payment and tickets has less personality than a stop sign. As much as she has seen me, she NEVER greets me coming OR going. No one ever says goodbye, thank you, nothing. And it's not that I've been a 'problem' guest- I have always tipped 20-25% grat whether it was deserved or not and almost always it is not- but thought that by doing this I might win some favor with them. Not. They are just rude and surly, they've made their millions- they don't care, they don't need 'new customer' business I guess. I've noticed that mamacita who works the register has 4 pounds of ice on her fingers and drives a new Cadillac.... must be nice. If I gave service like they give service I'd be broke. Well the other day was enough. I took some guests in, 4 of us total. It was Wednesday & wasn't busy. We were the only ones at the front. NO ONE even looked our way for at least 3 minutes- I finally said loudly, well guess they don't need our business. And one of the owners plus mamacita plus 2 waiters were standing at the cash stand 8 feet away. I walked out and will never return. 3 minutes may not seem like a long time, but it was.

Pros: The cons outweigh any pros

Cons: Poor guest service

04/17/2008 Posted by mrsmlbutler

I am a business traveler so I am often eating in restaurants around the Southeast. I was looking for good Tex-Mex food while visiting San Antonio. I found El Jarro on Citysearch in their "Best of" category. I thought that the experience would be pleasureable when I walked in and was immediately greeted by the hostess, cashier and one of the managers. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. I was seated at a table that was shoved into a corner that I can't imagine would ever hold 4 people. It was crammed and uncomfortable. I am assuming I was seated here because I was alone in my dining. My server immediately came over to ask what I would like to drink and returned promptly. After this I was ignored for about 10 minutes even though I gave all the signs that I was ready to order - closed menu, appearing to look for my server, eye contact with my server. Nothing worked. I finally ordered and my food was delivered in a reasonable amount of time. The food was good, but I have had better. I will say that their Chicken Tortilla Soup was pretty good. I finished my drink part of the way through my meal, but none ever came to refill it or check on how I was doing. Once I was finished I waited at least 20 minutes before my server removed the plates from the table. After that I had to flag him down for the check. He was very quick to take my credit card and return the slip to me though! As I left no one thanked me or asked me to come again. I warn diners going alone to prepare to be overlooked and under served. The food didn't really even off set the lack of service. I don't think I will be dining here on any return trip to San Antonio.

Pros: Ambience

Cons: Poor Service