James M.
Yelp
(I sent the review below to the hotel's front desk hoping for a response, explanation, or an apology. I did not receive even the courtesy of a return note. I am sharing it here because I think how an establishment handles difficult situations speaks to how they also treat you when things are good. There remains no excuse for how we were treated, ignored, and embarrassed by the service after bringing our friends to Jett's on a trip from New Orleans. The situation described was in March. I will not return, and I have been going there a long time. - James Moore, Austin)
I have been to the Paisano many times since the early 80s. My wife and I have celebrated anniversaries in the courtyard and spent long weekends there. We love the history and the architecture and always find the long trip from Austin to be worth our time. We have also enjoyed meals at Jett's, until last night.
We had brought another couple with us, friends from New Orleans, who were excited about the history and our recommendations. Our reservations were for 7p, and we were promptly seated. After almost 90 minutes, we were informed that our burgers were going to be slow coming out because of a ventilation system. No one had bothered to tell us anything for that period of time. A manager also came out and apologized, but the lack of information was simply thoughtless on the part of your staff.
Three of us ordered burgers and my wife was waiting on cheese enchiladas. When the burgers were served after two hours, my wife's plate was about ten minutes behind. The server had forgotten and had not placed her order. Her food was awful, in fact, embarrassing. It was clear it had been produced at the last minute, and someone laid two tortillas together, put hot sauce in the middle without cheese, and lightly sprinkled what cheese must have been available on top of the tortillas and poured weak sauce over the top. Her beans were tasteless and clearly came out of a ranch beans can, and the rice was also old and cold. Everything on her plate was served cold, and we should have sent it back.
I realize there are challenges with staffing these days but there appeared to be plenty of waiters and others in the room. We felt sorry for our young waitress being caught in the midst of such incompetence, and tipped her more than 20 percent even though we had been waiting without information or food for two hours, and when it was finally served, the burgers were overcooked and dry and my wife's enchiladas were disgusting and cold and not even close to being enchiladas.
Of course, we were charged full price for bad fare. You ought to be ashamed. If you can't meet basic standards, don't open your restaurant. I will never recommend the place again. Sadly, we are done with the Paisano as a consequence of inconsiderate service.
