El Chico Mexican Restaurant: Unbelievable bad experience!

Before I start this post let me tell you that our so-called lunch this afternoon has completely ruined my weekend. This restaurant has been opened only 7 days and definitely having an upset customer is not good for their business. And, though the General Manager Talal refused to let us pay, and he and his team apologised to us (husband and me) a million times, it still can't do away the bad taste the restaurant has left in my mouth. The reason why I'm so flipping upset is because I've been to the one in Dubai, and their service & quality was simply impeccable while here in Riyadh it was a complete 180 degree.

Husband decided to surprise me this afternoon (I had said many good things about El Chico in the past week that he decided we should try it). We land there at 2:30pm and it was jam packed (like any other new restaurant in Riyadh). However, thankfully we were seated immediately. We ordered the following:

• A mixed platter (chicken wings, chicken nuggets, mozarella sticks)
• Chicken Mushroom Fajita (specifically requested for without mushrooms)
• El rancho with fries and refried beans

What we got:

• A mixed platter with cold chicken wings and cold soggy mozarella sticks - we asked them to replace the soggy mozarella sticks which they did
• Chicken Fajita filled with mushrooms - we asked them to replace. My husband was flipping pissed by now).
• El rancho - my husbands' order arrives, and then my order arrives 3 minutes later (mind you we waited almost an hr before we got our orders). And, guess what my order is not as hot as it is supposed to be. Furthermore, the manager Rami tries to humour us by informing that he got me extra fries...which needless to mention were again all cold.

I left 70% of my meal (see image for proof) because I had lost my appetite. They only thing they managed to get right was our drinks...lemonade for my husband and a diet pepsi without ice for me.

The staff was confused, and literally the restaurant floor seem in complete chaos as each time we asked them to replace something, they would check with 5-6 people, the computer machine, the kitchen staff etc. to ensure they've gone wrong.

The icing on the cake came when we received the cheque. My husband informed me jokingly that they charged us 26 riyals for service. That's when I literally lost it. I asked the attendant to call his manager and Mr. Rami arrives, and that is when I unleashed the severely disappointed customer in me. Fortunately the General Manager Mr. Talal was around and happened to hear everything. He came over and apologized (like I mentioned before too) on behalf of the team. And, tried to offer us a free meal apart from not letting us pay. But, I could not be won. I left the place with a frown. And, apologised to my husband for the absolute f***-up.

Let me add here I already told the Managers that I will be writing a review about this regardless of their apologises, so I'm not being a stabbing-them-in-the-back bitch. I'm just being a bitchy disgruntled customer.

NEVER going to El-Chico in Riyadh again. And, please God I hope none of our friends ever decide to treat us to dinner there.

P.S - Thank you Mr. Talal for hearing me out then. And, thank you for not charging us the lunch, which you know should not have been billed to us anyways because of what we've experienced. But appreciate your professionalism.