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Recent Visit to Coyote Crossing...never again

cook262 Sep 14, 2011 07:36 AM

Went to Coyote Crossing in Manayunk for the first time in two years or so. This used to be a family favorite with many previous visits but for a variety of reasons just haven't made it there recently. After our visit last week, no need to return....things have changed and NOT in a good way.

We arrived around 6pm on a weeknight and about a quarter of the tables were full, all with young children. We were seated about 6 tables from one family of five...I'm sitting on a banquet which extends all the way down one wall and my SO is across from me on a chair. As I'm perusing the menu, I feel this weird sensation,only to realize that one of the kids threw his booster seat at me and the seat was bouncing down the banquet, making it to about 5 feet away...the unbelievable part is that neither the staff nor the parents did anything except take the seat away. If my kids had done that, they'd have been taken out of the restaurant immediately (and yes, one of the parents would have had to finish their meal in the car...cost of being a parent) and left home with a sitter next time. This same kid then proceeded to jump up and down on the banquet, shaking it. It wasn't too much but it was just plain irritating. I debated about going over and said something but since they didn't do anything when the booster was thrown, what's a little jumping? Thankfully they were almost finished.

As the restaurant began to fill (now mostly with couples or families with older kids), the noise was deafening. By 630 I gave up even trying to have a conversation with my partner and I noticed many of the tables around me were not talking either.

Now to the service...our waiter was one of THE most irritating waiters ever. After we arrived, he promptly came over to take our drink order and seemed annoyed that I didn't want any alcohol (I think he asked me 4 more times during the meal). After my partner's beer arrived, we were asked if we wanted to order before even being told if there were any specials (there were many). We weren't quite ready to order. The waiter came back maybe 3 minutes to take our order again. Still not ready but he then said "what are you thinking of?" Still not sure. Not another 3 minutes passed and he was back AGAIN pretty much insisting we order. I finally gave in and ordered. Clearly they wanted our table by a certain time.

Finally to the food...we MIGHT have returned if the food was really special but it wasn't. The free tortilla chips were tough to eat....almost stale but not quite...couldn't figure out what was wrong but I've never seen my partner leave a basket of chips full so it wasn't just me. We didn't really want a lot of fried food so didn't ask for new ones or if this was how they were supposed to be. When my chicken burrito arrived (thankfully I noticed the menu said Fried and I knew that most burritos weren't so asked it not to be), I couldn't have been more disappointed. The inside of the burrito was almost cold in some spots...and not hot anywhere. Normally I would return the dish but at this point the noise level had gotten so loud my head hurt (and I can't think of any other time the noise was this deafening). I just wanted to leave. I ate about 20% of the $20 burrito as I was hungry and left the rest. My partner ate about half of his chili dish. He did actually like his but nothing outstanding.

For the expensive price of the meal (again $20 for a burrito????), the annoying waiter, and especially due to the deafening noise, I would never consider returning....

Oh as we were paying our bill, we heard our same waiter tell the people next to us about some BOGO deal...couldn't hear the details for the noise but why didn't we hear about that?

  1. c
    curly girl Sep 15, 2011 06:27 AM

    You certainly did have a bad restaurant experience, Cook. I agree with Ambler Girl. If kids are misbehaving in a restaurant, it is up to the parents to intervene. I am appalled at how parents are these days feeling their kids can do anything they want in public. Not sure if they just don't care or if the parenting books they read about disciplining without spankings or yelling make them feel their kids are just having fun and not bothering anyone else. Who knows. It goes all the way up to teens and young adults. IMO that's why there are so many rude teenagers around these days. Ever go to Doylestown's First Friday events? Teens are all over the sidewalks, do not move for you to get past and use foul language. If I was their parents, I would be so embarrassed. As far as the food and service at Coyote Crossing, we used to go to the Conshohocken restaurant a few years back. Our first two experiences were pleasant - lovely outdoor garden setting. Then each time we went we seemed to get "stuck" with the same bad male server who never got our orders right, took way too long to bring us our food and just seemed to not care about how we were treated as guests of the restaurant. Therefore, we have not been back for some time. I receive Groupons from Coyote Crossing and other offers on Facebook, which obviously means they are lacking in customers. Dear Mr. Manager, hopefully you will read the comments on this post and take action to correct them asap or I predict that your restaurants are not long for this world.

    1. AmblerGirl Sep 15, 2011 04:20 AM

      Sorry about the bad exxperience. I would have lost my temper over the out of control kids. its not the restaurants fault but it is the parents fault and they need to control their children. I understand that kids act up, its normal, but I am appalled the parents did nothing about that behavoir. Its parents like that that give the rest of us a bad name. I have a 2 year old who is very well behaved and we take her out all the time. The few times she even begins to show an inkling that she is even thinking of being bad, we leave, period. Whenever I walk into a restaurant with my daughter, I can see the look of fear on the other patrons eyes... and its because of poorly behaved kids that you mention.

      Sorry I went on a tangent but that just bothers me so much!

      There are some other great mexican options in the area, such as Tamarindos and El Sarape, both much quiteter and with much better food and service!

      2 Replies
      1. re: AmblerGirl
        cook262 Sep 15, 2011 03:24 PM

        Love El Sarape...where is Tamarindos...

        And altho my kids are no longer toddlers, we too took the kids out the minute they behaved poorly...and so they learned if they wanted to go out with us, they had to behave...and they did! And I can't tell you the number of times people said to us, "We cringed when you sat next to us with two little children but honestly we didn't even know they were there." And it's not like the kids couldn't talk to us...they did...they just couldn't act out...of course, we know they did act out at home!

        1. re: cook262
          AmblerGirl Sep 15, 2011 06:09 PM

          Tamarindos is in Blue Bell, at the intersection of Skippack Pike and Butler Ave. Very good food, moderate prices, and BYO (with free margaritas!). It does get a bit loud during prime dinner time on Fri and Sat nights, but generally the noise level is pretty good. And service is great, the owner Fernando is always there and on top of things!

      2. g
        givemecarbs Sep 15, 2011 01:05 AM

        Wow that was some experience you had there cook. My sympathies and thanks for the heads up.

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