el paraiso

i've eaten at the el paraiso for many years and have enjoyed the food and service. however, my family and i went to dinner yesterday and had the worst experience ever. our server was impatient and rude, and didn't listen to the questions i had about a meal i hadorderedpreviously. she strode away and we all had doubts about whether she had heard me correctly. she didn't. she brought out the wrong order. i told her it was the wrong order and she was very surly. i asked her, "am i bothering you?" she shook her head, but still had no patience to listen to what i wanted, so i settled for what my son was having. (note: she spoke english perfectly). suddenly, a very large man walked directly to our table and very loudly began to hammer me with questions about the original dish, even though i had alreadyorderedwhat my son was having. confused, i clarified which dish i hadordered(which, it turns out was called something different during lunch) and he said he would bring it out. i was fine with it but could tell he was angry. he also said, "now you know. next time, you don't need to...." and pointed to the server and the kitchen, implying that i need not get it wrong next time, bother the waitress and waste their food! a few minutes later, he came out and asked if i wanted to eat it with... chopsticks! (relevant note: i am half korean.) i was shocked. he wasn't smiling. my husband approached him over his racist remark and the man was extremely sarcastic, belligerent and denied any negative connotation. he acted insulted that my husband even mentioned it. he was it 'was a joke'. i asked him if it was because i was asian. he said it was, but it was a joke. he said, "next time, i will see your face (another jab at my looks) and will never, ever joke with you." huh! the conversation turned futile as he accepted no blame whatsoever. the guy claimed to be the manager- i wonder if he is new? in any case, i can't support any restaurant that is racist. that's just my opinion.

nothing like advertised on urbanspoon. i don't know if i dislike el paraiso or am just neutral to the place. i think i was too thrown off by what a difference existed between what i read on urbanspoon and what the reality was like in the actual restaurant. first, the menu that i accessed through urban spoon was completely off. i had planned to order the chimichangas which were advertised as 2 for $7.25, in reality it was one for $9.99. i was interested because i read that another reviewerordereda half a chicken with sides. when i arrived, i inquired about ordering a whole chicken (to take home for family dinner) and was told they only served 1/4 chicken for $9.99. i thought $40 for a whole chicken was too much and passed.orderedchimichangas and burritos for family. burritos were pretty bland and meat was pretty dry. the place was also extremely hot and uncomfortable which made the long wait for food almost unbearable. i don't think i'll be back anytime soon.

terrible food. i'm surprised that this place is always busy, they must have cheap drinks. their rice & beans are very bland. their chips were stale and the salsa was inedible (too hot, you tasted nothing accept the pepper). iordereda chicken dish & the chicken was made with the strips you buy in the store that are pre-cooked (you know the kind, they are roughly 3inches long, 1 inch wide & 1/2 inch thick). in all fairness, my visit there was about 3 years ago so perhaps they've changed things since. my experience was so bad however, that i feel compelled to say it now that i have an account here.