[Boobala]

I had breakfast there last week and the food was good. Getting the right change took 4 attempts. It wasn't the waiters fault though. Apparently the cashier had too much party the night before and wasn't thinking clearly OR.........Just keep an eye on the change.

 Dave, on Feb 9 2009, 12:17 PM, said:

Returned from Sayulita 1 week ago, and ALMOST ALL dining experiences were outstanding.

There was one exception: Beach Party.

We ordered (two people) one order of shrimp tacos and one order of Shrimp Diablo, accompanied by one Shrimp Ceviche Tostada appetizer (one tostada). We each drank two Pacifico’s with our lunch. The food was well prepared and delicious.

Unfortunately, I was served two orders of shrimp tacos, and one Shrimp Ceviche Tostada lunch (three tostadas), not the appetizer. Three lunches total. My partner was served the order of Shrimp Diablo as well. I attempted to tell the waiter about the excess food, but only received a shoulder shrug as he departed.

At that point, feeling taken advantage of, but still hungry, we began to dig in. The food was very, very good. So, being Gringos in good spirits and on vacation, we just decided to take what we could not eat with us “to go”, and chalk this ordeal up to experience.

Our bill arrived, and you could bet your bottom dollar that every item we were served was indeed listed on the bill. Including a fifth Pacifico beer we did not order or receive. We waited for our waiter to return for his payment and indicated we drank four beers, not five, and we would like 25 pesos returned to us, for the beer we did not get, along with our change.

Meanwhile, I am calculating the tip amount I will leave, which will be based on what we ordered, not what we received. After a long wait, our waiter had long since disappeared and did not return at all, we gathered up our beach belongings and left. So unfortunately, I was out my change, and our hard of hearing waiter also received a large tip.

I ended up paying 600 pesos for this lunch and tip, the most expensive meal we had in 2 weeks in Sayulita.

Dumb Gringo Dave.

[don Vivo Aqui]

Dave, too bad you had that experience. They are a new restaurant (new owners) but these owners are experienced in the restaurant business so it is probably the server that was the problem. I wouldn't have just left the money but looked for the server, cashier or manager to settle things.

Did you speak Spanish? That helps in terms of getting thing right. Also, splitting orders between people - if that was what you were doing - sometimes does not go well in terms of expressing your intent. It always helps to have bunches of small bills (20p) and coins in addition to larger denominations because it helps pay the bill exactly. Change is always a problem no matter where you go except the very biggest stores. Most of the little places and many of the bigger places have trouble making change. This is all over Mexico not just locally.

600p is a lot for two people for lunch. I would guess your meal would be 300-400p mas o menos at inflated on the beach Sayulita prices. So you were out 200-300p - not good. I don't know what you planned to tip but most gringos over-tip if they tip.

Sunday I had to go to La Penita and while I was there I had lunch in a little place on the main street. It was a plate of two chile rellenos banados with rice, beans, salad and hand made tortillas, with a glass of jamaica. Total, 60p.

Live and learn. Better luck next time.

[Dynamic Duo]

We decided to give Beach Party a try today so three of us headed to the beach for lunch. The food was good to average, the music was loud and annoying but I guess that might be the goal with a name like Beach Party. All in all, we were on the fence as to whether it was worth returning but once we got the bill there was no doubt that we'll never be back. The waiter came to the table with bill in hand but rather than offering it to us for review he just stated that "we owed him 550 pesos", my husband held out his hand for the bill and upon review we discovered that everything was correct with the exception of an additional 74 pesos tacked on to a bill of 476. It wasn't hard to guess that this was an obligatory tip but I wanted confirmation so when I asked the waiter what the 74 peso charge was for he said "T-I-P" spelling it out for me in English. We have been in Mexico for 10 years and having been in the restaurant business we are savvy to every trick in the book, we are also aware of the practice some establishments have of adding a tip, but the rub in all of this is that the tip was not labeled as such, in fact he didn't even want to show us the bill obviously hoping for a naive tourist response of tipping again. I have no doubt that this pays off big for them over and over again and while I don't begrudge them a generous tip (I usually tip 20%) I do resent the deceptive manner in which it was presented. So now after relaying my experience on to all of you I feel a bit better and realize what I have said in way too many words could have been said like this:
Location: good
Price: acceptable
Music: annoying
Food: average
CHECK YOUR BILL!

[Always David]

They're up to their old tricks. Bill: $300pesos. Bill with non-declared tip: $345pesos. He handed it to us, said "your bill is $345 but we knew enough to check. Sure enough, the tip was added. Even the bill itself wasn't broken down by orders, drinks, etc. "Are you guys from Puerto Vallarta?" he asked. "No, we live here." "Oh, sorry" as if he only does that for out-of-towners. Just really too bad.

[Sayulita newbie]

"So now after relaying my experience on to all of you I feel a bit better and realize what I have said in way too many words could have been said like this:
Location: good
Price: acceptable
Music: annoying
Food: average
CHECK YOUR BILL!"
No, what you said opens my eyes to CHECK MY BILL when I finally do go to Sayulita in May of 2011. Thanks for the "heads up."