I've been going to Santiago's for years. Only a few bucks in the car console? That equals a chicken, rice and green chili burrito including a drink. Need breakfast burritos for the drive up to Folsom Field for a CU Game? Our car always pulls in to Santiago's.
Guess what? Never in all my visits have I had a taco from Santiago's. In fact I wasn't sure if tacos were on the menu. Also this was my first time actually eating there. They have several locations in the city and most, I believe, are to-go only. The one on this visit was Santiago's on Leetsdale where they offer dine-in.
The place was a nightmare. It wasn't overly busy, but I had to ask customers what to do as nobody who worked there was welcoming. Do you seat yourself? Is there a waitress or do you order at the counter? I'm sure the 3 tables I asked these questions to were happy to have some stranger interrupt their lunch. Finally after 7 minutes I got up to get myself my own menu. Eventually the waiter came over and it was basically what do want? How hard is it to be friendly these days?
Placed my order for the Tacos Al Carbon, and wishing instead for my usual chicken and rice burrito. The price tag was $8.95 for the taco plate and my burrito is always $2.50. I'm just so over these places charging almost $9 for 3 tacos. Nobody wants the beans or rice. Charge me $6 for 3 tacos!
The food finally arrives. 3 soft corn tortillas (greasy as all heck), filled with grilled steak that was so rubbery that I couldn't get through two bites. Some pico, beans.... Check please. I mean that's it. I couldn't stomach 2 bites of this stuff.
So what do I say? What do I tell people to do when deciding on Santiago's? I'm not sure if it was this particular location and that if I go to Santa Fe or Broadway I'm going to get the best tacos in the city, or if it's the wrong item to order at any of the locations. If I order my standard breakfast burrito from this Leetsdale location next time, is it going to totally suck? What's a person to think? This is where consistency comes in with these chain restaurants. You can't have the best people with smiling happy faces working at your S. Broadway store and then the unhappy bunch at Leetsdale. Same for food!
More than likely I will NEVER order tacos ever again at Santiago's. I will never go to the Leetsdale location either. So what can I say? If you want a breakfast burrito, Santiago's in Englewood and over on Santa Fe is excellent. Need tacos? I would not send you here. Sorry management at Santiago's. It was that bad.
So my September rut continues. I haven't had this many bad experiences in bad tacos since spending some time in Florida. I think I need to take a break from exploring for the rest of the month and regroup for October. I'm only going to visit places where I know I'll get great service, good food and decent prices.
Santiago's website:
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