My brother and I went back to Jambo later that evening and the moment the manager saw my mom, he ran to the back. We told my mom to wait in the car while we confronted the manager. To make a very long story short, throughout the 20 minutes of him being in denial and saying that what he did was not wrong the 2 things that stood out were: 1. ALL adults should know that ONLY water goes in to those cups and if my mom saw something otherwise, she should've poured it out (Yeah, cause my mom works there and knows their rules) 2. As to why she didn't "rat" the guy out who gave my son soda, "Let's say your son was being beat, wouldn't you want management to know who was beating him and not worry so much about him getting fired?" (Uhhh beating a child and giving him a small cup of soda is NOT comparable!!!) His logic was so irrational. In the end, after refusing repeatedly to give us the owner or HIS managers name, he finally blurts out, "You can call here another day and ask for Jackie." My brother: Okay, who's Jackie? CHRIS: She's a black lady. UHHHHH what does her having to be black have ANYTHING to do with this? CHRIS: I'm not trying to be discriminatory. She's another manager. mmm okay. We demanded a refund and at first he refused to give us one saying he was allowed to give only 2 refunds a month, then he retracted and said, okay, if I give you a refund will you not bring this up again and leave me alone? Will you not escalate this? (Admitting fault, are we?). My brother kept demanding the refund to which he gave us. Are we satisfied? Absolutely not. This is still going to be escalated!!!!!

negative

The country pie was at least edible and a good selection of beers were available, hence the two stars. Here's where it goes downhill. Chicken mushroom with wild rice, their most recommended dish, was severely undercooked. Brought second which was better but still a little soft. Waitress was newbie and no help from other waiters was ever offered. Even after manager came and apologized and offered to comp the meal for the raw chicken the waitress still charged us and manager was nowhere to be seen. At that point I just wanted out of there.

negative

It's OK. I hate to always be bitching about Mexican food in the Valley, but what can you do? It's a disgrace. The fact that this place appears to be some kind of Holy Grail of Mexican food here in Phoenix just seems to emphasize that point. Let's deal with the food first. This isn't really Mexican food. It's Tex-Mex food. That means you've got your choice of tacos, burritos, tostadas, enchiladas, chimichangas, etc. We tried the "Oaxaca" burro (massive air quotes around the "Oaxaca" part of the name), which was just fine, but very, very small. I mean seriously, i'ts beans, cheese, potatoes and a bit of chorizo - we're not talking ahi tuna here. Why not give a normal sized portion? We tried the menudo which was delicious but again, a miniscule portion. And they can't even be bothered to give you a plastic bowl, so you have to eat it out of the styrofoam to go container. I mean, for F's sake, they give me a plastic bowl at my favorite taco truck. Still hungry, we ordered a combination plate, which was the same sort of tex-mex crap that you can get pretty much anywhere in town. Not so great. It was all fine for what it is (I guess) but nothing that I would particularly go out of my way for, with the exception of the homemade flour tortillas, which were awesome. I even bought some to go. And that's about it for the food. Now as to the restaurant itself, it's actually pretty disgusting, to the point where one has to conclude that they are just showing contempt for the customers. The place is filthy. The bathrooms, in particular, are vile. As Tony Bourdain says, "I may not be able to look in the kitchen but I can check out the bathroom and that let's me know how much they care about the restaurant." Uh, exactly! And the answer in Carolina's would seem to be, "not very much." The surly and uninterested staff add to that special ambiance. We eat in lots of small ethnic restaurants and just because a place is "in the hood" doesn't mean it has to be gross. Our favorite Salvadorean restaurant is in the hood but it's also hospital clean, which makes me pretty confident that the kitchen is also clean. Finally, the neighborhood. LOL. To describe this street as "in the hood" is an insult to "hoods" everywhere. This street is one of the most blighted streets I've ever been on, anywhere. I'm actually thinking of going back there today to do some documentary photos to send to my friends in Cambodia whose visions of America are mostly derived from CSI Miami. Seriously, it's appalling. The main thing I was thinking about driving away from there is that the Phoenix city government needs some kind of federal intervention. So would I eat there again? Yeah, probably, if I was in the neighborhood. Would I go out of my way to drive there? No way.

negative

Brunch here was a real treat! 5 friends and I decided to treat ourselves as late semester pick me up and it couldn't have been much better. We had a reservation (highly recommended, as the space is small and popular) and were seated relatively quickly. We each ordered something different and passed plates: -Brisket and Eggs: Delicious, the meat was a little tough, but the kimchi made up for it. -Irish Benedict: Hearty but a bit bland. It also was really heavy. Definitely the least favorite. -Short Rib Hash: Pretty good, is a somewhat small portion but apparently was filling -French Toast: Absolute perfection. It was a bit sweet but all of the flavors worked well together. -Omelet Special (Sundried Tomato, Cheese Curds, Roast Beef)-Pretty good, but the real star was the potato gratin that came on the side. That was divine. We also decided to share 3 desserts. They were small so it worked out: -Black Bottom Chocolate Pecan: The presentation was awesome-it came in a jar with whipped cream on top! It was really warm and rich. Definitely delicious, but probably couldn't have eaten one by myself. -Pumpkin Tarte with Cranberry Sauce-Yum! Very festive and not too heavy. It was also less sweet which was pretty good considering the other 2 desserts. -Mudslide Tiramisu: Light, flavorful and just great. This was probably the table's favorite. I would definitely order this again, no matter the time of the year. All in all, Meat and Potatoes was a delicious treat, and I hope to go back soon!
positive