I have been eating at Pura Vida since they initially opened. As a matter of fact, I have been a customer of Chef Mayra's since BEFORE this restaurant opened-- my father hired her to bake me a vegan cake for my 21st birthday. In terms of Pura Vida, the food at this establishment has been consistently good. Yes, the wait is long; yes, the menus are all over the place; yes, the place is run in a discombobulated fashion; yes, sometimes the staff is short with customers. But the food has always been tasty. My visit earlier today, though, will mark the last time that I patronize them. Ever. Please read of my experience below: My friend and I walked in around 11AM and were briskly told to "read the sign!" Looking around, we were unsure of what sign to read. When it was pointed out to us, it stated plainly that no Groupons would be accepted this weekend following the 4th of July, and that if we have a Groupon we can come back tomorrow. [This immediately gave me a flashback to Father's Day weekend '13 when I came in with a different friend and, upon attempting to redeem her Groupon, were told that they would not accept it due to the holiday weekend. Even though it expired that weekend, and no where on the Groupon did it say that it was void on holiday weekends]. Continuing on... Not having a Groupon on this visit, my friend and I didn't worry about the sign. We were then asked, rather shortly, "So do you still want to eat here?!" I could barely get the 'yes' out of my mouth before we were then asked, "Well, do you have a reservation?!" Having not EVER made a reservation, save for Mother's Day '13, I said 'no'. We were then met, pretty much, with a, "Let me see if we have room for you". Thankfully, after a brief time, we were seated. Upon choosing our meals, our orders were taken. I decided on 'Tha Frenchie', which is a french toast dish with syrup, bananas, fresh berries [when they are in season], and "A DRIZZLING" of chocolate syrup. Having ordered this dish on Mother's Day and not able to eat more than two bites because it was absolutely DRENCHED in chocolate syrup [and had no berries, since they were not in season], I politely asked three questions this time: 1) Are berries in season? (yes) 2) So there will be berries on my french toast? (yes) 3) Can I please order the dish with no chocolate syrup? (yes) After some great conversation with my friend, our meals arrived. My french toast had no chocolate syrup on it, but neither did it have any berries. Before the waitress walked away I said, "Oh! It looks like the berries are missing. May I please have my berries?" to which she replied, "Let me check". Puzzled by this response, my friend and I exchanged looks. Chef Mayra, the owner, then walked abrasively up to our table and lectured me on how my choosing to get no chocolate syrup messed up the flavor profile and, essentially, how dare I think that I could further ruin the flavor profile by enjoying berries on the dish with no chocolate syrup (?). It really made no sense at all, so I then said, "Well, the menu says that the dish comes with fresh berries...I just didn't want the chocolate..." Chef Mayra then continued and stated that I am "lucky" that she is here today, else her chefs would not have even altered her "Signature Dish" to the extent of not putting chocolate syrup on it because they are trained to not alter the Signature Dishes. Oh, but this is a special day--- so she then handed me one large strawberry, sliced up on a plate. "Here is your berry this time. But we won't be able to do this next time". Wow. I felt like that was a huge slap in the face. And the whole deal still doesn't make much sense to me. Why was she in such a bad mood? Why was she so offended that I didn't want chocolate syrup? To be sure, I didn't mention the thirteen wasted dollars on Mother's Day due to the french toast being ruined by a gallon of chocolatey goodness. Maybe I should have? In any case, I felt like a very undervalued customer today. In the time since Pura Vida opened its doors, I have brought A LOT of varied business to them-- business that would have, initially, never even considered this restaurant less I suggested it. It really is too bad to see such a good restaurant idea not live up to its potential because of bad customer service. As a vegan, I loved to eat here. But my money (and my partner's, and my friends', and my family members') money will be spent elsewhere. At restaurants where we aren't treated like annoyances.
Choose: was this review given positively or negatively?
Available options: (a). negative. (b). positive.
(a).