Hugo’s

It’s been several weeks since I visited Hugo’s for happy hour. I’ve been putting off blogging about it because it was not a great experience. At all. But I’m hoping a little constructive criticism helps them make improvements, because it wasn’t all bad and I’d like to see them succeed.

We went to Hugo’s Restaurant y Tequila Bar on a Friday after work for happy hour. It was beautiful out, so we opted to sit outside on the patio. Our waiter grumbled when we said we wanted to sit outside, so that should have been our first sign of things to come. There were only about ten other customers, all seated outside, and two waiters.

It was only a few minutes after 5:00, but our waiter was disappointed that we weren’t there for a full dinner. When I asked about happy hour I got an eye roll and something about a margarita special for a “few more minutes” and “some of the appetizers.” Um, okay? Nothing more specific. So we ordered a couple margaritas and appetizers, hoping they might be included in the happy hour specials.

The margaritas were quite good. I drank two. Mr Betty had one and then ordered a beer off their menu, which they didn’t have. A couple more trial and errors, and he was able to get a beer. (About 20 minutes after my drink was gone.) They seemed to be out of a lot of things, the most crucial being glasses. They didn’t have enough for the few people who were there, which makes me wonder what they do when they are packed full. Plastic cups, maybe? While we were there, they hovered over the tables snatching glasses before final sips were taken.

The chips and salsa were great, just like the food we ordered. We had the ceviche and Mexican street corn wraps. They were not included in the happy hour specials; the waiter never did find out that answer for us. But they were delicious.

We heard the other waiter chastise two women for sitting at a table and not going inside first. He huffed and said, “Now I have to go inside and get your menus!” Not that he ever did. Twenty minutes later we gave them our own menus, which had never been taken away after we ordered. We angered our waiter one last time by having them remove the beers that they didn’t have from our bill. That took another 20 minutes. Again, I have to wonder what the service would have been like if they had actually been busy.

It’s too bad. The setting is nice, location is good, and the food was great. But the service was so rotten. Scattered and busy is one thing, but unfriendly and rude is another. Sometime in the future if I hear they are able to turn it around with the service, I’ll give them another chance.