Bad service, grumpy waiter makes critic flee from La Parilla Suiza

By KELLY WILSON
Get Out

The spot: La Parilla Suiza, 1622 S. Stapley Drive, Mesa

Happy hour: 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday

The vibe: The festive restaurant, which is decorated in vibrant red and teal, is dead when we stop in on an early Thursday evening. Aside from us, there’s a few older couples and a family in the restaurant portion, but we’re the only ones dining in the ghost town-looking bar area. The staff looks bored.

The food deals: Half off appetizers

The drink deals: $2 house margaritas, $1 off draft beer

The review: We sit in our booth for 15 minutes before anyone approaches us to take our order. We have to call them over, which is surprising considering the restaurant is having a slow night. To top things off, our server, who looks like he’s 19, is clueless that it’s happy hour when we inquire as to what the specials are. As a result, he has to ask the Spanish-speaking bartender behind the bar — in español, I might add — what the deals are and then relates them back to us, an unprofessional move on his part. He appears annoyed when we order a glass of sangria, which isn’t on special, over a margarita. “So I pretty much told you the drink specials for nothing,” he mutters under his breath. Whatever, dude — get over yourself. If it wasn’t for this review, we would have ditched this restaurant a long time ago and headed elsewhere.

We’re hoping the food is better than our server’s grumpy attitude, but it’s just OK. The highlight is the complimentary warm chips and trio of red-and-green-colored salsas, which we can’t get enough of. We also like the champignones suizos — fried mushrooms blanketed in a melted white-colored cheese. These come with a side of tortillas if you feel like making yourself a tasty grilled mushroom tortilla. The quesadilla especial, which we opt to order with chorizo, is packed with remotely spicy Spanish sausage and cheese. The sausage seems overcooked and the quesadilla doesn’t sit right in our stomachs.

We savor our large glass of sangria, which is the strongest sangria we’ve tried at any East Valley restaurant or bar.

The inside scoop: La Parilla Suiza offers 11 different kind of Mexican cervezas.

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