Cafe Pacifico

I was brought to cafe pacifico's for lunch a few years back and i thought it was great fun, with a lively atmosphere and good value. I now find myself questioning where has it all gone wrong. The food wasn't great and everything was overpriced for what is essentially a cheap cuisine. reading the other reviews I think they need to pull out their finger,or soon they won't have the comfort of a loyal fanbase.
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Mr Brown
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, May 21, 2009

Returned to this restaurant last weekend for the first time in 7 years. My only memory of my first visit all that time ago was the bill and what a complete rip off the place is. I thought maybe it was being new to london and earning a pittance of a wage at the time that helped this stick in my memory but no, 7 years later I have tripled my income and still think this place is way overpriced. All the food looks the same and there is nothing authentically mexican about anything i have ever seen people eat in there. Hope its a lot longer than 7 years before i have to go back.
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sally
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, February 24, 2009

i have always raved that this was without a doubt the best mexican food ive ever eaten.every time i have someone visiting me in london i take them to cafe pacifico for the best margaritas in town.that is until recently when i took some friends there for a sunday lunch.

they decided to change their menu,which was a bit surprising.the waitress was one of the rudest people ive ever met,obviously not being familiar with the new menu i was asking a few questions about it but that was just too much effort for her to answer and made me feel like a complete imbecile for even asking .we were just going to go for a pitcher of the house margaritas,but she kept pointing to one far more expensive and really pushed me to buy it.i thought why not lets try it,,when it came it was terrible and not worth the price at all!.

the food she recommended was just above average,no where near the standard ive known it to be.i was so embarrassed about raving about this place,when it turned out i could have made better mexican and margaritas at home!!!

im so disapointed that one of my favourite restaurants in london turned out to become one of my worst dinning out experiences

never again!
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jordan
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, February 04, 2009

atmosphere - great. service - good. cocktails - very good.

food - depends on what you order. not very Mexican if you ask me. god i miss Chipotle.
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Yevgeniy
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I have been eating at Cafe Pacifico for years. Please don't ask me how many, it's not polite.... Up until my most recent visit, a quiet Monday, I would have said it was head-and-shoulders the best overall value Mexican I've been to in London - consistent quality food; snappy service; great cocktails and a very fair price for the package.

Sadly, no more. Well, at least not on my most recent experience. Service was still fine to good - swift, if not highly attentive. Atmosphere was lacking, but then it wasn't a Thursday or Friday night. Cocktails were still impressive - Margaritas (straight up) to die for. No, it was the food was the major let-down. The sharing-dipping starter was oily. Yes it was mainly fried but you can manage to leave some flavour of the underlying food over the fatty taste! Somehow the chilli-poppers managed not to have a bite; the "spicy baby shrimps" were just fatty crunchy breadcrumbs and there was no spice I could detect; the onion rings were just plain. My chicken chimichanga was ok, but again greasy; rice was cold and the refried beans looked like they might have been sat re-frying for quite a while too long. Yet were still cool on the plate. Quite a challenge.

I will give it another go, for old time's sake. But once more and I will count it as yet another "old friend" of a restaurant lost, perhaps in pursuit of swift profit?
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Marcus Holden - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Absolutely love Cafe Pacifico. Admittedly, it's not the sort of place I'd head to for a 'formal' evening, but if you're looking for great drinks (I adore their raspberry daquiris!) and decent food, then it's perfect. We were told we would have a 1hr table wait, but it ended up being about half an hour, which was fine.

The service isn't fantastic, and it IS crowded, but those are the only bad points I can think of.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 5
Friday, June 20, 2008

I have been coming here for over 20 years now, started as a partying single and now come here with my children. The food is great as always but the service standards have slipped considerably. We were unfortunate to witness a shift change recently around the time we ordered the bill. We waited for 43 minutes and reminded various staff members both new and old shift 5 times that we needed the bill quickly the children are restless. During this time there was continuous chatter amongst staff and non-stop kissing of cheeks and general self-congratulation. Eventually after 43 minutes we thought if we began to leave they would bring the bill - not a chance they didn't even notice. I explained to two girls by the door that we waited for almost three quarters of an hour and were leaving without settling the bill; they both smiled vacuously and said have a nice day. I then explained again and one of them said "sorry did you say you had a coat". Pretty girls with empty heads I love them. Best value ever which is why I have given a 10, it should be off the scale. Four of us had 3 courses 2 jugs of Sangria and at least 3 cocktails each- all on the house. Give it a try if you don't believe me.
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Graham Green
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Friday, June 06, 2008

My friends and I dined at this restaurant on Tuesday night for a birthday celebration and were bitterly disappointed with most everything! On arrival (5 minutes late) we were told that our table was about to be given away and reminded of our 1.5 hour table turn around- news to us! The person who made the booking questioned this and was rudely informed 'well we're telling you now'. We sat down and were brought our menus and then ignored. The restaurant was relatively quiet and yet no one came to take drink orders, we eventually got a waitresses attention and she rudely took our order and when we tried to order a glass of Riesling we were asked 'what is that' and then told they don't have it and haven't heard of such a thing so we settled for sangria. The food was fine, certainly nothing special and you can find much better Mexican in London or more specifically Covent Garden. Thankfully the company was excellent and we all managed to have a nice night despite the poor service and average food. I certainly won't be back and nor will my fellow diners, one of the worst experiences I have ever had in a restaurant.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

My friend and i ate here last friday. Very noisy place, bit of a wait for the average food, and pricey cocktails. All in all an average experience, not better or worse than most london resturants. The difference however was when it came time to pay the bill. The bill arrived in 2 parts. The till reciept which had the subtotal, optional tip cost, and total amount. The other larger part was hand written and only had the total amount which included the "optional" tip. On handing over my credit card, the waitress left coming back a minute or so later with the credit card machine. Also in hand was only the torn off slip from the larger written part, showing the total including the aformentioned "optional".

"Please type you pin in please". I held the machine, looked at the figure and it was higher than i had expected because without asking, they had entered into the machine, the total amount including the "optional" tip. I questioned the amount to be told "thats the way we do it here, dont you wanna pat a tip". "I have" I said "ive just given the waitress a £5 note".

Unlike in 99% of resturants, i wasnt given the option of a yes or no button on the machine, I was just expected to pay. I refused to pay the "optional" figure and demanded the correct amount be entered. She went away. The couple sitting next to us then leaned over and said their waitress "tried" the same thing with them, and also added that before they had sat down and were waiting at the bar the barman had given them a bill for two drinks with "optional" tip included!!!

Our bill for the correct amount arrived, I paid and we left.

I will now chose the "option", never to return again to such an average dishonest place.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, April 21, 2008

We stumbled upon cafe pacifico by walking out of chiquitos in leicester square by accident, of where the service was appalling. It was easter bank holiday monday during the day. We were immediately shown a table, where we were given a bowl of nachos with a tasty salsa dip. The staff were very attentive, and brought our drinks over super fast. There were three of us of which two ordered fajitas, and i ordered Taquiza. The food was excellent and ample amounts of tortillas, of which i have experienced in other restaurants, they seem to be a bit tight with the bread. Ok they do charge for the cheese and jalepenos, which does seem a bit odd, but for an extra three pound between three people i can handle that. We all ate everything we ordered and came out of there, feeling quite bloated and very pleased on our accidental find. Well done to the chefs and waiting staff.
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Debbie kearney
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, March 25, 2008