Tequila Reef New Ownership With Large Improvements

[JohnDoesPattaya]

Interesting to see how different experiences people have, i just have read this:

 Whatever, i will check out Tequila Reef during my next trip for sure and wish the OP all the best 

 

[niterider]

Disappointed that web says 205 baht for an appetizer sampler but menu is 275 baht and in small print on the front page 7% tax to be added. Lost me as a future customer.

[LASportsNut]

Sorry for your loss.  Good luck on your business venture.  

I have been coming to Tequila Reef in Pattaya since 2012 after reading about it here on PA.

Funny thing, about 18 months ago, I was leaving LOS and was craving Tequila Reef's sampler plate and a margarita.  

Then I traveled to AC PI to meet up with another BM, who was going to show me around on my first trip.  

I arrived in AC and the first thing we do is eat lunch at Tequila Reef in AC.

Back to back Tequila Reefs in two different countries.  Pretty cool.

By the way. I ordered the same exact thing but enjoyed the food in LOS better.  

 

[fatjack1]

Sorry about your dad.  I also live near mexico and rarely look for that kind of food in Thailand.  However, I am part of a group of lunatics (myself excluded of course) that visit TR about once a month to sample the margaritas and eat.  I wasn't totally disappointed in the past as I was usually pissed as a rat by the time any food other than appetizers arrived so improvement will be nice but we shall be there again regardless.  Look forward to it in August.

 

 

[Cerberus]

On 6/26/2017 at 5:53 AM, niterider said:

Disappointed that web says 205 baht for an appetizer sampler but menu is 275 baht and in small print on the front page 7% tax to be added. Lost me as a future customer.

This always raises questions when dining out, just the same as adding a service charge, either brings the question as to if I wish to return. Tipping should be left to the discretion of the customer and how they perceived the service delivery.

[Cerberus]

Unfortunately I believed the content of this thread regards improvements and took a friend there tonight, I am going to use broad brush strokes as opposed to covering every point. Food by consensus was mediocre at best although one of the party left his after a couple of mouthfuls. Service was poor and that is being generous, ambiance would have been average had it not been for two members of staff carrying on a conversation with two substantial customers about being in their condo tomorrow at vocal level that denied our conversing at normal levels. Was there any saving grace? the margaritas passed the test. 

If you are going to open a thread about improvements I honestly believe you should not do so until said improvements are in place, It will take a lot to convince me to try again, as even the basics are wrong. I wish you luck with this venture but if you are not going to be in attendance yourself perhaps you need to consider a competent manager and some training for the cooks as it was truly the worse meal I have had in a while.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Cerberus

[Kreggerz]

Not surprised.

My advice. 

Keep the margaritas and ribs.

Start from square one on everything else.

[Thai1onjohn]

Best wishes been going for years,enjoy your monthly buffets the most,see you next time in town

[william77]

My condolences. See you on my next run. 

[hellyes2oo2]

Cerberus. I think you need to cut this guy some slack. He has taken over from his late father, and from what I hear he has a big job on his hands in turning this place around. I have to admit I have never been to the place, but from what i have read in this topic, and also on other threads in different forums, it has been going downhill for a few years now.

It seems to me that he has two big jobs on his hands, firstly, and probably for him, most importantly, getting the food right, i think he said that he had some guy from Chang Mai running the kitchen, but from the first few reviews, that isn't going to well, so maybe he needs to rethink that.Secondly, and just as important i think is getting the front of house sorted. It seems that the service staff are very poor, and have been allowed to get away with that for a long time now.

First impressions are very important, and if the staff are poor, then that is one of the first things that people read in reviews, so even if the food improves, if people have heard that you have to wait 30-40 minutes for food, and staff are on their phones or just stood gossiping, they are not going to go.

I hope he gets it right, because you never like to see anyone fail in business, especially in a foreign country, so good luck to him By the way Cerberus I realise that as a fellow businessman you also hope that he does well, and gets it right..

[just hanging]

if you have bad staff, or cook that really doesnt care, you cannot fix them, ever.  You must change them from the voice of experience

[MrDK]

Sorry to hear about the passing of your dad.
I met him briefly in AC about three or four years ago.
A delightful gentleman and a fella of character.

Good luck revamping the Pattaya joint.
Mexican food is not my thing, but when in AC I Always make sure to stop by for some salmon.

[just hanging]

if you could only find teh cooks from Sams, they were great and that place could have done fine in LA

[Kreggerz]

As far as cutting slack, I think the message was put out here that the food was already better.

If it wasn't, not sure the slack is deserved.

 

[Cerberus]

On 7/8/2017 at 3:48 PM, hellyes2oo2 said:

Cerberus. I think you need to cut this guy some slack. He has taken over from his late father, and from what I hear he has a big job on his hands in turning this place around. I have to admit I have never been to the place, but from what i have read in this topic, and also on other threads in different forums, it has been going downhill for a few years now.

It seems to me that he has two big jobs on his hands, firstly, and probably for him, most importantly, getting the food right, i think he said that he had some guy from Chang Mai running the kitchen, but from the first few reviews, that isn't going to well, so maybe he needs to rethink that.Secondly, and just as important i think is getting the front of house sorted. It seems that the service staff are very poor, and have been allowed to get away with that for a long time now.

First impressions are very important, and if the staff are poor, then that is one of the first things that people read in reviews, so even if the food improves, if people have heard that you have to wait 30-40 minutes for food, and staff are on their phones or just stood gossiping, they are not going to go.

I hope he gets it right, because you never like to see anyone fail in business, especially in a foreign country, so good luck to him By the way Cerberus I realise that as a fellow businessman you also hope that he does well, and gets it right..

I thought I already had to be direct, as you say I like to support people running a business and was doing so in this instance by taking friends there because it had been been stated the improvements were in hand. It was truly the worse food I have been given anywhere in Pattaya in the past 14 years, the staff really were not bothered whatsoever, a total lack of interest. I made the post because I felt he needs to know what is happening seeing as he is not present himself. We had to park at some distance  and then walk to the restaurant but I after his recent posts I was looking to give them some support.

On 7/8/2017 at 3:50 PM, just hanging said:

if you have bad staff, or cook that really doesnt care, you cannot fix them, ever.  You must change them from the voice of experience

I do not think there was a cook, if I had taken this over I would have started from the bottom up and that would have meant firing all the staff as they have already adopted the habits of laziness and disinterest. so you are right.

[Kreggerz]

Time to call Gordon!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Kreggerz

[Kreggerz]

You know, doing Mexican half decently in Thailand isn't easy.

Look at Dave's Cantina. So much hard work and passion in that. There are no shortcuts.

Short of that, totally starting from scratch and making the investment to do it right, how about forgetting Mexican food there?

Keep the name.

Drain the swamp, staff-wise. 

Do the nachos as a token.

Keep pushing the margaritas.

And go totally American which would be much easier to get right here. Burgers, hot wings, ribs, fried chicken, etc. Hooters stuff. 

Mostly American food in an iconic landmark bad Mexican restaurant would be ironic. Why not? 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by Kreggerz

[Billy Shears]

Since your all chiming in with your honest opinions, I'm going to give you mine.

First let me say that I think Chris is a nice guy who tries hard, and I'm very sorry for your loss.

But as far as TR goes, I was there a couple of weeks ago after reading that it was under new management, I gave it another try. Walking in the place was very clean, the waitress came over right away, but gave me the same old menu that has been there forever. I ordered the beef taco plate, and some chips and salsa. The tacos got to me first, the meat inside was little tiny bits of beef. I come from L.A. and have been eating tacos my whole life, but never saw meat prepared this way. Even though the beef was tiny bits like it was put though a food processor, it was tough as nails. It tasted like it went straight from the frig to the microwave. And beef should never be cooked in a microwave, I thought everybody knows that? The rice and beans were tasteless, no flavor at all. The chips were ok, even though they arrived late, but the salsa wasn't salsa it was chunks of tomatoes and onions with a hint of cilantro. Salsa should be smooth. So overall I hated it.

My advice, put some ads in both Spanish and English in L.A. for a Mexican chef to come over here on a 3 month contract to teach the Thai's how to cook Mexican food properly. There has to be many Mexican cooks that would Love to come to exotic Thailand for 3 months. It's going to cost you to do that, but instead of having a half empty restaurant, there will be a waiting list to get a table. Maybe, he can do 6 weeks in pattaya and 6 weeks in angeles even.  You have a great location, all you need is great food.

I really like the ambiance in TR, and hope you take my comments as constructive criticism. The location is perfect for me, and hope that TR can be my go to restaurant in the future. Cheers 

Edited July 10, 2017 by WhiteThai

[Soda11111]

I do not understand why the owner is not active in his own establishment to witness this garbage.  Leads me to believe he does not give a damn.

[hellyes2oo2]

Cerberus, thanks for your follow up comment. I wasn't having a go at you. I just got the impression that the owner was trying to make things better, and that he should be given a little more time. From his opening post he seemed to indicate that he had a guy who previously owned a " Mexican Place" in Chang Mai, and i presumed he would be doing the cooking. As i said that obviously isn't working for him, so maybe he needs to change that asap. Anyway I hope he gets it right,

[just hanging]

sams food was really really good, find those chefs

[LASportsNut]

3 hours ago, WhiteThai said:

Since your all chiming in with your honest opinions, I'm going to give you mine.

First let me say that I think Chris is a nice guy who tries hard, and I'm very sorry for your loss.

But as far as TR goes, I was there a couple of weeks ago after reading that it was under new management, I gave it another try. Walking in the place was very clean, the waitress came over right away, but gave me the same old menu that has been there forever. I ordered the beef taco plate, and some chips and salsa. The tacos got to me first, the meat inside was little tiny bits of beef. I come from L.A. and have been eating tacos my whole life, but never saw meat prepared this way. Even though the beef was tiny bits like it was put though a food processor, it was tough as nails. It tasted like it went straight from the frig to the microwave. And beef should never be cooked in a microwave, I thought everybody knows that? The rice and beans were tasteless, no flavor at all. The chips were ok, even though they arrived late, but the salsa wasn't salsa it was chunks of tomatoes and onions with a hint of cilantro. Salsa should be smooth. So overall I hated it.

My advice, put some ads in both Spanish and English in L.A. for a Mexican chef to come over here on a 3 month contract to teach the Thai's how to cook Mexican food properly. There has to be many Mexican cooks that would Love to come to exotic Thailand for 3 months. It's going to cost you to do that, but instead of having a half empty restaurant, there will be a waiting list to get a table. Maybe, he can do 6 weeks in pattaya and 6 weeks in Angeles even.  You have a great location, all you need is great food.

I really like the ambiance in TR, and hope you take my comments as constructive criticism. The location is perfect for me, and hope that TR can be my go to restaurant in the future. Cheers 

I am from LA as well (obviously).  I know you are trying to be honest and I agree with you 98% of what you said.  However, this is Mexican food in Thailand. So for what it is, it is what I expected.  

Part of the problem is the ingredients are just not the same, mainly due to the cost and availability.  

Just think of the times we have Thai food in Los Angeles, So Cal or anywhere in the USA.  It is normally authentic Thai food, as most all the restaurants are owned by Thai (usually from BKK).  However, the food is just not the same. Mainly due to the availability of the ingredients is not the same.  Many substitutions or omissions. 

I think the best option is to avoid any food except Thai food in Thailand.  However, I spend about 4 weeks at a time in LOS and I am craving In N' Out Burger or Mexican food and a margarita by week 3.  

[just hanging]

3 minutes ago, LASportsNut said:

I am from LA as well (obviously).  I know you are trying to be honest and I agree with you 98% of what you said.  However, this is Mexican food in Thailand. So for what it is, it is what I expected.  

Part of the problem is the ingredients are just not the same, mainly due to the cost and availability.  

Just think of the times we have Thai food in Los Angeles, So Cal or anywhere in the USA.  It is normally authentic Thai food, as most all the restaurants are owned by Thai (usually from BKK).  However, the food is just not the same. Mainly due to the availability of the ingredients is not the same.  Many substitutions or omissions. 

I think the best option is to avoid any food except Thai food in Thailand.  However, I spend about 4 weeks at a time in LOS and I am craving In N' Out Burger or Mexican food and a margarita by week 3.  

I am guessing you never ate in Sams.  Sams could open in LA and do well, the top of the food chain, nope but it would do well in LA.  I loved their food and was so upset when they close.   Bad location and no promotion at all

Edited July 10, 2017 by just hanging

[LASportsNut]

43 minutes ago, just hanging said:

I am guessing you never ate in Sams.  Sams could open in LA and do well, the top of the food chain, nope but it would do well in LA.  I loved their food and was so upset when they close.   Bad location and no promotion at all

No, I don't think so.  I have only tried Tequila Reef and some other bar that serves Mexican on or around Soi 13/1 - 13/4?  Unsure. I ate fast as I did not realize it was Boystown until I sat down.  555.

Edited July 10, 2017 by LASportsNut
change address

[likeaking]

22 minutes ago, LASportsNut said:

No, I don't think so.  I have only tried Tequila Reef and some other bar that serves Mexican on or around Soi 13/1 - 13/3?  Unsure. I ate fast as I did not realize it was Boystown until I sat down.  555.

Did they have the stools upside down again?