Las Rosas Moved

[t0ddlg]

They were at Kingsland just off Mason, but are now in that strip center along the Grand Parkway/99. We ate there last night and it wasn't as nice inside as the old place (and my kids noticed no ice cream machine...but I didn't ask about it.)

Anyone know why they moved?

[Mark F. Barnes]

Perhaps they moved because the food sucked so bad and they had the worst service in the entire city, that their business is going down the tubes and they had to move to a cheaper venue to keep their head above water. The health department shut down the one in Montgomery County. The one in Houston (Katy) really sucked when the food quality diminished from fair to terrible since they first opened, The queso was very, very runny. Pancho's serves better food than Las Rosas. The service is sooooooooooo bad, it was nearly laughable. The hostess staff could definitely use a week's worth of customer service skills - rude, obnoxious, and inexperienced. On one occasion, the manager apologized because the kitchen had "lost" our order. He said be patient, he'll put the order in again, and it will be worth it. Well, you guessed it, they lost the order a second time! Now, I'll give any restaurant a bad night, so I was stupid enough go back several times since, and each time, the service was very very very bad. One night the waiter never returned. Ever. Another night, guess what... they "lost" our order again! Next came the shrimp quesadillas--huge disappointment. They had the tiny little salad shrimp instead of the big juicy shrimp the competitors serve. The greasy, orange melted cheese inside had completely discolored the flour tortillas so they looked more like corn. My order is supposed to come standard with charro beans but re-fried beans were on the plate, when I questioned it they said that was charro beans, I asked him if he knew the difference, and he shrugged his shoulders. My wife had the Mexican potato skins which were covered with a completely strange looking ground beef which came with a queso sauce in the middle which could then be spooned on. Very sub par at best. The vegetable fajitas were almost raw. The chicken fajitas were okay, there was no sizzle on the fajita pans. I took a stab at a piece of chicken that was in the fajita platter, I noticed a not so pleasant color, It was still RAW, it was PINK, and it JIGGLED, only the outer part had been cooked. So we called the waiter and he took it back and I just told him to make the burrito only beef. The manager then came and apologized and told us that he made the kitchen manager aware of the situation (the manager did not have a very friendly personality). The beef was good and had a so so taste to it, rather than the taste of RAW chicken. The bill at the end of the meal was a train wreck, they tried to charge for the RAW chicken that was sent back, on top of the beef fajita replacement. They send out three tortillas with the fajita for two platter, and I asked for more, which they brought out, however they charged $4.00 for the extra three. I am thinking thats steep for flour and water. Oh by the way my brother-in-law ordered a burrito and asked to have it without the beans inside. Well, he got his order and it had the beans. When my brother asked if he could have it replaced with what he had originally ordered, the waiter said that that is how the burrito comes in the package and they can't change it. In other words, IS ALL THEIR FOOD IS FROZEN AND NOT MADE FRESH? Hmmmmm makes you wonder.

Will never ever set foot in the place again.

[flipper]

Perhaps they moved because the food sucked so bad and they had the worst service in the entire city, that their business is going down the tubes and they had to move to a cheaper venue to keep their head above water. The health department shut down the one in Montgomery County. The one in Houston (Katy) really sucked when the food quality diminished from fair to terrible since they first opened, The queso was very, very runny. Pancho's serves better food than Las Rosas. The service is sooooooooooo bad, it was nearly laughable. The hostess staff could definitely use a week's worth of customer service skills - rude, obnoxious, and inexperienced. On one occasion, the manager apologized because the kitchen had "lost" our order. He said be patient, he'll put the order in again, and it will be worth it. Well, you guessed it, they lost the order a second time! Now, I'll give any restaurant a bad night, so I was stupid enough go back several times since, and each time, the service was very very very bad. One night the waiter never returned. Ever. Another night, guess what... they "lost" our order again! Next came the shrimp quesadillas--huge disappointment. They had the tiny little salad shrimp instead of the big juicy shrimp the competitors serve. The greasy, orange melted cheese inside had completely discolored the flour tortillas so they looked more like corn. My order is supposed to come standard with charro beans but re-fried beans were on the plate, when I questioned it they said that was charro beans, I asked him if he knew the difference, and he shrugged his shoulders. My wife had the Mexican potato skins which were covered with a completely strange looking ground beef which came with a queso sauce in the middle which could then be spooned on. Very sub par at best. The vegetable fajitas were almost raw. The chicken fajitas were okay, there was no sizzle on the fajita pans. I took a stab at a piece of chicken that was in the fajita platter, I noticed a not so pleasant color, It was still RAW, it was PINK, and it JIGGLED, only the outer part had been cooked. So we called the waiter and he took it back and I just told him to make the burrito only beef. The manager then came and apologized and told us that he made the kitchen manager aware of the situation (the manager did not have a very friendly personality). The beef was good and had a so so taste to it, rather than the taste of RAW chicken. The bill at the end of the meal was a train wreck, they tried to charge for the RAW chicken that was sent back, on top of the beef fajita replacement. They send out three tortillas with the fajita for two platter, and I asked for more, which they brought out, however they charged $4.00 for the extra three. I am thinking thats steep for flour and water. Oh by the way my brother-in-law ordered a burrito and asked to have it without the beans inside. Well, he got his order and it had the beans. When my brother asked if he could have it replaced with what he had originally ordered, the waiter said that that is how the burrito comes in the package and they can't change it. In other words, IS ALL THEIR FOOD IS FROZEN AND NOT MADE FRESH? Hmmmmm makes you wonder.

Will never ever set foot in the place again.

So from 1 to 10...

flipper

[TJones]

I will agree to some point that they were skating on thin ice already Mark. I usually go to Los Cucos, just for those reasons you mentioned Mark. They are expanding the new place, looks like it is gonna be a lot nicer. Toddl, I wouldn't worry too much about Ls Rosas moving, there are much better choices in Katy, and perhaps the new place will be better. The place Las Rosas took over (Candela's) was pretty decent, and it was Buffet, but I think the mix of Cuban food in there threw some people off, and were afraid to venture in there. Candela's was very good, but what cracks me up is that ALL Three owners of Los Cucos, Las Rosas and Candela's ALL worked for Mama Ninfa at one point, and had taken all the recipes to incorporate into "their" menus.

[KatyGuy]

The landlord would not renew their contract to keep the old location. I heard that through the grapevine. Sounds like restaurant owner and landlord didn't get along or that landlord just had other plans with the building.

[t0ddlg]

Mark, what's up with the copy/paste review from ones at B4-u-eat?

http://www.b4-u-eat.com/houston/restaurant...ews/rsv1922.asp

KatyGuy, thanks.

[Erick]

Over the Christmas holidays we were in Los Cucos planning our catered party with a manager type and he was telling us about opening a new restaurant at the Los Rosas site and he was very excited about it. It will be called La Vida Loca and will have live music on the weekends with an expanded outdoor bar/patio setup. It sounds like it will be a fun place and those Cucos folks seem to get things right.

[bds76]

We used to go there all the time, but our favorite waiter changed restaurants and we followed him. What he said was that the owners got a divorce and the wife kept the Katy location and one other one, I think. Once she took over by herself, it went downhill pretty quick. I assume that they weren't making enough money to support that big building.