El Patio in Rockville

Empty Tables

I grew up on Argentine food and loved going to this type of place black home in Queens.  It is a small Argentine place with a large menu of Argentine specialties: parillada (mixed grill), empanadas, and even facturas (pastries)  I’ve even been to this place a bunch of times…several years ago.

However, last night (a Friday evening) we were treated atrociously (by the hostess).  Of over 100 articles, I have written one bad one, my 2nd article, and was a health concern that has since been corrected at the restaurant in question.  For me to write about a bad experience, it has to be really bad, since I don’t write about mediocre experiences.

My friend and I arrived on a Friday night and the place was really busy but had 4 free tables. we waited 20 minutes even though we could see the empty tables, so asked why we were waiting, and were told that we couldn’t be given tables for four. They made us wait and wait and wait (even when we made motions to leave) and then gave us a tale for two and right after us seated an Argentine couple (I speak broken Spanish and my friend is from Trinidad) in a table for four not a minute later right next to us.   We kept looking at the table next to us because we were upset at having to wait all that time for a table for two but not being treated the same as the other couples.  The waitress then moved us to a table for four.  Too little too late.

The only reason we stayed is because I REALLY wanted Argentine food and have eaten there many times before.

I recommend that parties of two avoid this restaurant, unless you speak Spanish fluently or are already a known customer.  But, let’s also talk about the food.

The only exceptional item we ate was the fried traditional beef empanada (my recipe for the same thing is here).  It isn’t in the front case and is much better than the ones I remember getting there years ago.   The fries were barely warm (not fresh).  We ordered the mixed grill (parillada) for 2 ($35).  The blood sausage (morcilla), chilchulines (intestines), sweet breads (molleja) were good. I would have preferred they gave us one normal sized chorizo to the two teeny ones since the chorizos were all crunch and not juicy; the chorizos were still good though.  One of the cuts of meat was over cooked, and both (being a bit bland for beef in an Argentine restaurant) needed to be be marinaded in chimchurri; while they actually might have been marinated in chimchurri, the chimichurri at El patio was thin, and flavorless.

Useless chimchurri is incredible because it is so easy to make chimchurri – mix chopped fresh garlic and chopped fresh parsley with red wine vinegar, salt, and a little oil , and if you want to get fancy you can add some other fresh herbs or some shallot.  This was the worst chimichurri I’ve ever had (and I’ve been t many Argentine and Uruguayan restaurants) and is worse than the time I got chimichurri out of a jar.  Also, it is served in lttle tiny plastic containers (only about 1/2 full), so we had to continuously ask for more. It should be served in big containers that sit at the table (like the condiments in some Chinese restaurants) – people would just serve themselves throughout the evening.

The waitress was pleasant, so we tipped normally – the problem with the establishment and food are not her fault.  She isn’t the one who made us wait even though table for 4 were available and then seated another group of 2 in a table for four immediately after us.

BTW, another couple stated that they were told they couples have the chef’s specials because the chef was on break.

Included is a picture of some of the empty tables the hostess refused to seat us at.

-JAY