Sopa's Restaurant

My wife and I ate at Sopa's yesterday about noon. Our waiter was "John" (waiter #013 on our check). He greeted us and seated us immediately and took our drink order. We asked for chips and salsa to be brought right away; he agreed. Then the "fun" began.It took him 12 minutes to bring us a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. Still no chips and salsa....

"John" was nowhere to be seen. I asked one of the busboys for our chips/salsa. He went looking for John. A few minutes later, John comes to the table, seemingly annoyed that we had sought him out. "what's the problem?" he asks. I told him we wanted our chips and salsa. He rolls his eyes, says "OK", and wanders off, ostensibly to get them them for us. A full 5 minutes later, he finally brings us a puny little basket with about 20 chips in it.

The reason this ticks me off goes far beyond having to wait for what is usually brought immediately in mexican restaurants; there was a huge area near the kitchen with several FULL baskets of chips and salsa, being served right away to all the other patrons as soon they came in; basically, this guy John, for reasons unknown to me, didn't want us to have any chips and salsa.

All the while, John was totally sucking up to the 6 people at the table right next to us. He did not seem to know these people, but some of his mindless "banter" with them was embarrassingly ridiculous and far too loud and personal.

After a while, John brought our food (which was hot and delicious, but minus my order of toast). Again, a repeat of the chips/salsa scenario, it took another 6 minutes to get the toast.

That seems to be the real problem with Sopa's; they have really good food, but the waitstaff is always a crapshoot. In fairness, about 3/4 of the waiters there are very good. It's just that uncertainty of whether or not your guy is going to screw up your dining experience on that particular visit, and that's the reason why I only go there once every few months, instead of 2-3 times a week.

I wish they would hire waiters/waitresses who understand the reason(s) why people go out to restaurants to eat their meals. This John guy doesn't seem to understand...

My husband and I have been eating at Sopa's since day one, this should tell you that we are repeated customers.

The Food (next best thing to cooking it yourself), staff (Friendly - beleive me these days it hard to find a smile, and the service is from the good old days) managment (the staffs proformance tells you how the management feels about you), Place (clean, and feels like home). Can't bet this enviornment, small town good people and food.