El Palacio - Salta
El Palacio
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All the Empanadas were very good and so were the Tamales and Humidas! Highly recommended! Go for it!
Had a quick lunch there with tamales and empanadas that were succulent, really among the good ones we have tasted. Service was friendly but quite slow and the place remains very simple and possibly a little bit less touristic than other restaurants in this central street. Pleasant experience.
We'd heard good things about this restaurant so decided to try it for lunch. The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived and there was only one waiter, but we figured that since it was a public holiday in Salta, either it'd be really quiet or more staff would arrive a little later (as we were there fairly early by Argentinian standards.) Not long after we sat down the waiter came to take our order - two empanadas for entree, two 1/4 BBQ chickens, a salad and some water. Throughout, the phone was ringing off the hook and another staff member (not a waiter) seemed to be taking home delivery orders. 20 minutes went by and we still didn't have our drinks, let alone our entrees - and not one plate of food had left the kitchen, even for those people who'd already ordered before we arrived! The only thing that seemed to be leaving were all the home delivery items. The restaurant continued to fill as we waited and waited - and I was very surprised that they kept taking people as there was clearly a problem - but the waiter, instead of rushing about or looking stressed, just dragged his feet, moping along and cursing to himself. 45 minutes passed and still NOT ONE DISH had left the kitchen. When we questioned the waiter he looked at us blankly and asked to be reminded of what we ordered. At that point my husband wanted to leave but I felt bad because they were clearly understaffed so we waited a bit more. Almost an hour without any food and suddenly we see the waiter - yes, the ONLY waiter - walk out the door. We couldn't believe it! He'd just left!! A minute later the guy taking the phone orders came over, apologized and asked what we'd ordered - we'd been waiting for an hour and apparently the waiter hadn't even put through ANY of the orders!!He brought us one empanada (which was quite tasty) and promised that our mains would be out in 10 minutes. The icing on the cake however, was 10 minutes later when we saw the home delivery guy rushing in with a raw chicken he'd just bought from the supermarket. At that point, given that no one else had received any food and we'd already been waiting about 75 minutes, we decided to give up. As we left, I did feel bad for the guy now trying to pick up the pieces, but there were clearly MAJOR staffing issues from the get-go. It was honestly like being on the set of Gordon Ramsay's 'Kitchen Nightmares' show! Needless to say, we won't be going back - and I'd recommend that anyone thinking of going to this restaurant first checks to see how many staff members are working before sitting down!
El Palacio Pizza and Empanadas was right next door to our hotel (Hotel del Antiguo Convento - see my separate review in the Hotels section), so very convenient, especially one night when it was pouring with rain. We ate there three times, each time being served by a very friendly and efficient waiter called Nelson. The food was typical of the area and was very delicious and well priced. We drank the home made lemonade, which was very tasty.Highly recommended!
