El Faro restaurant Scam

[cttt]

Beware, beware!  El Faro restaurant scams and over charges customers. Thought we were going to the fabulous Tropicante  restaurant and it was closed.  The  waiters said the beach service was still available in the kitchen. Not true! It was actually the El Faro restaurant. The food was disgusting and attracted hundreds of flies.. They overcharged us for drinks and tax.  Any other country, this scam would be prosecuted.   Charged 26% tax

[crewsweeper]

Strange that Tropicante would be closed on a cruise ship day. But YES the thugs who own/manage ElFaro have been doing this for years, since the original  owner retired and sold out. Steve Uhl warns people  continually to not get sucked into  their spiel.   Sorry  you got hit.

But thanks  for reaching out and warning others.

Additional advice.  DO NOT EVER go to any beach club along the malecon where guys are begging you to sit in one of their loungers or offering  some special  deal to entice you to their club. The better places, for service, food, drink, prices don't  ever do this.

[crewsweeper]

cttt….I heard back from Steve Uhl.  If you were there on an MSC ship on a recent Saturday, Yes Tropicante was closed.  Only 1 ship in,  no reservations, lower # staff, as it's low season, and they had already put in 6 days straight.

 

 

[sidewinder58]

This place did almost the same thing to us last week. They told us the guy from Texas that owned the Tropicante owned El Faro too, and it was the same operation, so we just sat down. That was a mistake. They charged us $160 for what we think was about $50 worth of bad drinks and nachos. They refused to bring the menu to confirm the prices and then called the police when we refused. We finally just paid it and then they yelled at us all the way to the taxi. It was scary. Never go to this place!!!!!!!

[crewsweeper]

1 hour ago, sidewinder58 said:

This place did almost the same thing to us last week. They told us the guy from Texas that owned the Tropicante owned El Faro too, and it was the same operation, so we just sat down. That was a mistake. They charged us $160 for what we think was about $50 worth of bad drinks and nachos. They refused to bring the menu to confirm the prices and then called the police when we refused. We finally just paid it and then they yelled at us all the way to the taxi. It was scary. Never go to this place!!!!!!!

Sorry, you got hit.  That's a common tactic they use at El Faro.   The truth is that while Steve Uhl has in the past offered to by the place, the owner, or original owner, always refused saying he would never sell to a Gringo.  But now the place is managed by the same people who manage Blue Kay( and he place they have tried to open next door) and the owner is an absentee owner who lives in Canada (as I recall) and never comes down.

 

Always, always, if going to Tropicante as a walk in, go to the store front--white façade with Tropicante in Blue above it--and ask for a lounger.  Jorge, Carolina, Ivan, Mike, Charlie or Steve, will introduce themselves and seat you.

If you have a reservation, they will have your name on a sign carried by one of the wait staff. 

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, crewsweeper said:

Sorry, you got hit.  That's a common tactic they use at El Faro.   The truth is that while Steve Uhl has in the past offered to by the place, the owner, or original owner, always refused saying he would never sell to a Gringo.  But now the place is managed by the same people who manage Blue Kay( and he place they have tried to open next door) and the owner is an absentee owner who lives in Canada (as I recall) and never comes down.

 

Always, always, if going to Tropicante as a walk in, go to the store front--white façade with Tropicante in Blue above it--and ask for a lounger.  Jorge, Carolina, Ivan, Mike, Charlie or Steve, will introduce themselves and seat you.

If you have a reservation, they will have your name on a sign carried by one of the wait staff. 

 

Crew, are you sure El Faro and Blue Kay have the same owners? You said this once before and then said it was a mistake. 

 

I have a feeling Blue Kay and Ibiza Sunset have the same owners.

[crewsweeper]

C-legs, going on memory based on a blog from Mr. Uhl.  He may have meant the place they tried to open next to Blue Kay.  He hinted that the same guy owned other places along the malecon and had an ownership interest in the condos at Blue Reef, but not Jaime's.   You've been to CM a couple of times since I was there last, so any recent ownership information you may have will be better than my "hearsay".

 

Nevertheless, the thugs at El Faro are amongst the worst along the malecon. 

[c-leg5]

4 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

C-legs, going on memory based on a blog from Mr. Uhl.  He may have meant the place they tried to open next to Blue Kay.  He hinted that the same guy owned other places along the malecon and had an ownership interest in the condos at Blue Reef, but not Jaime's.   You've been to CM a couple of times since I was there last, so any recent ownership information you may have will be better than my "hearsay".

 

Nevertheless, the thugs at El Faro are amongst the worst along the malecon. 

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Following recommendations on here we have been to Tropicante for the last few visits but generally walk the malecon checking vibe for future visits before we leave. 

 

Last visit we were taking a youngster and were considering Blue Kay as  I feel there is more room there for children. I emailed a few questions as I didn’t want AI and was surprised to get some replies from Ibiza Sunset email which leaves me to believe they are co-owned.

 

The wind was too strong to dock so we didn’t get to Costa Maya at all in the end and didn’t get to check out Nacho’s beach bar next to Blue Kay- but I don’t see a website anymore so not sure if it still exists.