Comments on: Specials at Que Pasa

By: jessie kelley

jessie kelley — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:39:57 +0000

I tried many times to suggest improvements to Que pasa!, but it is just not going to happen. Sanchez is set in his ways and as long as he has that bar to sit at he will. he is like a 5 year old playing bar owner. He stops dinner early at any chance to smoozz his patrons and saddle up to the bar with a cigar. How wierd is it that the bar is covered with microwave trays and pop tarts when they open? Mr Sanchez needs to refine his pallet if he is going to serve any food that doesn’t come out of a box. I bartended there for a short period, but enjoyed the clientele, the architecture and experience. If Sanchez would take some advice they would succeed, but he has shown no interest i that.

By: Winston

Winston — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:23:15 +0000

No, Scott, it doesn’t. I have tried to make my concerns known in the past and have been completely blown off. I want to support any neighborhood establishment because it benefits us all, but, that establishment has to want to help itself and make itself better. Limiting your customer’s menu or limiting the menu, itself, is not the way to do it. And, styrofoam? How tacky is that? Even Huddle House gives you a plate!

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:35:30 +0000

Here’s a thought. Instead of griping about it or saying great things here anonymously, SAY IT TO THEIR FACES.

I find that works well.

By: Anon.

Anon. — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:38:19 +0000

RE: Chocolate Cake:

The first time we went there, the chocolate cake was FAB. The next time, it was definitely from a box. :(

RE: Styrofoam:

I forgot about the styrofoam. How welcoming is that?? And in that dark wood decor it seemed even more insulting.

RE: “Specials”

Clearly the place is on life support. Cutting back the regular menu, using store-bought ingredients, limiting the specials to “two per customer” with few or no other menu options… It’s pretty obvious these are desperate measures.

Prognosis:

It won’t last through 2009, at least not as a restaurant. John may be a great carpenter (in spite of the weird New Orleans renovation he did on Clay Street), but he ain’t no restauranteur.

By: Left of the Hill

Left of the Hill — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 19:52:31 +0000

Que Pasa is so close to being great, they just need a little bit of tweaking. It is a terrific addition to the neighborhood.

By: derek

derek — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:13:34 +0000

Maybe these comments should be forwarded to Que Pasa. It seems the customers are putting more effort into keeping Que Pasa afloat than Que Pasa is :)

By: Crystal

Crystal — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:50:14 +0000

I went to Que Pasa for the first time last Saturday and while the decor is beautiful, the food was just okay. But then again I’m a vegetarian and only had the dirty rice (with cheese?) and plantains. 2 of my friends got porkchops, which they claimed were delicious, and my other friend had something with sweet mashed potatoes on the side (with raisin, ick).

We were impressed the single waitress seemed to be keeping up quite well despite it being packed.

The chocolate cake was not good. I am an avid baker and not only did it taste like it came from a box, it was slightly stale. I will be happy to bake a real chocolate cake for them anytime.

My friends and I are going to Kuba Kuba to give us something to compare the experience to.

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:37:52 +0000

I like Que Pasa too and I hope that John is reading these comments. The last time we went, it was taco night. We had the two taco limit served on styrofoam plates. Our waitress was very nice and did tell us after we had settled the check that because the night was slow, we could have had more than two tacos. We, too, were disappointed that the regular menu was not available. We LOVE the decor and atmosphere there and we have always liked the food. I do like the fact that there are specials nights but I think that needs to be in addition to the regular menu. I think the majority of people who have posted on this thread want to be helpful because no one likes to see our local places go under.

By: deanna

deanna — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:32:22 +0000

I was there on taco night – Fish tacos great (you gotta try the Hearts of Palm taco too) and lots of them. Was craving a Margarita but they were out of sour mix. Knowing all too well that I do not live in a perfet world I asked the bartender to thrill me with the closest concoction he could come up with. He delivered something which soothed my ills. Liked it so much I had two :)

It will get there folks. Just be patient.

By: Q

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:10:11 +0000

I have tried Que Pasa several times because I want to like it. However, it has disappointed me every time. I can make better food at home without having to wait 30 minutes for a drink or to order whatever the special of the day is. It is sad when the service and food are so bad, that a dollar meal isn’t even worth the time.

By: CH Newbie

CH Newbie — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:56:04 +0000

Wow. I mean, really, WOW. I’m not trying to step on any toes here, but I like Que Pasa! I like the food, the bands have been pretty good lately, and the drinks are pretty cheap! I lived in the Fan prior to moving up here and Que Pasa has been a great place to come to after work or on the weekends. I understand that people have bad experiences, but doesn’t that happen everywhere? Think about it. Support local businesses! Why do you think Y’alls closed?

By: Winston

Winston — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:31:00 +0000

I have tried Que Pasa several times and have found the food and service, also, inconsistent. “Better management could whip that place into shape.” Yep…unfortunately John Sanchez never gets off his barstool to talk to his customers to find out what is going on. The place doesn’t need better management, it needs new ownership. How about selling it to the folks from Y’all’s Grill?

By: Left of the Hill

Left of the Hill — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:39:36 +0000

Consistency is critical to any restaurant and that is where Qua Pasa suffers the most. At the very least they should offer TWO Latin American insipred dishes during burger/wings/pizza/tacos nights. It seems that every review of the place had a comment or two about inconsistent food and service. Better management could whip that place into shape.

By: Ry

Ry — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:49:04 +0000

I will say I was surprised when I went down there for dollar burger nite that I couldn’t order anything off the regular menu. I was willing to pay a couple dollars for a side dish other than fries. They should definitely offer the regular menu on top of the specials.

By: Ryan Ramsey

Ryan Ramsey — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:50:52 +0000

I’ve had my fair share of good, mediocre and bad dining experiences at Que Pasa. Sometimes the staff was great, sometimes horribly slow. The burger special night that I went to was pretty rough.

I’ll take Capital Ale House Monday $1 burger nights anytime over Que Pasa.

I’d rather see their old menu back during the week.

By: Libby Hill Resident

Libby Hill Resident — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:28:30 +0000

We went there this week for taco night.

We had fish and beef tacos. Both were good, but they could have been warmer. I was surprised to see a two taco limit per person listed on the menu. I could have used one more.

I never did get a second drink as I could never get the waitress’s attention. She never came over to check on us. Can’t make money from drinks if you aren’t pushing them.

Overall, an OK experience, but a bit weird as well.

By: Anon.

Anon. — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:31:51 +0000

“I really do want to like Que Pasa. Really. But câ€™monâ€¦”

I have to agree.

We went there once, long ago, and it was good. But two subsequent visits have been disappointing.

Seems like a lot of what they sell as the “specials” are store bought…

By: derek

derek — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:10:17 +0000

I went last week for what I thought was $0.20 wing night, but apparently the folks at Que Pasa learned that wings are messy and decided to quit selling them to avoid their tables being stained.

Recommendation: Put a friggin’ paper tablecloth down on the nights you’re selling wings. It’s not rocket science, it’s food.

Instead, we got the crappy pizzas, which they managed to screw up. I guess two tables are one too many to juggle.

I really do want to like Que Pasa. Really. But c’mon…

By: easr

easr — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:54:23 +0000

I went last night for some Latin food. The sign said “$1 pizza and nurses night,” which is fine, but they only serve pizza. No Latin food except a pizza with corn and peppers on it. I think specials are great, but if I had wanted pizza I would not have gone to a Latin American restaurant. The restaurant was less than half full yet the service was incredibly slow, the music was so loud you could not hold a conversation, so we left before our order was taken. No one seemed to notice. I love the renovation and hope they can make it, but they do not seem to have their act together.

By: Ruth

Ruth — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:53:26 +0000

They are out of food sometimes, but the food they do have is pretty good. Also, their scotch selection is way better than the Jefferson, which was boasted in Style magazine to be comprehensive. Que Pasa has twice the brands that the Jefferson has!

Dollar burger night is good. The Monday when it snowed, they were overrun by hungry residents, so the service wasn’t as good and the burgers weren’t as pretty, but I totally understood. I will have to go back for taco night. Sounds good.

By: eat it

eat it — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 05:44:37 +0000

whatever, the food there is so mundane and they are always out of it. when they do have the normal menu the crock pots can be seen on the floor of the kitchen. has anyone tried their cuban coffee or espresso or the betty crocker chocolate cake. come on people get it together.

By: RVA GIRL

RVA GIRL — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 03:31:10 +0000

Check out pizza night on Tuesdays! So good!

By: jordancity

jordancity — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:33:47 +0000

great chocolate cake there! ummmm…. cake

By: JES

JES — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:43:14 +0000

Matt: You forget to mention the kind group of people that invited you to sit at their table.

By: Matt Conrad

Matt Conrad — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:48:16 +0000

I had two of their fish tacos last night with a huge serving of guac and they were amazing! John and crew were absolutely overrun by hungry customers. I know a lot of restaurants would love to that problem right now. They’ll surely be ready next week with ample staff and food.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:44:50 +0000

If they keep running out of food, sooner or later they’re bound to run afoul of the (stupid) ABC rule about food sale percentages. Come on, Que Pasa…get it together!

By: elphaba

elphaba — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:30:49 +0000

well, you don’t have to ask if they ran out of food because they did. my friends and i were dismayed at the fact that they did not have their regular menu on dollar taco night, because that was actually not the reason we went there. however, the tacos that they DID have (not pork not fish) were great! for a dollar you really couldn’t get better! still though, they had only one waitress who was working her butt off and the place was busy the entire time we were there. we did have to make a family grocery run for chips, which were not on the menu. (really?)

all in all: dollar taco night was great, but they don’t have the regular menu, which sucks because i was in the mood for plantains.

By: e

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 01:04:08 +0000

I wonder if they ran out of food….. I try and eat their constantly and they are either out of food or serving just drinks. It can be very annoying….

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:23:07 +0000

We went to Que Pasa on Friday before the Robinson Theater opening: waited about 10 minutes to order/get drinks…45 minutes later got an apology because our food was stuck behind a “large party” (8 ppl) and maybe 45 minutes after that offered the chance (read: begged to leave) because our food was not going to be ready anytime soon. Ran to Y’all’s Grill for a quick burger (delicious) and made it to the theater on time, but damn, was it disappointing. I can’t fault our waitress, at least she was honest and apologetic.

By: VCS

VCS — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:13:45 +0000

It would be nice is all of our local CH restaurants posted reminders like this. In this economy we’ve kind of gotten used to cooking at home during the week. So it is a nice reminder that we can go out during the work week and not have to spend a fortune. THANKS.

By: me

me — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:27:18 +0000

I second that! I’ll have to walk over there some night soon. Good idea to post like this — it’s such a relief after reading some of the other stuff.

By: jordancity

jordancity — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:05:02 +0000

Thanks for the reminder!