My First (And Last) Trip to Rafa’s
Last night, my family and I visited Rafa’s for the first time. I know this place is beloved by Park Cities families, as evidenced by the large number of them who were there when we were. But I judge a restaurant by how easy it makes my life as a parent, and Rafa’s failed in that regard.
Our kids were waiting on water for close to 10 minutes after the adults at the table had their drinks. This is especially a problem when the salsa is as spicy as it is at Rafa’s. Once the drinks did arrive, they were a guaranteed mess, because the kitchen had run out of lids.
Perhaps in an attempt to make up for the drinks snafu, the boys’ meals were brought out early. But they were so early that my oldest son had finished his dinner before my plate arrived, providing me the fun experience of defending my rice and beans from constant attacks by his spoon.
The one thing I can say for Rafa’s on the kid-friendliness front was that the waiter offered up spoons for the kids to eat with, without my wife and I having to ask first, as we have to at most restaurants. But the overall experience was far too stressful to risk repeating.
Perhaps we just visited on an off night? Perhaps you want to defend the honor of this Park Cities institution. Feel free to savage me in the comments. Or vote for Rafa’s on the People’s Choice ballot that will appear in this week’s paper. If enough of you do, I’ll be forced to write something nice about the place when we name the winners in January.
37 comments to "My First (And Last) Trip to Rafa's"
Off nights happen…
Ah, a connoisseur of the king, the clown, and the colonel. Why can’t Rafa’s have a slide and ball pit?
I love it when someone brings in their darling tot, who decides to start screaming during dinner, disrupting the entire restaurant, and then blames the restaurant for not being kid friendly.
Face it, you kids are not restaurant friendly
We would all appreciate it.
As for Eater, back off a bit! I agree with your second paragraph, but Dan never implied that his kids were unruly. He said there were no lids, which was a mess waiting to happen, and his son was eating off of his plate. Not sure how that would hinder your eating experience there.
“Love the sound of helicopter parents in the morning.”
Hint: The world doesn’t revolve around you kids.
As a former waiter, you little darlings didn’t get water because they would have dumped it all over the table, chairs, creating a even bigger hassle because then the waiter has to clean up you kids mess while apologizing to you for your kids behavior.
Dan-you should have just taken your kids to McDonalds..
“But they were so early that my oldest son had finished his dinner before my plate arrived, providing me the fun experience of defending my rice and beans from constant attacks by his spoon.” In my entire childhood, I never once ate off of my parents plate without their permission. I knew there would be consequences. Don’t blame the restaurant for that.
One word: Mia’s
i went to rafa’s once.
once.
You sound like the male version of the DMN witch.
Try them on Sunday…
AND DON’T LISTEN TO THOSE HATEFUL PEOPLE! My husband has to ward off MY attempts at his rice and beans!
HATEFUL PEOPLE: Are you and your children THAT perfect?
Piranhas! Run fast! I had a good chuckle over the comments. Lighten up folks, it’s expensive to eat out.
I’ve been preparing a delicious simple Mexican dish from items I buy from Whole Foods. I think it has much less sodium than eating out.
I wish you, your family, and your staff a great Thanksgiving!
If given the choice, I’d go to Mi Cocina, Uncle Julio’s, or the Cantina Laredo across the street any day.
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