Taqueria Y Antojitos El Guanaco

For what it is, a little authentic taco shop, it's quite awesome.  Good prices and authentic tastes.  I recommend going here for a taco on the run, or a sit down authentic style meal, with a very reasonable price tag.

I REALLY wanted to like this place because it was my first time visiting Florida and I wanted to leave with a good impression of the food.  Unfortunately, I've had better pupusas and rice in my hometown of Los Angeles.  The pupusas lacked flavor and so did the rice.  We were the only customers in this establishment the entire time we ate.

Parking is free and shared with a couple other restaurants.

After a 5-star review and at least a good half-dozen meals here, this last visit was bitterly disappointing to the point where I probably will not return.  Really sad because I've been raving about this place to nearly everyone I know.  Here's the story:  On our (literally) last visit to El Guanaco, we saw an empty booth and quickly made a beeline for it, eager for yet another delicious meal.  (Now, to reiterate, this is not our first time here, and, granted, we don't expect everyone to know who we are, but, coming here at least a half-dozen times you'd expect a modicum amount of recognition.  Nada.)  So, we take a booth.  This particular evening, I note that a particular waitress is the waitress-du-noir -- one that wasn't particularly friendly our last encounter with her.  (Granted, this is a Latin joint, so I don't expect anyone there to be palsy-walsy with us, esp. since we speak minimal Spanish, despite my Spanish surname; however, this particular gal (from what we've noticed) is especially friendly with her Spanish-speaking customers (which is just about everyone else) and on the cold side with our table.  That said, that was our first and only encounter with this gal the last time around.)  Tonight, this gal's customer service attitude apparently has not changed.  She's chit-chatting with all the other tables, and leaves us sitting there for at least five minutes before she finally comes over to acknowledge us with menus.  Okay, not the best start, and I'm feeling the negative vibes radiating off of her.  She takes our order for drinks, then returns to take our meal orders.  (This evening is a particularly busy night in the kitchen, as I note that they're working frantically on a number of take-out orders, as well as the orders for those of us seated in-store.  Naturally, I'm expecting our meals to take a little longer than usual.)  As the minutes start to tick away, and we're sitting there with growling stomachs both, I'm expecting our waitress to bring out the fresh tortilla chips and salsa that is normally de rigueur at this restaurant.  She's having a fine ol' time with other Spanish-speaking customers, but nary a look our way.  A good 15 minutes have now passed.  By now, we are both at the irritation point.  I decide to sit in my booth facing the outside, while strumming my fingers on top of the booth bench -- pretty much just to maybe get a little attention from our wayward waitress.  Nada!  20 minutes.  I finally, as she walks by our table, ask her if we don't get any chips this evening.  She says to me:  "Oh, we're all out of chips."  Let's just say that I could BARELY contain myself...!!!  I asked her if maybe she could've told us that when taking our order?  She simply looks at me as if she doesn't speak English.  From that point, we got up to pay for our sodas, and a minor ruckus ensued because, ironically, she said that our orders were ready.  NO THANKS!!!  It's hasta la vista, baby, to El Guanaco for us...!!!  (It's such a shame, too, because we really liked the owner, as she was so generous welcoming us there upon our first visit....)  :(