I came to El Cielo a few years ago, around 2021, with a group of friends and was very happy with my…read moreexperience. We enjoyed the restaurant and the wine-tasting tour, and I always thought about coming back.
Last weekend, I was passing through the area. The wine tours were already closed, but the restaurant was still open, so my brother and I decided to grab a quick dinner before heading to the border, wrapping up an amazing week in Rosarito.
Unfortunately, the experience was very different this time around. Our waiter seemed more focused on getting us to order pricier items than on providing good service, and both the food and drinks took a long time to come out. The restaurant was not busy at the time, so I'm not sure why everything took so long. We were only a party of two, and our order was pretty basic: two cocktails, an appetizer, and two main courses.
When it was time to pay, the bill came with a 20% tip already included. Nowhere did it say beforehand that gratuity would automatically be added. Considering the slow service, 20% seemed excessive. Even 15% would have been a lot for the level of service we received, but it would have felt more reasonable.
I was thrown off by the experience but decided not to make a big deal about it at the time. Unfortunately, after having such a positive impression of El Cielo from my first visit, this experience left me disappointed, and it will probably be the last time I eat at the El Cielo restaurant.