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.
Neighborhood Spotlight
Park Cities
Where the Park Cities Stay Connected.
Author
