Santo Coyote

The place is so huge, in fact the only neutral to negative criticism I have is that they are unable to make use of the space so it feels very empty despite there being plenty of business most weekends. But the atmosphere is undeniably beautiful, with the orange vaulted ceilings the wall of skulls and the jungle infused dining areas Something that's really cool as they always start the meal with a molcajete and they make a salsa to order. One thing that's kind of annoying though is that sometimes they'll have the cocktail menu with pictures and beautiful description and sometimes they don't have it at all. It doesn't make any sense because all the cocktails are delicious and in the three times we've been here there hasn't been rhyme or reason as to why it's not there.

Santo Coyote is an oasis within Guadalajara. We came here for breakfast, the food is delicious and the atmosphere is truly one of a kind. Our waiter, Ulises, was very accommodating and friendly, helping everyone in our family feel welcome. As soon as we walked in, he offered us local garments to keep us from the cold. I loved the chilaquiles and the tacos. Truly a worthwhile experience!!

I wandered in when my hotel down the street wasn’t ready. First, in an entirely empty restaurant, I was sat immediately next to a young couple clearly on a date, yet I was no more than 4 feet from them. I felt sorry for intruding their space and had to ask twice to be moved to one of the 100 of empty tables. Then, the table I was seated at was so lopsided it couldn’t even hold a glass without spilling it. Next, I ordered a glass of Shiraz which came back as a Rose’. After asking nicely a few times about the clear mistake, I was told that it was me that was in the wrong and that Shiraz is always light pink and clear. Needless to say, I left, and they charged me full price for a wine I never touched, The entire place just smacks of tone-deafness. Waiters have extremely jarring and loud walkie talkies and the amount of wait staff is not only confusing, but makes personal responsibility of mistakes to just get swept under the rug. Which is what should happen with this place. What once would have been cool, now just looks like a busted up TGI Fridays.

I gave Santo 2 Stars based on facility and ambiance....and it is a huge, magnificant facility. We were a party of 11 organized by high end foodie friends who have been there often. Last night (Sat night of Dia de Los Muertos) the place was maybe 10% full (should have been a clue) and in addidition to the equisitely poor food we had inept service to go along with it. Every touted the "made at your table Cesar Salad" so we ordered 8. It takes a while to make 8 salads tableside but our inept waiter put in the entre orders at the same time. Suddenly while the salad was being prepared all entries were served.....one unlucky couple also ordered soup so in front of them at the same time were their soup, salad and entre. (Obviously the waiter--young-has not been trained nor was a Matre 'd or Manager checking on a table of 11 who ordered lots of drinks and expensive wine. Duh) The pork shank was cold and had to be returned and appeared if two or more sections had been put together.....even warmer not tasty. A mojacate had shrimp the size of your thumbnail....In Guadaljara??????? Two other shrimp dishes had normal sized large shrimp so go figure. Sea bass was served very lukewarm under enough sauce to disguise the cold port shank. Oh, and the vaunted Cesar Salad was coated in so much oil that lettuce was already wilting. This had to be at one time a first class operation but boy have they taken a detour and living solely on a quickly eroding reputation. No one paying attention. Oh, and did I mention one of our party was overcharged ONE THOUSAND PESOs (how do you make a $1000 peso mistake?) that took more than 30 minutes to straigten out.....nice topper to that evening. When a restaurant the standard of Bruna is directly across the street, Santo Coyote has major, major issues. David Lea