Sunrise Tacos Coming To Jomtien!

[SunriseTacos]

Closed before 11pm tonight , so I missed it again, either your ready to open as advertised or not. I realize that they have only just opened, but they need to get it right first off, went to Shenanigans and had a great steak for B260 no ++

For our soft opening period (about 2 weeks) we are operating on limited hours. By month end December though, we will be 24 hours with delivery bikes also operating round the clock.

Best,

Gil

[SunriseTacos]

.

New menu for Jomtien location?

A friend sent this menu for the local Sunrise location -- Prices appear to be less than the menu they were using when I was there - which was same as Bangkok prices.

If anyone unravels this mystery, please post the details.

http://sunrisetacosp...a.com/Menu.html

.

The prices look decent. Especially for half a kilo burrito!

I reckon that website is quite obsolete. Says the joint was going to open in APRIL 2011.

Thank you, we will be revamping our entire website www.sunrisetacospattaya.com very shortly.

Best,

Gil

[SunriseTacos]

Gil here, owner of Sunrise Tacos Pattaya. Please permit me to weigh in, introduce ourselves, and let you all know what's up.

No other food to my mind invokes the same emotional discussions regarding what is, and what is not "authentic." I cannot answer this. I can say though, that we import our own 100% organic white, yellow and blue corn in kernel form from the U.S.A. We then grind it, add water and salt, and hand work it. Each tortilla is then HAND pressed and turned into one of the most tastiest corn tortillas I have ever had. We import all avocados fresh, we make all our own salsas each morning, our margaritas are made daily from real fruit, etc., I am hoping that these efforts help us to develop a loyal expat crowd, just like our loyal crowd in BKK. From our recent experience opening at Terminal 21 (we are packed daily), we also appeal to the young and hip Thai crowd, who hanker for delicious, fresh and unique tastes at very competitive prices. We hope to capture a portion of this crowd also in Pattaya, as there are not a lot of places for the mainstream Thai crowd to experience a modern and fresh concept restaurant. Being on the main road also, we hope to get our share of tourists when they visit the beaches of Jomtien.

We chose Jomtien for several reasons - easy parking, and easy access for the resident expats or full time Pattaya residents. Although we looked at over 60 locations on Beach road, parking and access is troublesome, even more so during events (e.g., music festivals). Rents there are sky high also, with tea money the norm.

The Jomtien area also has one of the highest concentrations of condominiums in a small area, making home delivery a viable supporting revenue opportunity. We are located directly at the entrance to Jomtien Complex, just before reaching Shenanigan's on the right. A large corner unit. The surrounding road construction is mostly complete, adding appeal to this area which we are hoping will begin to take on a popularity of its own as Pattaya proper gets more and more crowded. Many long-term expats that I know dread the idea of trying to "dine out" anywhere near Walking St or Beach Rd, or even 2nd road. Next year, we will open in North Pattaya also.

Regarding the restaurant itself, we have 2 full time kitchens on site, with a unique margarita bar off to the side of the main dining room. The build out is looking fantastic, with an unusual split level hung ceiling in modern colors. The restaurant is 75% glass enclosed, and will incorporate the latest in back-projection technology of printed photos of our food. Booths are over-sized of course. We have approximately 75 seats, and booths and tables that can sit full families. The bar will serve a full a full drink menu, including hand-blended and machine blended margaritas. Of course, we are continuing our trademark free salsa bar (9 different types, made daily).

Our opening date is approximately Nov 20th, 2011. A lot depends upon the completion of the build out. All of our staff is now training full time at multiple Sunrise Tacos locations in BKK, and we will follow the recipes originally created by our 2 native Mexican head chefs. Recently, we also consulted a Mexican head chef residing in China, who flew into Thailand to meet us and consulted on our food. He did not make one change recommendation, which we took to mean that we are on the right track.

Final note - we are 90% thru completion of a mobile Mexican food truck also. It is a full sized long bed Toyota with a camper house on top. It will travel all over Pattaya and East Pattaya serving nachos, supreme nachos, quessadillas, burritos, tacos, and of course, margaritas. The mobile unit has hot and cold running water, full cooking capability, fridges, etc., so please keep an eye out for our mobile Sunrise Tacos unit coming near you! You can PM me here of course for any further information. It will be available for catering, birthdays, wedding events, home parties, etc. of course. We also have a full catering service for the extended menu.

Thank you everyone,

Kind regards,

Gil

Owner - Sunrise Tacos Pattaya

Hi all,

Well, we're open now, this is our 5th day. It has been an exhausting stretch for all of us, including my staff, cooks, prep cooks, waitresses, bartender, receptionist, etc. I wanted to take this time to thank everyone for their patience, and their patronage. I also want to give everyone some insight into what is now happening to improve our operation. On our first day open, we lost a slushy machine (back in tomorrow from BKK), a refridgerator, a deep fryer, and had troubles with one of our flat grills. On top of that, 3 staff quit and or never showed up. On our second day, we lost the entire electrical system in the 2nd floor prep kitchen. Then, we discovered that the company that installed our POS had swapped out (without telling us) a food file which was not complete, meaning we could not key orders via the automatic ordering system. Finally, we lost our hard working tortilla machine; it will be repaired shortly. All in all, a very challening opening! Despite all of this though, we have fed a great many people who specifically came up to me and said how great their experience was. Thank you to those people! We will get better, that's our promise and committment. Two new fridges are in place, a new meat grinder, our new slushy will be back soon, etc. We are also taking this time to re-train all of our staff (including cooks) to catch things like under-cooked beans which a loyal customer informed us about yesterday.

I do want to address some other very valid complaints though - specifically, cold food. The exhaust fan for our downstairs kitchen is far too big. When its on, it actually sucks open the kitchen door. Unfortunately, it also sucks cold air from the dining room into the kitchen via the serving window. This is why our food was cold. In the interim, we kept the exhaust fan off, but grilled fajitas throw up tons of smoke, and makes conditions in the kitchen unbearable. We have taken steps to fix this, including an already installed second door between the kitchen and dining room. This will isolate the serving window from the main dining room. That door is now in place. We are also installing a second air intake into the kitchen from outside. This will alleviate the air draw away from the dining room. If needed, we will also reduce the motor size of the fan, but we will wait and see how these improvements work first.

We are also under staffed, which I have taken immediate steps to fix. 3 new staff are now on board, with another 2 coming today. Finding good staff is excrutiatingly difficult, and I wish there was a "switch" to do it. We are moving some of the wait staff to the prep area, and moving some of our very experienced prep cooks to the main line. On the first day, I actually called my maid from our house to come and help wash dishes! She is a trooper.

With every bill, we are including comment cards, which we read with a great deal of interest. If you include your email, we will be drawing 5 cards from a hat every month for free meals, drinks, promotions, etc. We will then contact you via email and issue you the voucher (I still need to issue 2 from our facebook page).

Ok, that's all from me for now. Macro is out of take-away foam boxes so I am off to try to find some somewhere. I am hoping this note gives a little insight into the day to day headaches and pleasures of running a volume restaurant.

Best,

Gil

[Jingthing]

Thanks for that amazing amount of insider detail on what it takes to a get a complicated restaurant operation going. You missed the chance to do a documentary!

[FarangBuddha]

On Nern Plub Wan, about 1 km up from Sukhumvit (just before the ESSO gas station on the right) on both sides of the street are shops that wholesale all sorts of food packaging containers and supplies. Many food carts/vendors stop to get their bags, straws, foam containers and stuff from them. They will have what you need and probably would deliver a standing order if you wish.

[eljeque]

I eagerly awaited the opening.

I did not tell my girlfriend where we were going to eat.

We arrived, and she was OK with it.

That was the best moment of the night.

I may be off by a few baht, but the total is accurate.

Chips- 49 baht and would never eat them again. NEVER!

Salsa - Great, and wide variety of different styles.

Lemon shake - 79 baht I do not believe it was over eight ounces, although the menu says 12 oz. glass - too much syrup, too.

Tamarind Drink - 69 baht My gf said only average

Steak fajitas - 295 baht Not very large for the price, and the flavor was very mild, not tasty at all.

Chicken Burrito 230 baht -- A lot of rice and beans in it, but enough chicken. Wish it would have tasted better, too.

Diet coke - 30 baht if I remember correctly

Subtotal: 752 baht

Tax and service = 7% and 10%

Total = 885

I paid 1,000 and told the cashier to keep the rest.

The staff was fine.

I really never complain about much, and am not opinionated either. If the restaurant had been less expensive and the food was average, that would have been OK, not good, but OK. Also, I had been eagerly awaiting the opening, as many other posters had mentioned that the restaurants in Bkk were very good. But, as the food prices were above average, and the flavor was below, especially the chips, I felt compelled to write about my experience yesterday evening.

The owner? - manager?, a Westerner walked by our table as we were almost finished, and stopped for a moment, waiting for me to look up, but I kept talking to my gf instead, although she did acknowledge him. I did not want to tell him what I thought. He then talked to the customers at the next table.

This is only one person's experience there, and opinions are like taste buds, but I will not be back.

The other Mexican restaurants in Pat - Jomtien are far better.

Edited December 5, 2011 by eljeque

[Ulysses G.]

The other Mexican restaurants in Pat - Jomtien are far better.

Now that is insulting.

[Jingthing]

Fajitas is a very Americanized dish. The taste is supposed to be very mild. You add spice to it with SALSA.

There is nothing in a fajitas plate other than the salsa you add to taste that even has the potential to be spicy. Grilled meat. Flour tortilla. Cheese. Sour cream. Onions. Green (not hot) peppers.

To complain that a fajitas plate is too mild is as ridiculous as complaining that a pad krapow moo ordered phet phet is too spicy.

I agree the price is high.

California style burritos are supposed to be heavy with rice and beans. A more traditional northern Mexico burrito is a small thing, meat only in a flour tortilla.

If I was served a California style burrito and it didn't have ample rice and beans, then I would complain. The menu and menu pictures are very clear about the style of burritos they are serving which happen to be the most popular style in America (burritos are not popular in Mexico outside the northern style ones).

That said, reading the owner's comments it is clear this new place is a work in progress and would better be judged after they have worked out the kinks. He has been admirably very open that they have had serious problems such as the food being served too cold, and that they are working on fixing such problems.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[rgs2001uk]

I eagerly awaited the opening.

I did not tell my girlfriend where we were going to eat.

We arrived, and she was OK with it.

That was the best moment of the night.

I may be off by a few baht, but the total is accurate.

Chips- 49 baht and would never eat them again. NEVER!

Salsa - Great, and wide variety of different styles.

Lemon shake - 79 baht I do not believe it was over eight ounces, although the menu says 12 oz. glass - too much syrup, too.

Tamarind Drink - 69 baht My gf said only average

Steak fajitas - 295 baht Not very large for the price, and the flavor was very mild, not tasty at all.

Chicken Burrito 230 baht -- A lot of rice and beans in it, but enough chicken. Wish it would have tasted better, too.

Diet coke - 30 baht if I remember correctly

Subtotal: 752 baht

Tax and service = 7% and 10%

Total = 885

I paid 1,000 and told the cashier to keep the rest.

The staff was fine.

I really never complain about much, and am not opinionated either. If the restaurant had been less expensive and the food was average, that would have been OK, not good, but OK. Also, I had been eagerly awaiting the opening, as many other posters had mentioned that the restaurants in Bkk were very good. But, as the food prices were above average, and the flavor was below, especially the chips, I felt compelled to write about my experience yesterday evening.

The owner? - manager?, a Westerner walked by our table as we were almost finished, and stopped for a moment, waiting for me to look up, but I kept talking to my gf instead, although she did acknowledge him. I did not want to tell him what I thought. He then talked to the customers at the next table.

This is only one person's experience there, and opinions are like taste buds, but I will not be back.

The other Mexican restaurants in Pat - Jomtien are far better.

"as many other posters had mentioned that the restaurants in Bkk were very good."

It just goes to show how the mind can play tricks when you are starved of DECENT Mexican food.

I have posted about the Bkk locations before so wont repeat myself, but I will add I wont be visiting them again, with or without the ++, as mentioned by another poster its about the food, however there comes a time when even I draw the line.

I tend to think opinions are like <deleted>, everyone has one.

[Jingthing]

I agree food tastes and opinions are very subjective, but some things are objective. Complaining that a fajitas plate was too mild isn't a fair criticism as it is not designed to be spicy. In fact if it bizarrely came spicy sans the added salsa, that would be objective grounds for complaint, similar to getting a French onion soup laden with chilies.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[bazmlb]

Gil here, owner of Sunrise Tacos Pattaya. Please permit me to weigh in, introduce ourselves, and let you all know what's up.

No other food to my mind invokes the same emotional discussions regarding what is, and what is not "authentic." I cannot answer this. I can say though, that we import our own 100% organic white, yellow and blue corn in kernel form from the U.S.A. We then grind it, add water and salt, and hand work it. Each tortilla is then HAND pressed and turned into one of the most tastiest corn tortillas I have ever had. We import all avocados fresh, we make all our own salsas each morning, our margaritas are made daily from real fruit, etc., I am hoping that these efforts help us to develop a loyal expat crowd, just like our loyal crowd in BKK. From our recent experience opening at Terminal 21 (we are packed daily), we also appeal to the young and hip Thai crowd, who hanker for delicious, fresh and unique tastes at very competitive prices. We hope to capture a portion of this crowd also in Pattaya, as there are not a lot of places for the mainstream Thai crowd to experience a modern and fresh concept restaurant. Being on the main road also, we hope to get our share of tourists when they visit the beaches of Jomtien.

We chose Jomtien for several reasons - easy parking, and easy access for the resident expats or full time Pattaya residents. Although we looked at over 60 locations on Beach road, parking and access is troublesome, even more so during events (e.g., music festivals). Rents there are sky high also, with tea money the norm.

The Jomtien area also has one of the highest concentrations of condominiums in a small area, making home delivery a viable supporting revenue opportunity. We are located directly at the entrance to Jomtien Complex, just before reaching Shenanigan's on the right. A large corner unit. The surrounding road construction is mostly complete, adding appeal to this area which we are hoping will begin to take on a popularity of its own as Pattaya proper gets more and more crowded. Many long-term expats that I know dread the idea of trying to "dine out" anywhere near Walking St or Beach Rd, or even 2nd road. Next year, we will open in North Pattaya also.

Regarding the restaurant itself, we have 2 full time kitchens on site, with a unique margarita bar off to the side of the main dining room. The build out is looking fantastic, with an unusual split level hung ceiling in modern colors. The restaurant is 75% glass enclosed, and will incorporate the latest in back-projection technology of printed photos of our food. Booths are over-sized of course. We have approximately 75 seats, and booths and tables that can sit full families. The bar will serve a full a full drink menu, including hand-blended and machine blended margaritas. Of course, we are continuing our trademark free salsa bar (9 different types, made daily).

Our opening date is approximately Nov 20th, 2011. A lot depends upon the completion of the build out. All of our staff is now training full time at multiple Sunrise Tacos locations in BKK, and we will follow the recipes originally created by our 2 native Mexican head chefs. Recently, we also consulted a Mexican head chef residing in China, who flew into Thailand to meet us and consulted on our food. He did not make one change recommendation, which we took to mean that we are on the right track.

Final note - we are 90% thru completion of a mobile Mexican food truck also. It is a full sized long bed Toyota with a camper house on top. It will travel all over Pattaya and East Pattaya serving nachos, supreme nachos, quessadillas, burritos, tacos, and of course, margaritas. The mobile unit has hot and cold running water, full cooking capability, fridges, etc., so please keep an eye out for our mobile Sunrise Tacos unit coming near you! You can PM me here of course for any further information. It will be available for catering, birthdays, wedding events, home parties, etc. of course. We also have a full catering service for the extended menu.

Thank you everyone,

Kind regards,

Gil

Owner - Sunrise Tacos Pattaya

Hi all,

Well, we're open now, this is our 5th day. It has been an exhausting stretch for all of us, including my staff, cooks, prep cooks, waitresses, bartender, receptionist, etc. I wanted to take this time to thank everyone for their patience, and their patronage. I also want to give everyone some insight into what is now happening to improve our operation. On our first day open, we lost a slushy machine (back in tomorrow from BKK), a refridgerator, a deep fryer, and had troubles with one of our flat grills. On top of that, 3 staff quit and or never showed up. On our second day, we lost the entire electrical system in the 2nd floor prep kitchen. Then, we discovered that the company that installed our POS had swapped out (without telling us) a food file which was not complete, meaning we could not key orders via the automatic ordering system. Finally, we lost our hard working tortilla machine; it will be repaired shortly. All in all, a very challening opening! Despite all of this though, we have fed a great many people who specifically came up to me and said how great their experience was. Thank you to those people! We will get better, that's our promise and committment. Two new fridges are in place, a new meat grinder, our new slushy will be back soon, etc. We are also taking this time to re-train all of our staff (including cooks) to catch things like under-cooked beans which a loyal customer informed us about yesterday.

I do want to address some other very valid complaints though - specifically, cold food. The exhaust fan for our downstairs kitchen is far too big. When its on, it actually sucks open the kitchen door. Unfortunately, it also sucks cold air from the dining room into the kitchen via the serving window. This is why our food was cold. In the interim, we kept the exhaust fan off, but grilled fajitas throw up tons of smoke, and makes conditions in the kitchen unbearable. We have taken steps to fix this, including an already installed second door between the kitchen and dining room. This will isolate the serving window from the main dining room. That door is now in place. We are also installing a second air intake into the kitchen from outside. This will alleviate the air draw away from the dining room. If needed, we will also reduce the motor size of the fan, but we will wait and see how these improvements work first.

We are also under staffed, which I have taken immediate steps to fix. 3 new staff are now on board, with another 2 coming today. Finding good staff is excrutiatingly difficult, and I wish there was a "switch" to do it. We are moving some of the wait staff to the prep area, and moving some of our very experienced prep cooks to the main line. On the first day, I actually called my maid from our house to come and help wash dishes! She is a trooper.

With every bill, we are including comment cards, which we read with a great deal of interest. If you include your email, we will be drawing 5 cards from a hat every month for free meals, drinks, promotions, etc. We will then contact you via email and issue you the voucher (I still need to issue 2 from our facebook page).

Ok, that's all from me for now. Macro is out of take-away foam boxes so I am off to try to find some somewhere. I am hoping this note gives a little insight into the day to day headaches and pleasures of running a volume restaurant.

Best,

Gil

For the foam boxes there is a distributor on 3rd road just past mityon going towards Pattaya Klang.

Visited the restaurant on the 2nd night open and the food was very good and after reading the conditions it was prepared under on the 2nd day it was a job well done.

[eljeque]

Fajitas meat is flavored

from a website:

Fajita spices can be homemade or purchased as a pre-made blend. The exact ingredients may vary slightly depending on the chef or manufacturer, but most contain a few core spices.

....Fajitas are flavored, more than just the salsa, and the salsas are very good, but the meat was really mild-- not flavorless, but pretty weak.

-------------------

A Cal burrito has meat and beans, and it also has an ample supply of meat, and this one had some, but not a lot, not nearly as much as it should have. Had I wanted a chicken flavored rice and bean burrito, I would have asked for one. There was not nearly as much as there should have been for 230 baht. I did not write that it should have no beans and no rice, but that the beans and rice overshadowed the chicken, and the flavor was weak as well.

I do not agree that customers should wait until the owner works out the kinks to judge the restaurant any more than the owner would agree that no one should pay their bill until after the kinks are worked out.

Very simply, the food which we ordered was not very flavorful. Other items on the menu may be better. I will not find out.

I could not hear the owner / manager very well when he was speaking to customers at the table behind ours. I think he was British.

I grew up in Los Angeles; have been to Mexico about 30 times; spoke Spanish well decades ago; worked in factories where the majority of the employees were from Mexico; my mother's maiden name is Manzanares, and it is pretty difficult to get me to complain about anything, but my anticipation of the opening, and the reality of it were so different, I decided to let others know.

I can tell the difference between good Mexican food and bland Mexican food. It does not need to be from one region of Mexico or another to be good, or even if it is made for Joe-America, Texans, Californians, or anyone else. The food which we had left a lot to be desired. Even so, I did not walk out in a huff, tipped the staff well, and know to eat at the place on the hill next time.

I hope that others are happy there, but I will not give it another try.

[JimmyTheMook]

Hope that 220 baht all you can eat taco deal is being honored tomorrow between 2pm and 7pm.

I'm looking forward to some tastiness and gluttony.

[rgs2001uk]

Fajitas meat is flavored

from a website:

Fajita spices can be homemade or purchased as a pre-made blend. The exact ingredients may vary slightly depending on the chef or manufacturer, but most contain a few core spices.

I wont get into the Tex/Cal debate, however my wife was taught to make Mexican food by 2 Mexican ladies, and I agree 100% with the above.

[Jingthing]

Yes, I do agree the grilled meat for the fajitas should be spiced in some way, but not typically in a hot and spicy way. So if you are saying the meat wasn't SEASONED, I would agree that's a valid objective criticism of fajita grilled meat. The dish we know as fajitas, BTW, was developed in Texas, USA.

Given that, hopefully the owner is reading this and might consider making sure the fajita meat is seasoned more with fajita spices that fajita eaters expect.

By California burritos, of course I really mean Mission District San Francisco style ones. This style has become the de facto mainstream American style and these burritos come with rice AND beans as standard. The Sunrise menu specifically suggests their burritos are San Francisco style. If you want a CUSTOMIZED burito, they offer that as well and if you wish no rice, or no beans, or no either, you simply need to not tick off those items.

Probably the biggest America-wide burrito chain, Chipotle, also serves Mission district style burritos with rice and beans as standard but in their case the rice is weirdly white and not seasoned.

If that isn't enough justification for the rice and beans, the PICTURE of a burrito on their menu clearly shows a standard burrito with rice and beans plus some meat.

The basic ingredients of the San Francisco burrito include the large flour tortilla, Spanish rice, beans (frijoles, usually with a choice of refried, pinto or black), a choice of a single main filling, and the customer's choice of salsa, ranging from hot to mild. Most taquerias also offer a "super" burrito which includes a choice of meat and all of the available non-meat burrito ingredients. This usually includes sliced fresh avocado or guacamole, cheese (queso), and sour cream (crema).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_burrito Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[eljeque]

Again, my complaint was not that rice and beans were included in the burrito, which was written in the menu. It was that the rice and beans basically were the burrito, and there was some chicken included. I would not say that there was almost no chicken, but there was not a lot.

I did not expect the fajitas to be spicy, but I did expect a bit of flavor, and that was lacking.

Others may love the place, and I hope they are happy as can be and tip well.

I hope the place does good business so that there are a variety of Mexican restaurants for many people to choose from. And, it will not get my business again, more than likely because of my expectations prior to my visit.

The food was not bad, except the chips, but it was bland, and it was very expensive for bland food, and the 10% + 7% is not going to do the restaurant any favors.

[Jingthing]

Of course if people are finding the portion of MEAT in their burritos skimpy, that's a problem. The beauty of this thread is that the owner may respond to these comments and fix these issues. Count me down as a strong vote for a decent portion of delicious meat in my burritos!

(The owner is American.)

BTW, there is a 10 percent service charge that people pay already. Many people will think that is quite enough tip. It seems twisted that someone who has dissed the place and won't be back is lecturing other people to over tip as he did there ... ONCE.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[eljeque]

Twisted?

......Maybe this should get a little edit to find an alternate word.

BTW, there is a 10 percent service charge that people pay already.

..... Thank you, I was aware of that.

Many people will think that is quite enough tip.

...... I don't! The food not being very good in my opinion and the prices being a little high for what was offered is not a reflection of the work of the waitresses. I do not know where the service charge goes, nor do I know where the tips go, but it is a lot more likely that the service personnel will receive a larger share of the tip than the service charge. For all I know, all of the service charge does go to the staff. Either way, I will tip above the service charge unless service was really awful, and I cannot really remember when that has happened, although it has.

It seems twisted that someone who has dissed the place and won't be back is lecturing other people to over tip as he did there ... ONCE.

...... Twisted? I did not "lecture" anyone. I simply stated what I did and hope that others are happy and tip showing it. The staff members need it. This is far from being a lecture. It is entirely up to any customer to tip or not tip, whether there is a service charge or not. And, I do not see why the staff should not be tipped well for their efforts. They earn, 5,000 ? , 6,000? / month salary. The owner's decisions on how the food should be prepared / presented / priced are not the fault of the employees, and they should not be penalized, nor not thanked for their efforts to make the time in the restaurant as pleasant as possible. They did their job.

As I stated in my first post, the staff members were fine; I wish the meal was the same.

Edited December 5, 2011 by eljeque

[FarangBuddha]

I eagerly awaited the opening.

I did not tell my girlfriend where we were going to eat.

We arrived, and she was OK with it.

That was the best moment of the night.

I may be off by a few baht, but the total is accurate.

Chips- 49 baht and would never eat them again. NEVER!

Salsa - Great, and wide variety of different styles.

Lemon shake - 79 baht I do not believe it was over eight ounces, although the menu says 12 oz. glass - too much syrup, too.

Tamarind Drink - 69 baht My gf said only average

Steak fajitas - 295 baht Not very large for the price, and the flavor was very mild, not tasty at all.

Chicken Burrito 230 baht -- A lot of rice and beans in it, but enough chicken. Wish it would have tasted better, too.

Diet coke - 30 baht if I remember correctly

Subtotal: 752 baht

Tax and service = 7% and 10%

Total = 885

I paid 1,000 and told the cashier to keep the rest.

The staff was fine.

I really never complain about much, and am not opinionated either. If the restaurant had been less expensive and the food was average, that would have been OK, not good, but OK. Also, I had been eagerly awaiting the opening, as many other posters had mentioned that the restaurants in Bkk were very good. But, as the food prices were above average, and the flavor was below, especially the chips, I felt compelled to write about my experience yesterday evening.

The owner? - manager?, a Westerner walked by our table as we were almost finished, and stopped for a moment, waiting for me to look up, but I kept talking to my gf instead, although she did acknowledge him. I did not want to tell him what I thought. He then talked to the customers at the next table.

This is only one person's experience there, and opinions are like taste buds, but I will not be back.

The other Mexican restaurants in Pat - Jomtien are far better.

Others told you the food was only average to poor at the BKK outlets so you were warned. Your experience sounds like par for the course of my previous experiences so I will likely keep money for the other food options around town.

[eljeque]

No, I had read on this site from some posters that the food was good, so I went there full of delight.

Oh well, maybe next time.

[FarangBuddha]

No, I had read on this site from some posters that the food was good, so I went there full of delight.

Oh well, maybe next time.

I guess the less than gushing reviews many had posted have been removed (censored). You must remember, Sunrise has bought themselves protection from negative reviews by becoming a T-V sponsor so you will not get a complete picture of them from this forum.

[Jingthing]

Twisted?

......Maybe this should get a little edit to find an alternate word.

BTW, there is a 10 percent service charge that people pay already.

..... Thank you, I was aware of that.

Many people will think that is quite enough tip.

...... I don't! The food not being very good in my opinion and the prices being a little high for what was offered is not a reflection of the work of the waitresses. I do not know where the service charge goes, nor do I know where the tips go, but it is a lot more likely that the service personnel will receive a larger share of the tip than the service charge. For all I know, all of the service charge does go to the staff. Either way, I will tip above the service charge unless service was really awful, and I cannot really remember when that has happened, although it has.

It seems twisted that someone who has dissed the place and won't be back is lecturing other people to over tip as he did there ... ONCE.

...... Twisted? I did not "lecture" anyone. I simply stated what I did and hope that others are happy and tip showing it. The staff members need it. This is far from being a lecture. It is entirely up to any customer to tip or not tip, whether there is a service charge or not. And, I do not see why the staff should not be tipped well for their efforts. They earn, 5,000 ? , 6,000? / month salary. The owner's decisions on how the food should be prepared / presented / priced are not the fault of the employees, and they should not be penalized, nor not thanked for their efforts to make the time in the restaurant as pleasant as possible. They did their job.

As I stated in my first post, the staff members were fine; I wish the meal was the same.

Foul! You don't know what they earn. I don't know what they earn. I do know I read in another reliable source which I can't mention that they are paid above average and that it is subsidized by the 10 percent service charge. I am sorry, if a business says they are charging us a ten percent service charge, it is not our business to know the exact details of its disbursement. If you normally tip 20 baht which is a standard very acceptable and welcome typical tip in Thailand and the service charge makes you pay 50 baht tip, why tip more? I don't see that as punishing anyone. This isn't America. This is not a tip by cost of bill culture. The service charge forces that on customers. Fine, do what you want, but your guilt trip lectures are uncalled for. If it makes you feel like Mr. Big to throw your money around and act the white man's burden by tipping way above the cultural standards here, good for you. It's your choice. Don't impose your values on others visiting and living in this foreign country though. There is no need to tip like an American in Thailand -- PERIOD.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

No, I had read on this site from some posters that the food was good, so I went there full of delight.

Oh well, maybe next time.

I guess the less than gushing reviews many had posted have been removed (censored). You must remember, Sunrise has bought themselves protection from negative reviews by becoming a T-V sponsor so you will not get a complete picture of them from this forum.

I don't agree with that dig. There has been a very good balance of comments here. A number of quite negative comments have been allowed to stand.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[marinediscoking]

About 20 years ago I was in Boliva and ate at a New York style pizza place, after finishing the owner who had a new york accent asked me "how was it" I said "I was not that good". All he could say was "we try" and after thinking about for a while, I was trying to compare it to pizza back in the USA, however it was by far the best pizza I had in all of South America. So my point is a resturant out side your country is doing pretty well if it can get the food to taste 80% authentic as compaired to back home.

About the Fajitas at sunrise I tried them and I thought they were excellent, I was actually surprised by how good they were. The other things I had were good but I would have to give a fail to the chip's, I am confident they will work this out as they are much better at the bangkok location. I am not foremost on Mexican food but I was raised on it in S. California.

I do hope this restaurant does well and warmly welcome it to Pattaya.

[pauljones]

My 4th meal at Sunrise was the Cowboy Tacos. Ground meat in a crispy corn shell.

Now, I have enjoyed thousands of meals at the best mom & pop Mexican places in California, have never seen ground beef tacos, but must admit they were delicious.

The side of refried beans and rice was some of the best I ever had.

Mexican places are like pizza shops. No two, ever produce the same taste. It's always a bit different.

Certainly, there are dishes on the Sunrise menu that could please almost anybody.

I agree with a poster above too. The staff are great.

[mindabenda]

Got invited for breakfast burrito at 9am. Will it be open? And yes to salsa.

My (rhetorical) question was answered. Arrived shortly after 9am and not to my surprise the doors were locked. My friends had not arrived so I went round the corner for a coffee. After twenty minutes or so I went back and my buddies were sitting there. I sat down. No one (of the staff) paid any attention to us. After another fifteen minutes I left. I did mention to my friends how they were having problems with some staff not showing and those that did show were working long days. I hope my pals enjoyed the experience, though somehow I doubt it. Good luck to them and those that enjoy their fare.

[RabC]

I note the management are ignoring the question of ++ in a fast food joint?

[timekeeper]

frankly JT, i think you are doing yourself more harm than good here

i have been to this restaurant, i made my thoughts very clear to Gil face to face

having done that, i said i would not post them here, good or bad

i will be keeping my promise to him but JT you have not been there and seem to be critical of every poster that has been there and found it lacking

for the second time, i suggest you get in there and see for yourself because until then your thoughts on the experiences of others are really just speculative and without merit

personally i still fail to see how one can make such exhaustive positive posts on somewhere you have never been ........

[mindabenda]

I note the management are ignoring the question of ++ in a fast food joint?

Last time I was in a MacD's (early eighties) my friend noticed a waiting time for whatever and blurted out loud "whatever happened to the fast, in fast food."

[Jimmyd]

I only ate at Sunrise once many years ago in Bangkok, at the Emporium I believe? I had a corn tortilla taco (is there any other kind) and was shocked at the tortilla. Someone mentioned recently in this thread that it was like there were little stones of corn in the tortilla--that is exactly as I remember it. It also fell apart like it was made of brittle plastic.

I know that Sunrise is proud of the fact that they import their corn from the US and hand make their tortillas, but perhaps there is a problem and Sunrise is burying their head in the sand.

My credentials--I've spent quite a bit of time in Mexico, have bought many a corn tortilla there, and have never had anything remotely like what I had at Sunrise that day. I never have been back to Sunrise, by the way, but I may try the Jomtien location just out of curiosity.