"When I first visited the Mexican restaurant in Jersey City called Taqueria on Grand St - I became incredibly emotional and enraged.

Two weeks later, at their Grove St location, it happened again..."

That quote from Adam in Jersey City - one of the neighborhood's most avid and long standing residents and supporters of local business - shows very clearly what bad leadership can do.

You become involved. And completely shocked and appalled by the events that happened.

The emotion can overcome you at times, clearly as it did to Adam. Stories of inconvenience, inconsistency, poor product knowledge and lack of care and consideration for its customers will simply amaze you.  And the futility and horror of bad hospitality will be laid bare.

Stepping back to experience momentous conflicts, can be staggering. This is why so many of their customers complain - and visit them less and less, and talk badly and openly about them more and more. 

Like a fish, a business rots from the head down

In this petition, you will find the very finest voices of the village that is Jersey City. The range of grievances you’ll find about both Taqueria locations is simply amazing. The coverage of the owners Phil and Andrea Barraza’s behavior and indifference toward patrons is unrivaled with massive criticisms and complaints. 

By opening a business in Jersey City, the Barraza’s signed a contract, a commitment and a promise to best serve its customers. The buck stops with ownership. And it’s not just about creating policies and mandates for employees to follow. It’s about leading by example. The head doesn’t just tell the body where to go, it goes there first. 

No one does it worse

Seriously, the citizens of Jersey City know. Yes, the food is good, but the Barraza’s cultivated front-line service workers that serve you with contempt.  A culture of ‘I don’t care.’  

We encourage you to come and see for yourself, they never go that extra mile for its valued customers. Everything is too much trouble. It's one of the key reasons that so many of its customers aren't coming back.

It's the little things that make the difference. Like the warm welcome you expect to get from the host for deciding to choose their business over the many other neighborhood options. 

It’s hard to imagine how Andrea and Phil are feeling. What had happened to them in their 18 short years since selling tacos with a smile in their Grove and Montgomery Street parked taco truck? 

I would like to tell you that it has all turned out OK for Phil and Andrea, but I’m afraid I can’t. Due to what they put their customers through, they are suffering from severe ungratefulness.

They are cold and callus, calculating and greedy and regularly threaten their staff to treat customers badly. They have fits of rage and attack those buying food helping to pay their rent. 

You can’t tell Phil and Andrea what to do and you can’t solve all their problems, but you can help us to make the experience better.

How? By supporting this petition.

We are looking to help unethical enterprises to turn their culture around through awareness, community and care; companies suffering from bad business practices from leaders and owners.

We want to give these companies a kick, the wake-up-call they are so often missing - nurturing their self-awareness and helping them to enjoy good business, rather than just walk over everyone.

That’s why we need your help to launch this new initiative

This much-needed and vital petition will enable us to collect the most disgruntled Taqueria Grand and Grove St. guests, to take them on and air-out their dirty laundry already. 

However, if we had been able to provide more support, the issues may never have happened.

Incidents like the ones listed above, are all too common, unfortunately.

But, they underline the fact that companies need a lot more accountability than we can currently afford to give. That’s why it is so vital to support this petition for change. 

I appreciate your consideration. Please believe me when I say it will make a massive difference. Just read what Holly, says about her Taqueria experience:

“I have been coming to Taqueria for over 8 years now. I love the food and staff is also amazing until today. After waiting for a table for over an hour we were sat down in a table right across from the back door. The door was closed the whole time we were these once we sit a few minutes later the door is opened and left opened the temperature outside is 50 degrees and windy so you can only imagine the breeze coming in. It became cold we asked them to close the door, the manager Carlos came to the table and said he was not closing the door even after we said it was cold. He was rude and said put on your jackets but I’m not closing the door. Meanwhile we were celebrating a birthday he didn’t care. He came over again after about an hour being there to tell us basically that he needed the table so if we wanted to continue drinking we needed to drink outside because he needed the table. Super rude and inhospitable someone please teach this guy what customer service should look like in a restaurant. Their food might be amazing but if you can’t value your loyal customers then what does that say about your business.”  – Holly Car 

Even Nicole Behman, a respected member of the Jersey City community, had something to say about Taqueria culture, and its impact and negative presence in the neighborhood:

"I was there the night of February 11th when the car drove into the building. I was disgusted by the way the employees behind the bar escalated the situation by going outside to fight with the customers who were disrespectful after they were told the kitchen was closed. I saw one employee behind the bar go out to fight, come back inside, and then AGAIN go back outside to fight. The belligerent customers already were outside- there was no reason for the employees to go outside and start physically fighting. That’s not how employees should act on the job, especially putting us all inside the restaurant at risk. We couldn’t leave because they were fighting right outside the front door. Even the hostess was screaming for someone to call the police. Everyone inside was panicking and running and pushing toward the back door. Worst anxiety I have ever felt. Even my friend who was with me had to take off work the next day because of our horrifying experience. Then when we finally were able to leave, an employee asked us if we paid before letting us out the door… yes we paid, but how about apologizing for what transpired or thanking your customers for coming after what we just went through? As a proud supporter of small businesses, especially this one which I have come to MANY times, I’m sad to say I will never go back.”

We won’t stop working hard to make sure that Holly and Nicole and other supporters of small business have something to smile about.

We will do our utmost to stop them from being emotionally damaged forever. They need our help desperately.

We will not let them down. And, we are trying to spend as much time as we possibly can with this.

But just how much time we can spend, is really down to you. If you would consider becoming a supporter of our change, you would take a giant step in ensuring that our vital work can not only continue, but grow.

We don’t expect you to support this just on the strength of this letter. However, we hope what you have just read will have felt familiar to you enough to perhaps have a conversation. 

We would welcome the opportunity of discussing support of this petition with you and tell you more about how you can make a difference to the quality of life of the people living in our village. 

If this interests you, please support and sign the petition today!

These citizens desperately need the support you can provide. Please, get in touch today – it would be lovely to hear from you.

Exceptional hospitality creates loyalty and inspires people to dine with us again and again. When they do, everyone wins.

With very best wishes

P.S. I should add that Adam isn’t his real name. I changed it to protect his identity. His story, however, is all too real.