Deer Park restaurant left with $700 taco order after customer blocks them

Deer Park restaurant stuck with $757 bill after hoax order

A family-owned restaurant received a big-time order and was left with the bill. Their post about how a customer blocked their number after ordering $700 worth of food went viral.

DEER PARK, Texas - A family-owned Tex-Mex restaurant in Deer Park was left holding the bill after a customer placed a pricey taco order — and never showed up.

A customer ‘ghosted’ the restaurant

El Rancho Grande Tex-Mex Grill on Center Street shared the ordeal in a social media post that quickly went viral. The post described how a woman ordered dozens of breakfast tacos for a 6:30 a.m. pickup, then blocked the restaurant’s phone number after the food was prepared.

"We were at an Astros day game, and my son sent me a message saying we had an order for 225 tacos," said co-owner Dynora Guzman. "It was worth $757."

Guzman and her family rushed to fulfill the massive order, calling in extra help from relatives and employees. But when they tried to reach the customer to let her know the order was ready, she hung up and then blocked their number, Guzman said.

"I understand things happen," she said. "But the fact that she took the time to block us and didn’t even have the courtesy to call — that’s what upset me."

Community members showed support 

After posting about the incident online, the Deer Park community rallied to support the restaurant. Dozens of customers showed up to help — some to claim the abandoned tacos, others offering to pay for them.

"The community of Deer Park, they stand behind each other," Guzman said. "The minute we posted it, people started coming in left and right."

Asked if she had a message for the customer, Guzman kept it simple: "Next time, pick up your tacos. Or just give us a call."

The owners said they may consider requiring deposits for future large orders, but acknowledged that enforcing such a policy isn’t always easy.