Maria W.
Yelp
First impressions of this restaurant exterior: "Man, this place looks old and extremely out-dated. I see a lot of cars in the parking lot and parked on the street, so it must be packed!"
First impressions of this restaurant interior: "Wow, why is it so dark in here?" "It is dated on the inside", "There is literally not a lot of people in here." "Well, at least there isn't any old mildew moldy smell, it does smell like the power of pine-sol!"
It was a Saturday night around 8 pm, my family and friend arrived at the Spanish Village. It rare that an almost Clear Lake family like mines would even get out into Houston to dine at a Midtown restaurant.
but what the heck, drink orders of 2 margaritas, specified a water with 3 lemons, and a lemonade with no ice.
When our drinks came: my water had no lemons. I later read on the menu that it would be an extra charge for lemons in water. OK fine.
My dad and sister weren't a fan of the margaritas as they said, "it wasn't enough alcohol and funny tasting." So, our waitress brought out stronger margarita for my dad since she couldn't believe that my dad didn't like it.
Then, food orders: I got the vegetarian dinner to be on the safe side of avoiding meals with meat and confusion with ordering. My dad got the beef fajita plate, and my friend got the chalupa plate.
The first meal that arrived at the table were the sides for my vegetarian plate - what looked like a mess on a plate. The presentation wasn't there. A taco bowl upside down drenched in processed nacho cheese with a guacamole taco swimming in the cheese and tomatoes/lettuce. The food looked bad and wasn't worth the price of $16.
The cheese got cold quick and the guac taco was ice cold too. The guac didn't taste fresh, it tasted more like 4 days old. The other side plate of guac, limes, and a salad was a waste as I didn't have anything to put it on.
I was extremely disappointed at this point. I wished my group got up and left because it was bad!
But instead, we stayed and endured more horrific food and presentations. Then, everyone's food arrived. I couldn't even fully mask what my meal was because the presentation of the food was so sloppy.
My vegetarian dinner lacked a lot of flavors - it was very bland. Again, there was an abundance of melted cheese in my meal that wasn't necessary, but an annoyance to deal with while attempting to eat. No tofu, no vegetables stuffed enchiladas, or quesadillas, nothing but enchiladas wrapped within itself covered in brown sauce and cheese. The Spanish rice was the only thing that was good and authentic tasting. The food arrived on a very hot plate, but why did the food get cold quick?
My dad said that was the worst fajitas that he ever had - he didn't even finish his meal.
I couldn't even finish the meal, no spices or anything. Everyone at the table was dissatisfied with their meals - it was nasty.
Even the chips and salsa was bad. The chips were brought out in a plastic basket without a lining, they were bland, no salt to taste, and got cold quick. The salsa was soupy watered down, not chunky.
The atmosphere of the restaurant was a mix between a family room with Polaroid pictures everywhere posted on the walls, Mexican fare, and Christmas lights everywhere. They need to really make their minds up.
Our waitress was nice and attentive but strange. My sister would ask her a question about getting another alcoholic beverage, but our waitress would only always discuss it with my dad. My sister is an adult - also she told my friend that there weren't any refills on lemonade after he ordered it. She never brought out my lemon for my water. She only seemed very interested in talking to my dad about what we needed. Very strange.
Now it was time to pay, and was the bill a nightmare, yes it was! $93 for a crappy meal - not worth it! Our waitress charged us for a margarita that she wanted my dad to get, so that should have been taken off the bill and out of her paycheck.
The prices are outrageously expensive for the quality of the food. This experience reminded me of an episode of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares because it truly was a nightmare dining experience attempting to eat this disgusting food.
Papagayos is so much better than this restaurant. Oh, and the complimentary Mexican pralines were good. My friend said that was the only thing good about this restaurant.
No muy bien!