Vallarta Mexican Restaurant

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Review Princess

Joined 2 years ago

BEST SERVICE AND FOOD. The service was Fabulous from the moment we walked in the door we were seated immediately, then another came by and dropped on the never-ending baset of homemade chips and salsa, then another brought the menu's. You would have thought we were the only one's there but they had quite a few tables. The prices were very reasonable! The portions are huge and we ended up taking half the food home. Between all of us we had the steak and a buritto and a quesadila...evertyhing was authentic and delicious. My husband had been there there several times already but this was my first time after all his ranting and raving I now know he knows what he is talking about (for once). I can't wait to go back again!

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Samantha31

Joined 7 years ago

Good Cheap Mexican in Temple Terrace. When you sit down, the first thing you get is their bottomless basket of chips and homemade salsa. If that right there doesn't sell you on this place, it might be the huge fresh margaritas. The menu is extensive, but I find myself getting the same thing each time. Potato burrito, Stuffed Poblano and Mushroom Quesadilla. Vegetarian friendly, no lard in the beans, etc.

I haven't really had any of the service issues that others mention in their reviews, but then again, I will wave down a server if I need one.

Doesn't Recommend

cabinet guy

Joined 4 years ago

Worst food and service ever!. From the time we walked in the service was horrible. They were not busy, but ignored us for quite sometime before seating us. The manager walked by the table and dropped the menu's and kept walking. Not a word from him. We sat there waiting for the waiter and when he arrived he spoke very little english. I asked him the type of oil they use and he could not tell me. We were made to wait for a very long time to get someone who could speak english to help us. We ordered our food and it came out wrong. We could not tell anyone because they never came back to the table. The white cheese was like water and nasty. We did not get a lot of what we ordered and what we did get we could not eat. it was very bad! We waited and tried to get someones attention about the food and sat there without one refill to drink. Finally I went to the bar to get soda's for my family. At this point I saw how horribly dirty it was. We waited and waited for the bill and it never came - so we went to the counter to pay without it and the waiter came up there and gave it to the manager. Clearly they could see we were not happy and did not eat our food. We told the manager how bad it was and he said a faint sorry and never even offered to make it right. He gave us a $5 off coupon for our next visit. I gave it back to him because we won't be going back!

Doesn't Recommend

MagnoliaFly

Joined 5 years ago

Couldn't pay me to go back.. After eating at Vallartas in various locations in the Bay area the past few years, I must say after a recent experience at the 56th street location I will never go to another one ever again.

The queso dip brought to us had the consistancy of milk. We asked to get it changed out, another bowl was brought with the same consistancy, not to mention it was lukewarm.

We ordered and waited a while which is unusual compared to past experiences. When our food was brought out, my nachos were covered in the milk-like substance and it was so runny when the waiter went to hand it to me lots of it spilled all over the carpeting. My husbands food was lukewarm, covered in the same milk substance and the shredded cheese wasn't melted. It was very cold. He ate the burrito and after that we got up to pay and leave, we couldn't eat anymore of the food it was that horrible.

The manager was swearing very loudly in spanish in the middle of the dining room. When he came to check on us and I told him my nachos were unedible and he could take them back, he started ranting again. He gave us our meal for free without us even asking (we didn't care at that point, we just wanted to leave and go eat somewhere else).

My husband was sick for four days and we both suspect E-Coli. I will never eat at another Vallartas again and I warn everyone I see to not eat there either.

Doesn't Recommend

tampajenn

Joined 5 years ago

terrible food!. I heard so many good reviews about this place that I had to try it. Unfortunately, it was a huge waste of time. The language barrier made it incredibly difficult to ask questions about the menu. When the food arrived it was so bland. Everything was swimming in this tasteless white cheese sauce. After fishing through the sauce, I realized that there was very little actual food underneath. Would not recommend; food tasted way too bland to go back.

Doesn't Recommend

dbiss

Joined 5 years ago

Good for margaritas only! Don't eat the food.. One star was for the margarita only. First we were presented with stale chips so we ordered bean dip to disguise the fact and it came ice cold. Now we started to worry about the main course which came to the table ice cold as well and barely edible. Do not waste your hard earned money at this establishment.

Doesn't Recommend

maigen

Joined 6 years ago

ATROCIOUS service, highly crave-able food. All Vallarta's restaurants have awesome food, the best Mexican EVER!! However, the 56th St location has service that is completely inexcusable. I've worked in the service industry for over 10 years so I understand where the wait staff is coming from and I also recognize bad service when I'm confronted with it. I've been eating at Vallartas for years and this location's service has been horrible 80% of the time. I've had to wait 10+ minutes to even order drinks, refills are impossible to get (drinks and chips) and my food is consistantly wrong because the wait staff cannot comprehend english well enough to understand what I'm trying to order. Then, it is difficult to get the mistake corrected because once your food has been delivered your waiter disappears making it next to impossible to even get your check. I've had to leave the table to request the bill or track down my waiter on several occassions. Even paying is an issue sometimes because of the language barrier. When all is said and done, I keep returning to the 56th St location because I LOVE the food and there are no other Vallarta's that are close to me, but when I leave I am usually stressed out and vowing to never come back. Still haven't decided whether it's worth the stress. Go to the Dale Mabry or State Rd 54 location!!!!

Doesn't Recommend

catman77

Joined 6 years ago

Great food, HORRIBLE service. Here's my dilemma: Vallartas offers the best Mexican food I have ever had and I've even been to Mexico! The problem is the service at the 56th St location (closest to home) is consistently HORRIBLE. Once you place your order and your food arrives it is as if the waiter is done with you. Getting chip/drink refills is next to impossible if you can even find your waiter. I have left several miniscule tips trying to give the waiters a clue but this hasn't seemed to help. My wife and I have sworn off going to the 56th St location several times but the great food and close proximity keeps bringing us back. However, with our most recent experience of waiting 10 minutes to order drinks and not receiving refills (despite physically stopping our waiter and asking!) we have once again sworn off this location. I honestly think the problem is the waiters speak very little english and the restaurant is very much understaffed. We will drive the extra 10 miles to the State Road 54 location where we rarely have any issues (besides long waits on the weekends) from now on.

Doesn't Recommend

brew3brew

Joined 6 years ago

no thanks mexican. to start I'm a chef not a snooty type but I like good food and service, anyhow I went with my girlfriend a week back got some tacos rice and beer , our waitress was horrible they where not busy and she was off gabbing with co workers most of the time and ignoring us ( by the way we where cool no attitude) she was nice just not a good waitress.. .. ok the grub I was eating my grub its ok so so no need to complain until I turned my bowl of rice over to finish up and found little rubber pieces in mine and my girlfriends rice!!! it looked like rubber bait cut up god I hope thats what it was!... anyway the manager handled it bad I sent it back asked for a couple beef tacos in a cool manner they never came our waitress finally showed up . said sorry and got me some beef tacos ! to top it off they still wanted to charge the full amount even with the rubber chunks in it. since I ate most of it before the rubber chunk dilema!.I was getting a bit irritated at this point got away with paying for a lunch portion , and left without making a scene if you wanna go stick to the margaritas and chips !you may wanna order two at a time as for me I'll never be back Vallarta's you no good in my hood !!!!!! Anderson location and I heard that was the nice one!

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larkspurlazuli

Joined 6 years ago

Good food, poor service. I went to Vallarta's last weekend with some friends and found the service lacking. Although the food was good and the menu extensive, I was served the wrong dish, the food took forever and the waiter absolutely disappeared after we were given the checks. I would recommend the Dale Mabry location of Vallarta's over 56th.