Montezuma's Surfers Paradise — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

I usually don’t give out bad reviews if there’s any redeemable points. But this restaurant is the worst I’ve ever been to. I’m fuming and the only thing stopping me from confronting the staff and management of their incompetence is the red wine. Hah. That’s one star. We booked online for a 5:45pm table of 3. It indicated only outdoor table available. We arrive 4 mins earlier than scheduled and noticed that the indoor table are not even half occupied so I enquired if we can take the vacant table indoor since I have a 2 yr old and it was windy and little chilly outside. The wait staff said the owner will have to decide on that as he manages the online booking. Spoke to the owner/manager, asked if we could take the table which are booked for later as I didn’t think we’d take long anyway since we have another appointment at 7:30pm he replied that the ones on the list were even double booked so I got a no. That’s a red flag, why would you allow double booking! Bad management! Still I thought the food might be worth it so we patiently waited outdoor , 45 mins later, the table on our left side with kids had their food, mind you , we arrived 5 mins before them. The wait staff just kept passing with food for tables other than us. I stood up and ask the owner to follow up for table 18 order. He said it’s a bit busy so I said could I get the wine I ordered while waiting again for the food lol it’s not like they have to cook the wine!!! Then another couple came and few mins later their food arrived yet we still haven’t seen our order. There’s also another family across us with 2 young kids who also waited for almost an hour for their food. But what I’m so pissed about is there’s zero courtesy from the restaurant or the owner for the long wait advice, no heads up and we ended up waiting for 1.5 hrs until I gave up and walk out after seeing the other table I mentioned previously who had all their food and finished. My partner went to speak to them to cancel our food and it turns out, our order never reached the kitchen!! How incompetent is that! The wait staff who took our order and didn’t bother to check on us just passing us through plus the owner who I personally asked to follow up our order didn’t bother to talk to the kitchen staff haha. No wonder the low stars. Never going back to this one again. Do not go to this restaurant specially if you have other appointment, it’s...

We have been coming to Montezuma’s for years, despite not being regular visitors to Surfers Paradise. We returned this year for our first time in nearly 8 years, and of course Montezumas was on our list of places to visit!

My husband and I went on our own to Montezuma’s on Monday night (for $10 margaritas). We arrived just for a drink at about 7:15pm. The place was totally dead, and three staff members were at the front when we walked in. One of them went home shortly after this. The staff member who served us smelt very strongly of smoke, however we were served our drinks quickly. About 15 minutes after we were given the drinks, he came and asked if we wanted to pay cash or card, and insinuated he wanted us to leave soon. We finished our drinks and went and paid, and he explained that they were just very quiet tonight so were closing early. This was at 7:55pm. So much for Margarita Mondays “all night long”!

Despite this, we went back tonight on a Thursday for buy one, get one free. My husband & I went with my Mum, assuming that if we bought two meals, we would get two free. This was not the case, as we were informed at the end. We ordered four meals, and had to pay for three - apparently because there were three guests? If we had have sat at a different table to my Mum, would it have been different? If you went on your own, could you order a main meal and get another main meal free? It makes absolutely zero sense, and is obviously just a way to get people into the restaurant - which they clearly need to do!

The meals, however, are huge and delicious. The drinks were the same. But would we return? No way. I think we have been going there for around 15 years, and the restaurant still looks exactly the same as when we first went - the exact same table cloths, chairs, tables, ceiling decorations etc. They are clearly doing something right with the food, and obviously with having something on each night they’re trying to get people in - but be careful, because there is clearly a catch on everything!

Completely disappointed in Montezuma’s, and can completely understand the bad reviews that have been...

If I could give it a zero star, I would. Absolutely horrendous service, with just about average food. The waiting staff is arrogant and has absolutely no sense of customer service. The restaurant didn't seem that busy when we were there, but the wait staff behaved as if they are doing us a huge favour by attending to us. Our table was not set when we reached there after having made a reservation. We weren't served water until halfway through the meal and the glassware was not even washed, to the extent that it had lipstick marks on them. The waitress was offended when we got up and took our own cutlery as it was not provided even after repeatedly asking for it. She was offended to the extent of calling us rude for such a minor issue... The chef had to come out of the kitchen to placate her. Minutes later, when we asked for some more cutlery as whatever we got ourselves wasn't sufficient, the same waitress had the nerve to confront us aggresively, arms akimbo, that how can we call her inefficient! Once again the chef had to come out, and just tried to cover up for his wait staff, saying they were having a busy night. This when we were the only people left at the place. As for the food, the quality was just about average. But I did not know that a large bowl of nachos only has about 10 odd corn chips. I have had store bought frozen burritos that had more flavour than what I was served here. The ribs and the Margherita were the only saving grace of an otherwise ruined dinner. Avoid at any cost... Walk for 5 mins over to the Guzman Gomez which will serve you better food without the staff creating...