Mariella Mexicantina — Restaurant in Peregian Beach

Underwhelmed

We followed this restaurants develpoment, so looking forward to another local dining option with a different cuisine.

The only reason this rating is 2 is the friendly and hard-working young staff who did a stellar job under difficult circumstances. Without them this would have been a 1. Sadly, we noticed 3 falls in the kitchen area (while we were there) which places some concerns over their health and safety.

We had pre booked a booth for 4 knowing Saturday night can be busy.

Being locals, we dropped in for a drink a couple days earlier. At that time, 2 of our group separately checked with 2 different staff members about our Saturday night booking and were assured on both occasions that we would be at the front corner booth. Come Saturday night, to our surprise, the booth we had been promised was full and we were shown to a noisy, hot booth at the back near the kitchen. When questioned the Manager/Owner was quick to let us know staff should not do this. We did manage to move to a slightly better booth before they were all filled.

How hard is it to allocate tables in advance with a computerised system and “reserved” signs or train staff ????

Between the 4 of us there was over 200 years in dining experience. We all agreed the food was mediocre and servings were small. We had all eaten "genuine" Mexican elsewhere, both in Australia and North America. This was more like tapas than the generous servings Mexican food is known for. Reading other similar review comments, I note from the Manager/Owner claims the “special” and presumably expensive ingredients justify the small serving. Speaking to chefs we know, including one trained by a famous “potty” mouth TV celebrity, the advice I received was ingredients play a small portion of the total cost so larger servings would be more than possible, particularly as all food is prepared "in house".

At 6.30pm we ordered the last of the corn and received tiny portions. From another review I see there have been other food shortages.

When we tried to pay with cash, we were politely told by the hard working young staff member that the restaurant does not accept cash. Under Australia Banking regulation this is within the rules - the provider of the goods or services is "at liberty to set the commercial terms upon which payment will take place BEFORE the 'contract' for supply of the goods or services is entered into". At no time before payment, were we made aware of this. On the upside once the banking regulations were pointed out the Owner/Manager accepted cash.

We wish this new enterprise well and should management take onboard the thoughts of customers rather than defending its position, we are confident it may survive the winter months when the...

Love this great new Mexican spot in Peregian! It’s hard finding authentic Mexican food in the Sunshine Coast, but I think they have come quite close to nailing it here. It’s still early days, so I’m sure with a few menu tweaks they’ll hit the nail on the head.

The birria tacos were on the money and I loved the consume. The grilled corn ribs, although a very simple dish was bang-on and packed with Smokey flavour. The margaritas were also great, and I loved having the option of upgrading to mezcal too.

If you are looking for hard-shell tacos and westernised Tex-Mex, don’t come here. If this is what you like, maybe Montezumas, or some other run-of-the-mill 80’s Mexican joint will be more to your liking. But if you want to have authentic handmade corn tortillas with real Mexican flavours, then give this place a try.

We really loved the fit-out and laid-back atmosphere of the place. The service was perfectly attentive and warm, without being overbearing.

The only critique I can give, is perhaps add a few share style mains to ge menu. Some octopus, lamb shoulder etc.. maybe a steak. Tacos are great, but I would’ve like to have a few mains to share for the table. Also, something sweet to finish would’ve been nice, but I know it’s still early days and these options are more than likely on the cards as you find your feet.

Overall, super happy and will gladly recommend and bring people back!

Well...

It was shame about the weather turning nasty and being a little brisk outside. Wait staff probably didn't show initiative to switch the heaters on until it was requested. (Just a tip for next time). The food itself was delicious in it's appeal to the tastebuds. If you are looking for something Mexican inspired that is a little unique, this is good place to try. We started with the Totopos which is a light appetiser of home made Corn chips and dips. We then went with the Tostada which I had the lobster and my wife had the tuna ceviche. Both very good. After that we went with the Tacos. Here's where it probably goes a little wrong. The pricing doesn't really offer much value here. The tacos were quite small (i would guess maybe 40-50gm each?) and when they average about $11 per taco, it probably left me feeling perplexed and a little hungry. So we ordered the Elote (charred corn ribs) afterwards which were quite tasty. I get what the concept is and the Tacos were very good. The ingredients are fresh, But if you're hungry i would suggest you order a lot of Tacos or perhaps more share plates that will satisfy the more famished. A good experience to try. Would be interested to see if the...