Maria Bonita — Restaurant in Berlin

One of the worst Mexican restaurants I have ever had. From the HORRIBLE customer service to the POOR quality of food and portions. Its simply a place for people that have never eaten real Mexican food who don't care about taste and just want to say they ate Mexican to their friends/post on Social Media as a status thing. Not a place for people that want good food or proper customer service. I went a few days ago with my partner and ordered burritos. I am vegan so I asked if they could remove the cheese, the rude woman tells me: "I don't think so" I asked her, if she could at least ask and she said, "Hold on I will ask the chef" this "chef" was standing 6 inches behind her this whole time (its a small location) The "chef" turns to me and tells me "Sureee why not" Then I ask the woman if I could replace the cheese with guacamole, pico, or ANYTHING just so I don't lose out. She says, "No, that's your problem" with an attitude and starts trying to educate me on Mexican food (lol). So she proceeds to charge me the regular price, even though I took out ingredients. Fast forward we get the burrito and its 95% BEANS. I then noticed he forgot to put the sauce inside and he made a big issue about giving it to me, until he realized he was wrong. Finally he gave me a little tiny squirt of it, in a plastic sample cup. I then asked him for more a minute later and he told me I would have to pay for it. Really? You forget the sauce, you charge me for cheese because "that's my problem" and you want me to pay now for what I should have received in the first place? Anyways like I said this place is awful and overpriced for what you are getting. I wouldn't have had such a big issue if the customer service was good. But quality Customer Service isn't really demanded by the local customers so I blame them, not the business but I personally, still want to be treated good when I go out to eat. Not deal with staffs that try to make me feel like I should be grateful to be in a restaurant and just be happy with what I get. I'm from the US so we have quality Mexican restaurants everywhere and I've done a lot of traveling and have tried it all over the USA, Mexico, South America, New Zealand, Australia, UK, Serbia, France, Spain, Germany, etc and NEVER have I been to one with as BAD: food &...

I first discovered MB in 2012, the food was good, authentic, and the atmosphere was open and welcoming. Most were from Spanish speaking countries, but it was still a nice mix of international staff. I've eaten there many times through the years, and always recommended it to and brought friends, especially those familiar with good Mexican. That's still pretty hard to find in Berlin. It was the same owners most of that time until a few years ago, when a German owner took over.

Germans like to go for authenticity in a peculiar type of way, and I found now it was a mostly Mexican staff, I couldn't tell about the waitress. As a long time resident of Berlin (and Europe) and as a Black Native American who has worked in other restaurants, having all one type of crew can present its own issues if you are undereducated on bias and prejudice. The last time I visited in August 2024, the waitress literally ignored me, walked around me, didn't respond to me in any way. Since she did, the grillers looked at me and did the same.

I did not feel welcome, it was a smiling type of antagonism and entitlement to greet and take care of certain customers and ignore others. Just poor behavior imo, business and personality-wise. Any customer who walks into a restaurant should be greeted by staff. They were not even busy, yet they immediately spoke to and took the orders of Anglo or Mexican looking customers who came after me.

I walked back outside, and another person who was selling drinks for MB for an event started talking to me, and later brought me out some food. I would never recommend this place again. The owner has things to answer for as...

This place is a must for those in search of true Mexican food overseas. I ordered beef tacos and they truly taste as the tacos I would eat in my beloved Mexico City. However, there are always some flaws. The tacos came only with one tortilla each, this for a Mexican is not ok at all, real tacos of this size should come with two tortillas. Also they are served only with a quarter of lemon, again, for a Mexican (addicted to limes) this was not sufficient. Having said that, keep in mind that probably the vast majority of the customers are not Mexicans, hence they don't care much about gargantuan quantities of limes and two tortillas. Customer most likely would like to get the true flavour of Mexican cuisine, departing from time to time from the abundant tex-mex chains where putting beans and yellow maize makes any type of food "Mexican". In sum, from a Mexican to other Mexicans and people interested in tasting real Mexican food while visiting one of the most iconic neighbourhoods in Berlin. María Bonita is a mandatory stop at...