Mexicali Fresh Botany Junction — Restaurant in Howick

Came here for a late lunch yesterday (Sunday 16th June around 2pm). The two ladies working were the most unfriendliest and unwelcoming I've ever come across at a restaurant and acted like the customers are an inconvenience. They don't greet nor smile or acknowledge customers. I place my order which was Beef Mince Nachos. And there were customers before me who came back to the counter to query what they were charged. And the lady who was in the middle of serving me went over to the register and had to call over who I assume was the more senior one between them to look up the last transaction. The second lady was so stern and seemed annoyed at the customers for god forbid making an enquiry. Then when those customers left..I heard the two ladies talking sarcastically about the customers in their foreign language after they left (I understood them because I speak their language too). Then the initial lady came back to me and comtinued to make up my order. I noticed that she was about to put what looked like shredded chicken or beef so I quickly jumped in and said "mince beef please". She slams the lid back on the food container and seemed annoyed at me even though she was about to put on the wrong meat! When we get to the register, she looks at me and says "drinks?" I said "no I'm fine thank you". Then she pushes my order towards me and walks off. I paid by eftpos and sat down to eat. Needless to say the food did not make up for the bad customer service either. The nachos was not the worst but definately not worth $20. Lacked flavour. Meat was cold. The beans seemed old and mushy. The only thing I left with was a sour taste and it wasn't from the sour cream either which was probably the only thing on the plate that had flavour. The ladies behind the counter on this day need a heavy recap lesson on what customer service should be like, especially being at the front of the house. Being rude and unfriendly won't win you...

Worst customer service ever, the older skinner filipino lady did not greet us nor smile, the way she asked and handled our meal was so rude from the way she talked and the way she acted chucking the corn chips into the takeout box to chucking the take out forks on the counter, also I told her to close my box as my quesadilla was still in the toaster as flies were hovering over it and also told her to cover the the containers as flies were also flying all over the prep station she said sorry in a robotic way and still left them open how disgusting. I hope management will follow up on her rude behaviour and also retrain her on basic food hygiene how embarrassing never going back again.

Reply to the Owner

Me and my partner came in on the 18th of December around 1:00pm-1:45pm range. There were two female workers but as I described the lady that served us hopefully that will help you pin point which worker. It was just upsetting because we came in happy as we do drive out from such a distance because the food and service is always great especially by the guy that is always there I’m not sure if he still works there, but anyway really did ruin our moods all the way going back home. I understand you cannot control the amount of flies as it is summer but what I couldn’t understand is why the worker who served us left the boxes open as she should close them until the hot food is ready to be packed and also for the containers in the prep station she should always close the lids after grabbing out whatsoever so flies don’t sit or hover over them as they can lay tiny eggs. But thank you for replying and hopefully this will not be a repeat for...

The place was not busy when I visited. Could do with better lighting and while I appreciated the themed decor, it could also do with a spruce up.

Very tasty, good looking mains but quite a disparity in portion size. The side of corn chips/salad that arrived with our two meals varied from a ratty scattering to a healthy serving.

On first impression, there was no indication of cutlery being available and we were not told there was by our server which was not a problem with my delicious quesadillas but quite an issue with the big fajita ordered by my guest.

I like to clean up after myself out of respect to service staff but the bin's were not clearly marked which made emptying our table awkward and while the meal prices were reasonable, four beer's ran us $40.

Would possibly visit again and enjoyed the food but it wasn't a great...