Mazatlan Family Mexican Restaurant (Albemarle) — Restaurant in Albemarle

To start we were seated immediately,even tho it should have been in the middle of the lunch rush. The hostess gave us the impression she had better things to do. The waitstaff was friendly and somewhat efficient. Complimentary tortilla chips and salsa we served immediately, the chips were mass produced chips that you can purchase from a big box store in the 10lb plastic bag and they tasted like plastic. The salsa might have had flavor once upon a time but all I tasted was tomato juice. Meh.... My lunch was the beef taco (where were the carne asada tacos someone raved about?) and cheese enchilada combo, served with a choice of rice or beans. I chose rice. The taco was flavorless boiled ground beef pretty unspectacular and again a processed shell, nothing fresh here. ... Taco Bell tacos have more flavor. The rice was pretty flavorless and a little on the wet side. The tastiest part of my meal was the cheese enchilada, a deep brownish red sauce, maybe molè ... IDK again flavorless, but at least it had lots of cheese. Hubby had the Friday Special, a "personal" size fajita, steak, shrimp and chicken, rice, beans, salad and a pico de gallo were brought to the table first, followed a minute or two later by the sizzling tiny pan with the fajitas, but he had to ask for tortillas. He said it was very good but the shrimp could have been cooked a little more. All in all it was an OK lunch, interspersed with a screaming kid whose screams seemed to vibrate off the walls. While there was nothing the restaurant or staff could do it just made for an unpleasant experience and I wasn't the only one effected by the screamer, the people seated behind us left mid scream and before their lunch arrived. This was a "one and done"...

When we first started going here I thought "What a find!" My feelings have changed. Their biggest problem is consistency. I have had wonderful meals in the past. But recently have had problems with staff coming to our table who do not speak nor understand English. As we were going here once and sometimes twice weekly both of us had found things that we like. Don had ordered chili beans in the past all of a sudden, the waitress never heard of such a thing and wanted me to find it on the big menu for her. I like the Texas Burrito. We usually try to get there around 2:30PM. Our waitress acted like she really wanted me to order from the lunch menu, even pointed at a picture on it of a burrito. I decided I wanted to stay with what I liked. She whisked the larger menu away from our table which my husband wanted to order from and left the lunch menu instead. She left us so long l was trying to get someone's attention to give our order when she finely came back. He ordered a salad. They brought out a shell with only beans and ground beef in it! They expected him to fill it up at the salad bar! And my Texas Burrito was not half as nice as it had been in the past. The filling was a tiny portion of steak and not much of anything else. I guess maybe they expected me to use the salad bar. We both are seniors who have some difficulty at times with walking. We did not want the salad bar ☹️! But evidently, our waitress did not care what her customers wanted! We will...

Update Nov 2021. My new favorite lunch: "Casadia Delight." It comes with a delicious grilled chicken and a salad or side. Its priced right too.. My standing Favorite: "The Speedy." The choice of Chicken or beef filling and its pretty good. This lunch special includes 1 enchilada, 1 taco and 1 side (see pic). I like it with black beans. Others sides include Mexican Rice, Refried beans,.... Of course Taco Tuesday Rocks! (See pic). COVID UPDATE (IN CAPS) This is the best Mexican food in town. Lunch is REASONABLEY PRICED IF YOU STICK WITH THE LUNCH SPECIALS. IT'S good. Good portions too. The service is always super good, always! Dont forget Taco Tuesday. My favorite thing is NOW THE STREET TACOS. SADLY, NO MORE taco fixings bar because of COVID. Still, the salsa and chips keep coming. I highly recommend the pico de galo. Their chimis are great. Ok my other favorite is tortilla soup. Unfortunately I dont recommend the taco salad. It's not the best. Everything else is fantastic. No alcohol...