El Azteca — Restaurant in Ames

My husband and I normally like this place but the last two times we've visited has been not so pleasant. The first time we had issues the one of the servers acted arrogant towards us when my husband complained about there being meat in his vegetarian fajitas (he cannot handle meat in his system and is from a culture of strict vegetarianism).

This last time, the server was hardly ever there and we waited a good 20 minutes to get our check and then another 10 to realize he's not coming back to take our money. If you want people to pay at the door please specify when you drop the check off because it's confusing when some days the waiter takes the money and then expects you to pay up front on another day. Then when we went up front to pay, the gal who was processing our meal order was rude and arrogant as well.

It was really odd, normally the staff is really cordial, but I'm afraid that it's becoming a trend that they don't care about their job. I hope management can take care of this or treat their employees right (I've worked retail and know that if management doesn't treat their employees well, it reflects in their own work) I'm sad to say we won't be coming here again due to the waitstaff...

I was a chef for 18 years, and I consider myself a Mexican food connoisseur. I rarely write reviews, but heed this warning. This was without a doubt, the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten! I became very ill after eating the food and will be contacting the department of health. I would hate to see what the kitchen looks like, the food tasted like some bad Asian type food doused in cayenne pepper. Salsa pre-made packaged, Guacamole was premade from a package possibly previously frozen, Chipotle cheese dip was, canned nacho cheese sauce melted with milk into too thin a consistency, and doused with cayenne and possibly chipotle chili powder. I had a beef fajita salad, which made me sick, My wife had a Combination plate which consisted of a Chile Relleño/Enchalada/ & Chalupa (Guacamole Tostada). She couldn't eat the relleño! If you value your health, don't eat there. The service was good, but everything could have been cleaner. Texas Margarita was poor quality....

We love Mexican food and have been to Mexico several times. I also cook most items at home that are found on a Mexican restaurant's menu. We went to the Dayton restaurant and had chips (they were stale and very bland) and salsa which was average. I had a margarita and it was all mix. One of the worst one's I've ever had. Ordered guacamole and queso and the guacamole was runny and had no flavor. The queso waa the same. Ordered steak street tacos, carne asada, and daughter had a combo plate. The order took 5 minutes to make which means everything is precooked in the morning. My carne asada was so greasy I couldn't eat it. The steak at the bottom was covered with greasy onions and red and green peppers that were mush. Nothing is fresh here. Service was great. Food was gross. I took home most of my meal and placed it into the garbage. Go to Ankney or Urbandale for fresh...