Mission Cantina — Restaurant in Amherst

The Food and Margaritas was overall 5 stars , our server was very sweet an informative. My reason for the 2 stars is the way the night manager John treated us finally. My Fiancé and I are both foodies. My Fiancé and his niece whom we came to Ahmerst MA to visit, both suggest to go have dinner there. My Fiancé grew up in this great small town, we both live in Chelsea Manhattan NY NY current. When we tried paying for the check the waitress returned to table and told us they no longer accept AMEX. No where in entrance of the restaurant does it say that they dont. Very nicely my Fiancé explained that they should be clear and should have a sign of some sort to explain so. We had collectively 3 Amex with us. Living in the city we dont come across a problem like this. She suggested that we can leave an ID or Driver's License so that we may return and pay effective. I did as she suggested and left drivers license with her , so they dont assume that we were trying to dine and ditch, smh. I asked for the MOD to come to table so we could explain what's going on. He instantly profiled us. My Fiancé took charge of conversation with John. He walk up before we said anything and said "ive been working here since restaurant open and we have never charges AMEX card." My fiance found it weird because when attempting with the waitress an American Express icon/logo appeared on register screen, in which he insisted that there wasnt such thing. My Fiancé then walk with store manager up to register where the Manager had to find himself explaining the logo/icon option for American express on the register that he so call "never seen in the 5 yrs his been employed there!" During his conversation with my fiance he told,him that none of the small business in town accept this Card due to a 5% interest charge that the company doesn't want to pay. He then tell my Fiancé that he should come to the "Valley" more often and he would know that all the places in town don't accept this card either. When in Fact the Pizza restaurant next door does!!!!! Also, my Fiancé grew up in the "VALLEY" thats an insult. And to wrap the conversation he tell my man that he "Would love to talk about this all day,but he has customers to take care of." No apologies none. The check will be taken care of, and in fact I'm not embarrassed at all despite the waitress telling all the staff. But he instead of profiling and making snark and offensive remarks should of handle things in a more professional manner. I will call in morning and speak with the Store manager in charge further. Disappointed in his POOR customer service. Will be returning food was great. Sucks about the Night Manager shame he's...

TL;DR - get take out, so you can enjoy the delicious food with minimal employee interaction.

What can be said about the front-of-house Mission Cantina employees that hasn’t already been said about the Cleveland Browns? I’d say they’re what the French call “les incompetents.”

First off, food was great. 5/5, even though they gave me chorizo instead of carnitas. Still delicious, but not my order.

I’ll dock one point for the wait. As others have mentioned, you can wait a while to be seated. But the issue is when my friends and I wait for over an hour, then the hostess’ friends show up (same number of people as us) and get seated within five minutes. And the kicker: she did this in front of our faces. If you’re gonna play favorites, at least don’t let the other customers see it. That’s just not smart.

Next point is for when we were finally seated. The bus boy that brought out our food talked to us more than the server. Now, maybe she was slammed at the time. That happens. And, she was very nice. But, it got to the point that we thought they’d forgotten about us or we did something wrong, we waited so long.

Last point off goes to the manager. I’ve worked in kitchen and restaurants before, so I know how things can get busy or you can be short-staffed. And, this was a Saturday night. Busy times. This was not the case. This was a matter of poor management. Two employees were doing their makeup by the door for going out later while we waited 20 minutes to pay the check. The manager should have noticed, but he was too busy cracking a beer (really) and flirting with the female employees to worry about customers paying him. (The best part about his flirting, though, was after he walked away, because the girls would mock him for flirting with them. That’s almost worth adding a point back.)

All in all, I’m not sure I’ll ever go back. We got there at 7:15 and didn’t leave until 10:15. We wanted dinner, not a midnight snack.

I also hope the makeup hostess’ had a nice night after they left, since that’s the only thing they appeared...

Update: I had to lower my rating because I've consistently had disappointing service here. A few of the staff are really kind and caring but several others are consistently not. If something you ordered is out of stock, they will not tell you (even if you order in person and are present the whole time), they will silently omit it from your order and sometimes they still charge you. Having cutlery included in takeout/delivered orders is very rare. Their phones are either busy, or ring for a few minutes and end with an automated error, and their Grubhub page is not consistent with the menu. The food here is some of the best Mexican food I've ever had but its can be discouraging to order when you know the lines aren't working, the site isn't updated, your order may be missing several things and you have to sift through it in front of them feeling like a petty a*e to make sure its not, and its likely you'll have to deal with the staff members that make you feel like you're bothering them even though you consistently tip over 20%. If you do eat here, I strongly suggest dining in (of course when that's allowed again) because usually that staff is a lot nicer. On a more positive note, since my last review I've also tried the guacamole and fish tacos which were amazing.

Original Review: Definitely amazing if you can find a parking spot! Chips were fresh and come with 3 salsas! One of which was extremely spicy which I loved. I then had the peach mojito and a shrimp burrito which were both delicious. Prices are not bad at all for the quality of food. I can’t wait...