Maria Cuca's Mexican Cuisine Arlington — Restaurant in Arlington

Went here on 8/25/23 and arrived at about quarter till 6PM. When we first got to the hostess station they told us it would be a little bit of a wait to be seated for a table to be found for a high chair to be used. There would be a couple of booths that were open at the time. However, they sat a couple of other folks that came in after us before us in those booths(maybe they had reservations 🤷). The first hostess was clearly getting flustered at the hostess telling us to step to the side and wait. She took the initiative to get us a seat to which we were greatful.

The chips and salsa were outstanding and our server: I believe his name was Esteban was very courteous and kind and would give us updates on our food. The only couple of things I can say negative was: there was only water offered(no fountain drinks or tea). Only alcohol(which I don't drink) and water. It shows fountain drinks and teas on the menu so I'm confused to why that wasn't offered? Did the fizz go out of the machine and there was no replacement? Did you forget to order those canisters and machines? Just find it odd: it's on the menu but not offered? Also, it was pretty warm in the restaurant. I realize when you get that packed the establishment will inevitably get warmer.

The food we ordered was good and honestly I have no complaints about that. Had the beef enchiladas with queso sauce. That was delicious! Son had the enchiladas as well and LOVED them. Wife and daughter had the nachos and had no complaints there.

Lastly, this place might just be good for desserts. We all split the sopapillas and they were well worth the money we spent. You get 3 large sopapillas and a scoop of ice cream. The sopapillas are drizzled with chocolate and I believe caramel sauce. When it comes to these desserts that are authentic I'm kind of a "snob" and expect the best of the best. However, here they go above and beyond, they are the greatest of the greatest.

We will definitely come back! However, we will come back when the newness...

Myself and two others decided to try the newest restaurant across from the Viridian Neighborhood on 08-27. Maria Cuca's food was top notch - tasted fresh, good flavors - no complaints at all. When we arrived we were greeted and immediately taken to a booth. Great interior decor - not too simple and not too overdone. The service is where our only complaints come in. Our server was very nice and friendly. However - two things stood out to us. One - once seated it was almost 15 minutes before anyone came to our table. Numerous times other servers walked by - no one saying a word. We were being patient to see how long it would take. During that time no chips/salsa, no waters - nothing. We assume this is because they have only been open a week. The restaurant (at 1:50 PM) was only 1/3 to 1/2 full. I am sure given a little more time it will improve. The other complaint is the paying the bill. The servers use tablets to take orders and use the same tablets to pay the bill. The issue we had was it is just somewhat odd / intimidating to have the server stand there looking at you while you are entering the tip and completing the transaction. If they want to use the tablets I think that is great, but the server should either step away from the table for a moment. You can't even discuss with your other table guests because the server is standing...

IMO many of the five star reviews are suspect, new or relatively new accounts, few reviews, reviews left around the same dates, reviewing both locations at the same time, similar and odd comments, ect…

Would not recommend. They provided three different salsas (we liked the flavor) and we ordered queso, but they have the smallest chip bowls I have ever seen, and our salsa and queso went uneaten because they would not bring more chips after the second tiny bowl. The queso was generic and only came in a large bowl size for $10. They eventually removed the chip bowl from the table altogether. I ordered fajitas, the beef was a bit tough and not very flavorful or cooked well. My friend commented how they didn’t give me much meat compared to other places. The accompanying sides were smaller than normal, and the tortillas were not fresh (per the waiter). My friend apparently ordered chunks of plain dry tough meat that I guess he was supposed to make tacos out of, though the chunks were far too big for tacos and difficult to cut into smaller chunks with the knife provided as they were so dry and tough. My friend ended up using much of the remaining salsa and queso to add moisture to his dry tacos, so maybe it was good we didn’t have more chips after all. The waiter did a good job of keeping our...