Rosalita's Tex-Mex Grill — Restaurant in Atlantis

Why have I never tried this place before? I've lived here most of my life and it never occurred to me to give it a shot. Well, today hubby and I had eye exams just east of 95 on Lantana Rd and we were both starving when we were heading west for home. As we approached Congress Ave, hubby suggested we try Rosalita's as he hadn't been there in decades and it used to be pretty good. I had never been, so I pulled in and parked as they were open.

Inside, the Hostess was, very friendly and showed us to a booth in a well lit, brightly colored, Mexican themed dining room. It was very clean, not loud and quite inviting and pleasant. Almost instantly, our server appeared with a smile on her face and in her voice. She introduced herself as Sally and took our drink orders. We looked over the menus as she got our beverages. There were so many delicious sounding things we were torn as to what to get and relayed this to Sally. She suggested something far removed, from what we we're looking at and her suggestions sounded so good, that is what we ordered. (I waited tables for 13 years and learned that when a server, especially one that has worked at an establishment for many years, as Sally had, you listen and take their advice without fail when it's offered. Period! So, we ordered the Meatloaf and the Pot Roast. Both came with a delicious demi glaze and chorizo mashed potatoes topped with fried shoestring onions.

As we waited for our entrees, we tore into our first basket of fresh, lightly salted chips and the most delicious salsa we'd ever eaten. We mixed a bit of the green spicy with the red mild and the combination was scrumptious. Sally brought out a second basket of chips and more salsa with our entrees. Yes, we finished them as well.

The quality of our meals went far beyond anything we were expecting and we'd be hard pressed to decide which was our favorite. Both meat dishes were seasoned beautifully and were fork tender. The potatoes were a great compliment to the meats with the slight flavor of chorizo to further heighten the complex flavors of the plate. Topping the entire offering were crisp, fried shoestring onion. This was beautifully presented on very unique triangular dinner plates. We were duly impressed with everything about this dining experience. The presentation, visual appeal and flavors were exceptional. Hubby even said what I was thinking, this is Michelin quality stuff here, and it truly was. The last time we had a meal of this quality was in February at a French restaurant in Manhattan. One big difference between these two great meals was the one in NY cost us close to $300. and this one was under $50!

Sally's service was also just as attentive, friendly and actually more helpful than our server at the ritzy French restaurant. She's very good at her job! If you're fortunate enough to get her as your server, please treat her as well as she treats you. She's sure to make your dining experience a very pleasant one. We can't wait to go back and try a few other items on the menu that Sally recommended. She also gave us information about events such as live music and karaoke nights which we appreciated as they sounded entertaining and fun.

Don't do what I did and wait forever to check Rosalita's out. It's something better done sooner than later! 👍

Update 6/23: We ate here again to try some new items. Sally was once again our server and again she took excellent care of us.

This time I got the Southwest Seafood Primavera which was a very rich and creamy southwest Alfredo sauce, full of scallops, shrimp, broccoli florets, and Jillian carrots over a bed of fine fettuccine topped with shredded Parmesan cheese. On the side of the plate was a warm, dressed bread stick. It was delicious and very filling. Definitely something to order again. Hubby got the Southwest Cobb Salad. It was a BIG salad containing greens, blue cheese, mango/pineapple salsa, chicken, hard boiled egg, purple onion, avocado and bacon with blue cheese Dressing on the side. It looked amazing and he confirmed that it was. More great...

I used to go to Rosalita's all the time and enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere, but my last few visits have been very disappointing, especially my last trip there on a Friday night.

Apparently, Friday nights are karaoke night which attracts a fairly large crowd. We arrived at about 6:30 and was able to secure a booth for our party of 3. It took almost 15 minutes for the server to come and offer us drinks and we ordered 2 house margaritas, $7 for happy hour until 7pm. A few minutes after the drink order she brought chips and salsa. The chips, salsa and drinks were all very good, but arrived almost 30 minutes after we were seated. It was annoying, but this is what I expect when eating out these days.

The server was in a rush. They were obviously short handed. When we placed our order, she let us know that the kitchen was "backed up" and she would put the order in "as soon as she could." I ordered the surf and turf fajitas (my favorite dish there), others in my party ordered cheese enchiladas and the cobb salad.

After another 30 minute wait, we tried to flag down our server to no avail and flagged down the hostess (she strutted around the place like she was the owner) to check on our food and to send the manager over. She barely acknowledged me and just looked at me like I was asking her to strangle her first born. She did not send a manager over.

Another 15 minutes past and a table that was seated after we had already placed our order received their food. We were livid. We had been seated in the restaurant for almost an hour and a half at this point. We flagged down our waitress to let her know and she just shrugged her shoulders and blamed the kitchen again. No apologies or offers to fix it. About 10 minutes later we were brought our food by a food runner. They served me chicken fajitas, not the surf and turf I ordered. I tried to catch the food runner, but he left as the food hit the table. Either he did not hear me, or he ignored me because he didn't want to hear any complaints.

I tried flagging down another waitress as ours was still MIA, to no avail. After the others in my party were halfway through their meals, I calmly got up with my uneaten plate of fajitas and walked it over to the kitchen where every server was standing waiting for food. I handed the plate to a nice server and told her after waiting over an hour and 45 minutes, I was brought the wrong food. She apologized and told me they would bring me my food. Another 5 minutes passed and that same waitress brought me the correct food. Our server was still MIA.

After another few minutes our server came over apologizing and blaming the kitchen for the wait and the mix up. She asked if she could get us anything else, we just wanted to box up our food and go at that point. I had lost my appetite from eating too many chips after waiting for 2 hours. In addition, the fajitas were not as good as they used to be. Very bland, they used to be fresh and flavorful. I barely touched them. The other in my party were not impressed either, although the cobb salad was decent - fresh and a large portion, but nothing special. The cheese enchiladas were also bland when compared to the way they used to taste.

No manager ever came over to talk to us and there was no apology whatsoever for the completely horrendous service. Horrible service, and now the food is mediocre - and that is being kind.

These days I do not expect the same level of service as I know many restaurants are struggling to find decent employees. However if your food no longer makes up for bad service and management no longer cares about their long time customers, then it is time for me to find a new...

I've been living in South Florida for 25 years, everyone in the area talks about Rosalitas. I had never gone until last night. I'm disappointed. When I sat down, I wasn't given a menu or drink menu. The server comes over and says "do you know what you want?" kurtly and unprofessionally. I responded "how could I if I don't have a menu of any kind?" He rolled his eyes and walked away. About ten minutes later, he gave me a drink menu. I ordered a margarita, which frankly a Chili's chain would have done better (Margaritas are supposed to be the Rosalita's "specialty".) My friend had to send her margarita back, it tasted like pure mix only, insanely sweet. Once again he asks, "what do you want to eat" I said again "how could I know if I don't have a menu?" Again he rolls his eyes and goes into what I can only assume was an abyss, given how long he was gone. Maybe 20 minutes later? He appears with a menu. I asked him to wait a moment so I could look really fast and order. With fear of him disappearing. I decided on nachos Ultima. I asked specifically for jalepeño. When the food came, it was bland/un-colorful/and lacking jalepeño. Remember when you were a kid, you'd throw some shredded cheese on Tostitos pop them in the microwave and get back to your cartoons? That's what they served me with tomato's. When he showed up again to bring utensils as we had none, I reminded him about the jalepeño. Instead of just getting them, he says "are you sure you asked for them?" I said yes and he walked away. I literally watch him go look at his notes to see if I'd asked the first go around. His obvious facial expression indicated that I had and he realized his error. Despite that, I waited 15 minutes for jalepeño. By the time he showed up, my nachos were soggy/cold and inedible. Such is life. I figured, w.e I'll swing by someplace else before I go home, to get food. I'll just have one more drink and thus, the waiting begins. An hour goes by, Asking 3 different busboys to help me find my waiter. Finally another waiter walks by and I ask him for a "Mexican Mai Tai" he says no problem and walks off. Maybe 1 minute later, my original waiter shows up, "did you order a Mexican Mai Tai, because no one ever orders that"

"Just bring me my check" I gave up. My first and hopefully last time going there. To add insult to injury, as we walked out there were several police cars parked out front, felt weird and I questioned whether or not I was truly safe there. At best, I'd call this place sketch. I was easily the most excited person in the room when I got there, and also the most disappointed...