Jalapeños Mexican Grill I — Restaurant in Auburn

Ok so let me begin by saying I have been involved in the restaurant industry for over 20 years, I have 5 degrees in the culinary arts. This is how our experience went. We opened the door to the establishment and almost had to push our way through 6 servers that were just standing at the front desk chatting, not one of them said, “Hello” or anything and they quickly disappeared. (First time we thought, “maybe we should leave”) We decided to push on in hopes of having some excellent food. The hostess asked us if we wanted bar or dining and we chose dining. We were walked to our table and seated. We ordered drinks and the normal complimentary chips and salsa arrived. The chips in the basket were cold and broken into very small pieces, (Very mediocre) the salsa had a couple large pieces of tomato in it with the core still attached. The flavor was bland and not inviting. (Second time we thought, “maybe we should leave”) Yet again we pressed on. My lovely wife decided on the Chile Relleno and rice, with a soft chicken taco on the side. I decided on 2 crunchy ground beef tacos with rice and beans and decided to order a Tamale for us to share and try. (We LOVE GOOD Tamales) The server asked if I wanted chicken or beef? I said chicken please with no sauce on top just plain. She asked, “Do you want the Mole sauce or Verde sauce inside?” I opted for the Mole sauce. She took our menus and left. Looking around, the ambiance and decor was very plain. The lighting reminded me of a school cafeteria (Not inviting at all) and multiple tables had dirty dishes left on them and not cleaned off. Even though there were enough workers to stand around and chit chat at the front desk (Remember how this story began?) Our server returned shortly and explained to me that they were “out” of the tamale I ordered and wanted to know if I wanted the Mole sauce on the side? At this point my lovely wife saw my frustration and said, “Yes because we would still like to try it.” Our server left again and returned with “our food”. She set my wife’s order in front of her and then mine. My wife’s plate from first glance looked like a normal everyday Chile Relleno with some salsa on top and a side of rice, with a plastic basket lined with parchment paper and a “messy” soft chicken taco thrown in it. (Mind you I don’t use the word “messy” here as in relevance to a delicious taco truck where the juice runs down your elbow) My plate, “At first glance” looked like 2 tacos, rice and beans with a second smaller plate holding a VERY THIN tamale and a small plastic cup of what I assume was supposed to be Mole sauce. (But the grease that was floating on the top of the cup was so thick you couldn’t see the deep brown color of the Mole that was thinner than a paper plate at the bottom) The server asked if we needed anything else and left. My lovely wife took a bite of her rice as I took a bite of my taco....... Then only way she could explain the rice is, “It tastes like minute rice?!?!?!?” The bite of taco I had in my mouth was horrible, the lettuce was yellow/ brown and wilted and looked like it was cut from the core of the head of lettuce 5 days ago. The ground beef was cool and mushy and the shell was so stale it was like biting into cardboard. My wife took a small bite of the Relleno and and said the pepper was very biter. Enough was enough.... I called our server over and said, “I’m sorry but I’m not going to eat ANY OF THIS. You can take it all away.” She looked at me confused so I decided to break it down for her... “The lettuce is biter and wilted, the ground beef is cold and mushy, the taco shell is stale, the rice is cold and crunchy and tastes like minute rice.” She removed my wife and my plates and left. She returned an few minutes later and I told her I would like to pay for my wife’s iced tea and leave. (Oh I forgot that my lovely wife’s tea tasted like plain water and yet it was still brown?) She said she wasn’t going to make us pay for the tea and she was sorry. Do NOT...

I ordered a margarita and there was no way there was any tequila in it. My friend ordered a white Russian and she said it tastes like milk. We sat at the bar and watched them make drink after drink. Never once saw them put alcohol in ANY drink!! I ordered a chimi fajita knowing it came with onions. But I'm used to picking them out. But there were so many onions, I couldn't enjoy the meal. I picked out half a plate of onion before I could even eat what little beef and green pepper was left. I asked for no beans. I was brought bean soup... Didn't know that was even a thing. My rice was cold. The salsa was so spicy it wasn't even eatable. We asked for 2 bowls of queso for a replacement and was charged $7 for each 6 oz bowl... Once we placed our order, at least 6 other people who came in after us got their orders first. After about 45 min we finally got our food. Then we waited another 30 min after we were done eating for our bill. Everyone was being taken care of but us. All I have to say, is apparently we were a little to white for the servers. When we went to pay we were asked how everything was. When I told the girl, she just said "Oh, well I can't help you with any of that" and then just started at me.... Oookaay...

Total my drink and meal was $37... My friends drink and meal was almost $45. We...

I've been here pre-, during, and post-Covid. Every single time the food has taken forever and is bland and tasteless.

Service here is terrible. The employees definitely get their "standing time" in. My husband and I came here pre-pandemic and we sat on the patio for 35 minutes while we watched the waitress chit chat with the bartender the whole time. Got a margarita ONCE because it somehow managed to taste like a dirty floor. Last time I came in was recently to celebrate my friend's birthday. We asked for a table with a highchair since she has a one year old. They seated us far away from everyone else as possible, in another room that looked like a storage room. The tables and booths were so close together that as the night progressed and they started seating more people in that room, we kept getting ran into by patrons AND staff who didn't seem to care that we were there and had a baby. Oh yeah, and that highchair? They didn't even set it up and when they brought it finally they also included a pair of silverware.... knife included.... for a baby..... food took forever and was disgusting. I got an alcoholic beverage that tasted like a ball park slushy with no alcohol. I didn't finish my meal. I went home and made...