Casa Maria — Restaurant in Austin

It was everything I wanted it to be, with one exception. The prices were higher than I expected, even in today's economy. As my daughter and I walked up to the door, we could smell the Tex-mex goodness, that warm, welcoming and somehow indefinable smell that just says "yum". The decor was as I remembered from my last visit years ago. Archways and some lights, large comfy booths and heavy wooden tables. The requisite paintings on the walls. The lady at the front seated us right away, in one of the giant booths! We love booths. All around, families were happily eating their way through platters of food. We sat and opened our menus and both suffered quite a bit of sticker shock. The prices were just as high as the far fancier (but much less welcoming) place we had just left, because the prices were so high. Well, at least Casa Maria wasn't charging for chips and salsa. We decided we'd driven so far, we would just stay. We ordered the Sopes and the Nachos de la Casa and went to work on the delicious salsa and chips as we waited for our food. We didn't have long to wait. The Sopes come four to an order, each with a different topping and each more delicious than the last. The Sopes themselves were perfectly cooked with that crunchy-chewy texture. The beans were smokey and creamy and each of the meats on top well trimmed and well seasoned. The barbacoa was our fave. The Nachos were a bit of a surprise, with queso instead of shredded cheese, but absolutely great. The chicken fajita meat was tender and juicy and the grilled onions and peppers so good. It was altogether too much food to finish but we did our best and took the rest. Our waitress was really great and super friendly. Did we love it? Yes! Would we go back? Sure, if someone...

Words can't describe how bad this place is. I came here with my roommates this past Friday night, and I was not impressed.The food was terrible, and the service was just okay. Everyone was friendly, but slow to respond to requests, and they are seemingly cheap when it comes to the food. We got one basket of chips. Most places will see to it that your bowl is never empty, but not Casa Maria. To be fair, we didn't ask for more as we waited for our food, but still, I thought keeping the bowl full was/is standard practice for Mexican restaurants.

Not being satisfied with just having a few chips, I asked our server to bring us some flour tortillas. They were tough, thick, flavorless, and still raw on the inside. I couldn't eat them.

My entree wasn't much better. I don't like beans, so I requested double rice. Of course, the plate I received had beans on it, and I had to send it back. The kitchen put half a spoonful of extra rice on the plate, and sent it back to me. I wanted to say something, but since the food is cheap and I just wanted to get out of there, I said nothing.My enchiladas were okay. Not outstanding, just okay.

Last, but certainly not least, the mariachi band they scheduled. These guys may have some talent, which really showed during their instrumental sets, but they weren't very good on this night. They were paid to play for two hours, and they never stopped playing. It was really difficult to carry on a conversation with my friends, or to just have a thought with all of that music blasting a few feet away.

Overall, I don't see why this place has such good reviews. It's terrible, and I won't come back. The only positive...

I am actually here right now. Hostess was RUDE!! She sat us and no one came by, buuuut the 2 other tables that came in after us received water and chips and salsa as soon as they were seated. Folks...there are only 3 tables in the whole place as I write this. After about 15 mins, our drinks(2 bottles of coke and a margarita) and the chips and salsa were delivered. Another 20 mins to get a Queso compuesto and some flautas. Queso arrived missing the pico, waited and waited for someone...anyone to check on us and nope. So I went to the bar area and when I tried to ask for the pico...before I could even get my sentence out, the bartender snaps and says " We don't have guacamole". I responded, I wasn't going to ask for guacamole,our queso is missing the pico. "Oh" was the response and "I'll get it". Surprise,surprise she did not bring the pico. Instead our server brought it. Which at this point, I didn't care who brought what...I just wanted my queso to be right. Fast forward another 10 mins, noone has checked on our table STILL, noone has come by for anything....oh wait...just now to drop off the bill. Oh and guess what?? When I went to ask to speak to a manager just to make them aware, I was told THE BARTENDER is THE MANAGER...what a joke. Oh and the queso?? Has to be Kraft cheese with literally no flavor of any kind. Even having meat, avocado AND pico..disgusting and extremely overpriced for Kraft at $12. Long story short, just don't bother. WORST dining experience I have EVER had in Austin. Would love to give not only negative stars but a negative...