Carmela's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Beaumont

Not the greatest stop on our Texas road trip. We were staying in Beaumont for the night as we were now headed to New Orleans next to then start making our way back home to South Carolina. The ladies in the van stated they wanted to get some Tex-Mex since we hadn't gotten any while in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. They browsed around for a bit and decided on this location as the reviews seemed pretty good and Tex-Mex was listed for it. We pulled up and I immediately got a sinking feeling in my stomach that we wouldn't enjoy this very much. We have some pretty good Mexican restaurants back home so our standards are kind of higher than others. After walking inside it seemed like we were the only people at the restaurant and there were about 6 employees waiting for someone to walk through the door which definitely made us feel weird. Since we were the only ones we got seated quickly. We looked through the menu and I decided to play it safe with just getting tacos and rice. The others decided to be a bit more adventurous. My tacos were decent, the rice didn't have a lot of flavor though but it was passable. So my meal was the least offensive of the bunch. My buddy is use to ordering rice with cheese on it, back home it's covered with white queso which is really good, the cheese here was a yellow/orange type of queso and he didn't like it at all and he barely ate any of it. Everyone else just tried to eat what they could from what they ordered but ultimately didn't finish their food and the girls kept apologizing for picking this location for dinner. The waitress was nice but did hover around our table a bit more than we expected. In the end this just wasn't for us. Maybe it's because we're use to the Mexican food back home or maybe it was just a bad night or a combination of the two, but it wasn't enjoyable...

We were in Beaumont to drop my truck off to get some things done, so we decided to go and have lunch at Carmela's on the recommendation from a friend. We were promptly seated and given menu's. Our waiter came shortly after and took our drink orders. I had sweet tea, my wife had non sweet tea, and our little one ordered a Coke. Another lady came to the table with a basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of salsa for my wife and one for me!! After bringing our drinks right out he took our orders, I ordered the Rio Verde Special with a cheese enchilada and a beef enchilada, a bean and cheese chalupa, a crispy beef taco, and rice and beans. I asked if I could get another taco instead of the chalupa and he said it was no problem!! Happy me, I love tacos!!! My wife ordered the Queso Flameado with flour tortillas, and we ordered a large Bowl of Queso for our 6 year old as he said that was all he wanted! It didn't take long at all for the food too come out! Our waiter was really good and on top of things! It was really busy just a little after noon and no one skipped a beat! Our food was so good and we really enjoyed it! The taco meat and my beef enchilada were seasoned just like I like and had a great taste to them! It had a really great atmosphere and the patrons there were really enjoying the food and their company! Really Great Place for...

STAY AWAY IF YOU HAVE DIETARY RESTRICTIONS OR DON’T WANT POOR SERVICE!!! I hardly ever write reviews, and when I do, I try to never write poor reviews. However, our visit here was so bad that I feel other guests should be aware of our experience; and hopefully, the management will also make a concerted effort to implement changes so that this does not happen again to other patrons.

First off, we had an extremely rude waiter. We can put up with a lot but his bad attitude and unwillingness to follow-up with the kitchen on our dietary restrictions were absolutely unacceptable and appalling. We have people that have dietary restrictions that prevent them from eating any animal products; and instead of checking with the kitchen to make sure their rice and beans do not contain animal products, he outright lied and had the nerve to roll his eyes as he left. It’s only after we went to confirm with another staff that we found out that they did indeed have animal products. This person could have gotten extremely ill. This was extremely irresponsible and could be dangerous for those with potentially deadly allergies.

If you want good service and good Tex-Mex, Casa Ole is right down the street. We went there right after and the service was complete night and day. Stay away from...