Agave Maria — Restaurant in Belleville

I am honestly so disappointed I have to write this review but I’m doing so because I don’t want another bride & groom to go through this horrible situation.

My husband & I decided to have our wedding at Agave Maria in September 16. Let me just say that if it wasn’t for my loved ones being there with us I can’t really say we enjoyed our special day there. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone trying to have their wedding or huge event there. We had about 60 guests attend and only had 2 servers and only 2 waiters for the entire time. Not one glass of water was served to our guests the entire event. We ordered pitchers of sangria to be on each table and for the reception some tables had and some didn’t.

Our guests trying to order their food was horrible, some waiters were very rude to my guests. We were suppose to have a three course menu option and many never received the first or last course meals!

No one approached my husband and I to ever take our food or drink orders. My husband had to go to the bar just to waive the waiters down for attention. I receive my second course meal, I got up to use the bathroom and say hello to my guests, when I came back to the table my entire plate was gone!! The waiter never asked me if I was done with my meal or wanted to take it to go. I didn’t have a single bite of that plate!

One of my guests had to go into the kitchen to get utensils because they weren’t provided to them! My guests saw the coordinator outside mingling with friends and behind the bar singing and dancing. She wasn’t even dressed to proper work attire and was so hard to track down anytime I needed help that day. We only had the room for 5 hours and we were over the time frame by 20 mins and they were practically kicking everyone out of the room.

Instead of communicating with myself or my husband the entire wedding time Sherlyn the coordinator wasn’t present, I had the play the “coordinator” role on my own wedding day.

They never even served our wedding cake to our guests when I asked the coordinator to cake and served the cake to our guests she was more worried about telling me the was a cake cutting fee and that she couldn’t have the cake served in the room because it was 15 mins before we all had to exit the room. They wanted us all out of there by 6pm so they could rush us all out to get that room ready for the “vip event nights” again another money grab. They were more attentive to the bar section of the room because they knew we didn’t get an open bar package and wanted to make more money.

They offered us two vip tables on the rooftop after the reception for a few of our guests who wanted to keep the party going…again no communication. The staff in the speakeasy room never communicated with the staff on the rooftop letting them know we had tables reserved so when our guests went upstairs to the VIP tables, they were denied entrance. I personally reserved those two tables for the entire night and they ended up giving our tables away to other random people at the venue.

We only got to do our couples cake cutting, wedding party speeches and dancing because our dj and myself going up to the microphone each time to make announcements when I should have just been enjoying my time with my loved ones and husband. After we spoke with management and even had a meeting with the entire management team all they could do was bicker back-and-forth with us and offer us hush up money. Instead of being apologetic and hearing us out. I never was a bridezilla at all and for us to have to had experienced this for our wedding was and still is traumatizing.

As I am writing this, I just hope that management staff and the entire venue learn from their mistakes and own up to their mistakes. Nobody is perfect but it is better to lend an open ear and try to correct what customers are not happy about especially for their wedding. This is a chill spot to grab a quick bite or drink at but for any important event I highly would...

I never post anything, but wanted to share my experience from Saturday night, 9-14 I have been to agave Maria a handful of times, the drinks and food are great!! This past Saturday we went for my daughter’s 22nd birthday. We made reservations at 8:30pm for 12 people, ended up to be 8 people-told the front when we arrived, When we got there, there were 4 of us girls there first, I looked over to my daughter who was having a wrist band put on, I asked her what for, she said she didn’t know and was charged $10, she gave cash. I moved in and asked and the woman at the front, she said it was for the fight. I didn’t even know what fight, I said that we were there for dinner not a fight. She acted as though she didn’t understand me. I shook my head, gave her my card and said to charge it for the 4 of us. My daughter then reminded me that she gave cash, I went back to the front (all of 2 seconds later) and again they were like oh I don’t know. Then when we got upstairs they put us at a table that was really for 6 people, not sure how when they were expecting 12. I mentioned to a manager or some gentleman, who said that our table was the one next to it but to give it 15 minutes, it was already almost 9 at this point. He directed us to the bar, the bartender was fantastic, thank goodness! When they came to seat us, they put us at another 6 person table, but the 2 person table next to us was empty so we pulled it over. They mentioned we couldn’t do that and I explained what we just went through and luckily they let us. At that point we just wanted to eat and leave. But, the music, bartender and waitress made it worthwhile. We left before the main fight started so that was a total money grabber. Oh, and was told when I called to ask about brining a cake that it was NOT allowed, only for decoration?!? Lol

As a suggestion to the restaurant, as it’s a beautiful spot with great food and drinks-if you have a special event such as the fight airing in this case, makes sure to let people know they will be charged additionally at the door, or put a time limit on the table. Being that I understand how it works with paying for an event at the door and have done this a lot in the past, usually they charge you after a certain hour like 10pm-it’s a restaurant and we were there for dinner. And you can bring a cake for decoration only, sounds silly, and thankfully I asked, I feel bad for the people that bring a cake and can’t even have it! Maybe charge a small fee.

After all was done we spent a lot of money there, and hopefully I’ll be...

Background: After making an online reservation, I called the restaurant and spoke with a male who assured me we’d be seated on the rooftop (weather permitting) and not in the dining room.

Upon arrival, we were told we didn’t have a rooftop reservation. The hostess radioed someone and then told us we could go up but would need to give the table back by 7:15.

When we reached the rooftop, we were greeted by the general manager — a short Spanish man with a left-arm tattoo and an ego the size of Belleville — who immediately told us our reservation was for the dining room. We explained that the hostess had just spoken to someone who had agreed to seat us upstairs. The manager responded rudely, telling us he was the manager and there were no tables for us up there (despite only four tables being occupied at the time). Eventually, he begrudgingly offered us a low-top table in direct sun with no umbrella — the only one without shade — and told us we’d need to leave by 7:00.

Trying to make the best of a bad situation, we ordered drinks and an appetizer.

When we requested chips and guacamole, I clearly mentioned my cilantro allergy. Less than a minute later, the guacamole was brought to the table with visible cilantro. Our waitress took it back to the bar and then to the kitchen, only to return with the same plate and tell us it was pre-made and couldn’t be prepared without cilantro. What’s especially disappointing is that when we dined here back in January, we had no issue ordering items without cilantro — the staff then was so accommodating.

Additionally, the chips and queso (which was basically water consistency) was served without salsa, which was listed as part of the dish on the menu.

By 6:24, we decided to leave — the rooftop was mostly empty — and the manager had the nerve to make a sarcastic comment like, “Oh, leaving so soon?”

This was especially disappointing because my group had such a wonderful experience here back in January. We had recommended this place to others, but after yesterday’s visit, we will not be returning.

The funny thing is, I was texting a friend who had recently gone there for drinks, telling her about my experience with the manager. Her reply was, “I know exactly who you’re talking about — Spanish, shaved head, sassy little thing.” Clearly, this is not an isolated issue. While this place has great potential, they seriously need to look into their staff and hire people with more experience in hospitality and...