Guacamole's Mexican Cuisine Branford — Restaurant in Branford

This is the first time back to Guacamole's since before Covid and it was a major disappointment. The food had always been tasty and the service a bit hit-and-miss in the past, but last night's experience was terrible from start to finish: slow service, elusive waitstaff, forgotten items, cold food, A/C on too cold for October, and dirty bathrooms. The only highlight - and ONLY reason for my 2 stars - was the always-excellent "tableside guacamole" which is now served from a small station mid-restaurant. The line for apparent take-out orders was visibly slow and at least one table walked out before they even got their drinks.

We arrived at around 6:30 to see 3 tables finishing up their meals, another 3 that appeared to have recently arrived, a few folks in the bar area and couple tables outside. Definitely not even close to full and plenty of employees running around.

If you want details, read on...otherwise RUN to another restaurant. Taco Bell would be a better choice!

We were told to seat ourselves and immediately received water, chips and salsa. It went drastically downhill from there. Our server came over after about 10-15 minutes to take our drink order (a soda and a hot tea). We were ready to order food at the same time (the guac, a burrito, and a quesadilla). The guacamole arrived a couple minutes later, but no drinks for about half an hour. The server arrived with just the tea (now lukewarm, not hot) and asked if there was anything else he could bring us...uh, my soda?

Thankfully my friend and I were spending time chatting, so although we knew it had been a while we didn't really pay attention until the chips and guac had run out. It was now 7:45 and still no meals. Several other tables of patrons were also basically being ignored - guac, drinks and then nothing.

At almost 8:00, the server finally arrived with the usual Mexican restaurant fanfare of dishes so scalding that potholders are the only way..."be careful, the plates are hot!" Well, nope. I dug into my burrito to be greeted with chicken-salad-temp poultry. I dared...I touched the plate. It wasn't even heat-lamp hot. The flavor was there, just not the temp. My friend's quesadilla was also only warm. Rather than wait another 2 hours, we picked at our food, then asked for a couple boxes...twice...and the check.

The server was prompt with the check, although it had a total of almost $200...yep, not our table dude! We finally got the right check - thankfully I had cash and didn't have to wait for a card to be run - and left.

Interestingly, we overheard several people waiting for takeout also complaining that they had been told to pick-up in half an hour and then ended up waiting more than an additional half hour at the restaurant. The most curious part of the night was the table of about 8-10 early-20-somethings that came in around 8:00. They got their drinks right away and then their food came in a reasonable amount of time while other 2- and 4-tops that had been there quite a while before still hadn't been served.

I know it's tough out there for restaurants now and have enough knowledge of the business to be patient if service slowdowns are communicated. If our server had brought drinks promptly and checked in regularly to explain they were short-handed in the kitchen or whatever, this review wouldn't even be here. Their tableside guacamole artist should take his talents elsewhere. Guacamole's just has absolutely no care for customer service or the quality of the product...

Incompetent staff / Disresepct to Military Service Members:

While Guacamole’s serves up some pretty tasty food, this review is solely based on the disrespect that occurred towards five active duty military members, one of them being myself. A small group of us went here for dinner last week and ordered a round of margaritas. The waiter asked for our ID’s (as he should have) and we all provided them without hesitation. It just so happens that all of us carry an out-of-state driver’s license because as most people may know, the military clause allows service member’s to retain their home of record driver’s license among other things as they transfer from station to station. The waiter began to shake his head in discontent and said “this is fake,” and at this point it’s sort of understandable for him to not recognize a driver’s license from another state. With that being said, I provided him with a secondary source of identification, my active duty military ID (CAC). I then instructed him that the DOB is listed on the back of the ID. His demeanor didn’t change, he became more irritated and continued to believe that everything I was providing him was fake and refused to serve me any alcohol. My friends began to explain that he was going to see a common theme with their ID’s because they all have out-of-state driver’s licenses as well. The waiter started to raise his voice, which brought attention from other customers in the restaurant and he began to bend my driver’s license (which is now permanently bent along the barcode). At this point, we asked him to bring the bartender over because we had visited this establishment a number of times previously and the bartender was familiar with our faces (I know this because he even asked me how I was doing when we walked in). The waiter dropped my ID’s on the table and said “go to the bar area, I don’t care, I’m not going to lose my job for accepting a fake ID.” It’s one thing when someone doesn’t recognize an out-of-state ID, but when a secondary source of identification is provided and it happens to be an active duty military ID card and they continue to be disrespectful and refuse service claiming that both ID’s are fake, it’s truly mind boggling. Honestly, I will probably still go back to this establishment because the food is authentic and it’s one of the best Mexican restaurants near the New Haven area, but I refuse to be served by this same waiter. I guess the only option is to sit at the bar with the bartender who’s served us before. Perhaps this waiter should take lessons on providing better customer service or become more familiar with how a military ID card looks; at least grab a manager for assistance.

PREVIOUS REVIEW (4 stars): This place has delicious Mexican food. The prices are a little on the high side though, and the service is hit or miss. The food definitely makes up for those two things though. This is definitely my go-to place for Mexican cuisine near the...

The food was good.

They start you off with chips and dip. The salsa has a very smokey flavor. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was very good. They also bring a dipping bowl of mashed beans (refried beans?). My date thought it was queso, but in took the first bite and let him know otherwise. I honestly thought it was delicious.

I got the Seafood Special. The seasoning was really good - not over powering or salty. I kind of wish there was more octopus on the dish though. I asked for a side of extra pico de gallo - it's the perfect partner for this dish. The pico was ok, but IMHO, I felt that the veggies could have been diced up better (smaller pieces) and I could hardly taste the cilantro.

I got a frozen mango margarita. The mango flavor was light, but overall it tasted pretty good. Definitely not watered down!

My date got a burrito. It was big enough for him to take home half. He said he enjoyed it.

The service was awesome. We were offered the option of eating outside, at the bar or the dining room. Outside was tempting since there are water views but with the on and off showers of the day, we opted for the dining room. The placement of the booth was a little tight as I knocked my knees again the center table post getting into the booth (I have long legs), so they quickly adjusted the booth for my comfort. The server (I wish I could remember his name) was very attentive. I'd give 5 stars just based on that.

The atmosphere was pretty cool. We were there during sunlight hours, but I have a feeling that it would be even cooler at night. My only disappointment was that they weren't playing Mexican music.

All around, a very enjoyable experience. I would...