El Sombrero - Brookhaven — Restaurant in Brookhaven

Came on a Sunday, early evening (4:30)The patio was closed as it was either the owners birthday or the owners son and they were preparing for a birthday party. Restaurant wasn’t super busy or packed. Maybe 4 booths and one long table in the middle. The bar area was fully seated but not loud and obnoxious. The decor is very colorful and pretty. Love the faux flowers and the lighting. The service wasn’t good. Despite our server only having two tables, it was a very long wait for a drink order. She struggled with remembering anything. When we finally had someone get her so we could get a refill as our cups were completely empty, she had put coke in the tea and tea in the coke even though she herself took the straw out of one of them. We had to ask someone else for napkins. She couldn’t remember things we asked for, like small plates, no tomato's etc…..She was friendly but never around and hard to find. The food….i can’t say I was all that impressed. The nachos were good. My husband, myself and my Little liked the beef on the nachos. My husband got the fried burritos (with beef) and said it wasn’t something he cared for or that he would want to get again. He expected the same beef that was on the nachos but intend, it was the shredded beef. Similar to a roast. Didn’t have any flavor though. He ate half of one and pushed the plate away. His food was cold and lacked flavor. He said he’d give it a 4/10. He did get a beef tamale a la cart and said it was delicious. I ordered the birria tacos. I ate one of 3. I thought about sending them back but I just boxed it instead. I’ve eaten birria tacos at several locations and I’ve even made them at home. They’re usually pretty consistent. Absolutely do not expect the birria tacos like FRIENDS KITCHEN serves. The birria dipping broth is bland and cold and has spaghetti l noodles in it . I wouldn’t have even minded the noodles had there been flavor. It’s very runny, like water. Very oily. They don’t bring onions and cilantro on the side like I’ve usually seen. Despite asking for some, I never received neither. It’s cooked in the meat and they put it in the watery, oily broth. It’s the same price as most places, but doesn’t come with any rice. The birria meat in the taco is like eating a roast with no salt or seasonings. I’m not a fan of how much cheese they use but it had a good bit of meat. The taco itself is very limp and greasy. They need to maybe double up on the taco and definitely need to keep it cooking longer. There’s no crunch at all and it’s hard to even eat it like a taco because it just falls apart. Hard to eat with a fork too. 0/10 on the birria. My daughter ordered the cheese quesadilla. She said it was ok. The beans were spicy. The rice was good. She gives it a 7/10. Overall, nice vibes, service might be good with another server but ours was a hard no. Maybe other dishes are good but overall, I don’t know that...

We went to meet friends here for dinner, my honest assessment... PROS: staff, including management, are so kind and friendly and went above and beyond trying to make us feel welcomed. Decor is so fun, and creates a party atmosphere. CONS: my food was cold, not even lukewarm, but actually cold. I ordered the vegetarian burritos plate, which were both the size of a medium carrot, cold, and they left off the rice and beans-which I assumed were en route, but never came. The place was packed, and I was trying to be sympathetic. But as I waited, everyone was finishing their plates. So I just boxed my cold, skinny burritos and took them home. $12.79 for 2 tiny burritos and no sides is insanely overpriced. The salsa is seriously watered down - like a combination of pico de gallo and canned salsa/water added? And the flour tortillas are store bought, not fresh - which was shocking. Having been raised on authentic, homemade Mexican food, making flour tortillas is so easy to make and 1/20th the price of store bought. Lastly, they pack the place. I was back to back with another table of larger patrons and spent an hour being shoved and bumped repeatedly (most apologized profusely, it wasn't their fault). It made for an unpleasant experience. So, cold, small portions, missing menu items, inauthentic ingredients, but super sweet staff and management. Not sure if we'd try again when we're in the area. Creci comiendo autentica comida Mexicana. Lamento decir que no es lo que estoy...

⭐☆☆☆☆

This was by far the worst Mexican restaurant experience I’ve ever had. We waited 15 minutes just to place a drink order and never actually got a server—we had to flag someone down. Chips and salsa were the only good part of the meal.

The water was awful—tasted like chlorinated sink water mixed with dish soap, with black specks floating in the glass. I ended up drinking bottled water I brought in, and no one even noticed.

The parking lot at 5pm was sketchy, dirty, and felt more like a block party than a restaurant. Inside looked decent, but the service and food were terrible. My burrito tasted frozen (like something from Walmart), the beans were straight out of a can, and the rice was bland, like a heat-and-serve bag. We even ordered 3 plain cheese quesadillas with water and instead got kids’ meals.

Overall, horrible service, wrong orders, and food with no flavor. The only redeeming thing was the salsa. I will not be back. Other customers were looking around for their waiter as well after we ordered, seems to be a personnel or management issue that was not an...