Patron Mexican Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Camarillo

Food - Camarillo: 4/5, Everywhere else: 3/5; decent, nothing special Service: Nice people, but terrible service. To be fair, it was a Friday night.

Story: We waited 20-25 minutes to get a table. The place was packed. We knew what we wanted and when the waitress came 5-10 minutes after we were seated, we had a question about the beers on tap. Chips came promptly. Then 5-10 minutes later she came back to tell us what they had. She must have had got held up.

We ordered drinks and food. We had to ask for water 3-4 times from 2-3 people. The first guy brought back 1 glass of water for our table of 4. I asked again for 4 waters. We eventually got the water, but never got straws. After around 20 minutes and then the food came out. We still hadn't received our drink order. When we asked about our drinks, they apologized, and again 5-10 minutes later one drink came out for one person at our table. A little later the waitress came back and we asked again about the other drinks. She apologized, and our drink order eventually came out more than halfway through our meal.

What got me to write this review was how annoyed I was about trying to use our Axxess card. I pulled it up on my app, used the buy-one-get-one meal free offer. They said their system was not working so they would not honor it. I told them that was one on the main reasons we wanted to check out the place. I never do this, but I asked for a manager. He took a screenshot of the QR code on the app, tried again on his phone, and eventually it worked. By the time we were done, it was 5-10 minutes later and the table had been bused. I felt extra terrible because there were around 10-15 people waiting outside. If I was more pompous I would have told them to just go somewhere else.

If the service shapes up, I might give this place a 4/5...

The staff is very friendly and attentive. They get 5 stars. The food on the other hand, not so much.

Tried this place a couple of times before deciding to review. I had the three item combo, served with rice & beans. I swear you'd have to go to the Foxconn factory employee cafeteria in Juarez Mexico to find worse beans. I guess this is what makes it authentic? I've eaten in a few Mexican factory cafeterias over the years and I've had better food in some of those. The chile rellano was plopped down on top of the gross beans, making a mediocre relleno even worse. The chicken enchilada was void of any flavor but sodium. The beef taco wasn't bad though. The flautas appetizer was super dry but served with condiments so you could get through it. They have Tapatillo if you ask for it, which for me is a plus.

The prices are fair and would be a boon to their business if the food were worth eating.

Since I'm complaining I'll add this. The environment should serve the client. The music seemed to be for employee enjoyment instead of ambiance. It wasn't blasting but way too loud to have a decent conversation without talking louder than you should in a restaurant. They have TVs all over the place, clearly wanting to cater to the sports bar crowd, which could be a plus. However, if you're going to have TVs you should pay attention to them. Although it was Thursday and the Colts were playing the Texans, they showed the Ohio-Bowling Green blowout on half the screens and monster trucks on the others. The decor is nice though, much better than the previous Mission Oaks Cafe.

With so many good quality Mexican restaurants in Camarillo, Patrons really needs to overhaul their model if they want to stay in business. I suggest they start...

Responded to happy hour promotion and were seated. When we asked for happy hour menu we we'd told it was only available in the bar--which had not been mentioned in the promotion. Re-seated in the bar, we were ignored while a couple seated several minutes after us had their orders taken I asked for menus, only one of which was provided. Finally, out order was taken. The Fiesta platter--a shared dish-- was served, but we had to ask for individual plates. My wife ordered a bowl of soup, but was served a cup. Only one "setup" was provided. We had to ask for another and I had to walk to the bar to ask for more napkins. I ordered a dark Bohemia beer and was served a pilsner in a dark bottle. The food and the chicken-tortilla soup were bland and uninspired. I make a better tortilla soup at home. The staff were all very pleasant and smiley, but it all seemed insincere, since they were completely inattentive. We had to ask for every single thing we needed. When they asked, smiling, how the food was "tasting" I told them it was disappointing. "Oh," was the swing answer, as the server turned away. Too bad. It's one of only two restaurants in our neighborhood and we were looking forward to making it a favorite. Instead, we have crossed it off our list. Better to get in the car and drive three miles to where the food is tasty and the...