Tacos Y Tequila Cape Elizabeth — Restaurant in Cape Elizabeth

I thought the food here was decent and I hadn’t had a problem with service prior times I had visited (2021). However, this year is another story. My partner and I pulled in at 8:15 on a Saturday to grab a drink and maybe a quick appetizer - I knew they closed at 9 and wasn’t looking for a meal. My partner had recently had a pretty severe stroke and we were trying to do normal thing again. We drove up and parked and during that time, there was a female worker leaning on the door from the inside and looking out. We walked up (he limps significantly and had a hard time walking to the door) and by the time we got there, the door was locked and the same worker was standing talking to a cook and completely ignoring us, even though she’d watched us walk the entire way up. The door made a loudish noise when we pulled it because we didn’t expect it to be locked, and it seemed like she intentionally ignored us. We walked back to the car and I turned around to look, and she was back at the door watching us walk away.

Now, listen, if they were out of food or weren’t taking full dinner guests, I get that, they could’ve simply said so. To which I would’ve replied that we were only looking for a drink and a small snack, not to keep anyone past their shift. Maybe we would’ve been able to come in, maybe not, that’s only part of the issue. Nothing was posted online or on the door about not taking customers after a certain time, and it was only 8:15 with open tables! Regardless of the time or policy, the treatment by the worker was absurd.

I own a business too and I know how important customer service is - this is really one of the absolute worst experiences I’ve ever had being (what seemed to be) intentionally locked out and ignored by a worker. It would’ve taken minimal effort and no extra time for that worker to open the door and explain the situation with some humanity, but instead she LOCKED THE DOOR AND IGNORED US after watching my poor partner struggle to make it to the door in the first place. Talk about being heartless and absolutely destroying the reputation of this entire restaurant.

I don’t care who she was or who was having a bad day or not, but treating customers like that is never acceptable.

We’re locals, and we’ll never be back (unless it changes...

I'm not picky when it comes to food quality. My soft tacos were pretty good. However, there is a flaw with this restaurant which is blatantly disrespectful to the customer. Entrees are supposed to come with chips, and are advertised as such. When you order takeout though, it's apparent that the restaurant owners put zero thought into having a good system for this. If you order takeout just for yourself, you get one bag of chips, which is good. BUT, if you order takeout for yourself plus three friends, you still only get a single bag of chips! I get that one bag of chips is a good amount for one person; for 4 people to share though? That's absolutely ridiculous. Every entree should come with chips, even if it's a lesser amount. But this is not the case. This restaurant has not put any thought into this whatsoever. Having good food does not justify scamming the customer when they order takeout with friends.

Update: I was honestly not expecting such an intense response. I'm sorry if I struck a nerve. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have used the word "scamming" in regards to the corn chips portion system. I should have just said it's a pretty lazy and disappointing system. On the restaurant's online menu, as of the time I'm writing this, there's no way to buy an order of corn chips (there's only nachos). This leads the customer to assume they're going to get enough chips, especially if they've been there before and gotten takeout alone. So when someone orders takeout with a bunch of friends, they will likely be quite disappointed. However, at the end of the day, this isn't the end of the world. I barely ever leave reviews, but I'm kinda mad at all the inflation and portion size issues everywhere, not just here. I think this restaurant could benefit from a chips system which takes into account the number of entrees or total money spent, which could mean that a single entree order gets less chips, which I'd be fine with. Hopefully my review will make people aware that customers ordering takeout with a group of friends will only get one bag of chips, which will allow them to plan ahead by buying chips at the grocery...

I want to leave this place a good review but can’t. I live 2 hours away and when visiting family in the area we almost always go to Tacos y Tequila. When they first opened they were fantastic! We would go for the octopus appetizers alone! Things were great for a little while. The menu changed and so went the octopus appetizers. It happens. There was still other good food on the menu. Over our last few visits we have noticed the food declining, and while I was never blown away by the service there, it is currently at an all time low. I’m not sure if our server was stoned or just allergic to a personality but it was not a good experience. She was unfamiliar with menu items which wouldn’t be that big of a deal except she was also doubling as the bartender. Pro tip, just order something in a bottle if you want it to taste the way it’s supposed to. The new signature menu items we tried were uninspiring. The southwest egg roll was dry and bland but saved by the sauce accompanying it which tasted like it came from a can. The TYT signature dip was runny, watery queso with way overcooked strips of chicken and steak in it. Skip the dip. My wife’s salad was supposed to come with avocado dressing but was served with what tasted like cheap Italian dressing. The only thing we ordered that was good were the tacos. I had 1 chorizo and 1 shrimp and those were great. However, we will not be going back. We loved this place but it’s just not...