Tijuana Flats — Restaurant in Cary

Ok so I have a fairly complex opinion of this place. This was my first time trying it today. I went at an off time (between lunch and dinner) so there was no crowd. The first thing I immediately noticed and appreciated was the service and attention to detail. The restaurant is impeccably clean (at least at the time of this writing). The service itself was so outstanding, it's the sole reason I decided to write this review. Unfortunately due to my short memory I have already forgotten the name of the individual that helped me, but bravo! Friendly, quick, attentive, and even went out of his way to walk to front of the store to open the door for me as I left. Now THAT is service. I would gladly return any time just for the service alone. The other thing that was really amazing was their active duty Military wall and all the pictures. I come from a military family including a brother serving over seas currently. I got a chance to hear several stories of the care packages the store and the employees ship over to the troops. This was really heart warming to see and instantly deserves 10 stars!!! As for the food, they still did a really nice job. The burrito was a little bland but in my opinion was both intentional and more traditional. I lived in Albuquerque for many years and this is by far the closest burrito I have ever had to a traditional NM burrito. If it had been on an orange fiesta plate and smothered in green or red chile, I would have thought I was back in Albuquerque. BRAVO! I feel the chain Tex Mex places around here tend to over season their food/meats. This brings me to the hot bar (and the other reason I assume the food is a little more basic). Unfortunately, the hot bar was a little disappointing. It was really clever and fun, but I thought the labels were pretty hard to read and all the sauces were either way too sweet or way too vinegary. Being from New Mexico, I opted for the hottest thing they had on the table first and I felt this was the only sauce I really enjoyed. I'll be honest though, I picked it up knowing it would knock my socks off. Really, I just wanted to try it. It turned out to be really tame though and I used it on everything. Lastly was the guacamole. Just a quick thought here. The flavor was excellent, but the texture was just a tad off. A little too smooth and creamy. Overall I thought the experience was fantastic and I will definitely return. If someone from the restaurant is reading this, you should seriously consider purchasing some "Hatch, NM" green/red chile, and offering a smothered burrito option. You would have a...

So we live within walking distance of this Tijuana Flats and have eaten here a few times. I have to say there's things I really love about this place and things that make me wish it was just Moes Southwest Grill. The staff and atmosphere are amazing, very welcoming and customer focused, which makes it a great place to go for dinner and sit out on the patio under the party string lights. Employees will go out of their way to make sure your food looks good and you have a full drink at all times, keeping in mind this is not a tip based restaurant so they are just top notch employees. The hot sauce bar is very cool, but I find half the sauces either so spicy they ruin the flavor of everything else on your food or they taste the same as a dozen other one's on the line. Maybe make this a hot sauce and salsa bar (Moe's wins out in this category). The chips are salty and have pepper on them, which I love, but others may not like that much salt. Salsa, queso, and guac is fairly priced and tastes good. Now for the biggest reason why I give this place 4 stars....the food is just OK. I've tried tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and taco salads here and they all leave me wanting more flavor and food afterward because I'm still hungry! Keep in mind a "meal" here costs $8-$12 so kind of on the high side for a quick food option where I leave hungry. In fact I just did the $5.49 taco Tuesday deal today (Two chicken/beef tacos, chips, and drink) and had to get a chicken caesar salad back at work by 2pm because I was starving. We're not the only one's who think the food is meh as whenever we have friends come to visit us and I suggest we walk over to Tijuana they say lets go to the new Chuy's nearby or drive the 10 minutes to SouthPointe for Moes. I wish I could like this place more and maybe the flavor will get better, but for now Moe's it is. Also Chipotle's has gone downhill in quality and quantity, while the price continues to rise, just throwing that out on the...

My family loves going to Tijuana Flats. It can be a bit pricey if you load up on drinks and don't pay attention to what you're ordering. And chips are not necessarily included, depending on what you order. For instance, the flautas which, come with queso, guac, sour cream, etc., do NOT come with chips. We never have enough of the flautas to get through even half of the queso. That's not a ding on this location though, that's a general TF thing. This location in particular is clean, the people are VERY friendly and service-oriented and the food comes out fast and cooked well. In fact, they execute everything very well. There is never a wait which is both good and bad (thus the 4 vs 5 stars). It doesn't quite have the same atmosphere of some of the other locations. Because it seems so empty every time we go in (and we've been weekly or bi-weekly customers since they opened) it's kind of awkward being one of the only families eating in there and we rush to eat. So often, we'll take our food outside. But because of the orientation of the restaurant, the sun bears down hard on anyone sitting outside (so we rush to eat outside as well). An awning would make it much nicer. Anyway, great people, great food, but a so-so...