Cabo's Mexican Cuisine & Cantina — Restaurant in Charlotte

This used to be my favorite Mexican spot in Charlotte, but the quality of the food and the service have fallen off. We were there at 1 pm on Wednesday. Two of us and a table in the back with 6 people and a table of 4 across from us, so not busy. I saw lots of people working. I sat down and the other person in my party needed to use the restroom. He asked me to order him a water and cheese dip. He came back from the restroom and I still didn't have a wait staff member to even acknowledge me. When she finally arrived, she wasn't happy about being there. I ordered our drinks and the cheese dip. She brought our drinks, someone else brought the cheese dip. The first bowl of chips was stale. They brought us another and they were perfect. I ordered a Cabo’s Chef Salad and a chicken quesadilla. When the salad arrived it looked good, I put my dressing on and began to mix it up. There was 80% purple cabbage and 10% lettuce. I was not happy with that, as most people wouldn't. I waited for our waitress to finally come back and showed her. She said that there is a lot of cabbage they use a mix, and she didn't know what had happened. I asked if they could make me a new one with just lettuce (I know they have just lettuce because they make taco salad, tacos, and garnish with it). She took it, came back and said they were fixing it. A few minutes later, she brought me back the exact same salad that someone dug into, pulled some cabbage out and gave it back to me. Number 1, there is now less cabbage, but still cabbage, and number 2, who digs into someone's plate, picks stuff out and gives it back to them. I could have done that myself but for a $15 salad I shouldn't have to. The other person in my party had finished their food and I asked for a box, and I went to the restroom. While I was in the restroom, my waitress came in and decided to vape. I saw the smoke under the stall door and for a second I couldn't figure out what was on fire. Anyway, we paid our $30 bill plus tip and left, and I promise I will not be back...

Stew the server was very attentive and humble. He did an AMAZING job!

The food however, had much to be desired. I ordered the"Cuban Ropa Vieja" dish; and let's just say... it was everything but Cuban ropa vieja!

The plantains they served were not fresh fried plantains they appeared to be reheated fried plantains.

I guess the owner likes to repurpose what isn't used or prepares a bunch of food in the morning and then reheats it as the day goes by.

I know traditional Latin food. Being that I'm Latin myself.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is suppose to be a texmex restaurant. They may want to reevaluate their menu.

The good things about the food:

The black beans with the white rice were good, the cheese dip with the Mexican chorizo was decent, the chips appear to be made fresh. The horchata was pretty good.

I expressed my dislike in my dish to my server Stew and he appeared to be very helpful in showing me other dishes. Then someone who appeared to be the owner walked over very pompous as if he knew good Ropa Vieja saying "Well that's our recipe"

Well friend I'm here to tell you that what you served me tonight...is not true Ropa Vieja. Perhaps you should go eat true Ropa Vieja in an authentic Cuban restaurant then you will know what it really taste like. You'll then go back and reevaluate your "recipe" 🤢 Then you had the audacity to get an attitude with me when I called you out on it!

It's quite alright because now the whole world will know what you and your "Cabos" restaurant is all about. Hyping up people and make them think like you're truly selling them authentic Latin food.

CONSUMER BEWARE this establishment DOES NOT sell AUTHENTIC LATIN FOOD!

Truly a disappointment, then to top things of you itemized every single item on my bill...but don't worry I...

So here are a forward statements:

"Your mouth doesn't have to pay for this gym membership"

"You'll love this place if your drunk or you have lost your palate"

We ordered the Lomo Saltado (steak/green peppers/3D fries with some rice on the side and my wife ordered some beans with steak and rice.

We ordered our food, and literally 5 minutes later our food came out. Not a good sign!

Two plates came out, looking eerily the same, the food was arranged slightly different. More of cafeteria style.

The food was devoid of taste. Our meats were essentially the same even though we ordered something different. I don't know what the worst part of the cow is, but we got it. The flavor wasn't great, but what was worse was the exercise your mouth had to undertake to eat one small piece. Bubblegum would have been more pleasurable. It felt we were chewing a combination of plastic and cardboard.

The service was good, and the drink my wife ordered was probably the only good thing about the meal.

Couldn't see the food being prepared, so we hope the animal being advertised on the menu was the animal on our plate.

RATINGS

10 - speed of service, attentiveness (would give a score of 22 if it existed. This food came out faster than Taco Bell. Was this food already prepared,? Maybe? I have never been able to cook meat under 5 minutes, chewy and hard no less. They must have a super duper time machine cooker. 7 - cleanliness 8 -. Ambiance 1 - food quality/taste 9 - portion size 1 - authenticity of cuisine. (Other Mexican restaurants beat this hands down. Wish we had gone to the pizzeria or the Great Wall of China next door)

$$$ out of 5 for...