El Maguey Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Chesterfield

I'm usually pretty easy to please when it comes to Mexican food. Give me some decent chips and salsa, and I'm halfway there. But my recent experience at El Maguey on 13377 Olive Boulevard was so profoundly bad, it compelled me to write this warning. This wasn't just "mediocre" or "disappointing" – this was truly, genuinely inedible.

From the moment the food arrived, it was clear something was off. The "chips" were stale and greasy, tasting like they'd been fried in old motor oil. The salsa, which should be a vibrant, flavorful cornerstone of any Mexican meal, was nothing more than bland, watery tomato puree with a hint of garlic powder. It offered absolutely no zing, no freshness, no indication that it had ever seen a fresh pepper.

Then came the main course. I ordered a combination plate, hoping for a variety of flavors, but instead, I got a plate of culinary despair. The enchilada was a soggy, flavorless mess, the tortilla disintegrating into a pasty sludge beneath a thin, watery sauce that tasted suspiciously like it came straight from a can. The meat inside was dry, overcooked, and completely devoid of seasoning – it was impossible to tell if it was beef or some other mystery protein.

The "refried beans" were a grayish, unappetizing paste, with a texture so unappealing I couldn't bring myself to take more than a single tentative bite. And the rice? Oh, the rice. It was hard, clumpy, and tasted faintly of burnt plastic. It was truly a struggle to even discern it as rice.

It felt less like a meal prepared with care and more like a collection of pre-made, reheated components that had been left out for too long. The ingredients seemed low-quality, and the execution was simply abysmal. I've had better "Mexican food" from a gas station microwave.

I left El Maguey at 13377 Olive Boulevard feeling not just unsatisfied, but genuinely ripped off. It's rare that I encounter food that is so objectively bad it's impossible to finish, but this was it. Save yourself the disappointment and the indigestion – there are countless other Mexican restaurants out there that actually know how to cook. This one, unfortunately, is...

Sorry so long. The food was okay, but not as good as some of the other El Maguey restaurants. Service was terrible especially at check out. We were the only ones in the restaurant the whole time we ate and there was only 5 of us. Told waiter when ordered, 4 separate tickets. He wrote our orders down. When we asked for our bills, he said he would have to ring it up at register. So we went to pay and he couldn't remember what we ordered. We told him, but he couldn't seem to get the orders correct on the ticket. Stood they for over15 minutes for him to get it correct and said he had to combine some of them to get them correct. We said fine, we would figure it out later. Come to find out, he over charged us because he put several orders on multiple tickets. I know, we should have made sure it was correct before we paid, but we were getting upset at how long it was taking. We were over charged by more than ten dollars when we started comparing tickets and figuring out who owed who. Then we were talking and realized, the guy never used the register to give us change, but made us change from what looked like out of his pocket or front of his apron when we were at the register. We all paid cash and think they pocketed the money without registering it. We even left a top before leaving the table and there was no alcohol ordered. Long story short, did okay, service...

DO NOT GO HERE! This was the worst customer service I have ever experienced! I ordered 4 separate orders over the phone 30 minutes before the orders were to be picked up, on a one hour lunch break time limit. I was told that the orders would be ready in 10 minutes. I showed up, at the time that had been previously stated in said phone call, and informed that I was there to pick up an order that had been called in. I proceeded to wait 30 minutes before the waitress came back over and verified the orders, once again 4 separate orders. I waited another 15 minutes before the orders were brought out and was told the total as a whole. I informed once again that the orders were separate and needed to be paid separately. One order was charged $2 for chips that are given FREE with every meal. All of the orders of salsa were half filled and the bean dip that was ordered was barely existent in the large container it was served in. We were not acknowledged while standing at the counter for almost 45 minutes waiting on something that should have already been cooked and ready to go before we got there. It was a very disappointing experience as I have always enjoyed every El Maguey location I have been to. I WILL NOT EVER patronize this location again! I hope management looks at these things and knows that his employees are rude, inefficient and have the worst customer service I have ever...