Pepe's Cantina Clermont — Restaurant in Clermont

I wanted to write this while it was fresh on my mind. I also want to preface this by saying I was in the service industry as a server at The Cheesecake Factory for 8 years, so I know a thing or two about service. My wife and I went to Pepe's Cantina tonight 03-02-2025 to have a dinner outside on their front patio while the sun was setting. There were several other parties that were sat outside, but it wasn't insanely busy at all. We got sat immediately and were brought chips and salsa and water as soon as we sat. We browsed the menu for about 5-7 minutes until we decided what we wanted to eat and closed our menus and put them to the side of the table. This is were it went downhill. We sat for about 15 minutes without anyone acknowledging us. We finished our waters, and ate all of our complimentary chips and salsa. Servers were attending to all other tables around us but not once did anyone come to us and assist us. We are pretty patient people so we sat there for another 5-10 minutes until I decided to go inside and tell the hostess that we hadn't been taken care of yet, and if she could please send someone over to serve us. When I went in to tell the hostess we hadn't been taken care of yet there were 2 women in-front of me that got sat outside right next to the table we were sitting at. They got greeted by their server immediately. A few minutes go by and someone brings more chips and salsa to our table and some more water, and I tell this person we are ready to order our food. She left the chips and drinks and walked away. We waited about another 5 minutes for someone to come over and introduce themselves as our server until we ultimately decided to get up and leave. At first it felt like we were invisible, until a server had to literally have me scoot my chair out of his way so he could get to one of his tables beside ours. What would have been a really nice dinner in downtown Clermont turned out to be a total waste of time thanks to Pepe's Cantina. It's a shame because the first time I went there with my wife and her parents, we were served almost immediately, the food came out in a timely manner and the food was actually pretty good. Luckily we are locals and know of better options where we can go and get decent service and good food like Tacos De Don Ramon which is about a 10 minute drive from Pepe's. The only reason I'm giving Pepe's 1 Star is because the first time I went, I actually had some form of service and the food was pretty good. If it hadn't been a good experience the first time I would have given it 0 stars. Unfortunately I will most likely never go back...

Edit #2: we went back on a Saturday night and ate inside. The food and service was phenomenal. They definitely made up for the last visit. I would recommend eating here and especially inside. Tony has been amazing service and we truly appreciate everything to make our rare date night amazing.

Edit: ended up going in and manager comped one of the chimichangas and had them both remade. They apologized and tried to make things right. Updating from 1 star to 3. It was a very frustrating experience but I know things happen. Hopefully. Things are learned from this and they can improve from here. Additional charge was removed.

Worst experience I’ve ever had. Placed my order for pick at 6:01. Arrived at 6:25 to pick up my order that was to be ready at 6:16pm. Restaurant is BUSY! Everyone’s enjoying their time and food. We had to wait a bit for the hostess, typical Friday night no issues. They put in we are here for the order. We are waiting and clearly in the way. So we managed to snag seats at the bar. 20mins goes by and we ask about our order. They say they are going to check and never come back. By now an hour has gone by and still no food. So I approached someone and asked for a refund on our order as it’s been over an hour and still now food. Manager comes and apologies. There was a mix up and miscommunication. Our order was never put through to the kitchen. They gave me my order and I just got home. I ordered two chicken chimichangas and a steak fajita. I ended up with steak fajita fixings, no tortillas, a chicken quesadilla and a SHRIMP chimichanga. I’m allergic to seafood. Overall horrible experience. I called and the owner said she’d comp the two meals messed up. Just got charged $82.39. So now I have $126.01 and $82.39 pending...

This was our first visit. So great to have a place like this in Clermont. We've tried the others and this is now our favorite. It's in a downtown area so the only parking is a few curbside spaces out front and nearby public parking lots that are a very short walk away. There's a medium size dining room and outdoor patio seating. If there's a small-moderate wait, it's worth it. And the happy hour specials are a great way to start an evening.

Chips were warm, crisp, and kept coming. The included salsa isn't too spicy and has a hint of sweetness to it. The guacamole was a nice show but wasn't necessary. Please try the queso blanco though. It was REALLY good. We'll be getting it every time from now on. The happy hour drinks were a good value, especially with a bonus serving of queso. The sangria was okay. The margaritas were smooth and strong. Both on rocks and frozen. Nice liquor pours. My kind of bartender. lol. Good selection of beers too. The food was superb. Wife got chorizo tacos and I got the XXL carnitas burrito (attached pic). The chorizo has some kick to it. Carnitas were moist. Everything was perfect. Delicious. Hearty portions. Nobody should ever leave here hungry.

Aside from the food being delicious. We will come back because the service was great. The hostess, our server (Alexa), and another server I asked a question to were all very friendly yet professional. They worked as a team. The kitchen staff seems to have pride in their work because literally everything I saw coming out looked beautiful. The owner should be proud. The menu prices were reasonable for the quality ingredients I felt like I was consuming. I was told they've only been open for about 2 months as of this review. I hope they keep it up and stay for a...