Juanita's Tex Mex Cantina — Restaurant in College Station

My wife and I arrived at 10:35 am on 11/17/24 my family was already seated and ordered their food. We didn’t see the server for almost 15 min and we placed my order. My family that had already been there for over 45 min finally received their food and were ready to get out of the sun since they sat them down outside with the table with a broken umbrella. My wife and I waited for our food outside until 11:50 but our child was getting to hot and very hungry. We were told our food would be out in 2 minutes several times and after another 15 min of waiting we asked to be seated indoors. Once inside we still waited several minutes before our food came out. Took one bite and sent the food back. The skirt steak was well done and hard to chew. The tortillas were soggy and the chimichurri sauce was brown and tasted old. At this point my wife and child got up and left. I asked to speak to the manager and told her how bad the food and service was and asked to pay for my Iced tea so I could leave. She walked up to the front with the server to get my bill and she didn’t notice me behind her and started talking to the server about how I was just bitching about everything. Very unprofessional staff. The server did mention that the morning staff didn’t know how to cook and that’s why they were slow. They handed me my bill and they wanted to charge me $12 dollars for 1 iced tea! That was my first and last time my family will...

My cousin and I have eaten in many, many restaurants in B/CS and around Texas and the U.S. I am sure that many people will love the food here. We didn't. I rarely review a restaurant on one visit, but it will take us a long time to return. I had the mushroom and spinach rolled tortillas (enchiladas). In mine, 95% of my spinach was in just one-third of one tortilla. The mushrooms were fine but the dish was unbalanced. The cheese and sauce were way too greasy and way overspiced, especially with cumin. My borracho beans also had too much cumin. And the arroz would have been fine without a pepper that seemed burnt.

My cousin had a salad with about 10 lettuce leaves about six-inches in diameter which were intact without being torn or cut. The salad dressing seemingly was thick mayonnaise mixed with mustard, cumin --again -- and another pepper. He used almost none of it.. He added the shrimp and one was delicious, the other three overcooked but he gladly ate them.

So I repeat: many folks would be happy with this food. We found it over salted and over spiced. The tortilla chips were solid and the red dipping sauce was good, tasting of roasted tomatoes and a hint of garlic. That was the best of the meal and had us anticipating great things.

The restaurant was not yet busy. Our server was excellent and did not question why so much salad was going back to the kitchen uneaten. We appreciated...

Let me start by saying that the wait is absolutely worth it. We went on a Friday evening and waited for approximately 40 minutes. We were then sat and waited on by Joe, who was totally informative and attentive to our needs. Ask for Joe when you go! You should also know this Juanita's is unique in that the chef cultivated it's menu from scratch.

Second, the entrées were absolutely, hands down, the best in College Station. We've struggled to find good enchiladas locally and so glad we took a chance tonight. My wife ordered the Espinacas y Champiñones. I had the Tex-Mex classic braised chicken enchiladas. We both asked for the refried black beans which were fresh and full of flavor. All of it was wonderful, fresh, and hot. They perfected Tex-Mex with a focus on it's Hispanic origins.

Thirdly, the tres leches cheesecake was perfection. The whole cake was light and airy, including the cheesecake portion. Moist and rich, it reminded me of a cake only received at the most authentic of places.

This has made it's way on to our top 5 local restaurants, and absolutely our favorite Tex-Mex spot.

Hats off to the chef, who's made this particular Juanita's a success. And thanks to Joe, who made sure we received exactly...