Casa Caliente Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Colorado

I was at this restaurant last night with my girlfriend, waiting to pick up an online order for everyone we live with. While there were certainly long wait times for orders, I am VERY sympathetic towards the staff for issues that were simply out of their control. First off, it was Cinco De Mayo, and the only Mexican restaurant open past 7:00 PM in the area. Casa Caliente received an extremely high amount of orders in a very short time period, with more orders piling on afterwards, which led to a huge backlog of orders, creating long wait times. Due to the wait times, many people ended up cancelling orders, or simply leaving without notifying the staff, so there were plenty of orders that got made with nobody to claim them. It also didn't help that there were plenty of nasty Karens in the building who were yelling at and belittling the staff, making a stressful night even worse by their abhorrent behavior and attitude - behavior that I can only hope their kids do not adopt. One specific Karen I remember was Danita Scarboro who went up to who I assume was the manager, and screamed in her face while demanding a refund. The manager, being the most calm and patient person I've ever seen during a stressful situation like that, simply asked that she finish taking care of the people she was helping at that moment, but Danita wasn't having any of it. She screeched again from the hole on her face that I can only assume is her mouth. I don't really know what happened after that, but yikes Danita... Yikes. Even the slightest bit of kindness and compassion can go a long way.

The staff were all so incredibly nice and understanding, and I was pretty shocked at how well composed they seemed to be! As someone who used to work in the food industry, we all have those bad days, but if I worked here that night, it definitely would've taken the cake as the hardest day ever, so seeing the staff very well composed is super admiring, because I know I would've gone home in tears if I were working.

When I was able to grab our food and go home, I sat down and ate my order with my roommates, and despite any delay, the food was absolutely DELICIOUS! In the face of immense pressure, the cooks were still able to whip up some of the best Mexican food I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.

I would just like to end on this. Thank you, the staff at Casa Caliente, you guys were all incredible, and I hope you all were able to take today off to relax and unwind after a night that must've seemed like an eternity to you. I am absolutely grateful, and I will definitely be back for some...

I've Never been. I had purchased a "coupon card" for $20 as part of a fundraiser, I think. I'm a sucker for a kid trying to raise money for whatever they are trying to raise money for. It's been sitting on my desk for some time now, and I ran across it while cleaning, so I thought I'd see about this place online. My wife and I are huge Mexican food lovers, and definitely know a thing or two about how a Mexican restaurant should be, from the service to the food. Mexican food is fresh and flavorful, and spice is added to taste, by the consumer. Service is paramount; welcoming, highly attentive and most of all, humble.

It looks from the reviews, there are plenty of people who have and enjoy this restaurant. Overall, I'd say 4.2 is an acceptable rating. My experience as a Google reviewer however, is that you will only get a small fraction of the negative reviews you deserve. People just aren't that interested in bringing a place down, especially a small, non-franchised, locally owned one. After reading the negative reviews, and especially the responses from the owner, I doubt we will be using our coupon card (we paid money for mind you,) as it appears the owner has little respect for anyone who wants to use such things.

My advice for the owner: humility is a cornerstone of Mexican hospitality, not American. Your abusive and combative responses to negative reviews have probably lost you more than a few customers - I'd remove them if you can. Not everyone is going to like what you are making, and that should be fine. The fact they can say so behind the safety of their keyboard is an inconvenient truth, I'm afraid. The number of 1 star reviews you have doesn't justify the angry responses. Sometimes you don't hit the mark, that's life; let it go. Sometimes a Karen just needs to be a Karen; again, let it go. Sometimes someone is just giving honest and possibly valuable feedback; take or leave it, but let it go.

I do wish you success brother, and God's peace.

btw, this is my work account - not my...

We’ve been there twice. First time our experience was great - conversational and punctual server, delicious food… so we came back tonight with our toddler. Bad decision. We understand that it’s a busy night, but sitting on the patio chairs and waiting for three simple dishes (no customization needed) for over an hour is not a pleasant experience. To top that off, our server Chloe didn’t seem to care at all. She did give us a pitcher of water/tea, and then she went on to serve other people who ordered more drinks. Not even a “sorry that it’s taking so long”, all we heard was “the kitchen is very busy”. Nothing else. We saw people who were seated after us get their food, and of course they also ordered giant Margaritas. We saw our server act very friendly to those who ordered drinks and were seated after us. The food I received was no more than mediocre and very bland (husband liked his food though), which didn’t help. We finished eating in 10 minutes and paid the bill in full. Sorry about the small tip but you really didn’t earn it. The only reason that we still tipped is because of the friendly lady who served us chips when we sat down (she also came back to ask if we needed more chips, which was very kind). All in all, we got a server who didn’t care about our experience (is it because we had a toddler, or because we didn’t spend money on drinks with a toddler sitting next to us?), bad luck, but the experience tonight is so unforgettable that we will not be coming back or recommending the restaurant to anyone.

Update: Clearly owner can’t handle any constructive feedback. Instead of owning the problem, owner responded in an extremely unprofessional and rude manner (speaking of hiding behind the phone/computer lol), although it seems like that’s how the owner has always been when it comes to negative reviews. If you can’t handle negative reviews, why bother open a restaurant or get on social media? Your response truly shows why the restaurant is the way it is....