Tocayo | Mexican Grill & Cantina — Restaurant in Colorado

Owner is awful. Waited over an hour to be told our food was not available. Waited another 45 minutes for restaurant to be cleared out and finally be served. First time back in town in months. Steak molcajeta had skimpy steak and was better when not made by the owner, served with two cold tiny tortillas. Super salty and way too much onion. Didnt want to eat it. Staff seemed stressed over owner's attitude the whole time, while talking under their breath about him. Will never be back. * next day update , a friend I went with got violently Ill from this place. Avoid

Post owner update review:

Francisco, I know enough about you to form an opinion based on your comments on reviews and the comments made by your staff under their breath about you. You are just a pompous, rude , and awful owner. You think you are God's gift to the world, but others can find better Mexican food and service around the corner. Your hospitality is lacking to ever be a good restaurant.

Now let's address your comments:

"Your statements are not consistent. You were here January 5th, March 22, May 24th and June 28th. This last visit we were out of chicharrones."

I will agree I was there the 5th , 22nd , and 28th. I had moved to Denver in April , but my card was used by a family member visiting in May. 3 months is consistent with not being in town in months.

"All three of you order them. Sorry we run out of things sometimes"

And you told us this an hour into waiting when we explicitly asked if you had them when we got there.

"Each including this one you ordered a molcajete each time steak and one of those times it was steak and shrimp."

And I took every steak one home to be put into something else and made better.

"The server stated that you never complained and finished you entire meal. You also asked for an additional two extra tortillas because you had to change your meal since we were out of chicharones. "

You are confusing me with the friend that got sick from actually eating this. I took my entire meal home and threw it in the trash. I gave 0$ tip. Not surprisingly they didn't know the difference because in the 2 hours we were there, your staff was getting more and more drunk off shots. This is probably a normal occurrence to have to deal with you, and I don't blame them.

"We measure out each order at 13oz if you get two meats we add an additional 8oz of meat choice. We only put one slice of onion in each molcajete."

It is easy to state that, but there is variability in everything. I do not believe you give the same amount each time and your slices of onion are the same. Your salt should be measured out too, as this was a large complaint of mine that was never addressed.

"If your friend got sick then probably others would have too."

Listen, he got violently ill after eating your food, nothing else. Your consistency in each preparation is lacking. Maybe after 2 hours of waiting to make our food, you left something out or used old meat.

"You must be sad for some reason but it’s not us. Thank you "

This response truly highlights your character and is a clear sign of why your restaurant will never reach its full potential. Your dismissive attitude not only affects your customers, but also your staff and others who interact with you. It's this kind of behavior that prevents you from earning the respect and loyalty necessary for...

This review is not about the food, the food was "pretty good" and my husband and I were talking about how we would come to Tocayo's again...this review is more about my experience when it was time to pay. I told the server (who stated that it was her first day) that I had a Groupon discount and that it was my very first time using app and didn't know what to do. She went and grabbed another employee who came to the table and asked if I had redeemed the Groupon. I stated no and told him that this was my first time using the app. He told me that I was a liar and rolled his eyes as he was helping me "redeem" my discount. The server came back with new ticket, stated that she forgot to add my two iced teas, which I only ordered one. I let her know that I was the only one that got an iced tea and my husband had water. She told me that "he" (which I assume was the guy that called me "liar") told me to put two on the receipt since you had refills. I asked her if refills were not free, and she stated "I really don't know." At this point, I knew it wasn't worth the fight and I just went with it. When I gave her my card to pay she told me that "he" told her to tell me that I had to give a 30% tip and she politely told me "you really don't have to though." My bill was $10.39 since my discount was $20. I gave her a $6 tip. I'm very disappointment with my "ending" experience. If a place gets upset about getting a discount, then the place should not offer this "discount" at all. I have worked in food service for over eight years during my high school and college years. I'm a very good tipper. You should never tell your customers what they should tip or call them liars. I was never disrespectful and didn't understand what I had to do since I never used Groupon app. I know that the server was not at fault since it was her first day and didn't have the "right" people training her. I probably won't...

Some of the worst food if not the worst food I’ve had. I would have rather ate Taco Bell or McDonald’s , not only for the price but literally the flavor and food quality ! The service was slow , get any attention at all felt like luck. The server was polite but very slow with everything. Many other reviews are met with a response from the business saying how busy they were , but I can assure you this place was not busy at all, just slow. The surf and turf was in a sauce made of mostly water , which had no flavor and made the whole dish more like a soup. The rice and beans were equally sad , mushy rice with no flavor , the beans were definitely canned or older than me 🤷. The combo had three options all fighting for last place. The meats were all flavorless and dry, the only good thing was the enchilada sauce which couldn’t have possibly been made there. And lastly the drinks were god awful , the coke was off brand forsure , the agua Fresca ( watermelon and cucumber ) tasted like jolly rancher and was powder not fresh fruits . I can’t stress enough how terrible the food, service , and atmosphere was. The place looked alright hence the 2 star , but the seats were all hard wood, not comfy , paired with the slow service made for a painful experience. I hope they respond to this as abrasive as they did to all the other 1 star reviews because I would love to have a conversation with any employee of this failing restaurant and I will also nominate this place for kitchen nightmares personally. Save your money and hit McDonald’s if you care for your wallet or sanity avoid...