Fiesta Jalisco — Restaurant in Conway

I'm aware that there's a labor shortage, however I hadn't realized just how bad it was up in North Conway. Our favorite restaurant was not offering takeout for this reason, they just didn't have the staff to make food for both the restaurant & takeout customers, & I was super bummed as we had some extended family with us & I wanted to show them how wonderful their food was.

Instead, we ended up here... This was mid-August 2021.

My cousin tried to order over the phone. English was not the hostess’s first language, so my cousin, who also speaks fluent Spanish, began trying to order in Spanish. She still didn't understand, or pretended not to maybe (??), even though, by her accident, Spanish was clearly her first language. We should have taken this as a sign & said "forget it", but they instead went to the restaurant to order in person since she seemed unnecessarily confused over the phone.

Look, labor shortage or not, when someone says "no flour tortillas, please substitute corn", in English or Spanish, it's not a difficult concept. Gluten allergies exist whether or not someone believes it & whether or not they are short-staffed. That being said, despite the flour tortillas, my fish tacos were phenomenal. Hands down close to the best I've ever had I'd say, & we try a lot of Mexican food & I almost always get fish tacos.

Unfortunately, the tasty food stopped there. The salsa was so bland; I honestly hate to waste food but we tossed it, it was just not good, not even a bit, no flavor whatsoever. My husband had asked for veggies to be put in to our kids bean & cheese quesadillas, & she asked what kind. Um, standard veggies for Mexican food? Onions, peppers, corn, maybe a little salsa, something like that? We're not picky, & it's not difficult... Just something that makes sense? When we got them? Broccoli. Yeah. Broccoli. First off, Mexican food, & broccoli? Really? Weird...

Everyone else in our party was super underwhelmed by the food, & we all know good Mexican food. This ain't it. Sorry/not sorry.

We also, always, especially because of COVID, tip when we order takeout, always. Because we're incredibly grateful & want to show our appreciation. So I'm not some nasty customer who expects everything to be perfect while simultaneously being a cheap human being. We fully understand labor shortages so we tip well because we don't want them to shut down or not be able to offer takeout. But bland, underwhelming food is just that. Portions were huge, but that doesn't mean it's tasty. Would...

So first, the place was busy... They are following Covid protocol and even had disposable masks ($1) at the door for guests arriving without one. Tables are spaced, they have outdoor seating and set up a canopy with regular dining tables spaces under it. The concern was waiting for a table... It's not the restaurants fault, but patrons in this "live free or die" mentality seem to be choosing the die option... Even in normal times 'get out of the damn doorways!' People standing in the vestabule, doorways, crowding the sidewalk to get to the doors...some drinking margheritas.

I was told it would be quite a wait for our party of 4, then asked to wait a moment while the host went around and checked tables. He returned and when I said yes outside would be fine said we would be about 15inutes. The ask.foe a phone number and text instead of using pagers...plus for covid times.

We were texted in under 10 minutes and seated with menus, and a minute later chips and.salsa arrived. Very good chips! They seated 3 other tables right after us. Unfortunately the other tables got chips, then drink orders, then food orders taken and we were left sitting in the middle with our menus.

A server saw us and asked if we had our order taken and when we said no, came right over and apologized and took our order. He said they hadn't put us on the list so noone had our table and said he's put our order in priority because we had been waiting. He was very attentive and pleasant.

The food came quickly, chicken quesadilla was delicious (both kids wanted it), cheese nachos had tons of extra cheese. Enchiladas Acapulco and enchiladas supremas were both great. Portions were large and flavorful. House strawberry margherita was very sweet and thick. Daquari strawberry mix added was our guess. We will return on our next trip through North Conway, hopefully Covid will be an unpleasant memory by then. Definitely...

I have been to this restaurant more times than I can count. I pretty much always order the same thing and it is consistently delicious and service is impeccable. Today is a different story. I arrived approx 2 pm. There were 3 tables of 2-4 customers that were already done eating and one table who was waiting for their food. All tables had salsa and chips on them. There were 4 employees by the entrance. Two seated and two standing. It appeared that there was a discussion about who would seat me. The girl, who I'm guessing lost the discussion, approached me and asked what I wanted. I told her that I would like to order lunch and that it would just be me. She sighed loudly and walked to a table. She actually threw the menu on the table and walked away. She returned about 5 minutes later and took my drink order. She returned with my drink and took my food order. I know the number by heart so it was an easy order. I sat and waited but did not get the salsa and chips so I went up to employees sitting on the bench in the bar and asked for them. They were not especially happy to bring them to me. My food came and a dish that has always been the same for the more than 5 years that I have been coming here, was very spicy. It has NEVER been spicy nor is it described that way in the menu. My waitress returned before I had taken a full bite and asked if I needed anything else. I asked for a napkin. I did not see her again for the remainder of my time there. Approx 30 minutes. After that time, she left my bill on the table. Never asked if I wanted anything else or thanked me. Pretty sad to see such poor service and attitudes in a restaurant that I love. I'll be rethinking...