Hacienda Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Cumming

This used to be one of my favorite places in Dawsonville. My last experience made it to where I doubt we will go back. To start with the prices have gotten ridiculous, a quesadilla birrias was $16. It didn’t even come with everything it was supposed to (cilantro and onions) and they tried to charge me extra for the ensalada which was supposed to come with the meal as well. (I asked for no lettuce because I have a food intolerance but said I wanted only the tomato and sour cream) I think some of the problem could have been a communication error, since I asked for no lettuce perhaps they dropped the salad completely and just substituted rice. When the meal came I was disappointed that there were no onions and cilantro. There was some kind of dipping sauce that looked like it might have had some cooked onion in it so I assumed that was it for my cilantro and onion. I had to ask for the tomato and sour cream that should have come from the ensalada to have something to put on the quesadilla. After some discussion they brought it (I was happy) but then found out later they charged me another ($4) I’m now up to $20 for a quesadilla! It’s frustrating enough to have a food intolerance. It’s more frustrating to order a meal when the staff doesn’t understand what you are asking and even more frustrating when the food is wrong and the bill is wrong, and then it just becomes embarrassing to have to re-explain everything to a manager who frankly seemed annoyed to have to talk to us and begrudgingly took the $4 off the bill. No apologies for the mistake, no apologies for the missing cilantro and onions. He just said “I’ll take it off.” In addition to all that, my daughter ordered a chicken quesadilla meal from the adult menu. She is a teenager so not ordering off of a kids menu. Hers also came out wrong. I think they brought her the kids meal, but we were charged for the adult ($12). Hers also should have had the ensalada but came with rice only. We didn’t complain about any of that as it was just too difficult to get them to understand what she wanted. If that actually was the adult meal then just be prepared for child like portions with adult like prices. Finally, I only gave 3 stars for the atmosphere because it was uncomfortably hot inside and the floors were very slippery from grease. I actually had to walk extra carefully to go to the ladies room...

First of all, I’d love to speak about the positives….The food as well as maybe 5% of the wait staff. The negatives…the wait staff do not speak English, major major issue when we as Americans spend (way too much) money on a restaurant and nothing comes across to the person you are ordering from. So the saving grace is that at least the manager will help in this predicament!?!? Well you have 2 managers, both very stern looking however only 1 is helpful, the other “older gentleman” argues with you and it’s abundantly clear he’s never listened to or doesn’t care a customer’s concerns. I go on Tuesday night, margaritas are super cheap as well they have a special with 3 tacos. First I get the margarita after using what little bit of broken Spanish I can come up with, and what shows up to the table is the incorrect size. I’m wondering if this is purposefully done. I ask this because it’s happened on multiple visits. So I finally get the manager over to the table and he gets my order this time, however the special they run on the tacos comes to like 7 dollars, there’s another variation of the same meal that comes to 15 because it comes with rice (mind you, I asked for the special not knowing what it was or what it came with)…I get the bill and it seems pretty high and I realize I’ve been charged incorrectly!!! I ask for the manager to rectify the situation. Yeah buddy, that one comes with rice. The special does not, you will pay for the more expensive one since you ate it!! I’d love to know, if you want to hold me accountable for ordering the correct dish, why there’s no one there that speaks English…to take the order…to ensure the right thing is ordered….and to make the customer happy 100% of the time, but I guess it’s best that the “manager” reserves the right to argue and instead force the customer to pay the higher price. Might be time to rethink your position especially with all the competition in the neighboring...

I don't normally do reviews, however this place warranted one. First, the positives: The place was clean, my server was excellent, and the meat (other than the tilapia) in their "signature" fajitas, was solid. Now the bad... For starters, the chips tasted like fish. Tilapia, specifically. They serve Tilapia with just about every meal on the menu. Second, they brought out a roasted chipotle salsa. Well, the roasted chipotle peppers? They weren't roasted. They were burnt. The salsa tasted like the burnt pieces, scraped off the grill at the end of the night. Third: I ordered a small cheese dip. What I received was a SUPER-small cup (think of ordering an extra side of dressing at a normal restaurant), and was charged SIX DOLLARS ($6) for this!! Next, I ordered their signature "Hacienda Fajitas." It came in a pineapple. Personally? I think this is gimicky and dumb. But the worst part is, the charred green leafy portion of the top of the pineapple was burnt and charred, leaving a smelly burnt/charred taste from the smell of it. Last, as you'll see in my photo, the fajitas came with a large tilapia fillet on top of the fajitas. I'm still trying to figure out what it's doing there.... But like any adventuring restaurant goer, I gave it a try. That was the most disgusting, muddy tasting tilapia I've ever had. And I normally like tilapia.

I was as polite as one could be when I called the manager over to simply give him some feedback on his food and the restaurant. As I went one-by-one explaining the above, I was met with him trying to explain away my concerns. So much for the customer being right, eh? The biggest thing was, he swore up and down that the tortilla chips were NOT cooked in the same oil as the fish. sigh