Garcia's Mexican Grill — Restaurant in DeLand

I am very glad I stop by this time, I normally come to DeLand once every two weeks for work and every single time I miss stopping here.

Today I made it a point to stop and I am so glad I did, I have been trying several different Mexican restaurants and have not been able to find one with authentic good tasting Mexican food.

I should say that before I start to describe my food service and attentiveness of this establishment is very good, from the moment I walked in, I was greeted and spoken to in "Spanish" (which by the way it's very important to speak Spanish if you have a Mexican restaurant) on this point alone I give this restaurant two thumbs up. And of course they also speak English very well.

They escorted me to the table and like any other similar restaurant they brought over some chips and salsa while I waited for the waitress to place my order. Once she arrived and showed me the menu I asked her to suggest the restaurant specialty, for which she suggested to try the "Tres Garcia's Plater".

I am so glad I chose her suggestion this plate consists of a generous stake of meat, a generous fillet of chicken and lastly a six portion of grilled shrimp (which by the way are pretty big in size compared to other places).

Now some of you might think this is a regular fajita meal with steak chicken and shrimp, yet their menu also serve fajitas and this plate does not look at all like a fajita plate. Let's call it a 2.0 version with the steak & chicken not cut up in pieces.

Overall the taste of all three meets were excellent they were all cook just right and were very juicy as well. I highly recommend this place to anyone that wants to experience authentic good Mexican food from now on this will be the place for me to eat whenever I am here visiting DeLand.

For this reason I give this place a five...

Was not thrilled about this meal. I dont really have a way to be honest and review this place with positive things to say. The basic truth in the nicest way I can put it is this place is perfect if you love whitewashed tex mex.

But that paper thin veil is not enough for me to leave it at that. Ignoring the warning signs, this place looks promising with its atmosphere, solidly good looking (albeit carnival campy stylized meximerica old west themed)

A friend pointed out that the chips and salsa you are given for free are the tell all signs of how you will appreciate the food. The logic dictates that if you are giving something away for free, it should arguably be one of your best things you have to offer. Upon arrival of the salsa, there was an obvious canned taste and smell similar to refried beans. Super bland and lacking in a flavorful build-up with added ingredients, this was canned ro-tel tomatoes with a little onion and cilantro added but ultimately ineffective.

I ordered tacos and had to customize them to be street style, and even then in the basic form was lacking dynamic elements like grilling the tortilla to caramelize before adding the contents. Missing queso fresca as a topping to bring it all together.

My friend ordered a lunch fajita and immediately commented on how even a big chain like chilis serves them better than this. I don't want to be mean, maybe this place can boost their effort, but I would avoid this place...

Terrible experience here last night. Food was terrible. I've never heard of squash and mushrooms served in most of the items on the menu in a mexican restaurant. The sauteed onions and peppers in our food was a soggy and mushy mess. I asked for no squash in my order and guess what? They made my order with squash. The waitress was flippant and inattentive. I also ordered a side of guac salad which was not included with my entree. She didn't bring the salad when my food came despite me ordering it on the side. When I asked about the missing salad, she quipped "It doesn't come with the meal" to which I replied "but I ordered it and want it with my food". With no response she turned her back walked away and came back later with the guac salad and placed it on the table. This was all while waiting to eat my entree which sat while waiting for my salad. Only to find when I started to eat that the entree had squash throughout as I asked not to have squash. No apologies from the waitress on that either as a matter of fact another waiter helped replace the entree. Food was nasty, drinks were way too sweet with too much syrup and service was horrible. Do not go to this...