El 1800 Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Douglas

I recently had the displeasure of dining at EL 1800 in Douglas, GA that left me thoroughly disappointed. I feel compelled to share my negative experience to warn others about the subpar service and overall lackluster dining experience my family and I experienced. From the moment we walked in, it was evident that this establishment fell short in several key areas, but in their defense when we arrived it was very busy, but that crowd thinned down after 20 or so minutes after our arrival. First and foremost, the long wait time after placing our order and waiting for it to arrive was unacceptable. We patiently waited for what felt like an eternity before we asked our waitress what was going on and the first time she said we should be up soon. Then about 15 minutes later she said it would be about 5 more minutes, then 10 minutes after that she said there were two tickets ahead of us and it would be 20 more minutes. She then got a bit of an attitude with us when we contemplated cancelling our order, but at that time we didn't. It wasn't until about 10 minutes after that when the table next to us who was sat roughly 30 minutes after we were sat received their food first. It was frustrating to watch a party that had arrived well after us, being promptly served their food while we were left waiting in vain. The blatant disregard for our time was either favoritism towards those other customers or that our ticket was lost or placed out of order. Regardless of the reason it was deeply disheartening and we had all we could take after waiting 1 hour and 7 minutes after being sat without any food and left after explaining the situation with the staff. This was our main complaint and we really left with a sour taste in our mouth. Well actually it was a hot taste in our mouth because in my opinion the salsa, which should be a flavorful accompaniment, was very hot to the point of burning the tongue for nearly 20 minutes after eating my last chip with salsa on it. It was as if they had completely disregarded the basic principle of balanced flavors or done intentionally so patrons would limit the amount of chips and salsa they could enjoy and curb those that don't like super spicy food to eat less. In comparison Rigo's in Douglas, GA has superior salsa to El 1800 and they could pick up some pointers on a balanced salsa that has both flavor and spice that doesn't leave one with a scorched palate. Overall, my dining experience at this restaurant was a complete letdown on this visit and had to voice my concern because when we voiced our reasoning for leaving to staff it was evident they really didn’t care. Regardless if it was the kitchen’s fault or the waitress it doesn’t matter because everyone is on the same team, and the EL 1800 team failed us tonight. The long wait time, the blatant disregard for our order, the excessively hot salsa, and the false promises of quick service all contributed to a thoroughly unsatisfactory experience. We’ve ate at EL 1800 more than a dozen times over the last few years with the majority of those times good experiences, but tonight it was hands down the worst restaurant experience we’ve had while...

Probably one of the only restaurant/bars in Douglas where one can have authentic Mexican and liquor. Food, in general, is good. Not sure what it is with Georgia, but there are lots of flies, pretty much no matter where you go, just know that. I don't get it.

I give three stars (I would give an extra half star if I could) based on my last visit, which is actually complementary - service was awful this day and it was 4PM, so no one was in the weeds. We were going to sit at the bar, but when asked if we wanted a table, we said OK - it had been a while since we'd seen one another, so it seemed more intimate. We went to order drinks and were asked for ID by a guy who could have been one of our offspring, which was ludicrous - especially considering that my brother and his family go here quite often. We pulled out our IDs and the guy never came back. We had to get a manager to get some service while we watched others who arrived later get drinks and food. We finally got a waitress and ordered drinks. They were out of my sister-in-law's tequila and I ordered a Captain and Diet and ended up with a highball of Captain neat. Obviously had to send that back.

Then came the order of food. Everyone got what they ordered, IIRC. However, I requested two orders of three tacos and got three tacos and had to explain that I wanted six. Fortunately, in the time it took me to eat my first three, the others were delivered, which worked out well.

Given how authentic their cooking is - they make their tortillas (including the corn ones by hand) - and their generous portions, I would give them a higher rating but for the service this last time. I still recommend the place and next time I'm going to get what my sister-in-law had. For the life of me I cannot recall the name, I think it was something ranchero, but it was like fajitas with bacon - that's win-win in my book.

Overall, I would recommend this place, just temper your expectations depending on who you draw on...

(Long review)(5/2/21)My daughter wanted to go out of town and shop and then eat at a Mexican restaurant for her birthday, so we went to Douglas. After shopping we stopped here to eat. Despite it being a little busy, we were seat fairly quickly, right under the air conditioner. Our server shows up and gets our drink order..try to order an appetizer but she was gone as soon as I said tea and Coke. Five minutes later she’s back with drinks and I order chips and cheese. Twenty minutes later it arrives(very small portion), with no napkins or silverware. Ok. That’s fine. No problem. We ordered our food before she runs away again(no refills no asking if we were ok) while we are waiting for our food, a party at the next table is having A birthday too, seems like everyone is that day by the singing we hear. One hour or more later we finally get our food. No silverware no napkins no refill and she’s gone. I had to get up and find some silverware. We eat our food which we couldn’t finish because it wasn’t really that good. Find waitress and ask her to sing for my daughters bday and she agrees. Cool. Thirty minutes later she tells me they can’t sing to her because they are so busy. It was actually slower than when we first got there, but everyone else got the song when they were busy. Why? No refills. Had to get my own silverware, had to ask for my check, didn’t check on us, we were there for two hours trying to eat and have a good time-mission not accomplished. Bill was $50. You kiddin me!? I paid it, AND LEFT A $5 TIP!! Man, I didn’t want to but I can’t go...