Azteca's Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Duluth

After almost 3 hours on the road on our way to Bentleyville we decided to stop at Aztecas for dinner. We ordered our food and when it came for my turn to order I very specifically requested no avocados or tomatoes on my food. My friend who also dislikes tomatoes and avocado asked for the same meal as me. When we received our food it was covered in avocado and tomatoes. We told the lady waitress that we had received the wrong order to which she said, “I’ll grab you another plate”. About 20 minutes went by and we had not received our food, every time she walked by we would ask her where our food was and she would say any moment now. More time passed by and I got up and found another waiter and told him the situation. About 15mins later our original waitress comes back and ask what the problem was, we said we were given the wrong order. With a very sassy tone she said, “all this over avocado?”. We told her we no longer were interested in eating her food since everyone else was already done eating. She told us, “ I talked to the cooks and the manager and they say that there is nothing wrong with the food, you must pay for it.” We said we were not going to pay for something we didn’t order and that we wanted to speak with manager. She said, “I am the manager.” We proceed to go to the register and pay for the food we did eat when we received the bill we noticed that the math was off. There was a $10 gratuity charge and when we asked her what that was she said it’s their policy to charge $10 for every $50 spent in the restaurant as a service fee/tip. We said were not going to pay it. She said we must. She finally took the charges off and we decided to pay the $78 or so total with a $100 bill. When she gave us our change back she walked a way. We looked at the money we were given she only gave us $10 back. We looked for her and told her that our change was wrong, that our change is supposed to be around $20. She said no I charged you the right amount and that is the change you deserve. We told her we would not leave until she gave us our money back because she was stealing from us. She finally gave us our money back and never once did she apologize. Worst dining experience I have ever had. Would not recommend this...

The food was really good. I like Azteca's a lot. And I just love the decor and the friendly service. The service was kind of slow though. I think they only had maybe three or four people on and it wasn't very busy.

But, we lived our food. Their rice is done perfectly. Fluffy and light and somehow crispy around the edges but not dry or overcooked.

Also my Coke was a little flat. I only order it for a major treat once in a while and when I do I want to experience it properly so that was a little sad, but I know it can be hard to be on top of absolutely everything at a small family place like that.

When they brought my food it took another minute to get my tortillas and I just sat their and took in the aroma for an extra minute, plus that sizzling sound was wonderful. I am posting a video and you can see and hear it at least but you'll be missing the amazing smell.

Look, this review should probably be more middle of the the road. There were a few problems with tje service. But the place is just so awesome and it just feels so "homey" and welcoming and positive that I can't bring myself to do that. And usually things are a little quicker, maybe somebody was sick or on vacation that day.

We'll be back for sure.

P.S. I guess it won't let me post the video anymore. Maybe that feature went away. You'll just have to check it out...

This place is not worth your time. The food was only okay. My friend ordered the Arroz Con Pollo (which typically does not come with red sauce, but this one did). She tried it & did not like it so she decided to let the server know she’d like something different (the exact same meal I had). He told her that “yeah sorry this restaurant is different than most & ours comes with red sauce.”

So the bills came & she was charged for the food she didn’t eat. It was about $15. When she asked if he could take that meal off her bill as she did not eat it, he proceeded to argue with her that it was “her fault and she is the one who made the mistake.” I finally had to interject to say “we understand she made a mistake, Sir, and she feels terrible for doing so but she did not eat it which means she should not be charged for it.” And he argued with us some more that “he has to be the one who pays for it. It’s not just free food.” We stuck with our guns & said she will not be paying for food she did not eat. As he walked to the register he mumbled something along the lines of “sometimes you have to deal with your bad choices.”

To that I say, you are right, sir. We have to deal with our bad choice of eating at this restaurant. We will not be back. Please do something about your customer service or you will not have any customers...