Tequila Mexican Grill & Bar — Restaurant in East Hempfield Township

I can't understand the rave reviews for this place for the life of me. The food was fair, prices are high, and the service was... a bit much. Our server Nicholas J (with a trainee in tow) did greet us with a friendly "Hello, ladies" when we entered for lunch. It was downhill from here.

Totally shameless overeselling throughout, specifically with appetizers, drinks, and dessert. Really smarmy and transparent, it was crystal clear how hard he was trying to up our tab. (Oh yeah, and the charge for chips and salsa is truly obnoxious---but we were prepared for that.)

We did opt for the guacamole appetizer ($12.99), which was very good--but for the fact that they ridiculously left the pestle in the lava rock mortar to serve it... HA! We had to maneuver and scrape off the pestle to enjoy the guac in the bowl/mortar--WEIRD! (No, it's not the norm--I've had this at plenty of other places.)

I got mole enchiladas, which were 3 barely warm tortillas containing dry, flavorless shredded chicken, topped with a very thin coating of a very thin mole that tasted just like Dona Maria's out of a jar. A little mound of rice and puddle of refried beans came with it for $15.99. My dining companion got the traditional enchiladas (steak), also $15.99, and said they were good.

The food was priced on the menu, however there were NO prices shown for drinks. Troegs drafts turned out to be $4 (a pleasant surprise), while my margarita was a steep $11.50. I don't know if they charged me for the salt on the rim--but I sure wouldn't be surprised if they had. It was tasty.

Really weird ending. We requested our check after convincing waiter that NO, we didn't want dessert, thanks. He whipped out his little POS device and thrust it toward me. It displayed in a very tiny font and I was taken aback that I had not been provided with a check. He said "OH, ok, you want to see a check!" and went over by the register and printed one out. I thanked him and remarked that I'd go ahead and scan the QR code to pay on my phone. He wasn't happy with that and was insistent that I pay through his device. I gave in as he stood over me.... I was very uncomfortable but by that time I just wanted to get out of there ASAP. I clicked on a tip and paid with a credit card--which wound up incurring an extra cost of 3.5% "convenience fee" for using plastic. Nicholas J didn't happen to mention this beforehand.

As we were trying to get out, our waiter thanked me then inexplicably said "thank you sir" to the woman I was dining with. Apparently he didn't remember that he'd greeted us appropriately.

One visit was more than enough. We...

Went in there about 20 mins ago with MY SERVICE DOG, we sat down and was about to order drinks and we asked to move tables because our other two friends were there (We had 5 with us, so it would have been a table for 7). When we went to move tables the (I guess owner) asked me for my dogs service license. This is against federal law to ask for that. I told him I didn't have to show it because it's against the law, and explained to him that the only 2 question that they can ask is : 1 Is your dog a service dog? 2 What task or duty does she/he perform? I talked calmly with him and then a waitress. They then told me they were just asking because someone left a bad review because they were there when someone else was in there with their service dog. I was standing there trying to explain the law and to be told by them that the health inspector told them they had to ask for it. I kept telling them it was against the law and even GOOGLED IT FOR THEM. Yet they still asked for it. Then they asked me for my ID so if someone ask they can give THEM MY information. This whole situation lasted about 15 mins with a dining room full of people and my dog got up and tried to get me to focus on her (what she is trained to do) because I was getting upset and they were not letting it go and kept asking for my information. I WILL NEVER BE EATING THERE!!!!!! Since they are so worried about their Google reviews I decided to sit at another restaurant (with my service dog) and write...

EDIT 04/2025: Unfortunately, I've had to downgrade this from 5 stars to 3. They've ditched paper menus in favor of tablets--which I'm all for--but the execution is quite bad. We spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to place our order through the tablet, only to realize it doesn't work that way; you still have to order through a server. If you went through the effort of putting your menu items on a tablet, why didn't you just go the extra mile and make it a remote ordering system? I was excited at first, because I thought, "oh sweet, this is like ordering at a restaurant in Japan!" Strange. By the time you figure out what you want to order on one page, you've already forgotten what you wanted on the other page, and can't easily navigate back to it. At a minimum, this is going to cause boomers to go into a rage. I feel sorry for the wait staff.

ORIGINAL POST 2023: This is one of the best bites of food I've ever had. When I ordered barbacoa tacos, I did not expect them to be made birria style. Incredibly rich and decadent. The presentation is also very nice, and every dish is served with these little American and Mexican flags. The guacamole is served right in the molcajete they made it in, which is something I've ever seen before.

It's a bit pricey at about $80 for 3 people (no alcohol, one appetizer), but...