Casa Jalisco — Restaurant in Ellsworth

We have eaten here 3 times, and will likely continue to about once a week while we are here for the next several months. For Southerners, it's hard eating in NE. So far, this is the best food we've had in the area by far.

The second time we visited, they were slammed when we got there. We had come straight from work in the solar field and needed to wash our hands, and we were patient and more than happy to wait a few minutes. A lady got up from the bar where she had been visiting with another customer and it looked like she was eating a meal herself, and harassed the hostess about us waiting. I assumed from several factors that she was an owner or manager. She upset the poor girl so much that I saw her wiping angry tears from her eyes a few minutes later in the restroom. It was very unfortunate and I would much rather have just waited patiently. We had EXCELLENT servers and extremely quick service the first two visits. The third visit, also just coming from work, they were again slammed. We recognized both waitresses, who seemed to be the only ones, as our two prior servers. They were PRESSED, and again, we were happy to wait and much on chips and salsa. Unfortunately, the woman from before decided that she should serve us instead, despite the facts that: tonight she was also bartending, she either isn't a good server at all or didn't have time for a table and the bar, she's rude af, and I really, really just don't like her and would rather never have to interact with her again... But hey, it's the best food in town. She never once refilled our drinks, let them sit empty half the meal, and she charged me for salsa (that she actually paid for).

The other servers and host and hostess and the gentlemen who bring food and salsa are all friendly, sweet, funny, efficient, fast, and kind.

The food is great, huge portions, reasonably priced especially for Maine near a large tourist area, and the inside of the restaurant is clean, lovely, and comfortable. The bar is especially beautiful. I have heard from numerous co-workers that the margaritas are phenomenal but haven't yet tried them. Oh, and we ordered the fried cheesecake on our first visit, since it was my birthday, and mmmm, delicious!

*I get the enchiladas rancheras every time. It is a little greasy sometimes, but it's ALWAYS delicious. Being covered in pork, that's not unexpected on either count. It is much less greasy when ordered AS stated on the menu, with red sauce. Adding cheese sauce as I did the first two times seems to be not ideal. Still darn good either way, though.

*Updating because we've eaten here 2-4x a month since February (it's now almost June): The bartender is...I think just sometimes grumpy, and bless her heart she has RBF. Sometimes she's actually very pleasant. And she's never been rude again after those first two times, so I really think I may have caught her on a bad week. And look... She's ALWAYS there. I'd be stressed, too. The food is reliably, consistently phenomenal, as is ALL the rest of the staff and service. The pick two combo doesn't have a bad option. The al pastor is AUTHENTIC af, everything is bursting with flavor, and it's hands down the best food...

I’ve been there many times and ordered take out a few times as well. I had high hopes for this place and ignored the mistakes in the beginning because of them being new (for instance completely skipping a meal we ordered and paid for, or getting only half of the meal when ordering take out) but last weekend was the last straw.

Now, understand that nothing is actually cooked there. Everything on the menu comes precooked, premixed, etc. like you can not order their wings without sauce. Probably the worst thing for a restaurant, even Subway is better than this.

I ordered Bola dip that arrived like soup. There was no consistency to it. It should be a cheesy almost gooey dip. This was as thin as soup broth with no flavor. I sent it back and asked it be removed from my bill.

I ordered steak fajitas. These should come out so hot you have to wait to eat them. Although the sizzle plate was hot, the food was barely warm in spots and cold in others. You shouldn’t be able to stick your finger in a plate of fajitas as soon as it comes out. Took about 15 minutes for the wait staff to return who then stuck their finger in the food and then offered to have it heated more….. nah, I’m all set. I asked them to remove it from my bill.

I paid for our drinks and other meal that was only ok, tipped the wait staff as if i paid for the items I sent back and went to Taco Bell. (At least you know what you’re getting there. )

Yesterday I called and asked to speak with a manager. The man I spoke with identified himself as a manager named Israel. I, very politely, explained our experience from the weekend. He asked repeatedly who our server was. I explained my issue was with the food, not the server. The server had mentioned they were short staffed. I get that…. Every place is short staffed. BUT when your appetizer and meal comes out within 10 minutes of the order being placed, the kitchen isn’t that short staffed (we waited longer to get a table than for our food.)

This manager’s statement just floored me. Instead of offering to make the next experience better or even an apology and thank you for bringing it to my attention, he said “if our food is that disgusting don’t come back!”

No worries Israel, this local...

We’ve always had a good experience here up until our last visit Saturday June 17. It was pretty busy so we were offered to sit at the bar. We got drinks and waited 20 minutes to order food (the person who took our drink order was suppose to be taking our food order he did not he kept ignoring us and walking right back back turned to us at the bar, we found a kitchen staff to take our order. Food comes out fast. We were never offered the chips and salsa but everyone else at the bar and restaurant even people who came to the bar after us was given chips and salsa. I asked twice for chips and salsa and finally the a hole who made us drinks brings me the chips and a pitcher of salsa no bowl for the salsa. He was extremely rude, the only thing he brought to us fast was the check and hovered over me expecting a tip which he wasn’t gonna get!! My bill was $55 and I wrote a line through the tip section and to my surprise on my bank statement today the bill is $65. HE GAVE HIS SELF A $10 tip even though he watched me right a line through it! This is illegal! I will not be coming back and weve been weekly customers since it opened. My husband will be calling the management to say the least. Idc if it was $2, stealing is stealing and I always give over a $10 tip here for $50 worth of food this time was less than acceptable service and treatment and I am beyond disgusted he really changed my receipt to steal from me. Unacceptable do better! Oh and my husband speaks Spanish the guy was saying really nasty things about the white people who we’re customers in front of us thinking we couldn’t understand what he was saying so there’s that as well 🙄 it was $10 they stole but he still stole it that’s FRAUD. It will be reported to my bank and the bbb for credit card fraud and theft because once I signed that check nothing else should have been applied he knew exactly what he was doing! Pay cash when you come here or double check your...