Mezcal Spirit of Oaxaca — Restaurant in Fernandina Beach

We came to Fernandina Beach for a family reunion. There were 9 of us who have already arrived and were hungry. We were told by the hotel staff that we must try Salty Pelican. We went there and were informed that the wait will be an hour and a half. With all of us being so hungry, the wait time was not feasible. We ventured behind the restaurant onto 2nd Street and found Pablo's. There was no wait...being Friday evening in a tourist town, we thought we should quickly sit down before the large table is taken. We were not expecting much since the place was still rather sparse on a summer Friday evening. Our stomachs were empty and needed food so we weren't picky. We were totally caught off guard by the food placed on our table! We started off with appetizers of Pablo's Dip and Guacamole. Oh my! They were GOOD! The chips and salsa were awesome too (my husband says their salsa is so good they make other Mexican restaurant weep with envy). Maybe food just taste better when we were starving? So we dismissed our taste buds. We continue with margarita. We got two pitchers of Organic Margarita. They were good but we should have gone with the House Margarita because it was better and slightly cheaper. By this time, we were not starving anymore and the food started to arrive. Everyone at the table basically got different items on the menu. I got the Chile Colorado, a cousin got ribeye fajita, another got fish taco, and etc. They were all delicious! The pork for my Chile Colorado (somebody's grandma's recipe?) was so juicy and tender. We were so glad we stumbled upon this restaurant. They do not get enough credit. The other tex Mex restaurant in town...Peppers got lots of local recommendations but I think this place is better. The servers were friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I see others complain about the price. It is pricey! There's no doubt about that but this is a tourist town. That is to...

Let me lead with positive... the hostess and the server were incredibly nice and the Mezcal de Oaxaca was outstanding !!! ...... and that's where it ends. The acoustics lend toward it being incredibly loud and had to asked to be moved. Even if there weren’t a lot of people in the wings of the restaurant, the wall of windows made it super hot in there so best to stay in the interior. This is hands down THE worst Mexican food I've ever had in my 46 years of life. I got the lamb barbacoa which was boiled ?!?!! No spices at all! Onions were such mush they tasted more like sauerkraut.... The kicker was when I asked for traditional raw onion and cilantro, I was brought sliced not diced onion ... ok , at least is raw and traditionally consistent and then handed micro greens ?!?!??!!! Told it was cilantro but pushed back and was told they didn't have any ?!?!!!! I said am I not in a Mexican restaurant? How do you not Have cilantro? $26 dollars for boiled lamb and micro greens and white rice ?!!!! No yellow rice... My husband's refried beans tasted like pumpkin soup and the mussels were tiny with chorizo that tasted like pork jerky. It was all the most expensive garbage I ever ate. You can read the rest of my reviews and see this experience was an anomaly. If you are ok with paying alot of money for non-authentic food regardless of the culture, Rock on with your bad self... I prefer to spend my money on food that I enjoy because it's quality ingredients, prepared with care, consistency and knowledge of the culture in question, regardless of what that is. I hope to never be as disappointed as I was tonight ever again and I encourage you to avoid it to...

Must have come at the worst time possible. First, we waited outside for at least and hour just to get table. Once inside, it was so hectic! It was packed and everyone had to yell to hear anyone else at any given time. So, ATMOSPHERE: Not good. Now that we're seated, we put in our drink order. 20 minutes later I was so excited to finally get my water! Another 20 minutes goes by before our waiter comes back for our orders. Being the cheapest items on the menu at just $10 each, me and my husband ordered their beef taco salad. How can you go wrong with that? Anyways..now the real wait games starts. It took nearly an HOUR before we received our meals, and in that time was only offered 1 refill! SERVICE: Needs work..maybe more employees?! Back to the food. The taco salad didn't come with any fancy little sides-just a fried shell with taco ingredients in it. That's it. Nothing worth $10-not even close. Google Taco Bell taco salad, and that's what we got. Our friend ordered a quesadilla for $12, and that's all he got. Two flour tortillas with cheese in the middle, no bigger than your hand. For $12. So, VALUE: Unbelievably over priced! The quality of the food was mediocre compared to what you pay for it. I've been to cheaper authentic restaurants where the food was amazing, yet still real Mexican. FOOD: Doesn't taste so good knowing how much it costs. Maybe we made it on a bad night, but my experience here wasn't delightful at all. Especially reading the comment by theresa below about an employee trying to steal her bike. That's...