Casa Maya Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Florida

I’ve been happily going to casa Maya for months now as a vegan patron and I feel compelled to share this evenings experience while dining with them.

Casa Maya has a vegetarian menu and so I’ve always been diligent to ask them to remove any dairy from their vegetarian items - usually easy enough. When I started visiting Casa Maya months ago, I was told by the waitstaff that the refried beans were completely vegan (no dairy)… so for months I’ve been ordering and consuming the refried beans only to find out this evening that they actually are cooked with chicken stock. Even though I was completely upset about this and surprised, I calmly and kindly asked for regular black beans instead and then also asked the waitress to make sure there wasn’t any dairy on my veg enchiladas.

When the order came out to the table it was covered in cheese. No biggie - I reminded them I asked for no dairy and they took it back to the kitchen. They returned with another plate and I started eating that one, only to realize there was still bits of cheese in the dish and that the kitchen had literally just scraped the cheese off of the enchiladas and returned the dish to me. Now thankfully, I don’t have a dairy allergy, but I felt the need to leave this review in case someone with an actual serious allergy decides to visit Casa Maya. They don’t take their vegan patrons or those with potential allergies seriously and they don’t appropriately educate their staff on the ingredients in the food.

I don’t feel like I can trust this establishment to prepare a fully dairy and meat fee dish for me in the future and have unfortunately lost a loyal...

This is a wonderful place for those who know nothing about Mexican food.

I had a cheese enchilada that was very different from the hundreds of cheese enchiladas I have enjoyed at countless tex-mex restaurants in Southern California, Arizona, and other places in the west. It would be an understatement to say that this one was "unique" in all my dining experiences. Indescribable comes to mind.

I also had a chili rellano, which is usually prepared with a poblano chili dipped in batter and cooked, then served with a tasty tomato sauce. The one I got here would be hard to compare except to say that I have had no other quite like this.

The atmosphere however is pretty authentic Mexico. Colorful décor, a nice place to eat outdoors, and even my waiter was on Mexican time as it took until manana to get his attention. While waiting for my food I munched on an entire basket of chips and guacamole, made from what I was told were real avocados (I wasn't sure), and read a lot more of my book than I thought I would. Who knew chips would go stale that fast? Or maybe that was how they came. I'm not sure. Since it wasn't very busy and there were lots of empty tables, perhaps the restaurant should consider putting in cots so patrons could take a siesta while they wait for their food?

I am sure that other Mexican food aficionados have had much different experiences here than I did, and either it was just a bad day for the restaurant (and me), or they are just used to the type of Mexican food found in this part of Florida.

The diet coke however...

I've eaten at almost every Mexican restaurant in the Bradenton area and this is hands down the best one when it comes to food. We ordered the queso, wife got the steak tacos, daughter got the kids Chicken quesadillas, and I got the MOLCAJETES with Chicken...WOW!!! Everything we had was amazing! The queso was the best we've ever had, the perfect consistency (not to thin or thick, very smooth) with very lightl jalapeños for flavor. My wife said her tacos had really good flavor (not sure the name). My daughters Chicken quesadillas were fully packed with great flavor. But the most delicious entree of the night was by far the Molcajetes! This is a must try plus the portions for just one are massive. It comes with fresh onions, bell peppers, cilantro, and a delectable tomato based sauce that is seasoned to perfection. The chicken was perfectly cooked and tender. It is served with your choice of tortillas, which I chose the flour. This comes lightly grilled with a slight presence of butter which really adds to the flavor-packed experience. They also give you a side of rice and black beans (or refried beans) which are truly the best black beans I've ever had (not exaggerating). I should add the service was painfully slow, though the waitress was very nice, and I should probably reduce the rating b/c of this but the food was so good I have to give it the...