Casa Reina Taqueria & Tequila — Restaurant in Florida

I make a point to give thorough reviews, so here we go.....

Pros: Beautiful venue. Very Instagram-worthy. Indoor/Outdoor Seating and 2 bars. Kind bartenders.

Cons: WAIT TIME: We signed in w/ the hostess and got our little pager, were told 45mins-1hr...okay, not terrible and basing my opinion on the photos of the food I saw online. So we go inside and stand by the bar waiting...1hr and 15mins in we finally secure a seat at the bar and order drinks. Drinks weren't terrible, actually pretty good. 2.5hrs in and my hubs goes to the front to check w/ the hostess, who doesn't look him up but just flat out tells him 'probably another hr'.....mind you it's 8p now....another 30mins we FINALLY got seated indoors. 3.5hrs for a table, is ridiculous. We shake it off, and order our food that we had plenty of time to mull over the choices, and sadly it was so-so. Lacking in flavor...but not in photogenic qualities. The waitress, bless her bc there was literally no sense in how a waiter is assigned to a location...as we saw waiters serving customers inside and outside on opposite sides of the restaurant.....did not come by frequently enough to refill our waters, so when we finally flagged her down, we requested our check and left at 10p. The restaurant closes at 11p per their site.

Also, another establishment that does not offer a military discount. Not a deal breaker for me in most situations.

HONESTLY, THE FOOD IS NOT WORTH THE WAIT. The staff are all over the place and no one knows what the other is doing, when it comes to securing a seat. I understand a busy holiday weekend and perhaps the popularity of the place, but if you're THAT great, then you have to be THAT great at the small things, and this place just wasn't. Also, the staff seem to know they work at a hip place, that they are so stuck up and not willing to resolve their 3.5hr wait by any means.

I'm certain there are other restaurants that are more accessible and with better food.

AND YES, WE COULD'VE ABSOLUTELY ATE AT THE BAR....however we had done that earlier in the day at another establishment and b/c the bar area is always a lively place, there's no way one can fully have an enjoyable meal w/ patrons reaching over their shoulders for their drinks or paying their bar tab.

Recommendation to business: Invest in a booking system. Allow guests to make their reservations with a smaller wait time vs this walking up only, putting our names on a list and hoping it all works out or the customer doesn't realize how long they've been waiting. Also, we were a party of 2...I understand longer wait times for larger parties, but 2...

This is not a vindictive angry review due to a bad experience, rather a telling of my experience. We spent the day in StA and we were having difficulty determining what we wanted for dinner, we were on our way somewhere else when we saw this place. It was attractive, had a rooftop area and street level dining, though we ended up inside. The place appears to be clean and is very nicely decorated. Service was prompt and courteous and we were seated immediately. Wai staff seemed pleasant and attentive through the meal. We ordered and food came out quickly, less than 10 minutes. That is the end of the positive. I had the chicken enchiladas and the were not good. The chicken had no flavor at all, as if they had boiled it in unseasonably water, the corn tortillas were as bland as the chicken and also seemed as if they had been boiled/steamed as they were just a soggy mess. There was some sort of green sauce and what could have been sour cream or cheese sauce on top, who knows because neither had any more flavor than the chicken or tortillas. I asked for salt as there are no condiments on the tables, and dumped a bunch of salt to no avail. The meal was served with plain, unseasoned white rice (what Mexican restaurant does this?) and black beans that seemed to be straight out of a can. Neither the rice nor beans had any flavor at all. The waitress did bring chips before the meal, but they are served dry with no salsa, though we did order some cheese sauce. Overall, this was one of the worst restaurant meals I have ever had, you could get more authentic, better tasting Mexican food from your grocers freezer section, and for the price, this is really shameful. My wife ordered some kind of salad with shrimp which she liked, but did have to order a side of dressing as it came with almost none on the salad. The food was not bad tasting, it just had zero taste and the chef/kitchen manager just has no pride or competency in their job and this restaurant needs to find some one that knows what good...

So disappointed. Really had high hopes for this restaurant, and still hope they succeed in tweaking things. We were sat almost immediately, party of 9. The decor and ambiance is amazing. So beautiful. The details, comfort of the seats and benches, the beauty of the bars- breathtaking. Great views to boot! Service was great. Food, not so much. The guacamole was different- and for $13 I expected more of a table side fresh combo of everything listed on the menu as far as the ingredients went. It is served blended, with pumpkin seeds on top. Very bland and no taste of fresh cilantro, lime, etc. The queso was just ok. Many dishes were ordered. The avocado enchiladas are just that, avocado in a tortilla. Plain/bland. Green sauce with a sweet taste tops many items. The steak chimichurri bowl consisted of steak, their version of pico, black beans and white rice. I have never in my life been to a Mexican restaurant where they serve plain white rice. Not yellow, not white with cilantro- plain white rice. Even worse than it being plain, was every person who got served the white rice, had to be careful as there were hard grains and mid bite you would hurt your teeth. Over all consensus was disappointment in the lack of flavor. The presentation was not appealing. We went on a Sunday evening, and felt like we were served left overs, Luke warm. Nothing was served hot. The margaritas are more ice than drink, very little alcohol compared to the blend. The best part of the experience was dessert. Hands down one of the best Tres Leches i have ever had. So good!! I’m rooting for this place, and hope they get some authentic Latino chefs to add flavor to the food. The quality should be better. I was sad to hear “clearly they’re just catering to tourists who won’t be back” as I was hoping to make this a staple for us locals. Extremely surprised knowing Harry’s Seafood owners own Casa Reina. Harry’s is...