Garcia's Mexican Restaurant - Franklin — Restaurant in Franklin

Beware of unstated groups charge....and a manager who shouldn't work with people.

I have been eating at this location since it first opened. I also worked for years in the food service industry. It is the best Mexican restaurant near us. However, they're really letting some things slip. The majority of that is a service problem. Some of my disappointment was in the food quality (runny, flavorless, diluted queso dip).

We went in about 3:30, the restaurant was empty. I said 7 and asked not to be seated at a booth. The host said we only have tables for six, and we put a chair at the end. 😳 Is this a joke? There was literally only ONE OTHER GUEST. In front of me, I could see two tables pushed together. I said can we not have those? no. I said I don't want a booth. Actually, the reason is because my aunt has MS and it is very hard for her to move laterally due to poor coordination. Additionally, her daughter has had a knee replacement and doesn't want her hurt knee either sticking out. It's not that hard, when there was literally every OPEN TABLE in the restaurant.

Another woman comes from the back and says "we only have tables for 6. We have to put a chair at the end of a table for you." Wow. Ok fine.

We take a seat. From there, they brought two small baskets of chips and salsa. I promptly said we will need another basket please. It never came. The server came to take drink orders, he was nice. He left and got our drinks, still no other chips. He brought our cheese dips, two, and no other chips. We asked again bc at that point we were empty. He took one and refilled it. Seriously? 7 ppl, early in the meal, we just got two quesos and they're already being stingy with chips?

Food came quickly. It was good and order was correct. The three kids had no drinks. He brought two back. 😒 We asked AGAIN for more water....and please remember the restaurant was empty and fully staffed.

Server asked if we need anything else before the check. Kids dessert. And more chips. He said if it is to go, I will have to charge you. I said no, I've been asking for more chips the whole time. So he brings the chips and the bill. It had an extra service charge for a large party.

This is the first Time I have ever been charged for a party of 7. Eight+ is one thing or even if the bill is divided up into many bills, understandable. But it wasn't. It was four adults and three kids.... Which they made us sit in a smaller table for... And then charged me extra.

I paid it and signed the bill, said bye to server. As I was leaving, I checked the menu.* There is no mention of a policy to charge extra for large parties.* Nope. Which honestly tracks with my experience for the last 20+ years there....they don't charge unless it's like "a party". 7 people has never been a large group before. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I asked to speak to the manager. The hostess nicely asked why and I explained. She said she was sorry about that and would ask. The manager was a 20 something white woman approximately 5'7-5'8 with blue eyes. She told me yes that's their policy. I said, "ok that's news to me, where is that written? Can you show me?" She said it's not written anywhere. I said then how is that fair? She said that's our policy. I said, "so this has never happened to me, and it's not written anywhere that we know of, it's not on the menu, and you're now just telling me it's the policy. Do you see the problem here?" No that's our policy. "Ok, well it's unfair to charge people extra without telling them first." "no, that's our policy and we have always done this, you're a large party." I said the problem is you could charge us anything, with no notice, and we got bad service. Because of YOUR policy, I got bad service, because I guess the server knows he can do that.

Bear in mind, I've already paid the bill, and I'm not nagging the server. I'm talking to the manager. She was incredibly rude and condescending to me. She told me that I was "the only person who had ever complained about this." Then she looked at me, defiant, and said can I do something else...

I came in hear today with my daughter to eat service was not good, we got a table but no one wanted to come to serve us on our table, every server looking at us and passing we waited no acknowledgement no one seemed to care until one off the server went up the front to ask the host if anyone sees us and they all looked at each other and like we don’t know, then one of the server comes and apologized and she said she will take our order I told her why is everyone passing and not taking orders or send some one, it wasn’t busy I almost got up to walk out cause I felt they didn’t want to serve black peoples to it’s obvious when others got their table the servers came right away on their table but not ours. So I decided not eat but I let my daughter eat and while she was eating we got our bill I didn’t ask for it yet cause she still have her plate full she is eating am just saying normally they don’t bring the check while you eat been so many places to eat that never happened I don’t know if they thought I was gone live without paying but that’s what it looks like. But the lady who serves us did apologize a lot but its ok it’s sad to see people reacting that way it’s the first time I have experience this it’s sad I wann be coming back hear again. Their is a nice one near where I work it’s on Columbia av Franklin by Kroger and target they...

Lunch, in my industry, is a endless topic of discussion - where are you going? What are you having? I think, mainly, because it gets you out of there for an hour and we eat mostly fast food.

So a co-worker says “if you like Mexican, try Garcia’s” and I said “There’s Mexican nearby?” (I’ve worked there almost a year and had no clue) and was like “yeah. That’s why I told you about it. Duh.”

Nice clean place with sizzling fajita sounds, great smells and friendly greeting.

Like most places here in Franklin/Nashville kind of pricy for what you get but tasty.

I had the beef burrito platter with rice and beans. They tossed in chips and salsa - some of the best salsa I’ve tried - and fresh hot chips.

The burrito was more like a large enchilada than a burrito but really tasty but by the end of eating it I found the beans, rice and burrito were super similar in consistency - lots of soft with no contrast or textural differences but that’s a small thing.

Here’s the breakdown:

Great sights, smells and greeting +1 star; hot and fresh +1 star; great chips and salsa +1 star; good size portions +1 star.

Definitely going into the rotation for lunch. Still haven’t found a burrito like the ones I loved in Hellinois - someday I hope.

If I could give half stars it would be a 4 1/2 star rating. Thanks...