Tequilas Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Garden City

I am frequent traveler and a mexican food lover came here for the first time. What strikes me the most is that unlike a regular restaurant that has hostess at the front to take you in, this restaurant has an empty lectern with some notebook and a pack of menus. I came in and stopped within 2 feet of this lectern and stood there patiently. I saw a few waitresses going between the bar and tables. After about 5 minutes a female approached the lectern, looking down to her notebook, with zero recognition and no eye contact with me, she checks something in her notes and leaves. Ok, I thought, this is weird, someone has a bad day. So, I stand there in front of the lectern for another good 7-8 minutes. By the way, there were many empty tables on Sunday evening. Another male guy approached the lectern, zero eye contact no recognition of me standing there, he grabbed a menu and left to a table with that. I stand there patiently still, for one reason that I am hungry, and another reason, I love Mexican food. Now, the revelation came hard to my consciousness, when for the third time, another tanned female came to the lectern and ignored me. I quickly looked around, and the whole place was filled with Spanish speaking people. And even though I am of eastern European decent, I felt immediately that I am not welcomed here, not even at the lowest bounds of decency, with something that resembles a smile after 20 minutes of ignorance. Ok, I thought, I am not a royal prince after all, and went to use their restroom since I was on foot with long walk back to my hotel. After exiting the bathroom, I saw a gringo couple sitting at the bar where English looking bar lady mixed some drinks. I went to try and see if I can eat there using bar stool. The bar lady offered menu and had no idea why no one greeted me at the front. The place did not have Pacifico on draft. And the shrimp/chicken fajita was just as average as in a food truck. This is the second time in my 24 years in the USA, I see the backlash of the azteks. First time, I was not given a beer in a Florida restaurant that was completely filled with all Spaniards, drinking beer in front of my eyes. I understood that as a protective strategy of their female popu6which was the majority in that club/restaurant. But here, in West Kansas, Anglo-Saxons dominate at least population wise. And I bet there is a lease on the building of these machos. I will check. Oh, and there was this annoying quartett of Mexican musicians who sang and played for one table out of key sedrenadas, or whatever. So, yea, it is what is. But interestingly, Spaniards outside of the US weren't as rude as this ones, dwelling on gringos land, and sucking up on its economic and...

I’ve written plenty of reviews over the years—good, bad, and fair. But this one comes from genuine frustration and disappointment.

I ordered their so-called “seafood special”, and what landed in front of me was an absolute joke. The shrimp were cooked into rubber—dry, tough, and flavorless. The mussels? Burnt. Not dry or slightly overdone—literally burnt. The potatoes were tough and chewy like someone baked them, boiled them, then microwaved them just to be sure they were completely ruined. And somehow, the corn on the cob—basic, simple corn—was the best part of the plate. That’s not a win; that’s a red flag.

My wife’s burrito looked great. My kid’s cheeseburger and fries looked like actual food. So the kitchen can cook when they try—they just didn’t with mine. And that’s what really pissed me off: this wasn’t a mistake. It was a lack of care.

When a restaurant calls something a “special,” it should show off the best they’ve got. Instead, I got the kind of plate that makes you lose faith in ever ordering seafood again—especially this far from the coast. I haven’t even gotten the bill yet, but I already know whatever they’re charging, it’s too damn much.

I won’t be back. If you’re smart, you’ll skip the seafood altogether—or better yet, skip the place. Nobody should walk out of a meal feeling...

Underwhelming food with noisy bar-like atmosphere. This place was a disappointment. The ambience is between that of a bar with Mexican food and a lively restaurant, with many big-screen TV on all the time, and way too loud, rather annoying music of nondescript taste. The result is, in my opinion, unpleasant but we were on a time deadline for dinner, so we stayed. The menu is Tex-Mex with plenty of variety. Our choices may have been unfortunate, but the chicken Santa Fe for one of us was topped with good enough trimmings, yet the chicken breast itself was so overdone to be inedible (it truly was tossed, sadly). A remark in that direction was met with a shrug by someone (not a waiter) walking around asking, ironically, if all was OK. The other entree for our party of two was an immemorable collection of ordinary stuff (flautas, tamales, etc.)--we've eaten better at Taco Bell. This is 2 stars because this was our only visit, so maybe other entries are better; if typical, this would be a 1-star rating. Our tab was around $15-20 per person, before drinks. My star guide: 1-avoid, 2-disappointing, 3-competent, 4-preferred, 5-destination. 3 is a solid rating. 5...