ESTRADA'S MEXICAN GRILL — Restaurant in Garden Grove

My husband had eaten here a few months ago & enjoyed it, so he wanted to try them again.

Visited on a Sunday at noon. Not too many customers. The place was less than 1/3 full. Terrible service! Seated right away & chips were delivered. Then nothing. About 5 minutes in, I heard the waitress mumble, "I'll be right with you folks as she walked past (not entirely sure who she was mumbling to), but that was it. No drink order, no visit to our table, nothing. We waited 15 minutes for a waiter, then I finally got up to ask if anybody had been assigned to our table. She showed up & took drink orders while I was away from the table & informed me of such when we passed each other, but never indicated in any way via apology or excuse, that this wait was not the norm. The next time she showed up to drop off the incorrect drink orders (water with no ice, but all delivered with ice), I requested decaf coffee, which was burnt & tasted terrible. Our waitress was unfriendly, brusk & a very poor server. She dropped of my coffee as she was walking past, just sticking it on the edge of the table as she walked past. All meals were served by handing the plates to the person who ordered them, even across the table & in front of/across other people, necessitating the recipient to reach across to receive the plate. Most of us thought our meals were OK/good, but I ordered bacon, soft & my daughter ordered bacon, crispy. Both were cooked medium. My son ordered an omelet with vegetables (onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc). The vegetables were not cooked, which meant that the water vegetables release while the omelet was cooked released inside his omelet, making it soggy & watery. That's bad enough, but they also put lettuce in it, which was not listed as an ingredient & added to the soggyness. Worst of all, the inside of his omelet was RAW. The front 1/2 was soggy & from the middle to the back was actually raw. You could see raw egg leaking out & it had an actual puddle of raw egg that had seeped out. My son didn't want to be a bother & was going to eat it anyway, even though he didn't like it, but once he got to the raw half - no way. I requested a new one from a server walking by & the server looked at & said that he could see that it was raw. I sent it back & who I assume was the manager, came by to apologize after a new one was brought to the table. Our waitress did stop by several times during our visit for a very brief second as she walked past to ask if we were OK.

While we waited for our food to be delivered, someone from the table across from us actually got up to ask how much longer it was going to be for their food because they had been waiting a long time. When their food was delivered a few moments later, the same waitress served their food the same way she served ours, by handing it to the recipient across other diners. This group was in a booth which makes serving a little more difficult, but still you don't serve someone's food right across someone else's face.

Despite my complaints, we are not a demanding group. We were with our 3 grown children who were raised to respect others & treat wait staff with the same manners. We are polite, have manners, usually don't require much. We are not loud, we don't make a mess & we usually tip well. We we visit a restaurant a 2nd or later time we are remembered & the wait staff is glad to have us as their customer again.

We will not be returning to this restaurant & I do not recommend it to anybody else, which is unfortunate, as it's a new restaurant in the area & had the opportunity to do it right, but.... I don't see them lasting past their lease if this is the was...

Hold on, because this is going to be a long one, Estradas cafe has been my family and I’s go to restaurant. There are many varieties on the menu and the service is very good!

I saw a review that was complaining the food was over $40 but I’m sorry, have you eaten ANYWHERE lately, a greasy little breakfast meal for the family at Denny’s cost 70 bucks so I wouldn’t be complaining about a delicious and well-made Mexican food meal. If you don’t like the prices maybe you shouldn’t have voted for your beloved Biden.

I also saw a review that was a one star because the salsa was too spicy, my family and I are Mexican and we all love the salsa, it’s not the company’s fault that a bunch of white people come here to claim they “love eating Mexican food” but in reality they can’t even handle a little flavor or spice.

It’s like fancy white people who claim,”omg I just LOVE Chinese food!!” Then they go to eat at Panda Express… stop complaining the salsa is too spicy for your white tastebuds, us real Mexicans know what flavor and spice is.

One review was from a man who said him and his spouse were seated next to another couple and they were bothered that they had to hear the couples conversations, well sorry dude if THATS your biggest problem, it’s your own fault you didn’t stand up and walk your own butt to the front counter and ask for a new table. OR I don’t know..maybe just stay home and cook yourself a meal so you can eat in peace.

I saw ANOTHER review stating they ARE Mexican and were disappointed half the menu was American food…. HMMMM I WONDER WHY?? Maybe because they are located in the middle of a neighborhood with a bunch of bougie WHITE AMERICANS living in it!

The establishment is family owned and it’s very cozy inside, sometimes they have a live Mariachi band for entertainment! Everyone is so nice and the owner Jose always waves hi and welcomes us in even if he’s cooking in the kitchen. Running a business is hard and I understand that, so it hurts me to see people leaving such crude reviews instead of encouraging the business to keep upgrading and to keep up the hard work!

If you were offended about anything I said in this review, you further prove my point…no one...

Is it unreasonable for me to expect that Estrada's accurately reflect it's hours on the door and online? It's near comical to me that I want so badly to raise my review of this place. Yet each visit, I am just left wondering who's managing this place?

Went for breakfast burrito. They were closed claiming to be open at 7 (~7:50am). Someone was in kitchen so probably open at 8. Although only 1 person I could see for a big restaurant (expect more preparing to open the place).

Decided they want me to know my business is not important to them. So instead of waiting 5 minutes to find out if they open (not confident) I went to Golden West Diner instead.

Previous review This restaurant is struggling as it opens. It feels like they lack strong leadership. Each time I have gone I watched people walk out. Or sit for 20 minutes before getting service. Food wasn't bad, staff was friendly, but it's an experience that leaves you saying"nah, let's go somewhere else this time".

Note: No alcohol license with ETA of December 12, 2022.

This restaurant has the potential to be popular. There aren't a lot of sit down places in the area.

Food was what I expected for the place replacing Cocos. The first time it was a large menu. Mexican was good, but I thought the rice was lacking. Second time they had a brunch only menu; this isn't the place for that. Stick to consistentcy. It was also awkward to ask "when is the regular menu". I got some weird "we are out of a lot of stuff" answer. I watched another table struggle asking the same question.

Staff was nice. It just wasn't coordinated well. You'd look up wondering where folks were and it took a while to get back.

I look forward to seeing them find their footing, returning, and upgrading the review. Come on Estrada's... The neighborhood was looking forward to you... Let's turn...