Vaquero Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Gardena

I called to make a catering order for an office meeting. We have several dietary restrictions amongst our team. The order was for two platter #1's for Tuesday and Thursday. The date and time of pick up was confirmed several times. I was asked to pay the total balance in advance, which I did.

On Tuesday when I went to pick up the first order it was Taco Tuesday and 12:30pm. The restaurant was visibly busy during the lunch rush.

When my order was given to me to noticed the vegetarian options were mixed with the meat. This was done for tacos and enchiladas. When I asked how I was supposed to determine the different options I was told to look at the sauce to verify. I wasn't pleased with this response as it's nearly impossible to do so. The person helping me then began to dig into the enchiladas to determine which was which. This was also unpleasant. Then she told me it was very busy and she didn't have the time to distinguish the different meats. This was very insulting as I was a paying customer as everyone else in the restaurant and it is proper practice to separate dishes that are vegetarian. I asked if the next order could be separated. I was instructed to call and hour and half prior to my scheduled pick up time to make the request.

I called at 10:30 am and was told that the order was made the day before and I didn't pick it up and they had no phone number to contact me. I was then asked to provide proof of purchase. This was extremely disturbing because the tone of the employee made me feel as though the money paid would not be refunded nor would the food be provided. Thankfully they took ownership for the mistake and prepared the items and separated the vegetarian items from the meat.

Another complaint would be nothing is provided to protect yourself from being burned by the pans. The food was provided hot and fresh which makes the pans very hot. A box or bag would be appreciated or some assistance from staff as the platter comes with multiple pans and bags.

On a positive note the food is well prepared and the tacos are great. The platter comes with more than enough beans, rice and chips and salsa. The tacos...

Note to future self: If a restaurant is empty, that’s a MAJOR sign that it’s not good! This place was so bad that it made me want to leave a review to warn other locals who think this place might be a hidden gem. After leaving this place, we went to taco bell which should speak volumes. I really wanted to like this place but it just wasn’t good. The food was so bad that we practically left 3-5 minutes after receiving the food. I have had other experiences where the food was bad but I’m able to stick it out until the end but these plates were just too unappetizing. As we walked out, we saw other tables had also left full plates of food behind. Also, the service was not very good. They seemed to be bothered by customers coming in.

Overall, please don’t waste your time. There are MUCH better restaurants and trucks that serve actual authentic mexican food...

Review is for a pick up of menudo I was craving! Anyway, it's been raining in LA and I just wanted menudo for lunch. I wasn't going to do DoorDash delivery a for a single order. I decided to see if I could do pick-up instead through the app. I noticed the menudo wasn't on the menu on DoorDash app, so I called and confirmed they still served menudo. It's my 4th time coming here for menudo and it's delicious! I also tried their pork tacos. To my surprise, their popular pork taco is Filipino Chicharron as a taco! If you're looking for menudo and don't want to drive to LA, this place hit the spot. Also, for a temporary price, menudo is 10.99 from Monday to Friday, I think from 9am to 4pm! I can't speak for their burritos or nachos, but the menudo is on point though. Their service could be a bit warmer and more often than not, their service is...