Tia Carmen Restaurant — Restaurant in Geneva Township

Alright I’m sorry to leave a 3 star review, because I’m excited that Geneva is getting new restaurants. But hopefully they’ll take some feedback under consideration so they last!

We were excited to try this place. They don’t take res so we walked in on Saturday evening and they told us there would be about a 30-40 minute wait. No problem. But then they don’t say anything, and you’re just left standing there awkwardly in the tiny doorway (there is not standing room). I asked the hostess if we could/should check out the bar upstairs while we wait and she said yeah sure…maybe suggest that next time so you can get the business more money and not have people crowding the doorway?

When we got the table text we were able to take our drinks to the table with us; however we later learned that the cocktails offered at the bar upstairs are not available in the restaurant. This place is city pricing - a classic margarita is $16, and theyu go up from there.

For food, we got queso fundido, street corn, and carne asada to split. The queso fundido was fine (hard to mess up really) but only came with 3 of the tiniest tortillas I had ever seen. Like the 3 inch ones. Tortillas cost basically nothing, and this was laughable. The street corn was pretty dang bland and we realized halfway through that the kitchen forgot the chili/lime powder on top so that’s probably why. The carne asada saved the day - it was absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly.

The last factor was the service. Our server seemed young/new and was very nice so he gets the benefit of the doubt, but honestly could have checked in more. The tables are extremely small and the staff seemed to genuinely have trouble finding places to set our food down, yet not a single person came by to remove empty dishes from our table. We had to keep asking random employees who passed by our table.

TLDR; food is fine, drinks were better, but both generally overpriced, and staff needs to beef up their service and team mentality to...

After watching the transformation unfold to the outside of Tia Carmen, I was dying to give it a whirl. WOW! What a gem for Geneva! Walking up to Tia Carmen you can't help but feel happy. The painted bricks with the pink window trim just put you in a perfect mood. I was greeted by the owner who opened the door for me and seated me at a table straightaway for lunch. The dining room was nearly full for lunchtime, which was great to see. My server and all staff that I encountered were attentive and kind. I went to Tia Carmen hungry and knew what I wanted. I went with the combo platter and got a chicken burrito and chicken enchilada. First bite, you are hit with incredibly juicy and flavorful chicken. The rojo sauce on the enchilada tasted like I was sitting in a friends kitchen sampling her cooking. I typically don't dive too deep into the rice and beans but today...gone! Both were cooked perfectly. I had zippo self-control and ordered the churros for dessert. Only one came home. Oh, and I cocktail lunched with the Guava Jalapeno Margarita. Yeah, totally could have sat there for the next 5 hours sipping on those bad boys. The interior is gorgeous and modern and just makes you want to happy dance. But it's the food that makes Tia Carmen sing. Fresh, delicious and made with love. I cannot...

We visited for the first time on August 3rd and dined inside as a group of two adults and two children. Our children were given coloring menus and crayons which I appreciated. The children’s menu was extremely limited.

The service was extremely slow as our server was also the bartender. The drinks were served slowed and did not come out together. We had to ask for napkins, appetizer plates, and water refills. My children never received any type of utensils while eating. The guac was served with a pork rhine on top which is not described on their menu. I also ordered a frozen (blended) mocktail margarita and it had large chunks of ice.

I ordered vegetarian fajitas and wasn’t able to eat meal while there. After driving home, I found steak in my meal after notifying the server of dietary restrictions. I am extremely concerned that my meal was cross contamination with steak. Upon calling and talking with management, they did apologize but did not seem overly concerned that I could potentially be sick since he didn’t know if my food was cross contamination. I did ask for my meal to be refunded. I would like to add that after years of being vegetarian, I’ve never had a situation like this where I found meat in my meal.

I highly recommend if you have dietary restrictions that you avoid...