Manuel's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina | Glendale — Restaurant in Glendale

My wife and I have been coming to Manuel's for quite some time, as it is very close and convenient to our house and it is very easy to run over to get some Mexican food takeout fairly quickly. However, over the past several months, we have noticed a fairly steep decline in the quality of their food and also the service. Several times during the past few months, we would return home and find the food would either be a bit cold or the tacos would be a bit on the greasy side, or they had made a mistake in our order by either not preparing the correct dish or forgetting to include part of our order.

After our experience this past Sunday, we have decided we are no longer going to eat at this restaurant. My wife and I went to Manuel's Mexican Restaurant for a takeout order on July 21st (Sunday). When we returned home, we realized they had made a mistake with our order and had given us an incorrect item (spinach enchiladas instead of seafood enchiladas). Because we did not want the other items in our order to get cold, I returned to the restaurant and I requested they redo the order. After returning home, I took 2 or 3 bites of a chicken taco, and discovered a piece of wood in the taco, roughly 1/2 centimeter or so in width and roughly 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length. I discovered the piece of wood in my mouth while chewing on the bite of the taco and I am very grateful that I did not choke on the piece of wood or tried to swallow it. I was quite surprised at how large the piece of wood was. I showed it to my wife and we cleaned it off and verified that it was not a piece or a part of the chicken or a chicken bone.

I am not one to file a bad review on a business establishment because I know how important good Yelp reviews are to a business. Despite the past hiccups (colder food or mistakes in the order), we tried to give Manuel's the benefit of the doubt by going back, realizing that sometimes businesses can have a bad day or make a mistake. Also, the owners and the front counter staff have always been very friendly and professional. But finding a piece of wood this large in our food (after returning a previous order on the same visit because of mistake) has turned out to be the last straw for us. Also, because of the size of the piece of wood in the food, I did file a formal complaint against Manuel's with Maricopa County...

Family member ordered a catering meal for 5/5/2024. Family member ordered it weeks in advance but for pick up on 5/5/2024. Ordered mini chimis, rice, beans and enchiladas for 25 people and they said guacamole came with the chimis. Family member called day before just confirm order and employee said that’s for Monday we said ugh no that’s for tomorrow Sunday! They said okay it will be ready! Order was confirmed and went over over on Saturday to employee which was Mini chimis, rice, beans and cheese enchiladas and guacamole for 25 people! Get there 5/5/2024 checked all food all looked good no guacamole they said it now didn’t come with it then they gave us a single one for one person! Then get home party stats eating the pan that was labeled enchiladas was not the enchiladas we call because no one would eat the other thing that was given to us like a casserole and they said come back we will give you enchiladas. We then go back to get the enchiladas like they said and they’re like no you got it you have your order! Wouldn’t give us enchiladas or a credit or money back! We didn’t get what we ordered. The staff was very unfriendly and had no customer service. There was no communication between staff...

EDIT* I do however really appreciate that your GM reached out to me and fixed this situation. Thank you. I ordered my food through (a delivery service) …. After grabbing my food from the delivery driver and walking inside, I quickly realized that they forgot my fried ice cream.. I called the restaurant immediately and they go, “oh yeah I see the Togo person didn’t put it in the bag. Want to come get it? A little annoyed at this point but, I know accidents happen. They’re only human. What’s really disappointing though is that I spoke to a manager about the forgotten fried icecream.. & After the inconvenience of having to come to the restaurant and pick it up despite the fact, I paid for DELIVERY service………

they couldnt even REMAKE it for me so I could enjoy it fresh? No. Instead you gave me this half melted soggy mess for a mistake YOUR employee made?? I’m not the type to make a big stink so I just took it and left but talk about some horrible customer service…. I really love this restaurant too. So...