Frank's Monster Munchies Cantina — Restaurant in Hampton

Let me tell you, this place came highly recommended, so my daughter and I decided to give it a try. When we arrived, we walked in and checked out the atmosphere, which seemed cool at first. However, every single customer (about six in total) started staring at us. It felt a bit strange, but we continued to try to place our order.

We were greeted at a bar-like table with a very shallow “hi” and were asked if we were dining in or carrying out. We said carry out, and the waitress mentioned it would be a 30-minute wait for carry out and less time for dine-in. We still opted for carry out. She then asked if we needed a menu, and we said yes. Instead of bringing the menus to us or asking us to follow her, she placed them on the counter in front of the register.

My daughter went to get the menus and brought them back to the table where we were standing. As we looked over the menus, we noticed two of the six customers still staring at us, which made us feel uncomfortable. I made eye contact with one of the customers, who, looking flustered, said, “If it helps, they really have great food!” We laughed and thanked him.

Ultimately, we decided not to order based on the uncomfortable feeling we got. My daughter politely informed the waitress that we wouldn’t be ordering and thanked her for her time. The waitress gave her a smirk and didn’t say anything. Overall, my personal experience was neither good nor welcoming, which is a shame. I would definitely give the 0 stars if I could!!

EDIT POST IN RESPONSE TO THE OWNER OR SPOKESPERSON FOR THIS ESTABLISHMENT THAT REPLIED TO MY REVIEW:

"Let’s address the elephant in the room: as a business owner, your response and attitude demonstrate my point clearly. The demeanor you and your staff displayed was far from welcoming and speaks volumes about your approach to customer service. If I could’ve rated my experience a zero, I would have, as the awkward stares from customers were the least of my concerns—though still worth mentioning. Paying attention to surroundings, whether it’s outside or inside a store, is essential. If that’s just a ‘me thing,’ so be it.

Now, regarding our first visit: your staff failed to make us feel welcomed. You acknowledged that I may have been greeted with a shallow ‘hi,’ but you neither addressed the issue nor offered an apology. Instead, you dismissed my concerns, revealing your inability to take constructive criticism. Reviews exist for a reason—to highlight areas for improvement—and how you handle them reflects your values as a business owner.

Here’s how my experience unfolded: your staff approached customers at a table in the middle of the restaurant before we even realized we were supposed to go to the counter. Your staff member asked with an attitude whether we were dining in or ordering to-go, she was told carry out twice, said it was a 30 min wait then walked away and placed menus on the counter without further explanation. Had I known we were expected to follow her to the counter, it wouldn’t have been an issue—but the lack of clear communication and her tone made the situation unnecessarily frustrating.

As a customer, I am entitled to an enjoyable experience that aligns with the promises on your website—great food and great service. With your response I have now encountered subliminal assumptions about specific demographics, which is both tacky and disrespectful. I came here because of positive reviews and also have seen pictures of the owners, expecting a high-quality experience. However, this visit and reply confirmed the validity of my negative review. Own up to your shortcomings—you will continue to have issues from customers if you can’t take accountability and make changes.

For the record, I had an incredible day despite your senseless reply, but your response only added to the disappointment of my...

Look, I'm a very understanding person. I can understand a full restaurant and busy hours, running out of stock, and low staff. But for a restaurant to claim "Southern California Mexican Food", the food was very mid. With everything adding up on our first experience here, I was so frustrated I found it easier to pay and leave because its not the 3 younger people's fault that were left to cook and serve. First problem, salsa was not spicy or flavorful. Second problem that's not really a problem, margarita tasted like straight sweet and sour mix. Third, once we ordered our food, there was NOBODY else there and it probably took us 25+ minutes to receive 3 "street tacos", fries and mozzarella sticks. Now let's start with the food. The tacos weren't horrible I'll be honest, but I also didn't eat all day. I rate them a 3/10. Not much flavor, never see red onions on street tacos but sure, and no spice. They had some flavor and the meat wasn't all fat so I ate them. The mozzarella sticks cheese was hard and it was served with SALSA. We thought it was a joke, but maybe we didn't read the menu carefully enough. When we asked about it we were told "one of the cooks was high when he tried it and thought it was good with it", or something to that extent. The fries had a old oil or weird seasoning aftertaste that didn't sit right. We are not picky eaters and we're very understanding people but everything adding up made the experience horrible. Especially being born and raised in LA county. It's more upsetting to me that someone who seems to have passion of their establishment let that happen, and it shouldn't take a bad experience, to have to watch your staff and make sure they represent your restaurant well. I've had better mexican food from a regular Virginia mexican restaurant not claiming to be serving anything special, and this state has Bad mexican food pretty much everywhere around. I was super excited to try this place. But overall, waiter was nice and helpful and restaurant had a cool atmosphere so I wont say that was bad.

To add on and reply to that super professional review from the owner who thinks his restaurant is amazing although thay kitchen looked disgusting. Being born and raised at BEVERLY HOSPITAL IN PICO RIVERA, EAST LA, Ican absolutely call out your bad food. If you want to stay delusional and say it's good because people from Virginia say it is, then by all means enjoy it. It's probably why you moved away from LA since you wouldn't survive in the restaurant business there. Also, red onions have never been on any street tacos I've had is what I was referring to but obviously your comprehension is awful. You use store bought tortillas and serve brown limes so idk what you have to brag about. BEWARE...

Ok, since the owner decided to be passive-aggressive and rude for no reason, here is a detailed review on 'Frank's Monster Munchies Cantina'. I came to this place because of the high reviews on Google. I must have had a distinctly unusual experience. The employees were kind at the restaurant, but if it's the same people replying to my review, I guess they fooled me. The owner or whoever is replying to reviews seems to be very sensitive to anything below 4 stars. Perhaps the reason I was fooled by the rating is because they bully anyone who gives fewer than 4 stars. Go read their other replies

I asked the person behind the counter what type of meat he preferred. I also added one additional taco to my 3 at the time of ordering. I'm not sure what part of that would qualify as "very helpful and informative," but whatever. I paid a little over $20 for 4 street tacos, which is almost excessively expensive. I then waited approximately 30 minutes for my to go order to come out.

Food is rated a 3 because the tacos that I ordered were not served con copia, which would be fine if they didn't break apart instantly. I don't think I ate a single one of my $5 tacos that didn't disintegrate instantly. Easy fix. No salsa was included.

Service was rated 2 because of the extremely long wait. No, I didn't expect someone to bring me something, nor did I expect a conversation or a show, I just wanted my food in a timely order. I wish I were told how long of a wait to expect before or honestly even after I ordered.

Atmosphere was rated 4 because I found the inside comfortable and nicely decorated, the only bad part was that people had to cross within touching distance of me when entering the resturant while I was waiting for half an hour to get my food.

Attached a screenshot of the reply in case they decide to remove or edit...