El Mariachi 2 — Restaurant in Hawaii

I thought I would try this place for lunch. I ordered chili verde pork plate. It was a good sized portion but it was over salted, and the beans were cold. I also ordered a two item plate to go. The taco beef was dry and had a stale taco shell. The chili relleno was a good size but the sauce on it conflicted in taste and made the egg coating soggy.

I waited several days and decided to try the food there again and exore the menu. I ordered a carne asada burrito (meat, cheese, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, guacamole), but oddly, the burrito came on a plate w/ rice and beans. Since I am from CA where we have the best Mexican food anywhere, I asked if it would be okay to put the rice/beans it comes with, inside the burrito, then wrap it in foil for ease of eating at work. I asked to hold the onion, cilantro and any salsa. She said no problem.

The burrito had a good amt. of beef w/ several small chunks of fat, a huge, disportionate amount of beans and a redish-dark orange colored oil throughout that kept pooling/dripping everywhere w/ each bite. I used 6 napkins to sopp up the oil. There was a small amt. of rice, culminating at one end of the fold, and the cheese/ guac were missing! The whole thing had way too much salt everywhere. The taste/quality of the beef was poor, the seasoning mild. It did not resembled traditional carne asada. It was precut in small bits/pre-dressed, then cooked, which changed the softness/taste. It was inedible, especially w/ all the oil and salt. I threw the food away and called the waitress to described the issues. She was really nice, she apologized, and she offered to remake the food at a later date.

A few days later I went back to see if the order could turn out better on the remake. I ordered the same plate, but this time I decided to leave the beans and rice separate and put them inside since the portions were just not right last time.

I spoke w/ the new waitress and explained everything clearly and asked to just leave out any oil, and no added onions / cilantro, and no addional salt. The cheese and guac were fine. Before leaving, she said it was made correctly.

I left, got to work, and tried the burrito. Unfortunately, the food did not improve. I expected the quality of the meat to be the same, but I did not expect the seasoning to be a lot stronger today. Too much seasoning & salt. There was no cheese/guac. It was not edible again.

I called the waitress to let her know it was missing the cheese and guac, but just asked her to speak w/ the cook since he did not get the order right. She offered to let the owner know, but I delined to have them contact me, & conveyed that it's the understanding of the cook preparing the food that needs to have it explained. I thanked her and wished her a good night.

In under 3 min, she called me. She said the cook told her that since I did not want onions and cilantro to be added to the burrito, he withheld the guac. I explained that the guac was my choice to make. Then she said all guac is made w/ onion/cilantro. I said I know how it is traditionally made. I am Mexican, but I have traveled all over the world and it is/can be made differently, but furthermore, it's a small amount I chose to have in the burrito. She then started to argue and say she too has traveled the world and its 'ALL' made the same way. Then she asked if I would like a side of cheese to be held for me since 'we owe you cheese.'

I said no, thank you. I am already at work. Picking up a side of cheese at a later date isn't usable. I just can't eat the food and have tossed it. I said the food just needed to be made the way I ordered it & any decision on the cook's part should have been conveyed so the customer has a choice. Having the extra onion/cilantro beyond the guac was what I did not want. I prefer a certain mix of food for taste. I appreciate the attempt; we tried and it just didn't work out. Thank you anyway.

She then hung up on me! Very inappropriate!

Never again will they get my money or referrals to the 5000+ peers...

Used to be one of our favorite Mexican places to go on island. Went with some friends and their kids, I ordered two street tacos and a side of a pickled onions if they had it. A bit later, she comes with pickled jalapeños, so I said, “Oh no, pickled onions.” I don’t know if they have them or not, but she just left with the bowl of jalapeños and didn’t say anything. If you don’t have them, say so. Everyone starts getting their food. My other half and I are left. He gets his plate. Now mine. Waiting, waiting.. some are half finished, so I flag our server down and ask if the tacos are still being made. She asks, “The tacos? What about them?” So I stated that if they were forgotten, to just not make them, but if they are being made, i guess i’ll take them. She said they’re being made still. She didn’t apologize at all, nothing. But I did catch her in a a bit of a fib. She asked if I wanted them to make it or have them hold off. (I thought you said they were being made?..) Everyone else is now nearly done or finished with their food, and my tacos finally arrive. Two street tacos. Again, no apologies from the server. The tacos are ok, but I think at this point I’m just so salty at the lack of service that it made the food test ‘meh’ to me. At this point I’m the only one eating at our table. Come time for the bill, we get charged full price, no comp or discount for the wait, AND we get a tacked on gratuity because of our larger table of 9 (4 adults 5 kids). Not stoked. Usually the food is good and service is great. This time not so much. Now, our server seemed young, and yes, it was a busy night… But an apology goes a long way. I used to be a server. I accidentally had food take way too long because of a back-end mistake with my server swiper card not putting the order through. I apologized profusely for the mishap and got them a free app as well as a comp of the entree that took long. The kind of service I received last night is absolutely not okay, and to be automatically charged a nice tip on. Won’t bother coming back...

NO MSG and great food! Not overpriced, salted or spiced.

Three dudes in the kitchen getting it done, two ladies in the taking orders and call ins, a line of delivery folks feeding Aiea and Pearl Ridge...on a Sunday evening; yes they had menudo! Really good food, pretty quick service, super nice people, clean and efficient. I measure Mexican restaurants by three things that I think are fundemental. The chips, freshly done, crisp but not hard or over fried, lightly salted and they didn’t taste like what was fried yesterday. They were perfect. The salsa, fresh, tomato-ee if there is a word, not too spicy or over salted, hint of cilantro and sweet vice regular onions(I think) and really good. The guacamole. My, my; really good. I like mine a tad more chunky, but this was the best I have had on island. The rest of the food we has was all good. Beans; great, rice; great and the service and the guys cooking in the back, none better. A jewel on one of the busiest corners in Aiea. Nicely done. When you get into the strip mall parking lot, migrate south east towards the stadium, and look for it. It is in the one part of the strip mall, where you have to get almost to it to see it. Beer only guys, no wet bar. Water and tea are better for you anyway. I will be a regular, promise. Thanks for a great...