Carlitos Mexican Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Hilton Head Island

I personally believe it is best to order in person, because they make a pretty good Margherita.

I ordered via Uber Eats, but rated the atmosphere 5 stars so not to reduce the overall rating. I have previously ordered from the bar area and enjoyed the atmosphere. After placing the order, the items were prepared and delivered within 30 minutes. I ordered the Arroz Con Pollo, which consisted of a large amount of chicken, rice, onions and vegetables. Very good and did not require salt or pepper, only a little pico de gallo and that's because I enjoy pico de gallo. I ordered grilled chicken for my boy Sammydog, so I had expected a very plain grilled chicken breast. Instead, the chicken is seasoned with their mixture, so I could not allow Sammydog to eat. I also ordered a cheeseburger from the children's menu to ensure my boy had a choice. He is very picky and what he eats today, he may not touch tomorrow. The cheeseburger worked out well by removing the bottom bun and keeping the top bun which had the cheese stuck between the top bun and the meat. I sliced it into bite size pieces and it only lasted a few minutes. I also ordered a side of cheesy rice, which is very tasty. I enjoyed the food, half of the Arroz Con Pollo is sitting in the refrigerator and plenty of rice that is a side dish for the children's cheeseburger. This is probably more for Uber Eats but it would be nice to have a comment section within the order to specify gluten free or any other...

Will not return.

To start with I ordered an unsweetened ice tea, and a child at the table ordered a half and half iced tea. A few minutes later I was notified they had no unsweetened tea, however, a half and half tea suddenly appeared 5 minutes later for the child. Hmmmmm.... They never came back with my tea.

I then ordered the Texas fajitas, it came with three small tortillas, not enough for the portion of food it was served with, a small amount of lettuce, two small slices of tomato, etc., and absolutely flavorless beens and rice. The Coup de grâce came when I tried to eat the obviously frozen shrimp, and the rubber band "steak". At this point I stopped and didn't even bother with the chicken. I would like to say I very rarely send food back, however, this was one of those times.

They did offer to make something else, and provided an explanation that they KNEW that the steak and shrimp were not the best which is why they were changing vendors , and perhaps something about new management, I honestly stopped listening after being told they knew the food wouldn't be that good.

I am not trying to put down this establishment but there is clearly some work to be done.

As for ambiance, one...

Chips were stale and cold. Salsa tasted like a jarred store bought salsa. My husband and I ordered the Hawaiian Fajitas. The presentation was beautiful. Bacon wrapped shrimp with jalapenos, chicken, and steak with veggies came in a hulled out pineapple. Came with flour tortillas, rice, and refried beans. The beans were delicious. Rice comes with peas, carrots, and green beans in it, so if you don't like veggies like that, I wouldn't order the rice. I enjoyed the rice, but hubby doesn't like veggies in his rice. Shrimp was overcooked, rubbery. There is too much pineapple flavor that overtook the meal. (Served in pineapple with extra pineapple cut up and served in meal.) Our waitress was super friendly and very open to constructive criticism. The restaurant is very open and didn't have the atmosphere of most Mexican restaurants that we have patronized. We met a couple there who said they eat there at least once a week because it's so good. Maybe Carlito had a bad night, but I wasn't...