Fiesta Ole' — Restaurant in Idaho Falls

UPDATE 3: Some months later, I am actually impressed by the level of service. The speed seems to be back to pre-covid levels. My order was on my table before I even started eating my free chips. Great job, guys!

UPDATE 2: After seeing “new management” on the marquee, I dropped in again for my next taco craving; I was pleasantly surprised! I talked to the new general manager and found that the company had hired him back after he had been gone for years. Good move; they evidently got someone who knows what he’s doing. While their speed wasn’t back to that of their heyday, it was acceptable, and they were obviously still operating with a much reduced staff. That being said, the food was back to as good as ever, and their customer service was probably better than I’ve ever seen it. I’m thrilled that one of my old favorites seems to have turned it around!

UPDATE: I stopped back in to see if things had improved. Thankfully, they had, though not to the level I would have hoped. It took 10 or 15 minutes for my order, and while much better than the previous trip, it’s still pretty bad for “fast food.” Unfortunately, the quality is still below where they’ve been in the past, especially the fresh cut fries. And their salsa bar was understocked and was completely out of their signature hot sauce. They obviously had more staff this time, though I suspect they still need more, as well as time for their new staff to come up to speed.

I've long been a fan of this franchise since it appeared 30+ years ago, but lately I'm concerned for their survival. They seem to have had a hard time with the COVID shutdown, and now that their dining room is open, they seem to really be struggling with labor issues. Their marquee recently said "under new management," but I guess that wasn't enough to get back on track.

My latest visit was something of a fiasco. I like the food, but I avoid the drive through because it makes me feel like I'm being nickel-and-dimed to death. If you ask for more condiments than you have items on your ticket, they charge you 25 cents each. Inside however, you can just serve yourself from the condiment bar. So I went in, walked straight to the counter (no line), noted the sign that read "Special: small fry or tot $1.99", and ordered 2 tacos and a small fry. The total price ($5.85) sounded high, but since I wasn't given a receipt, I couldn't check it. I then went to my table and waited 25 minutes to get my order. And when I finally did check my receipt that came with it, yep, I was charged the normal price for the fries, not the advertised sale price. But the 45 cent difference just wasn't worth the effort to ask for a refund.

During the protracted wait for my food, I listened to what was happening in the restaurant. I wasn't the only one waiting for my order. There were 2 other customers becoming agitated with the long wait, one of which was becoming late for work. There was also a delivery driver waiting for his customer's order. The counter worker explained that there was only one person in the back making food. 2 order takers and 1 order maker seemed like a bad ratio, especially during the dinner rush...

Like I said, I hope they make it. I like the food, but 25 minutes for fries and a couple of tacos is just too long to wait. I can see they're trying to hire more help from the sign in every window, but their starting wage is $5 per hour lower than other fast food places I've...

Food is improving. Getting back to how it was back in the day. My sister and I lived off soft bean burritos. Also Like the BLT Burrito. Stopped ordering for awhile. Once got it and it had waaayyy to much mayo and very lil of everything else. Was not edible. Now portion more equal. Last time ordered one wanna say had a bit more bacon. This time has bit less bacon. Would been bomb if had bit more bacon. But was still edible. Last time I ordered delivery. Ordering online you can't buy dessert. Not on menu. Was Slightly disappointed cause wanted some krispas then. Waaaayyy back in the day they use offer free krispas with a $10+ order. They got me hooked on them. Only way Last time get a few krispas was ordering a kids meal. So ordered 2 kids meals. Only issue with kids meal they don't give very many krispas. This visit ordered the same Cause I am typically boring and don't venture, plus just needed some classic comfort food. ( 2soft bean kids meals, 1BLT Burrito; this time added extra order krispas and a carmel apple empanada; cause I could and wanted to; might as well since at location) Second time trying the carmel apple. It's good. But just taste like apple. Don't taste any hint of carmel. (Personally I can not do cherry pie anything and Bavarian cream is OK but not super fan of when it's warm as in it would be in an empanada) Went thru drive thru. Cause am accustomed to that leisurely life (plus don't walk very well currently so avoid when can). 3 cars in line. Still decided do drive thru anyway. First car gone after couple min. Next car was at window for awhile. Next car was quick. At order board. Faintly could hear workers talking for a few. Apparently someone was off work. And saying goodbyes. Then employee on speaker asked wait a min. Waited just few min. Once doing actual food order. Now speaker kinda going in & out. Kinda hard understand occasionally. Ordered my "comfort/boring" food. Total time from arrival to get food about 45min. So not super fast. Once at pick up window. Lobby looked pretty slow. Only noticed 1 new customer go to counter order. And only saw one table sat but can't see full lobby. Gal at window was sooo sweet, pleasant, professional. Offered a grocery bag to put the 3 brown bags in make easier carry. Mixed up drinks and right onto fixing no problem. Then other worker 'cook/assembly' brought over the bagged food. Once at pick up window my food was out pretty quick. Then there was a nice lil note on one the kids meal bags. Which brightened my day. "Believe you can and your halfway THERE!" (Ignore grammatical error- K) Keep up getting back to great. At least never ever ever mess with (change) the soft...

I’ve always enjoyed Fiesta Ole and my sister-in-law was obsessed with it. When she would come to visit she would come here two or three times in the week she was visiting. But she says it’s not as good as it used to be. I’ve heard others say that as well. I went just to get a couple of crisp bean burritos and some cheesy tots (which I’ve always loved). As far as quality goes I think the crisp bean burritos taste as good as they always have and same with the cheesy tots. However I was surprised at how much I spent for the cheddar tots compared to how much I was given. I believe I paid over $5 and when I opened the tots there were not very many. I think the crisp bean burritos were reasonable. They used to be 99¢ a long time ago, I paid $1.24, so not bad. I was surprised at how long it took to get my food. Like most food places they are a little understaffed these days and I am very understanding to that and often you can recognize the stress on those poor employees, but here there was no sense of urgency. It took longer than expected, but I’m forgiving towards that. So while the cheddar tots were really good, they were overpriced for the amount. But I can still recommend the crisp...