Masa Mexican Kitchen & Cantina — Restaurant in Issaquah

First impressions are very important! When we walked in to the bar area, we were overwhelmed by the odor of the fish tacos. Every table seem to have crumbs on them and the fact that they leave the water glasses on the table makes it look like the tables have been occupied and not bussed. The bartender barely acknowledged us just when we walked in except to find the server and let her know we were here. The people that came in behind us actually got their chips water and menus before we did. My dad's water glass was only half filled and the bowl of chips brought to us was more than half filled with crumbs. The entire time we were here the bartender barely left the area behind the bar preferring to talk to the customers in front of him. The tables remained unbused and crumby for our entire visit despite it being after 2 p.m. on a Monday (a slow period in the restaurant world). The food was decent and the portions were generous but the chicken in my enchilada was very dry. The Masa Margaritas were excellent however! Our server was friendly but not quite as attentive as I would have hoped for the time of day and day of week. This was our first visit to Masa... Could well likely be our last. Disappointing in that there aren't that many good Mexican restaurants in downtown Issaquah. The prices were a little high but somewhat reasonable for the size portions that you got. The menu was rather Limited in our opinion. The bartender really needs to come out from behind the bar and actually take care of the restaurant, busing tables Etc. The same table stayed dirty the entire 45 minutes that we were here while he just chatted with his friends and played on his cell phone. If he was working for me, he wouldn't be working for very long. The fact that he's the assistant GM...

I will never recommend this restaurant any of my family nor friends we eat today in this place. (dec22,2018) only get my husband sick. I think he get food poisoning! He’s been vomiting after a couple of our we got home from eating late lunch in masa Mexican. Right after we done sending our Christmas card in post office, we decide to find a place to eat lunch since we wake-up late today and we have only coffee. This is the first time we try this restaurant since it new, so we thought food is good since it’s looks decent.my husband order "Arroz con pollo"and I order "Mole" and our appetizer is "checking wings"! our order is not that long they served it in a few minutes. The server served the checking wings, but, I requested to cook it more time to make it sure the meat inside is fully cook, not that long my order “Mole” is served too it’s looks yummy in my eyes, so I try it right away! Only to feel disappoint in the taste? Its taste wired taste like burn sauce sweet that I can’t explain because of the taste wired so my husband traded HI’s order to mine” he order (Arroz con pollo) so while eating HI’s order taste better that my order food. After we both done. that’s he decides to speak out that it is really taste wired. So, I told him this is the first and last, we eat here we pay and leave drive back home. But after a few a hour he is experiencing crump in HI’s tommy and run to the bathroom to vomit. We both love authentic Mexican restaurant and we thought this restaurant is similar but nope!...

We were basically pushed out the door 15 minutes after closing time. We had just finished and paid about 10 minutes before and were finishing up our conversation with our friend we hadn’t seen in years and the waitress put up all the chairs around us and then said she had to clear our table because they were closing. She took everything including the WATER!! We would have left on our own in minutes casually, but the waitress made it clear with her actions and tone of voice that we were no longer welcome once she got payment. It’s not like we were there for a long time either, showed up at about 7:30. I have worked food service jobs for about 14 years of my life and have never seen staff treat guests like this without shifts cut or getting fired. At any restaurant I worked at if someone walked in the door one minute before closing time, then they were served and waited on until they were done. Keep in mind that closing time was 8PM which is not late by any stretch compared to normal dinner time. I get not seating anyone after 8pm, but rushing your guests out the door because it’s 8:15 and you need to put a few more chairs up is unacceptable. I’m quite sure rushing us out the door five minutes early didn’t save them any meaningful amount of time closing down but I’m sure it cost them future revenue. Food was good, but don’t go here unless you want a McDonald’s level...