Mesquite Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Jackson

Arrived at Mesquite on the square in Jackson at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday July 16, 2023 with 3 others for dinner. I've eaten here for many years and the food, while not spectacular, has been consistently good. It's no Taqueria Del Sol, but the service is typically above average.

As we attempted to enter the restaurant, another party was trying to leave so I held the door open for their exit. After they filed out (it was a party of 8), I held the door for the ladies in our party to enter the restaurant, and then the other male in our party and I tried to squeeze in behind them. The hostess was attempting to take our names to be seated. The restaurant appeared full initially, but there were many open booths available.

At that time, a stocky Hispanic "gentleman" approached our party fussing about me holding the door open. I replied that we were trying to enter the restaurant. In an aggressive tone of voice, he asked me again to close the door since I was letting the air conditioning out. He then went onto complain that they were "5 servers short" and backed up.

I told him that in order to enter the restaurant, we had to walk through the door. I also told him he needed to drop his attitude and that we were customers attempting to patronize the restaurant, NOT his employees. He replied that if I didn't like his attitude, we could go eat somewhere else.

WRONG ANSWER. I told him that we would ABSOLUTELY go eat elsewhere and that if he continued to speak to me disrespectfully he would not enjoy the consequences. Our party of 4 left the restaurant and drove around the corner to Gabinos where, despite the restaurant being full, we were seated immediately.

Shortly after being seated at Gabinos, our waiter took our orders and, a very short while later, he delivered us a table full of delicious Mexican food...all the while providing us with excellent service. This is my typical experience every single time I've eaten at Gabinos in Jackson, Locust Grove, or Stockbridge.

Oh...and that party of 8 that witnessed the verbal exchange between the rude employee (manager/owner??) at Mesquite? They walked in a few minutes after we were seated and enjoyed their meals at the next table over.

The fact that Mesquite was "down 5 servers" speaks volumes about the incompetence of the management at this establishment. It is clearly sub-standard, just like the interpersonal skills of the employee (manager/owner??) who rudely engaged me.

To the rude employee with whom I engaged: You MIGHT be the baddest a$$ in your little restaurant, but that battleship mouth of yours is going to get you in a lot of trouble when you run it to the wrong person. Perhaps your restaurant is so successful you can suffer the loss of customers you treat rudely, perhaps not. Rest assured it is not in my best interest, or yours, for me to ever grace your establishment again.

If you're in Jackson and desire excellent Mexican food...you will LOVE Gabinos. I highly...

I was taking my Moma out for a late lunch.We have been here several times.The cheese dip has always been good.Today it tasted weird and we didn't want our food if it was going to have the same cheese dip on it.I called the Manger over and politely told him that if this cheese was going to be on our food to stop our order.He told me and my Mom that are taste buds were messed up.Stormed off brought another cheese dip that still tasted nasty.When I said that he yelled at me and said food was a Blessing and that it wasn't nasty. He was very anger and not trained in how to handle the situation. I told him I would pay for my drinks and guacamole.He said I was going to pay for all that I ordered.The food wasn't out on the table.I told him within 2 mins of ordering my food that the cheese was nasty and to cancel our order.He still kept yelling at us,So I asked for another Manger. He stated he was the only Manger. So we told him we wasn't paying for what we haven't eaten .He kept yell. He clearly isn't trained to be a Manger.He eventually just threw us out because his anger and rudeness didn't sway us to pay for food that wasn't even on our table. I see several post on here about this Manger. Hopefully the owner will get that Manger some training or Get someone that knows how to...

I use to like this place years ago, but after visiting yesterday I will not be back. The food is mediocre, the service is lacking. I was even more annoyed after I received my bill. Charged 3$ for some shredded cheese I never received on a side order of lettuce, after also being charged 2$ for the lettuce. I was brought out an extra order of beans and rice we didn't even ask for, and charged extra for that too. Taking an order seemed complicated for the server as if she wasn't familiar with the menu based off what we requested. I have been a server/bartender and running up a tab to increase the bill so it benefits your tip "percentage" isn't cute, so her tip greatly affected that. Charging me for things I never asked for and then charging me for items I never even received? Makes no sense whatsoever. I guess it's bring your child to work day, because she was more occupied with babysitting and playing with a kid than serving her tables. Have a better servers attitude instead of acting annoyed with your customers because you have to do...