Plaza Del Mariachi — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Came here on a Saturday at a little after two with a buddy. Seemed a little busy so we grabbed seats at the bar, which was winding down. Bar tender seemed a little busy which is fine but it took about 10 minutes before someone came over to take drink orders and drop off menus and even longer to get chips and salsa. Chips and salsa were just OK. Salsa not too watery with large chunks of onions, chips a little under salted and warm. Ordered food and then waited. Took about 20ish minutes for food come out which is pretty slow for most Mexican joints. After food was delivered by a server had zero follow on contact or service of any kind. No one asking how food was, no offers of more chips or more salsa (even with the empty salsa container pushed all the way up t the bar). Luckily when the customers next to me left, they left their salsa container and the staff never removed it when they cleared the place settings so I got extra salsa sloppy seconds. No one askied if I needed another beer. I would understand if it was slow but we were well past lunch rush at this point and the service felt decidedly lacking. I ordered the dinner enchiladas (comes with 4 enchiladas) and was brought out the lunch serving (2 enchiladas). No worries, with 20+ minutes to get food I'm definitely not asking for a redo, and figured the bartender had misheard my order. When the check was brought out and I slapped my card down I noticed they'd charged me for dinner portion. When I pointed it out to the bartender and showed her pics of the lunch portion she just ordered two additional enchiladas and went back to doing whatever. When it came out they did give me some plastic silverware, so when I asked for a togo container I didnt waste anyones time. Prices were high compared to other options in town. Food was OK but spoiled by crappy service.

Needless to say, I felt ignored the entire time and the service wasn't great. My buddy goes here all the time but I won't be -- if you want to come here definitely don't sit at the bar if you want...

Our new favorite place to eat at our or order pick up! I was really impressed when we walked through the doors of the Plaza. We were promptly greeted and seated even though it was fairly busy. I love the atmosphere! They have a bar if you just want to come in for drinks. Plenty of seating in various areas. I really love the decor of the restaurant, right down to the stained glass windows. We were seated in a booth and greeted right away by the waitress and promptly served with chips and salsa, my Hubby’s favorite. We have come in for our Anniversary and Valentine’s before. We come in when we can, the prices are perfect for a couple eating out, almost cheaper than ordering pizza delivered now. I have even ordered food online for pickup for my Son’s birthday, it was a breeze so definitely check out their website and try that feature out.

The food is always amazing! The portions are huge so be forewarned. My Hubby and I seem to always get the California Burrito with chicken. I love that it has the black beans inside. It’s perfect every time but we made the mistake last time of ordering the regular size instead of the lunch size and let’s say we had burritos for 2 days 🤦‍♀️😂😂 My Son ordered the Diablo Burrito and boy! Did that look good with the shrimp on top and everything. He picked that up after I ordered it online and he said the chef hand delivered it to him! We also ordered the Xango Cheesecake for my Sons birthday and I have never had that before, what an delish desert! I love cheesecake as it is but this is a whole new level. Everything from pickup was packaged carefully too. We are definitely very happy and will...

The prices are good and the food taste okay. I had a chimichanga. I love getting chimichanga every place that has it on their menu. Unfortunately, this place's chimichanga wasn't that great compared to other places I have gone to. The other places were in Florida though. The chimichanga at this place didn't have any pico de gallo nor cheese inside. It was pretty plain ans dry chicken inside. We ordered Pan de elote and it honestly was really bad. My husband was disgusted with corn being in the ice cream and whip cream. I was fine with it until I tasted it. The corn tasted like something from a can. It had like a metallic taste to it and it was just horrible. The Pan de elote, itself, tasted stale. I'm not sure if the atmosphere is always the way it was on Cinco de Mayo but if so, loved it. The service was fine in my opinion. My husband said he notices the waiters and waitresses focusing their attention on Hispanics more than anyone else. Overall I decided to give it a three star mainly due to the food. My chimichanga was pretty bad but what my husband ordered tasted pretty good. Never getting Pan de elote there again but then again I probably won't dine here again anyway.

EDIT: We ended up giving this place another shot and they're not bad. Just have to stay away from their chicken option. Always go with beef or steak. Their chicken is extremely dry. I've been to other hispanic places within Jacksonville, NC and this is the best bang for buck. The other places taste pretty close to this place but more expensive. I've updated/changed my review from...