EL MARIACHI — Restaurant in Johnston

On Sunday, May 22, 2016, I went to El Mariachi Restaurant in Johnston, Iowa, at about 5:30 PM for a evening meal. As we drove up we noticed that the patio seats with tables were all filled with customers. When we went inside, most of the seats were filled with customers. The waiter at the door seated us and gave us a basket of chips with salsa. About 10 minutes later a different waiter came to take our drink orders and food orders. We ordered two margaritas and two combination platters for the two of us. I am a regular customer and I have eaten about half of the items on the menu over the past several years and I like most of the entrees. I prefer the #9 combination platter for $7.99 so I ordered that on May 22. The #9 has two ground beef items with rice and refried beans. Our drinks came right away and they were perfect regular margaritas on the rocks for $4.50 each. We waited for half an hour for our food orders to cook and the waiter apologized for the delay and brought more chips and salsa. He said the kitchen staff was overworked with the late afternoon Sunday crowd that night. A third waiter brought our food. The food was cold and the plates were cold. Usually the waiter comes with a big full size up to the elbow heat glove carrying the steaming plates with steaming hot food. We ate our food which was cold but looked OK and tasted OK. Then we waited another 20 minutes for our check. I finally flagged down the second waiter to ask for our check and he did bring it. We then went up to the cash register and paid without complaining. I felt stuffed. I had nothing else to eat or drink after eating the #9 combination platter. When I got home about 7 PM, I felt like I had two basketballs in my stomach. Then I got stomach cramps from 8 PM to 11 PM. Then at about 11 PM the diarrhea started and continued until 4 AM. The cramps decreased each time I went to the bathroom. The discomfort stopped by 5 AM. I was afraid to eat or drink anything until Noon of the next day when I drank some water. I think I got some minor food poisoning from eating the #9 combination platter. I am grateful that I recovered quickly after one night of discomfort. I will never go back there...

We came for late dinner, six people. One of the orders we specifically told the server no peppers and no beans due to allergies. The order came with ton of jalepinos. We called the server he took the plate back and came with the same order just took jalepinos off. When the person started eating we realized it had actual peppers under rice. Called them again. This time new one came out but with beans. The server said nothing just took the plate and walked away. The manager said " we made it two times for him. We were going to make it again but he walked out." So I guess it was our fault they messed up the order three times. When my friend said to him that this was unacceptable he just said what do you want me to do? I advised the manager that this was my first time in their establishment and this was my first impression of the business, the order was messed up three times and it was customers fault. I guess if you cannot eat something you should not go there because you may end up in the ER and not even get an apology. I didn't ask for discount or not to be charged not would I accept one but the way this place handled a problem is just beyond me. Never going again that is for sure. I left a penny for the server as a tip and If I could do no stars I definitely would. No customer service at all. Are these other people going to the same place? What is up with 5...

After hearing so many people rave about this restaurant we decided to try it. I do not feel that we have higher than normal standards when it comes to food. With that said the experience and the food were awful. When we arrived around 6:30 on Thursday they were not very busy yet we were treated (by the front counter) like we were bothering them. I mentioned to my husband that it appeared the two employees had just been arguing. Not very welcoming. Once seated the server was prompt to take our drink and food order. The food took longer than we'd normally expect but we were fine...assuming that slow means good quality. The chips were cold and stale. Our food arrived and the first thing I said to my husband was "aren't fajita's supposed to sizzle?". The only part of his food that was warm was the meat touching the cast iron plate. He said the beans were "wrong". Rice was questionable. The food was lacking in flavor as well....which is odd for Mexican food. I ordered seafood enchiladas which weren't my favorite but having never had them anywhere else I can't compare....I should have read the description better. Needless to say we won't...