Friacos Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Joliet

Food was excellent, the service was terrible. At first it seemed like a good thing they were moving slow as we weren't rushed, but then it just became an issue of an inattentive waitress. They bring you chips and salsa immediately that we ate and ordered guac and queso dip. She dropped off both dips and started to walk away and we had to ask for additional chips (we ate most of the first small basket with the salsa while waiting). When she came to take our dinner order we were again out of chips and I had to ask for more. Finally, when our meal was brought out I had to ask for more chips as we had half our guac and half the queso left with no chips to eat them with. All the while the queso is sitting and getting gross. Seems odd that I have to keep asking for chips when we ordered two large bowls of things to dip chips in! In addition to the wait time where we are sitting with no chips and no sign of our waitress to ask for more.

Besides the chips/dip, the waitress would never check on drinks. I was drinking water and my spouse a drink and I had my empty water glass on the outer edge of the table for 20min without notice. My wife's glass sat empty for 10min before I put it next to mine. When she brought our food she said she would get waters and I had to stop her to ask to please get us another sangria. I would think she would be pushing stuff that increases our check.

Finial episode was when she dropped a squeeze bottle of salsa that squirted up my shorts. There was a quick, insincere apology and she offered me napkins, which was fine. But the dirty look when I took the stack of 4 napkins instead of just the top one was ridiculous when I had not yet seen how much was on my clothes, the chair, my leg, etc. never again after that did she ask if I needed more towels, or if my clothes were going to be ok, etc. it was if I inconvenienced her by taking her 4 napkins and slowing down her night.

In summary, we won't be going to eat at the restaurant again. The food was good and we will probably still use them to cater parties (we do so 2-3 times a year), but that kind of service is terrible. When I asked for a to go container for my remaining bowl of guac (uneaten bc she never brought the additional chips I asked for when she brought our food), she brought one and took all the silverware from the table leaving me nothing to scrape with with. Just poor...

Short review: First and last time going. Bad service, food, and drink. Do not waste your money. Long version: Server was friendly, but the actual service was terrible. It took forever to get my margarita, especially since the margarita’s are premade and they use a terrible mix. Y’all I make better margaritas at home for cheaper. My server stated they used to make the margaritas fresh and without using any mixes. They would use real fruits. But they don’t anymore. I asked what the server liked food wise. They recommended a basic taco dinner. They also stated they did not eat the food anymore, but they remember liking the tacos after I asked them. (Uh what? If a server tells you they don’t eat the food at the establishment where they work, don’t ever eat there unless it’s for dietary reasons. This person straight up said they didn’t like the food lol) I ordered my food and I sipped on my drink. The place seemed pretty slow, lots of servers and other employees were seen chatting, eating dinner at an empty table near the bar, or taking care of their table. I waited for my food for a very long time. But thankfully I got some chips and salsa. Salsa tasted premade, not very good but good enough to snack on. Waited for about 40 minutes for my dinner. Server did not check in once since dropping off chips & salsa. Which would be fine but I wanted a different drink because I couldn’t stand the margarita 😂 when they brought the food I was pretty annoyed and forgot about getting another drink. Food was not good. This is the first time I absolutely could not find one thing I liked about the food. It was so bland and the meat was dry. Maybe about 20 minutes into me eating my meal, my server comes to my table with the tortillas they forgot to bring out with my food. I finished eating shortly after and waited for another long period of time for my check. 10/10 would absolutely never recommend. Take your family out to a...

Always a pleasure going to Friacos, staff are always polite and service is on par. We arrived on a Saturday evening, prime time and a 25min wait, but its always worth the wait because we know with our family alone, heck' we'll be there for an hour, minimum. They offer a pretty good range of menu options from authentic traditional through vegan and as we worked our way through the selection on each visit, they never disappoint and to boot, they always have specials on their drinks which blends well with the food. Since I'm on the topic let's just say make sure you have a designated driver, call a friend or take an uber/lyft because I have witnessed many stumbling or tripping on the invisible string strung across the floor 😵 (gotta love how they always look back and down as if they really tripped over something in their path) 🙄 anyway, not saying its bad thing, just pointing out that the drink specials are huge and easily underestimated by most, one can't help but to take advantage of the daily specials if you enjoy your alcohol especially Tequila infused drinks! Obviously it's one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in the area and highly recommend it. Price is proportional to quality and quantity served and as mentioned, the service has been great on every visit, I guess I can say I've never been disappointed thus far. And oh, If you were wonderin', it's perfect for the small to med families or groups 4 to 8 after that they need to pull tables together (just be prepared to wait a little longer if that is the case) and if you were looking for a intimate setting, sure, if you can overlook the fact that it can get pretty busy with family and friends that it can get pretty loud at times due to everyone having a good time. Tip: if you can handle seafood, in particular crab and shrimp, make sure you try the Cheese Dip or Fondue, I'm sure you'll see it in my photos that accompany my blather....