Don Chepe's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Kendall

A Mariachi. No Enchilada.No Margarita! I think we showed up on Grand Opening Night? (Thursday 4/27 @ 8pm.) As my husband and I circled the shopping center lot to look for parking, things seemed promising. A Mariachi band played under an open air dining pavilion, buzzing with patrons & servers. When we approached on foot, I even got a little concerned we might have to wait for a table. We literally had to push through the guests, seated in the pavilion, as there was no clear path to the entrance. (That was our first clue.) My husband eventually hunted down a hostess, and she said there was only outside seating. That was ‘unexpected,’ but the night was cool enough. (I was glad they were so busy, and I was happy to see any entrepreneur succeeding in this competitive town.) We sat down, and the hostess immediately started asking us if we wanted appetizers-appetizers-appetizers. We said no. (We rarely order appetizers. We’re not cheep; we’re just not very big eaters.) Once she realized she was not going to sell us appetizers, she began rattling off the nearly half of the menu items they didn’t have. (Remember, it’s 8pm on Thursday, and they close at 11pm.) Now, I love my Mexican food, and one of my favorite Mexican dishes is the Enchilada, and my favorite Mexican drink is the Margarita. If I’m going to go out and pay decent money for someone else to cook and serve me food, then I’m darn well going to get what I want. Not what I don’t want, and more so in an environment that I didn’t “expect” to sit in (i.e. outside). So, when the server finally came and put the complimentary corn chips and salsa on the table, while telling me they were out of Margaritas? That was it! I’m so sorry we never got to try the food, or the drinks, or anything. (But after reading the other REAL reviews from last night NOT FAKE ONES FROM FRIENDS & FAMILY maybe I’m not sorry.) Also, we actually didn’t even get to hear the Mariachi band play, because they had quit their set by the time we parked. I truly wish the owner and the staff the best. I post this review, not to trash anyone, but for edification. I realize we can’t plan for everything. I have owned and successfully operated businesses and managed restaurants and kitchens. TIP: Next time you realize you’re running out of food, especially so early in the evening, send one of your guys to Costco or Restaurant Depot, so you’re patrons don’t leave! I don’t know if I’ll ever stop by again. This area definitely needs a good Mexican restaurant, but I don’t believe this...

Sat down outside to eat, me and my wife ordered drinks. Then watched as a table next to us got wrong drinks on top of their food items coming out individually. The fiajtas was served to the woman with no topping and no tortillas. After waiting over 10 mins toppings were brought still no tortillas. 10 more mins tortillas finally. came. By that time the food was cold.The waiter said there was nothing he could do about it that it wasn't his problem to have to deal with. Then, when he was asked to see the manager, he came back and said there was none on site and that they would still have to pay cause no one there could override and take off the meals. After much conflict, the manager finally came to the door hissed at the waiter and the man and woman and motioned his hand as if to brush them off. We asked him if there is a problem with our food will we receive the same treatment and he just said he didn't care and threw the food away in garbage right at the door in front of us. I immediately asked our waitress to cash out our drinks, and cancel our food order. The whole experience of that manger and the server that was taking care of that table was appalling. It was my first time and I will never go back and I urge others to not go and waste your money when there is way better options in the area with much better service. I will say our waitress was very nice and polite and we tipped her well cause we felt bad for her. You can make your reply how u want to but I was there and experienced it first hand. Those people were polite and trying to be understanding from the beginning. Management needs to do better not at just conducting themselves but also training their employees to deal with these situations diplomaticly and not by brushing people off. He never even spoke to the people until he brushed them off and threw the food away. Their was no disrespect giving to him pr the waiter he brought all of the disrespect and had no concern or care on the impact that conflict had to the business or others dining experience. Not acceptable in any fashion especially when people ask politely to speak with you and u send your waiter to lie and say you are not on site which is against business regulations...

Arrived at the restaurant about 5 mins after 2pm. Seated promptly & had drinks within 5 minutes of being seated. Ordered food when drinks were delivered. Drinks were delightful! Fast forward 1 hour. Still waiting on food and no drink refills. Nothing was said to us until it became obvious we were tired of waiting. The host came to our table and informed us our food should be in about 10 minutes. 10 minutes past, still no food. At that time we requested out food togo. We just flew into Miami & had been at this restaurant for roughly 1.5 hours now without any refills at the least. We finally got our food about 10 minutes later. $97 bucks! Our hotel was 5 minutes away. Food was barley warm. Beans were very salty we couldn't even eat them. Not to mention the worst Birria tacos I'd ever eaten! Dry corn tortilla! Hardly any cheese. You'd think with them beig fully aware of bad service we'd been offered something to compensate. Nope. No discount, no refills no nothing! Our first and last time there. Sad part is they weren't even that busy.

• Edit * The owner said we should've spoken to a manager? Probably so. We were tired from a long flight and just wanted to rest. But if the mangers or supervisors were doing their jobs, then I shouldn't have had to ask for anything. They had to know that the restaurant was behind and had people waiting over an hour for good. Supervisors oversee operations. Not in this case. We went because of the good reviews. I could've got a $10 burger that was better. The drinks were delicious though! Too bad we weren't even...