Papagayos Mexican Restaurant + Cantina — Restaurant in Lake Arrowhead

I honestly didn't come here with high hopes with anything on the menu being good. So for starters let's talk about the service.

Initially walking in wasn't such a huge issue, more of your same typical host type interaction. It only annoyed me big time when one of the hostess asked one of our family members in the most rudest way possible what their service dog provides. While there is nothing inherently wrong with asking what the service animal provides, her attitude was unwarranted. The way she asked made it sound unprofessional and down right rude almost as if she herself was annoyed and irritated.

The Atmosphere and vibe is honestly very depressing and in desperate need of being overhauled. It felt like I was walking back to a different era and not in a good way. All the decorations made the restaurant look tacky and old.

For the drinks, we ordered the margarita and honestly it's nothing special, it's probably the only reason why the reviews are 'okay' at best.

Now moving on to the food, the biggest of them all for any restaurant. It's always nice to see chips and salsa given freely, that's always a plus however the salsa by no means tasted fresh. It's almost as if it was canned but like I stated earlier, you can't complain about free chips and salsa. As for main entrees, I specifically ordered the Carne Asada Plate which was honestly missing flavor and was somehow dry and tough which makes me wonder how long ago it was cooked. The tortillas that we were given was terrible, it's almost like they microwaved the corn tortillas to make them warm or left it on the flattop stove for a few seconds then served it. Honestly if they cooked it on the stovetop and charred it a bit it would've made a difference. Now here's the ultimate downside of this place that makes me question everything about it. Someone else in my group ordered the Steak Plate. Now unbeknownst to us, it had apparently been that the steak that was served on the September 9th, 2023 was bad. The Manager came out to all the customers who ordered the Steak Plate and apologized since someone else had reported the steak tasted off. This honestly was the final strike for me. Now good on the Manager for taking accountability for the major screw up that had occurred in the kitchen and comping/replacing the meals however that doesn't amend the fact that the owners of this establishment let this happen and allow such poor quality food come out of the kitchen. I'm not a professional chef but I can certainly cook better than this. This place left my short stay to Lake Arrowhead with a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, I would avoid this place entirely and go somewhere else. I normally don't like leaving long reviews but this one really bothered me. Take your money and go to Stater Bros and make your own Mexican food and I guarantee you that whatever you make will be better and at half the cost, including...

First off, This place doesn't deserve any stars at all. 0 stars. Hostess was extremely rude with us and does not treat customers with respect. She also seemed upset we were wearing masks and was even more rude to us when we said we wanted to sit outside. She then purposefully placed us next to a large cluster of tables with people not wearing masks when there were clearly open tables for two available. We decided to move to an open table away from everyone (due to the rising Covid numbers) and the hostess about had a heart attack because God forbid she had to do her job and get us a new server. I explained to her our safety preference and she just scoffed and said "you aren't away from anyone here.." I was like excuse me? We almost left but my fiance was starving and we already started eating the complimentary Tostino Chips and Pace Picante sauce (that came from the Stater brothers next door). The waitress was ok and had a good personality and the food and drink arrived fast. However the burrito bowl was bland and didn't have a lot of chicken. And the rice and beans tasted like they came from a can. The Bloody Mary was the only thing that tasted good. Basically this place is an overpriced tourist trap that serves a bad attitude with a side of verbal abuse and unauthentic Mexican food that's canned from the aisle of a grocery store. We've had better service and food at McDonald's which is sad. Hostess lady should have retired to Florida years ago but still works here since the lake opened in 1920 and is still working there just to make everyones life as miserable as hers. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time...

Haven’t even gotten to eat yet while writing this review. Put my name down with a younger hostess, got quoted for 20 min on a party of 2. All good.

After 20 min, walked in looking to ask how much longer the wait would be. 1st time I walked in, I was greeted by the younger hostess.

This time I walked in, a much older hostess (most likely a manager) didn’t even bother looking up from her sheet. Me and one other guy stood there for a minute before he announced himself (asking how far the range on their buzzers are).

I then had to say “excuse me” myself since she didn’t even acknowledge me. Finally asking my question, she says that we were put down for 30 minutes.

I don’t know if that was a visual mistake or from the original hostess, I honestly didn’t care. I just thought how long could it seriously take to seat 2 PEOPLE.

After 10 more minutes, walked back in asking again. I didn’t give any attitude, simply asked.

This same lady says “we’ll sit you right now so that we’re good on our word.” She then said something along the lines of “see where waiting gets you?”

THEN SHE HAD THE AUDACITY TO SAY THAT “patience is a virtue.”

Insinuating (implying) that I, as a customer, was impatient.

I’ve worked in customer service before. THAT IS SOMETHING YOU DO NOT SAY TO A CUSTOMER.

Especially one with a college degree, she’s lucky I didn’t make a scene because I didn’t think it was worth it.

We walked out after being seated because we still didn’t get our order taken after 10 minutes.

Piss...