Neon Taco — Restaurant in Lake Ozark

THE WORST DINING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. If I could give negative stars I could. We had a party of 14 (3 parties of 3, 2 parties of 2 and 1 party of 1) on a Wednesday night. The place was not busy whatsoever. The service was awful. We were there for well over an hour and only had our drinks refilled/replaced once. No doubt due to the fact that they required a mandatory gratuity of 20% on parties of 8 or more. The food was mediocre at best and WAY overpriced. Not too mention inedible at times. One of our meals was nachos that were drenched in salt to the point that you could not eat them and the tacos were too spicy for about half of the group and went uneaten. The only good things about this restaraunt were the drinks (when you could get one) and the view of the lake. To top it all off. We were unable to split the checks between our parties. When we were seated they said that they were able to split the checks and when the bill came they said we had to pay altogether. Then they said we can split the check as many ways as we wanted but it would all be equal amounts. I went inside to speak with the manager Anna, whom when I called later discovered that she actually is not a manager, and also I found eating at the bar. She reitterated that was their "policy." This "policy" is not stated anywhere on the menu, wall, website, or receipt. I explained that each of us had different party sizes some of us had drinks and others had water and that some of us had kids meals and others did not. The manager had absolutely no sympathy and would not budge on splitting the checks. She said the system would not allow it. When I asked how she would have split six different tables she condescendedly asked if we all sat together at one table or 6? Meanwhile the bartender kept intervening saying that he could do simple math to figure out how to split it. After 10 minutes of arguing with the most incompetent excuse for a wait staff I have ever come across we went outside to do their job and divide the meals, drinks, taxes, and forced tip among ourselves. Only for the manager to have the audacity come up behind us and ask if we had "figured it out yet." ABSOLUTELY DO NOT COME HERE! Take your money elsewhere and save yourself...

Food looks good, but it's almost all visual noise. Mixed drinks are terrible. Sometimes you just strike out and make a bad purchase every so often. We stopped by after visiting my old high school for homecoming to get something to eat. Should have known something was up considering how dead it was. Waitress was okay; she didn't do anything wrong but she certainly wasn't excited about working, as was par with about everyone else we saw. Whatever on that note. I get it. Most of the people we saw were drinking from bottles and weren't ordering food, which was a glaring sign we didn't take into consideration. Wife got steak tacos, I got the hot cheetos tacos and a spicy margarita. Good lord, that margarita was terrible. The Tajin salted rim was GOOEY and the flavors clashed like a midair flight. The only "spicy" part of the drink was the fresh jalapeño slices that fit in the cocktail like a nerd at a school dance. The whole thing tasted primarily like lime club soda. Drank half and pushed it away. This is the first cocktail in 13 years of going to bars that I refused to finish. My wife finished her tacos. Her words were "they were good, but not $14 good." The cheetos tacos were in the same "good, but not $14 good" category and I ended up picking at them like a picky child. Street corn was good, but a little heart breaking that it wasn't on the cob. Neat atmosphere, good views, lots of potential. I've never operated a restaurant, but my advice would be to totally reimagine the menu. I read through a lot of reviews before writing this and noticed most of the reviews congratulate the physical building while many ignore the cocktails and food. What's not said is something not...

My Dad (visiting from Spokane, WA) wanted Mexican food on the water. I was ecstatic to come across Neon Taco during my intense internet search! I live in Lake Ozark, but hadn't heard anything about it. I was a bit leary about taking my dad out for Father's Day to a brand new restaurant, and after reading the reviews, almost decided to skip it, BUT my dad had his heart set on Mexican food on the water, so he, my stepmom, and I decided to go for it. During our Uber ride to Neon Taco, our Uber driver mentioned that she had only heard negative reviews as well. We decided we would go anyway, try margaritas and an appetizer,get a feel for the place, and if the service/food/margaritas were as bad as the reviews, we'd go somewhere else for lunch/dinner. The place has had a total makeover since it was Beavers, it bright and cheerful and unique, and there was fairly large crowd, but because of tons of seating, we didn't have to wait at all. The Top Shelf margaritas were pretty good! We ordered the chips/salsa/quac/queso and were impressed (and we are picky when it comes to Mexican food, all being from Southern California). We decided to order meals. The tacos (which are 2 for $15) were stuffed full and quite large - for $15 they should probably throw in a third taco, but they were tasty. We also got the buritto and it was HUGE and very good - ended up taking 1/2 to go. Our waitress had a bit of an edge, but the longer we were there, the friendlier she became. I never do reviews, but I really hope Neon Taco sees these, works on the kinks, and thrives for years and years to come. The location is fantastic, they view is exceptional, and the...