The Marisco Spot — Restaurant in Lawndale

Lengthy review incoming: I just want to say I use to come here ALL THE TIME when I wanted some solid cocktail de camaron or shrimp tacos, michelada etc. But recently, this place has REALLY fallen off. Ive been here a few times over the last few months and its just not the same anymore.

Theres this particular girl who works there during the day who has the most unhospitable approach. They dont even greet you when you come in, i sit down - they dont even wipe the tables down its all sticky and gross. Theres nothin worse than placing your forearms on a table and feeling the stickiness. Its actually kind of gross. Place is so small that small stuff like that shouldnt be an issue. When you walk in- just be prepared to see this face 😑 and the lowest monotone voice ever lol.

I simply dont understand how you can work at a restaurant (particularly a marisco place) and seem like you rather NOT TALK to people. I get it, we all have a bad day, but man its been like 3-4 times now. The people ive brought. All say the same thing. "Foods pretty good, but sometimes the service kinda kills the mood." Its realllly really hit or miss. But with this girl, its 100%.

I usually dont write reviews, but I just had to. I feel like if Im giving money to this place and use to recommend it and the standard has been lowered, then I feel it should be brought back to what it was. And that starts by giving an honest opinion.

Suggestion: Hire people who actually have waitress experience and know how to EARN tips, not expect them. And thats starts by greeting people, wiping tables down before they sit down, suggest things- act like youre familiar with the menu, and it doesnt hurt to smile. But when you cant even do the aforementioned, thats kinda wild.

The front end staff use to be A1, but after some changes over time, things have really changed the vibe at this place. Final thought: if you want an entire Marisco experience with music, waiters/waitresses that are attentive and on top of it etc- avoid this place. If you can careless about the lack of service and it being a 50:50 shot and just want solid food, this is the place...

We went last night a party of 6.. we came in and they just look at you but don’t welcome you or anything .. so we just sit down and try to make the best of it .. the prepared oysters were good but everything else was not good especially the beans and rice, the beans were so nasty.. the molcajete was simple not too much flavor, .. but here comes the worst part, when our bill came they included the tip like 25 and they don’t even welcomed you , lol…then if you don’t pay cash is like extra 7 dollars , WTF… so I tough it was a credit card fee but no they still charge 1 dollar for card fee.. so I don’t get it , if you don’t pay cash is extra 7-10 dollars 😞.. so I pay extra 32 dollars for tip, not using cash and card fee, do the math… and after they charge me my card and gave it to me it say if I wanted to leave a tip , like tip out again. You already automatically charge me 25 dollars tip and you want more?.. we were gonna argue with them about the force tip and the non cash fee and the 1 dollar card fee but we say it’s not worth it, maybe they need the money more than us, so we left it at that and left but for sure NEVER coming back..we work in restaurants and we tip out usually 20-25 percent on our bill if the customer service is excellent .. so try to welcome people when they walk in and take that non cash fee out which I think is illegal...

ATMOSPHERE: Bring cash and bring plenty of it otherwise prepare to pay an additional $10 on your bill + the card fee. I did not see anywhere on their menu a heads up informing customers about the difference in pricing between cash and card. However, they have a pretty crowded menu so maybe I missed it? On top of that, practically all the prices on their menu are blacked out which I find to be dishonest towards their customers. I understand majority of seafood is often market price and so their menus should at least say that instead of black dots covering all the prices. Nonetheless, other seafood restaurants manage to have pricing on their menus regardless. The 3 stars I am giving are mostly based on the above experience which I found a bit shady and just rubbed me the wrong way personally.

FOOD: We ordered molcajete mixto for 2 and a ceviche tostada. It was more than enough food for my husband, myself and our 7 year old. Food was flavorful. No complaints.

SERVICE: Service was good. Our server was attentive and checked on us periodically. No...