Uno Mas Mexican Cantina — Restaurant in Longwood

I’m not one to typical write reviews unless I’ve had a stellar experience because I feel the good gets recognized much less than the bad, but I felt inclined to write this review. We were anticipatory for the opening of this restaurant. My husband is Mexican, as are my children, so the food and culture are a big part of our life and we absolutely wanted to support the dives of this restaurant. We were excited to have another Mexican restaurant opening near us. Until we went for our first time this weekend. It was very busy when we went in, which we were ok with, as we were certain this was a testament to the quality of the restaurant - it was, however, not. I ordered one of the most expensive meals on the menu (churrasco with rice and beans and maduros), which you would assume that they’d take great care in the preparation and portion of given the price of the meal ($26 - however, I was charged an additional $2 upcharge even though the menu states fries OR rice and beans WITH maduros, therefore making the meal $28). They did not ask me how I wanted my steak cooked but I honestly didn’t even realize until the food was brought out. It came rare, and mind you, I always order medium well, but I said nothing bc I wanted to keep an open mind. The maduros were completely burnt, the rice was the portion size of a small ice cream scooper, and the bean portion was even smaller - served in the tiny little black bowls that salsas come in. The rice and beans tasted just as burnt as the maduros- I was genuinely displeased and didn’t even eat the meal. I tried to fill up on the $11 tiny chips and queso , which again, comes in the tiniest of metal baskets that fit maybe 7-10 chips, and you have to pay for the salsa itself and choose whether you want green or red. The guac, which is typically one of my absolute favs, had no line, no salt, no pico - I can assure you guys, the cooks in the back are not Mexican and do not know traditional Mexican cuisine. Although we did not complain about our food because we wanted them to enjoy their opening weekend, we will unfortunately not be going back. If you want the best Mexican in town, go to Rookies Cantina, Fiesta Cancun, or...

DISAPPOINTING!! Our experience tonight was awful. My wife and I were greeted by our server and we asked for waters and ordered margaritas and the Trio appetizer. It took at least 10 minutes for them to bring the margaritas and when they arrived we still had not received our waters. It was then another 10 min for them to bring the appetizer. The Trio is chips and three dips. There is no reason it should take 20 min. We ordered our entrees when the appetizer arrived. I tried to order a steak bowl and was informed they were out because the steak they use for the bowls is pre-cut. The server said I could order a different steak item from the menu but it would be an up charge. (Make it make sense!) I ended up ordering the supreme tacos and my wife got a cheese quesadilla. We ran out of chips while we waited for our meals and our server was no where to be found. I had to ask the food runner who brought our entrees for a refill on my water and more chips to finish the dips. My entree was also disappointing. They forgot to put sour cream on my tacos and the side of rice tasted like microwaved Uncle Ben’s. To be fair my wife did say she liked her quesadilla. We then waited at least another 15 min with empty plates for the server to come by to ask her for the check. I would get the delays if they were slammed, but there were a few empty tables when we arrived and mostly empty tables when we left. I spoke with the manager at the front on the way out. He said he wished he would have known we had issues during our meal. But if he cared he should have walked by our table at any point that night. I kept an eye out for him and saw him talk to a few tables, but he never came anywhere close to our table.

We loved the Italian restaurant that this place used to be. We know it’s owned by the same restaurant group so hopefully they can work out all these issues and make it good. But for $70, we expected a lot better experience and will be in no rush to return. 2 stars because the margs are tasty. But that’s still...

This was an evening of disappointments. I came here to review the feedback from my peers in the community. I saw things that I used to like, for example when the restaurant by the same owners rent was run by another name they had a special running for muscles and they were absolutely fantastic. The webpage demonstrated that indeed they were still selling that appetizer so that’s number one number two is that they had a pasta dish with seafood that looked kind of interesting so that was two good reasons to go number three I have been to four of the owners other restaurants and always found myself satisfied one way or another.

This was to be a different story tonight. No muscles no pasta. Sadly, I had ordered an adult beverage before knowing one or two so I ordered another appetizer that other appetizer was based on Mexican street corn and it was OK however on its own, it would not be sufficient to draw me in.

I expressed my dissatisfaction to the server and she stated she had shared it with the manager. The manager demonstrated the lack of any interest in attempting to solve or resolve the issues I would have considered staying for a main course if the manager came out and had a conversation with me, rather the manager hid behind the server to all managers out there cowardice is not becoming. Cowardice is not going to attract customers.

I paid the bill and went on my way. While waiting on my appetizer, I went out to a neighborhood food social website to discover here is another potential place to try so I drove over to the next place and of course it was closed strike two for my evening .

I ended up my evening at Subway. I received excellent care. I received an outstanding sub sandwich. And to be honest, I will be back to Subway. Will I be back to number one or number two most unlikely. The moral of the story is that managers get out and meet your people servers stop apologizing for what you have no control over and everybody honestly has a shot of winning loyalty...