Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Lubbock

2022 - came back for the first time in a while. Glasses have scratches on them and we were told it’s just from how they are stacked up. If you don’t know, please look up why you shouldn’t use scratched and chipped dishes and see if you agree with not wanting to have scratched dishes. After being one of my favorite places growing up in Midland/Odessa and when moving to Lubbock, I can now easily pass.

• wrote the above while still at the restaurant…just tasted the water the waitress brought in to go cups and it tastes like they filled it up with tap water. Went and asked for to go water at the bar. Tastes better. Food came out on dirty plates. My kid really wanted to try the avocado enchiladas, but unfortunately had stuck on grossness on the plate. In fact all the plates had something that didn’t belong along the edges. We asked for an extra plate and it had specs of stuff on it - that wiped away. So I think we’re done with Abuelo’s in Lubbock - good luck if you go.*

(2020 review) Unfortunately, the last few times we’ve gone the service has been mediocre. We hadn’t even bothered to go for a while, but ended up going for a birthday lunch because of the dessert nachos . The appetizer came out halfway through the meal, and it seemed has though it had been sitting for a bit. The entrees were good. Several dishes were dirty or chipped. Asked for silverware, finally had to get up and get it ourselves. There were several other issues with the waiter, however everyone has an off day, so hopefully that was just one of those days for him, but it seems the last few times we’ve been we’ve caught the server on an off day. Likely won’t be back for a while when there are other similar options in town now.

The dessert nachos were as fantastic as always.

This has been one of my favorites forever! (Ate at the one in Midland when living in Odessa, so of course it was a place I frequented when I moved to Lubbock). Not a fan of the menu changes - everyone I go with enjoyed the old version of the dip sampler (avocado cream dip instead of 3/4 full container of lettuce with a small scoop of guacamole). We used to go pretty frequently - but with the menu changes and the new restaurants similar in town, it’s been moved out of rotation...

If you can’t accommodate, I think it’s better to close for a few hours (or for a day) until you can find staff. We were held up here for like 5 hours. All of the dishes were way too basic for a $10+ price tag, mostly incoherent, some with sauce, some came with chicken, others didn’t. Food quality varied with each dish (multiple people ordered the same dish) Staff was clearly working hard and trying their best, which was apparent when they were trying to organize the party’s order, but management showed lack of problem-solving skills. This would be in an episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

1 cook? -edit the menu for the day to only serve quick and easy bites/tapas. (even if it’s already limited, remove the menus from the tables, no one needs to know) OR close the kitchen, why waste everyone’s time and money? OR Move staff positions based on qualifications, get some help in the kitchen from other certified staff. OR Call friends and family for extra help.

I could provide a variety of solutions, Abuelo’s, but that’s not my job. It’s important to note that this review is based only on my first impression of this restaurant. Also important: I wouldn’t call this Mexican food. It’s TexMex at BEST. I got an uncooked tortilla, rock hard chicken and barely any condiments all in the same taco. But the steak taco was delicious! What a contrast taste was! But the thing is: I genuinely think that with enough kitchen staff, the food is not “bad” (still wouldn’t call this Mexican, the salsa tasted like ketchup) but that Saturday was definitely a waste of time and money for staff and customers. Waitresses and managers all looked stressed & if I didn’t attend with loved ones- I would’ve been close to walking out. No shade for the cook or waitresses at all but what an embarrassment for management tbh.

🌮Food 3/10 - 2 tacos, one was delish, the chicken was not well made. It seems condiments were a suggestion too 🍽️Service 3/10 - stress from staff/management spilled into our table when there was confusion on who’s plate is who’s. We waited so long my butt hurt. 🎸Atmosphere 3/10 💫 shoutout to Evading Arrest, the artist/musician who carried the...

From Houston to visit daughter. On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, the 45 minute wait was a positive sign that the restaurant had good food. After waiting an hour at the bar and ordering 40 dollars of drinks (I told hostesses we would be at the bar waiting), no table yet. I inquired as I saw empty tables. They said they forgot to call. Seated 5 minutes later after 2 people did calculus to determine where we were to be seated.

Chips soon came. No silverware or napkins or water until we requested them from waitress when she came to take our order.

We had fajitas. My wife's shrimp and my veg fajita had no sizzle when served. Must have been sitting in kitchen before brought out to us or they just did not do it correctly. My veg fajitas had 3 small brocolli crowns, slopped on noodley soft overcooked onions, and a few small mushroom slices for 15 dollars. They were so saturated in butter, that is all I could taste. Came with three room temp tortillas similar that one would buy in supermarket. In 64 years, these were the worst fajitas I ever had in my life (veg or meat).

They had decent salsa. No one coming around to fill the cup back up though. Chips not fresh nor were they recently out of fryer either. Probably also bought from outside.

And as for your response to my comment above, if you took more personal attention into your business than leaving it to others and third parties to perform ownership/management duties (such as your feedback to my one star comment), maybe you would be able to mitigate the increasing number of bad comments to your restaurant and eventually recapture the quality processes that enabled you to expand. Or else, you are going to fail. Restaurants have small margins and 10% survive after 10 years.

Go to Taqueria Jalisco and see how...