The Plaza Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Lubbock

I'm a foodie. I enjoy going to different locations to eat. Since COVID I'm assuming all the good cooks are collecting unemployment because a ton of locations that used to rock have gone down hill.

New locations: The Plaza NEVER been, heard great things.

Food appearance: well, visually it will pass.

Taste: I ordered chicken fajitas. These fajitas came from a bag you buy from the grocery store. They opened the bad and cooked it. Very bland, no seasoning.

My mom ordered: Enchilada plate with an al a carte of a tamale. She liked her tamale but it was tiny. It could fit in the palm of your hand. If you have big hands it would be half of your palm. She added salt and pepper and left most of the enchilada and only ate the tamale.

Chips and hot sauce: we had a refill of chips. I ordered the habanero or the hottest hot sauce. It was okay.

Queso: I'm a queso connoisseur. This was simply Ricos Gourmet Nacho Cheese in a can, heated and a few things added. (Seasoning not being one of these)

Drinks: maybe this doesn't happen everyday but my drink came.with something extra. The filter from the drink machine. 🤢

Papas: Their papa's came from a bag as you just have to open the bag and deep fry them. Mine weren't even cooked all the way.

If you don't know REAL mexican food you won't know the difference. If you do, steer clear.

This location is a 1-poor for me. They don't prepare meals from scratch. They should watch a season/episode of Gordan Ramsey to understand that people can buy bags of food at home and do what they did. We go out to dine so 1. We don't have to cook and 2. We can savor in the meals from scratch.

Thank you, Your...

I'm a picky grump when i go to a restaurant i haven't been to before. I expect to be disappointed, and when they win me over, that's when i know it is a good establishment. For lunch, the Plaza Mexican restaurant is top five best i've ever been to. The standard chips are there of course, but plates were hot, the entrees were hot, service was good, and prices from 10$ to 24$ per entree were entirely justifiable. We had a slight wait for a table at 1:15 pm on Saturday. I was texted soon after and seated. It's a nicely decorated family restaurant, so the noise level can be a bit high. That's okay. Good food brings people in. The menu is extensive so it will take some extra time to order. That's okay too. Your only disappointment will be its very hard to decide what you wish to order. My dining partner had shrimp enchiladas with jalapeno sour cream sauce. She also had a solitary taco. You may pick two sides. Hers was refried beans and mexican rice. The rice was good but pretty standard. The refried beans however were very creamy, authentic home cooked. The shrimp was amazing. Plenty of shrimp and a sauce that just has to be tasted! The taco took my partner back to her childhood growing up in a wonderful hispanic area where the aroma of properly cooked refried beans was everywhere. I had beef guisada monterrey. It was tender, nicely spiced and a pleasant "kick" without being ghost pepper hot. It made me smile. Also on each plate was a very good guacamole salad in an edible tortilla bowl. Its a fun nice touch. Go here! That's the bottom line. I'm a busy guy, and i don't have time to write long winded reviews, but here it...

Let me clarify that the low score for our service was NOT the fault of our server, Jake. He was phenomenal. I only wish the management cared as much about customers as Jake does. We have dined at this location since they opened. Twice a year we bring 20-30 people for our Christmas party and our start of summer party. Every time we have been granted use of the meeting room, which is tenfold more comfortable than being crammed into pulled together tables in the dining room. This year, as always my wife called a week or so in advance, and was told the same thing she has always been told - the Plaza doesn't take reservations. Oliver told her to arrive early and we could get the meeting room space. She arrived at 4:40 and was told they would set up the room but would only seat us when half of the group was on premise. Shortly afterwards, the manager approached my wife and said that a party of 40 was coming and we would be seated by the bar. We already had 16 people in our group waiting for a table. What happened to "no reservations"? Sounds to me like a reservation... Oh, and guess what? The party of 40 never showed up. Shortly after the staff set up room, they were moving tables apart. I guess when you are as big as the Plaza is, you can afford to blow off $400 a couple of times a year. After all, most of the guests were Special Olympics athletes, they won't care, right? This was the wrong way to treat your guests. We certainly will find a different restaurant next June. Sorry Jake, you were the best part of...