El Molinito — Restaurant in Marana

First I want to say that, Molinitos has been a family staple restaurant for over 20 years. It is a place where they offer decent food for a more than fair price. We decided to go last night with some friends before we walked it off at Winterhaven. We got to the restaurant around 6PM, and I already went with a mindset due to being Friday there would be a little bit of a wait to be seated. We checked in with the hostess and suprisingly only a 25 min wait, so I said "LETS DO THIS". As we waited the other 3 in our party shortly joined, and we got seated, around 20 min wait, things are looking up. But, that was the positive experience we had this evening. We got seated in the patio area, total of 7 in our party, 5 adults and 2 kids, not an overtly huge group I would say. After about 5 minutes of seating we were than asked what our drink choices would be, the drinks came out immediately followed by chips which were a little slow to come out. We all looked at the menu while munching on chips and salsa after about 5 minutes everyone knew what the wanted and we waited for the server who was busy with other tables. Finally after 10 minutes of waiting he finally came over to take our order. So here we are 20 minutes in and barely getting our order in. Within the next few minutes this is where the chips ran out and the drinks ran dry. An older server/employee noticed the chips were empty and stated he would bring some back but that became a wasted effort as they never appeared from him. About 40 minutes our drinks finally got refilled as well as our chips. At this point we are all getting a little restless and the kids are getting grumpy. I usually tend to enjoy my time and not get worked up, but when 2 tables that were seated 30 minutes after us gets served their food before we do thats when my patience runs thin. We gave it another 5 minutes after the 2nd table after us was served and finally decided to give up. I went to the cashier to pay for what we received thus far(drinks and Chips), though annoyed I will never walk out on what was delivered. At that point hearing me tell the cashier what was happening the manager on duty wearing a red shirt got off from leaning on the wall in the server prep area where he was chit chatting with a female employee. He stated his apology and told me the kitchen was backed up. Yet food was getting served all around us. I politely gave my opinion on the issue. The restaurant was staffed appropriately if not overstaffed but there was no clear direction and a lack of execution. People were standing around talking and there was no follow up or guidance for what is needed to be done and what tables need attention. I dont blame the servers or floor personel one bit in this. They are only as good as their leader and this not there was no leadership. Its sad that this long time establishment in Marana is falling in their service. I think there needs to be a lot of re-training and expectations set by the owners with follow up at this place. Until it is fixed I am afraid my family will choose...

Excellent Food - Plentiful Lunch Specials We visited the Oro Valley location on Oracle for lunch. Information on my phone said they have outdoor dining - they do not. We sat in a very comfortable room that might have been a patio area years ago, but is now enclosed with large windows looking out over the parking area. Fresh tortilla chips and a very tasty, slightly spicy salsa were brought to the table immediately. My wife and I both ordered iced teas. I do enjoy beer, but they have no beer on tap - only bottles and I prefer tap. The menu is quite extensive and there are Lunch Specials which are a buck or two lower in price compared to standard menu pricing. My wife selected the Beef Tamale and Cheese Enchilada Combo($7.99). I ordered the Burro of Choice With Works. I chose shredded beef as my burro protein and when ordering 'With Works', you have options to get the burro enchilada style (ranchero style sauce and melted cheese over the burro), guacamole side, and sour cream side - any or all of these. I got it all! All lunch specials come with either rice or beans. Unlike most restaurants where lunch specials tend to be a smaller portion of a standard menu item, these dishes were anything but small. My wife had an excellent tamale filled with an abundant amount of flavorful shredded beef. A perfect ratio of masa to beef. Her chicken enchilada was excellent topped with a bit of spicy enchilada sauce and shredded cheese. As the sauce was a little spicy for her, she asked for some sour cream. Out came a bowl with maybe a full cup of sour cream ($2.49 add-on) and was a perfect pairing with the sauce. The Mexican rice had more flavor than most. Centered between the enchilada and tamale was a small undressed salad. My plate could hold no more. A very large sauce and cheese covered burrito, large sides of sour cream and one of the best guacamoles I've had in Arizona. I also had some undressed salad. The refried beans were tasty, especially when I added some of the salsa. The burro is packed with shredded beef. No beans or other fillers. I brought home 2/3 of my burro, my wife did likewise with her enchilada, plenty for another lunch. We recommend this place for sure. Go hungry and you'll still...

I always give this place 5 stars.... but this time I was not satisfied with my experience. The food seemed to be put together in a rush and was for the most part undercooked, our cheese crisp was thick with cheese but not thoroughly cooked and was rubbery, my wife’s carne asada burrito which has cheese added to the inside was only warm and the cheese wasn’t even melted inside, it also had a pretty good size hole in the side when they rolled it and it ripped open, I approached the manager and let him know the problems with the food, he said he would check into the issues with the food, I informed him that there was no problem with the service just not impressed with the food. After a short while he returned to the table and informed me that no one in the kitchen would own up to their mistakes and he was sorry for the problem, come on really no one would own up to it ? At this point the manager just left after he saw the cheese crisp and even commented that it looked rubbery, he made no attempt to fix the issue further by even offering to take care of some of the $37.00 tab. I’m not one to complain or ask for a free meal, but the food was not up to their regular standards, even the manager commented that they weren’t that busy for a Sunday night, and he told me that in the future I should tell the waiter and they can remake it for us, like I said staff is always great and food is usually good but this time someone wasn’t running the kitchen well and presented a ok product, we didn’t even take out half eaten meal home with us, i feel like the issue with the manger wasn’t handled correctly, am I wrong ? Couldn’t tell you the managers name he didn’t have a name badge, this was a Sunday around...