Plaza Azteca Mexican Restaurant · Lexington Park MD — Restaurant in Maryland

What Happened to Plaza Azteca?

I’ve been coming to Plaza Azteca for over 10 years. It used to be a place filled with great energy, amazing staff, and unforgettable experiences. But for years now, there’s been one problem that continues to affect not only me, but my entire group of friends and family who regularly visit.

Let’s start with Rosa.

Rosa consistently creates unnecessary tension. She’s intrusive, unpredictable, and seems to go out of her way to make both staff and guests uncomfortable. We always ask for a specific server who knows us and makes our experience enjoyable, but Rosa blocks that request almost every time. It feels personal and controlling. It’s exhausting, and unfair to the team and the loyal customers.

Two months ago, we saw something truly shocking. A woman was celebrating her birthday at the bar. Rosa was cleaning as the restaurant was closing. Instead of being respectful, she kicked the woman out of the bathroom, followed her outside, and yelled at her in front of everyone. It was humiliating, aggressive, and entirely uncalled for.

Even worse, several staff members have shared that Rosa once threatened a coworker by saying she would send her daughter—falsely claiming she was a cop—to intimidate them. Her daughter is not a police officer; she’s a corrections officer. Still, this kind of behavior is completely unacceptable in any professional environment. And it’s not the only time she’s used threats like that. Rosa should have been let go a long time ago.

And yet, despite countless complaints from both employees and guests over the years, ownership continues to protect her. It’s hard to understand how someone with such a destructive pattern of behavior is still being allowed to represent the restaurant.

Unfortunately, the situation has only gotten worse with the addition of Juan, the current manager. Juan is blatantly rude to employees in front of customers and has shown racist behavior toward guests. I saw him refuse to serve alcohol at 8:30 PM for no valid reason. In another instance, he walked away mid-conversation because he didn’t understand the guest speaking to him. He doesn’t speak fluent English, yet he’s been placed in charge of managing a staff and clientele who overwhelmingly do. That decision alone is deeply flawed.

Juan doesn’t greet guests, doesn’t smile, and walks around with an air of superiority that makes people feel unwelcome. He micromanages the staff, makes them sign absurd paperwork, and has fired amazing employees simply for not “aligning” with him. He has turned what used to be a warm, welcoming restaurant into a cold, hostile environment. Morale is visibly low. Employees are clearly unhappy, and it shows.

Both Juan and Rosa have created a toxic, fear-based workplace. They are cut from the same cloth: arrogant, controlling, and dangerous to the culture of Plaza Azteca. This is no longer the family-friendly, community-driven restaurant it used to be. It’s a place where dysfunction is tolerated and good people are pushed out. Legal action is inevitable at this point—and the employees would be absolutely justified.

It’s heartbreaking to see a place that once felt like home fall apart like this. Your employees deserve better. Your loyal customers deserve better.

Please let the right management take the lead again—the kind of leadership that operates with kindness, trust, and respect. Ricardo is a perfect example of that. He is an outstanding manager who, without fail, greets us warmly every single time we visit. His professionalism, consistency, and genuine care for both staff and guests have never once come into question. I have never heard a single complaint about him from anyone. Over the years, I’ve seen several management changes at this location, and his leadership has been, without a doubt, the absolute best.

Make Plaza Azteca...

My party of 5 was excited to visit this restaurant based on the reviews, and because who doesn't love Mexican cuisine! But, we were HIGHLY disappointed.

First, upon being seated, our server seemed verrry guarded when speaking to us. He kept a wide distance from us when speaking to us and taking our orders. He was acting like he was scared of us.

We asked him if there were any happy hours special, he replied with a curt and short, "No". We asked him what the restaurant special cocktails were, he again replied with a curt and short, "we don't have any". We showed him on the menu where it said, "Ask your server about the drink specials". He again, replied "we don't have any".

We decided on margaritas, and noticed there were different sizes, so we asked him what the prices were, and he replied, "I don't know".

We were taken aback by his responses, but after working a 10 hour shift, outside in the cold, we just wanted some good food and drinks. My coworker decided on a Patron margarita, and everyone else ordered their drinks.

When the Patron margarita came, my coworker took a sip, and immediately said this isn't Patron, and they didn't use Grand Marnier. We advised the server, he didn't reply, but rather walked away. A few seconds later the manager came over, and advised they don't replace drinks, because they can't reuse the alcohol...What?! Of course you can't, but good customer service would be to offer to remake it, or offer another drink.

After the pushback, another coworker graciously offered to purchase another drink for her, and he told the manager to put both on his tab.

The food was good, the atmosphere and decor was festive, but their customer service was terrible. Definitely not returning or referring others to go.

Maybe this server didn't have experience with serving large'ish groups or hasn't been in the company of other ethnicities, and has some preconceived notions.

Whatever it was, his service did a disservice to this...

The environment is lively very sociable a great place for happy hours or hangs out. This is my third time returning for their wonderful Chicken & Shrimp Fajita served on a skillet nice and sizzle very delicious. I also decided to try the Chicken Enchilada too. Sad to say with disappointment, this dish was dissatisfying,( bland) tasteless lacking flavor. I recommend the Chicken & Shrimp Fajita yum yummy😋 or any Fajita's served on a skillet. Anyway, I tried explaining to the manager that I was unsatisfied with the taste, but he was more concerned with inventory waste & revenue loss. He told me that the cook used the correct ingredients and that he tasted the meat himself and it tasted good to him. I explained that everyone's taste buds is not the same and the dish was unfavorable. I had no problem taking home leftover or paying either way. It wasn't the cost of my meal it was the taste. I took a bite of it and said to myself "what is this?" The chips and salsa is great, though! Anyway, I was done going back-n-forth with the manager. He wasn't rude, very soft spoken, calm and listen but he wasn't willing to remove the dish completely from my tab. I literally took one bite and shook my head in disappointment. His solution was 50% discount-no problem I won't be back.Inventory waste was more important than customer satisfaction and I wasn't thrilled about my waitress dry blank face definitely lacking enthusiasm. I paid her no mind. I was too busy enjoying my chips...