Macayo's Mexican Food — Restaurant in Mesa

06//10/20- The outside of the restaurant is difficult to find due to the lighted sign being blocked by a tree and no other obvious signs indicating where it is and where the entrance is. The bottom floor is dim and cozy in some areas, and lit and airy in others. Decor is nice, non-distracting (not too much and not to little to drag your attention away). Did not go upstairs so can't offer anything about it. Inside was kept well air-conditioned. Outside was kept clean and was nice on the (fake, man-made) lake, however, on those humid days that the lake is particularly foul, I'd advise to not request outdoor seating. Staff was very friendly and appeared to be happy to assist with any requests. There was a nice vegetarian menu that had a gluten-free menu on the back. Now, being that I have Celiac disease (can't eat gluten: wheat, barley or rye), I was quite happy to have a nice selection of gluten-free options. Of course, some of the items offered came with meat (I'd pescatarian) which can easily be remedied. I do wonder if the price was lowered due to the removal of the meat (I didn't pay the bill in this instance) as I'd noticed that the ADDITION of meat in any meat-free meal was an additional 2 to 3+ dollars. I will find out next time (yes, I could call but I don't feel like it). Note that this is not a place to eat if you are vegan. Free, fresh corn chips and salsa are served fairly quickly upon seating and can be refreshed as many times as you want for no charge. The meals ordered during this visit were VERY large; more than one serving for a single person. And if you want to do the proper thing and have your "3/4 of the plate is veggies while the other 1/4 is protein and carbs" then this is not the place for that meal. There are no good side vegetable dishes (they have salads but they don't count). The food you do get is a bit sloppy, but that's the nature of the food itself, so knowing that it all looked wonderful! Everything was delicious with many ingredients used to create such lovely dishes. Nothing too spicy to be enjoyed; the flavors were easily identifiable and the combinations worked very well with each other. Sauces were not too overpowering over the food itself. So I definitely recommend this restaurant. Please note that everything is extremely high in fat and salt with little to offer in real nutritional value, but that's not why you eat here and that's not why I went, so regardless of this, I give it 5 stars based on welcoming ambiance, fine service, and lovely food...

I've been going to this place for 25 years off and on. I had nice moments in my life shared at this establishment. The quality of food has gone down considerably along with the service. Their beans was terrible, beans are important staple of Mexican dishes and if you can't make good descent beans then you shouldn't serve them. The nachos I ordered was OK but it was slightly bland. For some reason they keep the restaurant temperature at 69°. I work in hospitality and usually good room Temps are slightly above or below 75°. The service was terrible, I kept getting no for answer on ordering things without being told proactively why things were not available. They didn't want to keep the room temperature at a reasonable setting, it was really uncomfortable sitting their trying to enjoy myself after a hard days work and fighting how cold it was...and no good size alcholic beverage didn't help me warm up either. I went here a little over a month ago and the experience was the same, last time I had to go to my car and get a flannel, the Spanish rice was under cooked & the beans was just as bad. But after this last visit I won't be going back this restaurant ever again. I had some good times but I'd rather spend my money somewhere with better service. Whoever is managing this restaurant should be fired for poor coordinating & execution skills and service. A lot of the staff was sweeping the floor while there was several tables waiting to be cleared while the servers were trying their best to keep up. The least the bussers could do was serve nonalcoholic drinks and clean the tables. I'm fed up with that place, I'm happy to move on. For the newbies coming to AZ there's better small local restaurants to try out, stay away from Macayos it's not like...

I went to this location on Sunday and could not believe how quickly it went downhill. The restaurant was dead and there were three employees all sitting down at the front. They said it would be 15-20 minutes for a table or we could seat ourselves in the bar. We had three children with us and would have preferred normal seating, but went upstairs to avoid the wait. We peeked down from the top and saw only one table was taken in the whole downstairs and the rest were clean, so I am still unsure why it would take so long to get seated. Anyways, we went upstairs and ordered a few appetizers. The dip trio was awful. The green salsa was rotten, all adults confirmed. The cheese dip was not melted, it was hard and cold chunks. The guacamole was brown. I mentioned the green salsa being rotten to the waitress (as that was the worst of the three) and she offered to bring beans instead which were better. She said the chef claimed it was not rotten but that the lime is what I am tasting. I know the difference between rotten and lime, as do the other adults at the table who have all ordered this trio before without issues. We still had no menus about 20 minutes after getting our appetizers. The rest of the food was equally garbage. I love salt and over salt everything, but the green chile pork stew was too salty for even me to eat. My husband and friend who were with us couldn't get past one bite. Even after mentioning that it was not edible, the waitress laughed it off. We were charged full price for the two dishes we sent back as inedible. The kids' food was cold and soggy. Save your money and go somewhere else. The prices have gone up and the quality has gone down. No one working there...