Botanas II Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Milwaukee

From a long standing 5 star review to this...

As a long time Botanas II customer and ambassador for the restaurant my faith and love for Botanas is completely lost.

Here's why: It was a nice night blue Sky's and the weather was perfect. It's around 7pm on a weeknight and Botanas was busy like normal and we couldn't wait to enjoy great food on an amazing patio.

Sounds like a nice evening right?

Well then you have this: Upon walking up to Botanas I see the signs of needing a mask or whatever while you're inside or going to the table and I understand that - it's a guideline they don't want to get in trouble and neither do we.

So I walk up to the hostess stand and get screamed at by a young shorter lady with brown hair because I had my face in my shirt to act as my temporary mask. The lady tells me this is unacceptable and that I need a mask. I explained to her that I just walked there with a group and we have a reservation on the patio for 4 and I don't have a mask. She tells me I need one or I need to leave. Never did she mention that they had them for sale. I recalled seeing a sign that mentioned they had them for $1 and I asked if I could buy one. I don't carry cash so I give her my credit card for $1 and purchase a mask to calm her down. The mask breaks immediately upon putting it on and she gives me another one that feels like it's going to snap any second.

We get passed that initial terrible welcome and I am seated at the patio outside by myself.

My friends walk up to the patio being outside the whole time Surrounded by other guests with no masks on and my friends get stopped by this same lady while they walk up to the gate on the patio. The employee starts yelling at them that they need a mask and they say we're going to this table right here where we are outside the entire time. She makes them walk away and here I am at the table just completely shocked by myself. Since she didn't tell them they have masks and wasn't willing to give them one so they could sit down even though outside in fresh air the entire time they started walking back home and I got up and left as well after the table was already ready and I sat down.

So because this lady wanted to feel dominant and make a scene in front of a crowded patio of guests they lost a $150 check from us that would've included a generous tip to them taking a loss on that table after it being reserved.

Does Botanas really think making $4 off a group is necessary when they enforce assenine policies outdoors rather than saying here you need one of these to sit down even though your outside and lose out on a $150 check? I guess so. And that's the reason I'm here posting this today.

Thanks for a great past few years, sorry to say I don't plan on...

The first time we tried this location (when it first opened), everything was fine. (Notice I said "fine" and not "great.") The second time visiting was enough for us not to go back. We were really looking forward to sitting on their patio, but found out it was under construction upon arrival. sigh They have no booths, which is safer for my toddler to sit in when seated in a booster seat. Our server took awhile to greet us and after she did, it was terrible all throughout our visit. She was not attentive. The only reason my brother got a refill on his soda is because I said something - she apparently did not see or care about the completely empty glass. She told me I could get chicken stuffed in my chile relleno, but later came back and told me I could not. She forgot to bring my brother-in-law's tortillas AND she also forgot the side of sour cream he asked for. The guacamole (which I get EVERY SINGLE TIME I go to a Mexican restaurant and look forward to) tasted sour. My chile relleno was just okay - I've had better at other restaurants. My son's chicken burritos were dry...he could hardly chew it and only managed by taking a sip of water each time. The only drink they offered my toddler with his children's meal was soda. I asked if they had milk or apple juice or something other than soda and she said, yes - but I would have to pay extra. Seriously!? When our guacamole was brought to the table, our chips basket was nearly empty. Our server did not offer to bring another basket and it was not until we asked that we finally got another one. Now on to the part that really ticked me off. When our bill arrived, I noticed we were charged for 4 sodas. I was confused because we only ordered 3. Then, I realized we were charged for a refill. Again - seriously!? Who does that these days? And if you are going to charge us for a refill, SAY SOMETHING when we ask for it. Second, we got charged $1.00 for a small ramekin of sour cream. OMG! In most restaurants, the sour cream is given to you for free as part of your meal. You don't have to ask for it and you're certainly not charged for it if you do.

Botanas: You lost us as customers way too quickly, which is unfortunate for you because we live close and love, love, love Mexican food and we eat out a lot. Get your "stuff" together or you will continue to lose customers. There are other Mexican restaurants around here that are running...

Order takeout at the bar was a little bit grumpy that I couldn't order a head over the phone but I decided to come in and order at the bar anyway and boy am I happy I did. They offered us free chips and salsa while we waited on the house, we each got a drink and enjoyed the atmosphere and chatted while we waited for food which took a reasonable amount to come obviously it's freshly made so it took a little bit but it was definitely worth the wait because it was amazing. Staff was friendly and very accommodating and wanted to make sure that we were taking care of very well I'm very appreciative of that. The prices are good for what you get and the carryout is well packaged with nice forks all the sausage you can think of and napkins which is better than most places who don't give you squat. my only complaint is that I ordered the shrimp tacos and I asked for everything that came on the shrimp tacos except for the peppers and I asked if I could get a sign of avocado and when I got home and opened up my tacos I literally had tortillas with shrimp none of the toppings that were promised like cheese and cilantro I was so disappointed so all I had was shrimp in a tortilla for dinner and my side of avocado but the shrimp was seasoned and done amazingly and the avocado was perfectly in season the beans and rice were fantastic and my friends food was also delicious and done perfectly. Best horchata in the city I could drink a gallon of it. Also huge plus is they have the buckets of margaritas to go which are fantastic and come with the tequila shots on the side so you can figure out how much you want in your margaritas or you can have virgin margaritas if you have children but still also have your alcoholic ones like I said amazing just really disappointed that my order was incorrect and was missing the things that I wanted on my taco and then I got a plane shrimp taco I wouldn't really call a taco it was just corn tortillas covered in...