Botanas Restaurant — Restaurant in Milwaukee

The food is impeccable, and so are the blended margaritas! Service is quick and efficient. But that came to our detriment because the last couple of times my partner and I have been there, we were rushed out of our tables by our server, Olivia. We went to Botanas on a Friday at 5:30ish pm. At first, Olivia seemed to rush us to place an order. I asked for the flautas dinner entree, but I wanted to get a taco on the side. As soon I finished sharing with her that I wanted the flautas dinner, she quickly pivoted to my partner. I wasn’t able to share with her that I also wanted a taco. It wasn’t until my boyfriend quickly added, in the same breath, that we wanted 2 tacos on the side before she quickly rushed off. She never asked, is there anything else you would like or is that all? We were barely able to get a word in edgewise to share with her what we would like to have for dinner before she rushed out of there. As we were working through our first round of margaritas and our food, Olivia comes by to drop off the bill and to-go boxes to store our food. She could see that we were still actively working on our food and margaritas then proceeds to grab our plates and places our food that we were visibly eating to store in the to-go box .We were nowhere near finished or ready to leave. We did not ask to close out or for to-go boxes. We then said to her, we’re not ready to close out, but can we get a second round of margaritas. She says sure. She comes back with the second round of margaritas then comes back within 5 minutes to give us to-go open container cups for our margs.where are we supposed to go with our open-containers? To the bar? We still had food we were working on from our to go box. Outside? That’s a ticket for carrying an open container of an alcoholic beverage. When she picks up our margarita glasses, we were nowhere near finished. I had to quickly sip my marg before she snatched it away from my hands as I was finishing my drink. I felt violated. All the while we were there, she kept glaring at us. It felt very intimidating and uncomfortable. We were paying customers, tipped generously. We were there for less than an hour. Not very long. We had her before and had the same experience with her. We had opportunities to be served by different servers, and I never felt rushed or violated by them. I understand restaurants get busy and need to flip tables to accommodate the demand, but Botanas is huge and there were so many open tables readily available to seat parties. As an experienced server myself, servers should not be too aloof or distant from their customers but they also shouldn’t be hovering and forcible rushing customers out of their tables when they are clearly still working on their food and drinks.We love Botanas. But if it weren’t for the amazing food, margs, and the overall quality service, this experience would have deterred us from coming back again. Olivia is usually serving the back of the house which is where we are always seated. But next time, we will avoid being seated in the back of the house and aim for the bar or front of house just to avoid her and a repeated...

This was my first visit here and it will definitely be my last... The service here was poor! When I first ordered our food I forgot to tell our waiter no tomatoes as he was passing us after entering the order I asked if he was able to tell them no tomatoes he simply told us the order was in and couldn't be changed.We waited at least 40 minutes for our food and was told by the waiter that the kitchen was backed up and it was a mess back there I then asked is it so backed up that we should leave because at this point it's been at least 35 minutes and it was only 4 of us I asked him 3 time in that conversation to just go to the kitchen and check the status of our order and that would determine rather we stay or leave. He finally went to ask and at that point came out with our food. There was a table of 6 seated at least 30 min after us with Caucasian people and their food was served at least 10 minutes after ours. I was so upset and felt that we were treated horribly not to mention that fact we had to pick the tomatoes off our food because he wouldn't ask them not to put any on it. I also said I didn't want any sour cream or guacamole on my plate and of course I had that also... My taco shell was wayyyy darker than me so I didn't eat it and the fajitas was so dry .. It was just a horrible experience . Our waiter was named Edgar and he was one of the worse I've ever had. I wanted to go here because my friend told me how good it was.. It was horrible and I'll never go back!!! My kids and my husband felt the same way.. Horrible horrible...

Great place for everyone! I started going here about 11years ago when it wasn't so popular, and the food, drinks, customer service was great! I started going with my ex boyfriend and I for drinks and dinner, than later brought my kids, also came with my mom and dad, and can't forget the girls for girls night out! I love their margaritas! And their chips and salsa is the best I had in a long time. And grew up with REAL Mexican and Asian food, so if some people think its a white/Hispanic food joint, its only because about 4 years ago they hired new cooks to accommodate to people's taste. You can ask the waiter or waitress to make it a specific way. I went so frequently that 7years later when they became popular and handed out buzzers to wait for a table, that as the new waitress was about to hand us one, the other waiter saw us and told her that we didn't need one! Than he pulled a table out from somewhere and had us follow him to the outside where he set us up close enough to be waited on fast but with candle light and perfect scenery! Made us feel like some special V.I.Ps in the restaurant world, lol. Felt a bit sorry for those people who were waiting before we got there. But it shows that our loyalty to them paid off. I guess in short I say they're still a great restaurant and to anyone who has specific tastes for real Hispanic food, just ask the waiter. They will make your food how you want it. And that in itself should tell you to...