Mothers Tacos — Restaurant in Napa

Fantastic Food, But the Service Leaves a Lot to Be Desired

Let me get straight to the point, the food here is absolutely fantastic. I’m from the Sacramento area, and I made a special stop here on my way home from Calistoga just to eat. They offer crispy cheese keto tacos, which are incredibly hard to find in my area, and they’re delicious.

That said, this review is based solely on the food. If I were rating the service, it would be a solid one star. The atmosphere is very unwelcoming, and this was consistent across both of my visits.

First Visit: I came with a group of eight during a bachelorette trip. We were excited, saw all the positive reviews, and ready to enjoy ourselves, but were immediately met with irritation. The staff at the counter were curt and told us we couldn’t order there, that we had to be seated first (which was fine). However, despite several open tables under the tented canopy on a rainy day, they seated us at the very last uncovered metal table in the back. When we asked to move to one of the clearly available covered tables, we were told they needed to “check” for availability, again, even though we could see the empty tables ourselves. It felt unnecessarily rude and dismissive.

The attitude from the two girls working that day, particularly one wearing glasses, was off-putting, eye-rolling, sighing, and acting as though we were a burden. The male staff, on the other hand, were kind, attentive, and efficient. Despite the poor treatment, we let it go because the food was honestly that good.

Second Visit: This time, I brought my boyfriend, raving about the food the whole drive. When we arrived, no one greeted us (not a big deal, although, three female staff were chatting in the kitchen and didn’t acknowledge us at all) Eventually, a younger girl came over to take our order. When I expressed surprise (based on my last visit) and said we’d like to sit first, she replied, “Yeah, you have to order here first then sit,” in a tone that felt unnecessarily cold and unwelcoming. Once again, the vibe was just…off.

Across both visits, the female staff I’ve encountered have consistently come across as disinterested or even annoyed by customer interaction. They seem more interested in chatting with each other than creating a welcoming atmosphere. It almost felt like only locals or Spanish-speaking guests were treated warmly. We noticed one tourist-looking group was actually seated before ordering, why? everyone else had to order at the counter.

To the management: please take a closer look at how your front-of-house team is interacting with guests. I almost walked out the second time, and I doubt I’m the only one who’s felt this way. You have something really special with your food, but your service is driving people away, the first time I gave the service a pass thinking maybe this gal was having a rough day, but this time I couldn’t keep quiet....

Update: Owner called me and we discussed the situation. Extremely professional and handled the overdraft problem, let me know that they will be looking into the incident on the apps end. Added 1 more star for above and beyond customer service.

Original:

The food is honestly really good. Keep in mind it is greasy (for those who have stomach issues with grease a lot of the items here won't be for you). Their homemade drinks are very refreshing, they provide a lot of different items with both meat and vegetarian options. My favorite is their seasonal Elote (TO DIE FOR).

DO NOT ORDER ON THE APP!!!!

I placed an order the 13th on the Mother's Tacos App and noticed the address was wrong. Called and was told they don't have the ability to change address so recommended voiding the order and reordering. I waited for over 10 min for a void text or confirmation code but didn't get one so called back. Edna (the manager) was nice enough to text me a confirmation it was voided and placed a new order. Fast forward to two days ago and I get charged for the "voided" amount, which causes me to overdraft on my bank account.

I called the moment they opened and requested the manager (who turned out to be Edna again) and after some back and forth on the problem, asked me what they can do to rectify the situation since the ticket is so old they cannot reopen it to fix the problem. I said I'll come in person and collect in cash, which I did. Now I have a $30 overdraft charge to address due to the technical problems of their app.

Overall not a bad place and a great location to sit back and eat, but I highly recommend if you want to save...

First off, we are local, and love to support local restaurants. I also like to leave reviews so others know which are great restaurants for us locals to support.

We’ve been to mothers tacos many times, and the food is wonderful… hence why we ordered this time…but this past time was horrible… down right rude customer service with a very rude employee/ manager.

My wife and I ordered 2 Chiquita family meals (one for us, and one for a meal to a family in need). When my wife went to pick up our order, my wife realized the food was combined. When my wife explained that the order was for two not one, and it has to be separated, instead of making it right or saying I’m sorry, your employee argued and said that’s how it comes.

We asked for it to be separated because it was for two families and that’s why we ordered 2 meals and not one large meal, more rude attitude.

When they finally separated it (with more attitude), it was so much less food it’s laughable… certainly not as advertised as feeding 2-3 people.

When we mentioned this looks like less food, your manager/employee said it is and you would have gotten more the other way.

Absolutely asinine. Last time we go here… last time our friends go here.

Everyone has a bad day, but in customer service, you have to rise above. Admit your mistakes and say sorry…

Interested to hear your response if any…. Hopefully those who read this can make an informed decision… I don’t like to support local businesses that forget who supports them. Be better Mothers...