Taqueria Maria — Restaurant in Napa

First off the gal that serve me and the manager had phenomenal customer service although after my bad food experience they should have offered me a discount or something they probably thought I was just some typical Gringo that did not know anything about Mexican food which I take no offense to because I do look like a typical Gringo LOL. The tamales were the worst I ever had they were the size of a large burrito, there's no way it would fit into a traditional corn husk when making it. I think they just wrapped it in Saran Wrap or something similar as it had no texture at all on the exterior and less meat than half of a street taco. The Masa they used( if it was even Masa at all) was extremely dense and like eating a brick I ordered two tamales and only ate half of the one. Growing up in Phoenix Arizona I have ate a ton of Mexican food and have many friends that share tamales with me every Christmas and this was no tamale me amigos. I also ordered chorizo and chicken tacos the chicken tacos were quite flavorful and the corn tortillas were very good the chorizo on the other hand was burnt black and gritty, when I mentioned this to a server he stated that's the way they come (um I don't think so). I also got the guacamole as an appetizer with tortilla chips the tortilla chips were not bad I give them a six out of ten and the guacamole was okay I give it a 6 out of 10. I had high hopes for this place since I just moved down the street from it and wanted some real authentic Mexican food I guess I will have to keep searching. 😣 The bathrooms were behind the restaurant in a very dark area if I was a woman I would feel unsafe going back there and they really could use of a remodel even for a hole in the wall joint like this one. This post was for La Raza keeping it real!...

GO TO DON PERICO, MUST READ!-My experience with Taqueria Maria was extremely disappointing. My family and I went for dinner on May 10th, Mexican Mothers day. Yes, the restaurant was very busy because of the occasion — checked in with the owner and I was advised the wait time was an hr, to an hr and a half. I said no problem, we will wait. After waiting for 45 mins, I checked with the owner & said it was going to be another 30 mins. No prob, my family and I patiently waited. After waiting for one hour and thirty minutes in the heat, I checked with the owner and said we were the next in line. Twenty minutes later, I went to the counter and this time I was assisted by two young laddies, asked for the status of my table, and she said we were no where to be found on the waiting list. At this point, you can already imagine my frustration, but I kept it cool, and requested to talk to the owner. The owner came out, and I told him my family and I are still waiting for our table. The owner smiled and said “I thought I sat your party already “. I told the owner I would not be having this conversation with you if my party was already sat down. The owner then said he was going to put my party at the top of the list, but it was going to be another 45 minutes. At this point, I wasn’t mad, I was very disappointed that the owner of TM handled the situation very poorly. I work in customer service, and my team & I are trained to handle these situations with priority and own to our mistakes & ultimately TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER! Taqueria Maria is not the only Mexican restaurant, in twn. Alternatively, I recommend Don Perico in down town Napa. Professional staff, awesome food, FULL BAR, and...

Food was superb, but the wait staff left a lot to be desired. They were very inattentive when my friend and I first arrived. No one spoke, or made eye contact, with us as we arrived and were waiting for instruction on how to get seated at an indoor or outdoor table. And when we were eventually seated ourselves outside, we then waited nearly 20 minutes until one of two waiters who were covering tables all around where my friend and I were sitting - while completely ignoring us - finally came by and asked if we had been served and were ready to order. The fact we had no food or drinks in front of us, while everyone else in our vicinity did, should have made it obvious that we hadn't yet been served. Regardless, he apologized and eventually served us the rest of the time we were there. To his credit, he was very attentive and helpful to us from that point on, and was very courteous even as he was clearly very busy covering many other tables (fairly crowded and busy Saturday evening for them, as it was a warm evening and we were outdoors).

This place clearly does great business because its food is no doubt excellent, not to be missed. Additionally, there is a gondola down below the restaurant that takes folks for brief rides up and down the river, which outdoor customers can view from the rail. I chalk up the wait staff issues to low numbers of available wait staff. Once this place hires more people to cover both indoor and outdoor customers, and gets as close as it can to pre-pandemic staffing levels, Casa Maria will continue to be the best Mexican food restaurant option in the Napa Valley region. Its food is too scrumptious for this to not...