El Refu Seafood — Restaurant in Nederland

The family (Husband, myself, 11yo and 5yo) went out last night to try El Refu Sea Food on nederland ave nederland tx. It was husband's idea, but then after looking at menu he wasn't sure about it, I wanted to go as I seen they had a healthy selection on their menu, and they had a play area outside for the kids. So we went and they didn't disappoint at all, we got there around 5:30pm on a thursday and thankfully they weren't crowded, we got set right away, the hostest were very sweet and all smiles, we got our chips and dip as soon as we scooted up our chairs lol, we got our drinks and ordered the girls dinners as they're always starving 1 got the chicken stirps(not pictured she ate them to fast) and the other got the Mac and cheese both girls loved their meals, Husband order stake and shrimp, also came with pico and tortillas, rice(he subbed for fried rice) and churro beans ( I think they were called) I ended up not going healthy lol and went with the beef Fajita street tacos and they were amazing the best ive had in forever, the steak was cooked perfectly, the shrimp was really good, and for the first time in forever we ordered desert, the half plate sopapillas and boy they were the best. 10/10 highly recommend. I've also heard they have live bands at times, the whole place is nice, clean, inside and outside dinning. Our server was on top of everything checked on us just the right amount of times(which is a big deal I dont like to be overly checked on but also taken care of) the kids drinks were never empty. Its was a really great atmosphere, and everyone that was working was very nice, and helpful, and seemed to love their job( lol no one looked miserable to be working) we will for sure...

We had some high hope for this place as so many restaurants have failed at this location. We ordered 2 flights of margaritas and a big fajita chimbo plate for 2 of us. The first surprise was that both flights looked a bit different and the drinks were uneven. Tastes were similar but not very good on the drinks. The fajita plate was very lack luster. All that came with this 58 dollar plate was a small bit of rice and some pico with a couple of tortillas that were store bought and a bit cold. The one we got had bacon wrapped jalapenos, big surprise when the jalapenos tasted like vinegar, I'm assuming they used canned jalapenos which I've never thought of and would never do either as the flavor is overpowering and not very good. Portion sizes were poor too. For the price and the local competition, they should atleast match what the other similar businesses provide with their meals. Walked out of there 120 bucks later and stopped by McDonald's for something to bring home. I don't think this location will work out very well for them if they don't make some much needed updates soon. Hopefully they do as I think this is a good location and we NEED some good Mexican food...

My husband I I went to the Nederland location. We spent $ 37.00 for a bowl of gumbo and beef enchiladas dinner, with a Dr. Pepper and tea. The bowl of gumbo was like a cup and so watered down. There was no taste to it. We even asked the waiter is this a bowl or a cup? The waiter said “yes that is a bowl of gumbo”. The enchiladas dinner was horrible and nasty tasting. The beans tasted burnt and never knew you can ruin rice, till now! The beef enchiladas was disappointing as well. It tasted old. Like it had been sitting on the counter too long or cooked two weeks ago and just reheated. When the server came to our table to give us the bill he asked how was the food. We told him that it was the most disgusting and disappointing meal ever! That we’re never coming back! He just looked at us and said I’m sorry....