Cancun Mexican Bar And Grill — Restaurant in Newport

Last evening 07/17 was my first time visiting this restaurant since the building was previously a Don Pablo's. There was about a dozen of us celebrating a friend's birthday. On the way up the ramp to the front entrance there were a few hand sanitizer stations, which were empty...didn't bother me much, but worth noting. I come inside and order a beer and a bourbon, beer comes out but not my bourbon. I ask the waiter that I ordered my drinks from the status of my bourbon order and he replies as if he has no clue what I'm talking about. So I reorder my bourbon at which time the girl next to me orders a rum and gingerale. The waiter returns that they are out of the bourbon I ordered and that they have absolutely no rum and no gingerale. But hey we're there to celebrate a birthday, it's not a deal breaker. One of the guys I'm with orders a pitcher of margaritas and asks for 3 glasses to split with others at the table. Our food comes out and there is more than half the pitcher left, so that same guy raises his margarita and asks for another glass for another guest at our table. We're basically asking anyone at our table to drink some of this pitcher because it's not seeming that we are going to be able to finish it. The waiter comes back out, not with another glass as requested, but with another whole pitcher. The guy who ordered instantly says that he needed an extra glass not a new pitcher. Waiter says oh okay, and comes back with an extra glass. There is now one and a half pitchers sitting in front of this one pstron. His girlfriend again speaks up saying that we didn't actually order another pitcher and had no intentions of consuming it. Still nothing. Then our checks come out while there is still a completely full pitcher plus the remaining of another sitting on the table. And the guy from our party who ordered was charged for both. He again calls over to the waiter again explaining the confusion stating that this second pitcher was not ordered and will not be drank. Waiter says there is nothing he can do, guy asks if a manager could assist. Waiter grabs a manager. A manager comes over and the situation is again explained a 4th time. The manager's reply is what truly baffled me - "Well there is really nothing I can do at this point because I will have to waste the margarita pitcher. Had you alerted us sooner, we would not have had to waste it." At this point I am completely mind blown. The waiter was notified immediately, not once not twice but three times. And during this whole pandemic situation, what were they going to do? Just give the drink to another guest after it was brought out to another table?

Of course the restaurant is not operating at full capacity due to social distancing restrictions and what have you, so it wasn't all too busy inside. But is business really hurting that bad where they feel the need to charge guests for stuff they didn't even order? And the comment about having to waste the incorrect order was just mind blowing - you're just going to recycle food/drinks that were sitting on a table in the open?

Food was mediocre but nothing special, my one beer was cold, and the drink selection was garbage. At the end of the day there is nothing special about the food or service offered here, you are simply going to be on the river and enjoy the location. I do not ever plan on returning after this experience as there are plenty of other, and better, Mexican restaurants that will appreciate...

My first and only visit to Cancun on Riverboat Row was the worst experience I've ever had at a Mexican restaurant.

This is a second Cancun restaurant in Newport surprisingly, and to save you the reading I'd go to the Newport shopping center location of Cancun, Rio Grande, or La Mexicana if you want good Mexican in NKY. My one and only visit to this location was during dinner, and they were fairly busy. They are in the same location as the old Don Pablos restaurant on the river. I came with a party of 5

The bad:

1. 2 members of the party ordered a vegetarian fajita entree (vegetarians). They both received chicken fajitas. Both entrees had to be sent back, which took around 8 minutes for them to serve the correct item. Inconvenient since they had to wait to eat while everyone else was served.

2. 1 member of the party ordered a plate that the server exclaimed was 'hot', and continued to just hand it to them. Their hands were burnt and they had to literally drop their plate! I've had it happen too, but just another thing to add to server training.

3. 1 member of my party ordered an entree with fried chicken and spinach (I tried my best to confirm which item, but their Riverboat Row menu isn't online - other locations' munu's don't seem to have the item). They said it was literally uneatable! I actually took a bite, and had to spit it out. It was overcooked, and the sauce tasted absolutely horrible. They sent it back. They were NEVER asked if they wanted something else. They resorted to eating other peoples food instead.

4. I ordered Pork Carnitas. It came with pork (dry and overcooked), rice, and refried beans. I found a long blonde hair in the refried beans! Upon telling the manager (which was at the table multiple times at this point) he insinuated that the hair came from one of the people I came with. There were apparently no blonde members of the kitchen staff. The manager quickly took the hair (not my whole dish, which included my refried beans) and just gave me a fresh separate plate of refried beans - which I didn't eat since they likely came from the same batch as what I previously received! My dish was handed from the server to me, so I'm not sure how hairs just mysteriously appear in the middle of a side item.

5. All rice received was somewhat crunchy. Likely the result of sitting under a heat lamp for too long.

6. Entree that was sent back and not replaced was taken off bill. There was an additional $6 beer added to the bill that we did not order, and we had to insist was not ordered which they finally took off.

The good:

1. The decor is nice and redone

2. The server was nice and somewhat understanding (ie better than the manager)

The management here offered little apology for this pathetic experience. They comped the entree that was sent back (the person that ordered went hungry and were never offered another order), and gave a free dish of refried beans to me for the hair found in my entree. The didn't even take back my plate! I was done at that point. Laughable. Literally the worst Mexican restaurant I've ever been to. If you don't believe me, then compare it to other reviewed restaurants; this one goes below the 'waiter that hits on female guests' one in Cold Spring. I will never go back, and do not recommend...

I took my girlfriend to this restaurant over the weekend since we both enjoyed the last Cancun we visited over in Ohio. When we arrived, we was unable to get a table out on the patio due to being busy which was a disappointment, but that didn't bother us that much. As we went inside, the place looked very neat and the atmosphere seemed good.

Right when we was ordering our food, that was when I knew that there might be some issues. When I was explaining to the waiter what I wanted, I also explained what I didn't want on the food and what I wanted which was if I could have extra of certain toppings instead. When explaining this, he replied do you want it on the side? When he was saying this, I could tell his English was the best. I repeatedly asked if he could tell the cook to put it inside the food or on top of it. He kept insisting on having it on the side. So I finally said that's fine since I was done trying to explain. Before the man left to send in the order, I asked if I could have a bottle of ketchup as well. He said yes and so I waited. About 5 minutes gone by and another waiter brought over some chips and dip. That's when I asked him if he could being over a bottle of ketchup by any chance. He replied back saying yes. About 10 minutes gone by and our food was brought out. I quickly noticed that my order was missing the extra toppings that I requested and that I haven't gotten the bottle of ketchup that I asked for either. I explained to the waiter that I am missing a few items and explained what they were. He said sorry and he will get those for me. Another 10 minutes went by and yet no one came back with the rest of my order. That's when I kept stopping waiters and other workers asking about my order and what was taking so long. I even asked for a manage. Each time they said sorry and would get that for me and the last one said ok about a manager. Another 10 minutes went by and my girlfriend was already done eating. At this point my food was cold, my girlfriend was just sitting there and no manager showed up. Finally the first waiter that took my order was walking by and I stopped him. Explained to him that I have been waiting for over 20 minutes for the rest of my order and that I want this off my bill since I'm not paying for this. He apologized and took my order off the bill.

Gave two stars due to the view and how nice it is inside, but that's about it. Rather stick with the Cancun over in Ohio...