Casa Santa Restaurant — Restaurant in Noblesville

We dined at Casa Santa three weeks ago on a Friday night, 6:15. I had made a reservation in advance. We arrived at the restaurant for our reservation time. The hostess seemed "stuck," unable to continue greeting and assisting guests until someone else (not even herself) had a table ready for the party ahead of me. Meanwhile, literally 5 other parties filed in behind me - not greeted, there was no - welcome to Casa Santa, how many in your party or I'll be right with you. Zero acknowledgement. It was disappointing. Finally, we got helped by a different hostess (since the first one was seating that party ahead of me). Got greeted and seated right away. The restaurant is truly beautiful. It provides an upscale atmosphere for the dining experience. Very elegant. Our server took our drink order right away. The other couple we were with ordered queso to go with the chips. Drinks arrived, chips and salsa were fine. But by the time the queso arrived, we needed more chips. It was such a long wait for the refill on chips, my friend even commented - by the time we get more chips, the queso will be cold. At first, we didn't mind so much that service was slower. We were with friends and at least enjoying the company. We ordered dinner. Meanwhile, I sipped my margarita. I had ordered it with salt and rocks. I guess their "signature" is to put salt on half the rim of the glass and chili pepper or something on the other half. While pretty, it's not what I was expecting. I would not enjoy that. I would have requested to NOT have that "accent" on my drink, but I did not know the drink would arrive that way. Also, it arrived with no ice. It was warm. And I was thoroughly disappointed. A warm margarita? Bummer!!!! My husband ordered the El Grueso and quite enjoyed it. Extra points that this bourbon drink arrived with the single, large ice cube. My friend ordered the birria tacos. They looked DELICIOUS. But it was more "tacos, French dip style" and the juices were very runny. It made the dish messy and she ate only one of the three tacos. Opted NOT to take the rest home. My dish and the other husband's dish were fine. No complaints, no extra comments. My husband ordered HIS meal with sour cream and guacamole on the side. It did not come on the side. So, he ordered extra pico de gallo (which comes with the dish to begin with), bc the guac, sour cream, and pico were all touching. He didn't want two of those items in the first place, let alone for all three to touch. Yet, we were charged for extra pico de gallo. That just doesn't sit right with me. Like I mentioned, this dining experience was three weeks ago, so my details are a little fuzzy. I delayed a review, hoping I could find a way to make it more positive. It was difficult to get more chips, more salsa, more WATER. Our server hardly came to the table. Service was much slower than expected. We didn't order anything complicated. There's no reason we should not have been able to leave after an hour and fifteen minutes, maybe an hour and a half - with plenty of time to dine and enjoy time with our friends. But the visit took two hours. It didn't affect post-dinner plans, but it was definitely disappointing. The atmosphere was the best part of the dining experience. The food was good, but nothing exciting. The service was not great. I imagine we'll stick with our favorite, reliableTex-Mex across the street...

Food/drinks are average (3.5 stars) and overpriced. Service is below average (2-3 stars). Management/hostesses are usually rude (1 star). We've dined here 6-8 times and don't plan to go back due to some of the issues we've experienced making it just not worth it anymore. Most recently, our family celebrated my birthday here and the restaurant was aware due to our reservations indicating so. At the end of our meal staff rushed our table singing happy birthday and delivered a slice of cake to me. It was fun and exciting. A great ending to our meal until the bill came and I see "Celebration Cake" $15 on the bill. I asked the waiter about the cake we didn't order and they surprised us with. He responded saying customers have to pay for the cake. I informed him it was a nice gesture, but we didn't order it and I did not feel we should pay for it. He informed me they charge all customers for their birthday cakes. The waiter said he would have the manager adjust it off our bill. 5 minutes later some guy shows up to our table and just stares at me for 30 seconds. He finally says, "you asked for a manager?" I said no, we asked our waiter to remove the cake from our bill that no one at our table ordered. After more just staring at me, I asked him, do you charge all your customers $15 for a birthday cake that they didn't order? He just nodded yes and left our table. Waiter returned with an adjusted bill, but lost my credit card in the process so we had to wait for him to find it. Neither the manager nor the waiter apologized for the situation. A simple "I'm sorry you weren't aware of our restaurant policies, let us correct that for you" would have went a LONG way in this situation. If you plan on celebrating here, keep in mind they will act like they are spoiling you just to actually charge you a ridiculous amount for 1 slice of cake. After tax and tip, you're looking at a $20 slice of cake. I guess either don't let them know you are celebrating or demand that they don't bring you a surprise slice of cake. If you don't like your money or care how hard you worked for it, this is the...

Overpriced, bland food, beautiful decor. My dining party was a table of 7.

Food: I have never had more bland mexican food than this place unfortunately. The dishes were priced 1.5-2x more than typical sit-down mexican fare, yet portions were a bit smaller and way less tasty. Think $17-35 as an average for the dish. I tried several dishes: arroz con pollo, carne asada, carnitas, and birria tacos. The server asked how I wanted my steak (carne asada) cooked; I said medium rare. The steak I got back was cleared grilled in 1 inch thick planks, which is impossible to get medium rare. So I was confused as to why I was asked if that’s how the steak would be prepared. The carnitas were so dry and had no flavor, despite the menu claiming slow-roasted and marinated preparation.

The service was really slow, despite the restaurant not having many customers. Slow enough for several staff members to have free time to stand around. We got refills of water one time, despite asking 3 separate times. The food did not come all at once, with a 10 minute delay between the initial group getting food and the rest getting theirs. It also took a long time for the bill process as well.

The decor of the restaurant, tables, and chairs were all beautiful. It could have been the lobby for a 5-star hotel, easily. Design elements included: Palm trees, tiled floors, and comfortable wicker chairs with plush pillow cushioning.

In all, I do not recommend Casa Santa for food. It could be a nice spot for drinks and hanging out, but the jury is...