Moreno's — Restaurant in Orange

I apologize for the lengthy review, but it will open your eyes to the business your money is supporting

My family and I have been loyal customers of Moreno’s for 15 years, often celebrating special occasions or simply enjoying the food and atmosphere. However, our recent experience with the owner’s daughter, Linda Moreno, left us deeply disappointed. Linda demonstrated a complete lack of respect for customers, employees, and the restaurant itself. It seems she has forgotten that Moreno’s success is built on her parents' hard work, her dedicated staff, and paying customers like us.

During our latest visit, our meal was disrupted by a walk-in party of 40. Instead of managing the situation to maintain a pleasant environment for all guests, Linda allowed the group to seat themselves and supported the party when they were creating a loud, chaotic atmosphere. When my mother politely suggested a different seating arrangement for future large parties that would minimize disruption to other diners, Linda responded with hostility and condescending comments rather than considering the feedback.

Linda insisted that walk-in parties, regardless of size, could seat themselves wherever they wished. This contradicted our past experiences, where large parties required a $150 deposit, a fixed menu, and were not given the freedom to choose their own seating. When we questioned the inconsistency, Linda pointed to a sign near the hostess stand, which indicated that parties of 30-50 should indeed pay a deposit—apparently not enforced for this walk-in obnoxious party of 40.

Instead of addressing our concerns, Linda suggested that we could have simply reseated ourselves. When my mom explained that we had chosen our usual spot, as regular customers, Linda claimed she had never seen us before. My mom then suggested that Linda ask the bartender who serves us weekly to confirm our regular location. Linda dismissively responded that she didn’t care about her employee's input and that his opinion didn’t matter. If she speaks about her staff that way in front of customers, it raises serious concerns about how they are treated privately.

She then went on to question how many drinks my mom consumed, as if that somehow justified the lack of consideration for our dining experience and as if the money we are spending is not aiding in keeping her business open. The situation escalated further when, as we were leaving, Linda followed us outside and shouted, “You are not allowed to return to Moreno’s! I’ll call 911 and tell my brother—we have you on security footage!”

Our longstanding loyalty to Moreno’s has been met with this unprofessional and hostile behavior, leaving us with no desire to return. It’s unfortunate to see a beloved local establishment suffer due to such mismanagement.

*Screenshots of the Moreno's website providing evidence to Linda Moreno's contradicting statements...

If you value where you spend your money, please read this review & consider eating at another restaurant.

I’ve been eating at Moreno’s for over 15 years. I was disappointed by the lack of value & appreciation the daughter of the founder’s, Linda Moreno, displayed to me & my family in our last visit. She was very disrespectful to a recommendation I made suggesting that in the future may a large party (40 people) such as the one that came in during my visit could be seated in a more private space. The large party sat at the bar & tables near the bar. Before the party arrived, the person organizing the gathering allowed us to have a table at the bar. Once all convened, they were extremely loud & obnoxious with yelling & cheering football team chants. Instead of Linda apologizing for our bad experience & enjoyment of the restaurant, she became defensive & told us we could have sat somewhere else. She also went on to explain that the party was a walk-in & that she didn’t have control of where they sat because that’s where they wanted to sit. All the latter contradictory to their restaurant policies that are posted on their website. Additionally, she as an “owner” should be in control of the seating but apparently lacks experience in restaurant management despite having worked there since was 9 years old, so she relayed. When I mentioned we come in almost weekly she said, I’ve never seen you before. When I told her your bartender knows us well, she said she didn’t care what he said. Clearly, if she doesn’t respect her employees, the roots of their business, she wouldn’t respect & value her customers. The employees are so hospitable & provide great service. The conversation was unproductive as Linda continued to be defensive & further insult us & even insinuating I was drunk. We’ve spent a lot of money supporting the restaurant throughout the years with celebrations & family dinners & quick bites at the bar. I would never expect her to know who I am because she hides behind the register in the lobby & doest’t make any effort to walk the restaurant to say hello or ask how everything is from her customers. She doesn’t even greet you when you walk in. She has very poor judgment on customer service. If you read Yelp reviews, you will find that she has treated other customers similarly....

I've been going to Morenos for well over 25 years. I was very happy to see that they were open for outdoor dining on their beautiful large patio. 1st of all due to covid they have everything roped off and it's fairly unclear as to what path to walk to get to the host. Once we made it to the host stand, we noticed that the host seemed especially grumpy even though it was only one o'clock. For my party of two she quoted me 25 minutes. I thought this was not accurate as only 1 party was ahead of us and there were multiple open tables, all socially distanced. Multiple tables were in the process of paying their checks or leaving, so I knew they would seat us quickly. Once seated 1 gentleman brought chips, another brougt salsa, and a 3rd gentleman was our server. We ordered waters and ice teas and the mini chimichanga appetizer. We were ready to order lunch but our server ran away before we could order. Once again, One person brought our appetizers another person brought us silverware, a 3rd person broughtbside plates and a 4th person brought me my drink, but not my friends. Also the appetizer was not a full order, they brought us 4 pieces instead of 8. I wondered were they doing this on purpose? It seemed like comedy. Anyways, I was not trying to make this lunch an all day event so I was anxious to order our main course. I had to ask one of the many busser/food runners around if they could find our server so we could order lunch. It had been over 10 minutes since we had seen him. Finally we order lunch i got the taco combo, my friend the chili Rojo burrito. 15 minutes later our server brought me an a la carte taco and my friends burrito. Thats when I finally asked the server what was going on. The questionable service the half order of appetizers and why didn't my combo come with rice OR beans? He apologized and i asked For the check. $46 for a pretty bad experience. My last experience with marino's years ago was almost this badd and I had hoped that maybe this time would be a little bit better. I won't be back there is much better options for Mexican food within a 1/2 mile of Morenos. I would highly recommend any of those options...