Tijuana Flats — Restaurant in Orlando

It is with great sadness that I need to write this review. I am not a person who leaves reviews everywhere unless it is already something that has reached the limit. I have been a client of Tijuana Flats Lake Nona since the first week it opened nearly a decade ago. You can check your records with my name. Unfortunately, the quality of the service, and especially of the food, has dropped too much. Please don't blame the pandemic because this started happening long before but lately, it got worse. I've been there on a Friday night and the restaurant is empty. It's sad.

In fairness, the current manager is friendly and tries to serve as well as possible. The previous managers and various employees were horrible. I don't know if it's personal, but something always happens with my orders. Of the last 10 orders, in 7 something went wrong. They forgot the drinks, they didn't include the children's apple sauce, the nachos are old, soggy and have a horrible taste, they make the flautas fried when we ask for them grilled, they give me someone else's food and blame me for not “checking”, they made the order spicy when we ask it without jalapeños ‘cause food allergies (this is dangerous!), also, they made our daughter quesadilla with cheese when she has dairy allergies (thank God we found out earlier, but she didn't eat that night from TF), the portion sizes are absurdly small or burned food.

Last time, they gave my food to another person and I had to wait 15 more minutes. Do you know the funny thing? While I was waiting, the person who had my order called, and they gave him or her a full refund of their food and I ended up waiting and paying in full. Don't take me wrong, I am not an opportunist, but is basic customer service policy to at least offer something for the inconvenience. ...and waiting for it....drumroll!! Yes, they did the order wrong and were careless! (see the pics below) Maybe by mistake, I ordered “mini-flautas” (my irony!!!) because they were so small, unfilled/empty that you can see through.

There is no perfect restaurant. One mistake now and then is understandable, but in my case it turned into a habit. I don't live close enough to go back and fix their mistake. Unfortunately, I can't support them anymore.

Guys, a few years ago you were the only tex-mex around, but now you have quite a lot of competition around. You are not in the luxury of continuing doing these quality mistakes. Raise your bar! I hope you can consider my comments and improve...

Just had the best experience at Tijuana Flats. Service there is phenomenal and in large part that was due to our server named Mike. You know when someone just goes above and beyond and shows they care about giving you a good experience in even the simplest of things? That was this guy. Patient and friendly without being fake or over the top. Asked for an extra plate for my son and he brings it out with some extra chips. He waited by the exit door knowing I’d be carting trays out to my family, and getting was ready to hold the door for me when I got there. Knows we are finishing up our meal and brings us a to go box and offers refills for our drinks. Every step of the way he was friendly and considerate. I’ve eaten at fine dining places that couldn’t achieve this level of service. All the staff are friendly and helpful whenever we come to TF and just want to make sure to give them all credit for being amazing at hospitality.

Of course the food is always good and just what you expect from TF. I recommend the double stack tacos, by the way. So...

My sister and I travel to Florida about every other month. As soon as we leave MCO our first stop is ALWAYS this Tijuana Flats. We look forward to it days and weeks before we make it down to Orlando. Well last night our flight was delayed! (Oh the horror) our plane did not hit the tarmac until 9:10 pm. Of course it’s the farthest gate away, and let me tell you I’ve never gotten through that airport so fast in my life. The rental car process was moving in slow motion as we realized we may not make it before closing. Finally, we hopped in our rental car and headed to T Flats apologizing profusely to the awesome staff because we got there 10 min before closing. (We didn’t want to be those kind of people) The manager Steve was very welcoming and assured us we didn’t have to inhale our food. (even though we did because we were starving) the whole staff at this location are super friendly. We will always make it a point to stop here, EVERY...