El Asadero Mexican Grill PASSAIC — Restaurant in Passaic

This is the first time I've ever left a review, but I have to. First the food is mediocre at best. The margarita was a watered down mix with no alcohol in it. The tacos al pastor were ok but if you want really good ones take the extra time and try Azteca in Rutherford. My wife had the Enmoladas. It was tasteless. That was some bad Mole sauce. But the part that really got me was the service. You cant say it was bad service because it was no service at all. The waitress finally came and took our order and then disappeared till we were done. We ask for water in the beginning and she never brought, never came to ask how the food was, or to ask if we needed anything. When the busboy brought out our food we asked him for water. Finally at the end of our meal the lady who cleans the tables finally got us water. At the end my wife said we should only leave a 15% tip and I said I was only thinking 10%. I will say I always leave 20% no matter what. There was only one other time that I ever left a tip that low and that waiter was terrible! So I get the bill and lo and behold there is an automatic 20% tip included with your bill. Tips should be at your discretion based on the service you receive.I don't need to have my butt kissed when i go out to dinner. I will always leave 20% even if the waiter only comes by once to see how things are. If you're going to charge an automatic tip you should let people know up front. Skip this place, it's not worth it. The place is all gimmick and no substance. If you want good authentic Mexican food take the ride to Rutherford to Azteca or to Mariachi in Lyndhurst. By the way they are both byob and Mariachi offers their own margarita mix if you bring your own tequila. By the way did I say that bad...

My family and I recently dined at Mexican Asadero in New Rochelle, and overall, it was a pleasant experience. The ambiance was warm and welcoming, and the food was flavorful and nicely prepared. While the portions were on the lighter side, the quality made up for it.

One important thing to note: the restaurant automatically includes a 20% gratuity on the bill. I understand and respect this policy—many servers rely heavily on tips to make a living, and unfortunately, some guests don’t tip appropriately. However, after paying the bill with the included gratuity, we were presented with an electronic tablet requiring signature and asking to tip AGAIN! That felt excessive and sneaky and will scam guests who might not realize a tip was already added. 😡

I mentioned it to the waiter and clarified that the gratuity was already taken care of. Just a heads-up for others—be sure to check your bill carefully before adding anything extra.

Crap like this makes you think twice about...

I have been to this establishment twice, this time it was for Father's Day, and I was taken here by my kids. Now when we got there, I spoke to a server to get us a table, we were sat down almost immediately, and after that we waited at least 10 minutes for menus, and finally when the waitresses came to us, she asked what we wanted to order, not noticing that we had no menus. I ordered a cowboy steak "rare", when it arrived it was closer to "medium well". I decided not to bring it up in the moment, but I let them know afterward. The lady who I spoke to offered us a free dessert which was very nice of her, but it's inexcusable to confuse a rare steak for a medium well one. I believe it's also inappropriate for a restaurant of this caliber to not have a sizeable staff to serve all their customers. The restaurant wasn't full when we arrived.

On a side note: my children really liked their food and the...