The 619 Cantina — Restaurant in Portsmouth

I recently moved to the area and have been on the search for a good Taco Tuesday spot; this is not it. I wasn't thrilled that I had to take my own order using the wax pencil and marking up the menu. It was not clear how to order the specials or how to note I wanted something served as an appetizer. I also wasn't excited to pay $9.50 for chips and salsa, something every other Mexican restaurant serves for free, and the chips we did receive were stale. I ordered chicken tacos, the chicken was so bland, it had absolutely no flavor. My friend had the veggie burrito, he did enjoy that. We also ordered margaritas, and took the bartenders suggestion for them to doubles, but we ended up ordering additional shots of tequila to add to our drinks since they did not taste like anything more than juice. The bartender/server was friendly and attentive. When we received our check there was an '8% market adjustment' line item. I had to ask what that was, as there was no mention of it anywhere! I was told that was to allow for the changing prices of some ingredients; so they don't have to change their prices on the menu, they just add an upcharge! That was really the final nail in the coffin for me. It felt really dishonest. Like here is our menu, with the prices, but that's not the actual price....Seems like something that should be made clear right from the start. So the search for our Taco Tuesday spot...

Great expectations, but disappointing and we are sailors from San Diego looking for a flavor home on the east coast!!! If ur going to use the San Diego area code we just knew we were going to get a taste of home. Well it wasn't at all close to Olde El Paso, a party of 5 with 4 different entrees that noone finished, the carne asada times 2 was bland but had a film it left on my tongue, one other said the same thing and they had pork rolled Tacos that weren't served with lettuce, shredded cheese or crumbled queso but canned tomatoes called house salsa, guacamole and sour cream the salsa was literally unseasoned crushed tomato, our youngest guest had a belly ache after soft beef Tacos from kids menu and went to urgent care, our teen had shrimp tacos which she said were tough, the California Burritos times 2 were instantly chilled by the addition of cold pico, cold red onions and cold cheese they lacked flavor, maybe 5 fried potatoes, no cilantro, no real fresh made salsa not canned tomatoes that were served with the rolled tacos. The items that are customarily free like chips and salsa were not. The pleasing items were the fresh chips, guacamole and spicy sour cream. We think our waitress was the best thing in the house, but she knew we weren't pleased bc she didn't even ask us how was everything when we checked out at the bar we still tipprd accordingly BUT Sorry 619 it was an...

The bartender was friendly. However, the food was truly awful. I ordered a side of pico, guacamole, salsa, and 3 Carne Asada tacos with side of rice. One soft corn, 2 hard. The soft corn was not toasted or warmed at all. The meat was very dry and came out cold/warm as if it was heated in the microwave. The rice was way over cooked and was one ball of mush. I literally couldn’t finish because it was just that bad. When I brought the rice to the bartender’s attention, it was passed off as if it was okay and normal. When I told her about the food. All she did was take off the guacamole which I had ordered and it was never brought to begin with. When she offered to have fry’s made in place of the rice . I declined and just asked her to bring me the guacamole that I had ordered. When I received my bill I was charged for everything but the guacamole. Makes no sense, I expressed to her the whole meal was bad and she billed me 25 and some change. Which in my opinion for a completely poor meal was ridiculous. After complaining, she bumped it down to 17. I was honest with the chef about the meat being dry and he just ignored me and shook his head. I will not be recommending this restaurant to anyone. This was my first time here, as...