Joe Vera's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Provo

This place is an absolute joke. Worst customer service we have ever experienced. We made a reservation for a party of 25 in their back room for 5:30 PM over 2 and a 1/2 weeks ago to celebrate my Father’s 64th birthday. Keep in mind that we have 9 adults and 16 children that vary in age from 9 months to 16 years of age which means early bedtime for all the younger kids so starting right at 5:30 PM was a necessity which was explained to them. They said no problem. We arrived early the day of the celebration, they gave the room we reserved to another party and didn’t even say sorry about that. They then tell us that we are next to be sat, that they will be able to sit us in 5 to 10 minutes. While this is going on another party of 25 walk in off the street, no reservation. They give our table to the other party of 25 which consisted of all adults that didn’t have any kids or early bedtimes. After witnessing this, we went up to the hostesses and asked them if they really just gave our reserved table, that they said they would be able to sit us in, to another party of 25 that just walked in off the street. Both the women had a blank look on their faces as if they were deer starring into headlights. We asked them if they remember telling us that we were next to be sat, they then asked if we were part of that other party, we said no and that in fact we told then specifically we weren’t and pointed to our party so they knew who we were when the time came to seat us. I then asked them what they were going to do about it, they said the only thing they could do is for us to wait for another table to become free in 5 to 10 minutes. I asked them how this even happened, how do you give one party’s reservation to another party not once but twice. They had no answer and said they would seat us in 5 to 10 minutes. The one hostess did apologize to us this time. The manager then came up to us and apologized saying they will have us sat in 5 to 10 minutes. 20 minutes then went by so I asked them if we needed to go somewhere else because it is now getting late, we are running out of time, and we have kids that go to bed at 7:00 PM. They said 5 minutes and we will be sat. They finally sat us 10 minutes later. I told the manager that I think free appetizers are in order, he said he couldn’t do that but would give us free dessert since they blew it so bad with us this evening. 10 minutes later the waiter comes to take drink and food orders. 10 minutes after that they bring several bowls containing 2 teaspoons of salsa. 10 minutes after that they bring the chips for said salsa. 10 minutes after that they bring out waters and drink. Over the course of the next 30 minutes our food trickles out here and there. A simple house salad for a 5 year old girl was the last plate out. The food was so, so, not the best, not the worst. My father’s steak tasted like it was old and freezer burnt. Do not get a steak here. When it came time for dessert, there was no free dessert like the manager promised. Not even a discount on our food. We will never come back to this restaurant after...

I’ve been here quite a few times to pick up Chips & Salsa to go. I’ve ordered the Fajitas and Carne Asada Tacos as well and most the time it’s been pretty good. The day of the BYU/Wisconsin football game I stopped by and ordered Fajitas and Chips and Salsa to go. It wasn’t crowded other then Wisconsin fans there after the game. Well when I was leaving they forgot to pack my Chips and Salsa to go but the Hispanic girl at the front counter who was going over receipts and not helping me caught it which was cool. The Caucasian gal who likely is related to the owner who seemed way to nonchalant or comfortable working there was like oh I’ll get them. She took awhile just like she did with my order. She was in no hurry and didn’t seem to give a hoot. Well when I got home I started eating my fajitas and I’m like weird something is missing. Well she forgot to pack all the trimming for your Fajitas. Cheese, Sour Cream, Guacamole etc....so all I had was my fajitas and the tortillas. Kind of a bummer not to be able to dress them up. So, I called them and asked if all that came with it and they Caucasian voiced girl I believed answered and she flat out said no that doesn’t come with them. Feeling 150% BLOWN OFF, I decided to look up the MENU from my IPAD and WOW, what do you know they are suppose to come with it. Soooo, I called back and asked for the manager who I saw while waiting when I was waiting originally for my order. He’s a Caucasian about 6 feet tall, thin build and sorta wavy permed blondish hair and maybe 25 years old and likely related to the girl who messed up my order. He wasn’t too sympathetic to my situation and DIDN’T OFFER ANYTHING to make the restaurants mistake to me or my experience any better. He told me the owner wasn’t there and would not be back until Monday. I asked if the owner could call me on Monday he said sure I’ll give him your name and number. I knew in his voice he was blowing me off and was going to do nothing. SO, I WILL NEVER BE BACK !!!! Please avoid this place they don’t care about the paying customer or the product they put out. They have too many customers apparently to worry about providing a nice food experience or good customer service. Keep in mind I’m in this area often and will continue to pass along my uncool experience from them. Good...

My husband and I are new to Provo and are on the hunt for a really good authentic Mexican restaurant and this place is not it. We are very picky about our Mexican food, given that we are both Mexican and grew up in Los Angeles, CA. Upon entering the place we were greeted by a friendly host who took us to our booth. Our waitress was very nice and welcoming. To start, the salsa was lacking in flavor and heat, we had to add salt to it table side. The chips were almost completely smashed up. There were a few big crispy ones on top, but towards the middle and bottom of the basket, they were all just crumbly pieces. I ordered the carne asada plate and my husband got the steak and shrimp plate. My carne asada was not bad, it was cooked well throughout, but it had a weird brown gravy looking sauce on top that normally doesn’t go on top of carne asada, at least I’ve never seen it served that way. The beans were ok, but the rice, oh boy, the rice… it was bland and undercooked and the texture and size of the rice grains were off. Just the farthest from Mexican rice I’ve ever had. The flour tortillas seemed store bought, and that’s ok because not all restaurants have the capacity to make their own tortillas. My husband said his dish was not bad, the steak was cooked to his preference but the shrimp had no flavor. And he also did not like the rice. The decor was kind of confusing because there were African masks on the wall and Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceilings. I guess this restaurant does well in Provo, given the demographic, but if you’re looking for authentic Mexican food,...