Santa Madre Modern Mexican Cuisine — Restaurant in Randolph

Santa Madre took over the old Not Your Average Joe's location in the York Plaza right on the incredibly buzzy Mazzeo Drive. It's a stone's throw away from another Mexican spot which I thought was very weird and the outside is nearly identical to what it was like when NYAJ operated, which I thought was odd, but the inside is carefully decorated and definitely unique. There are a few interesting murals, a bar with vibrant, red flowers in the background, and some interesting greenery hanging from the ceiling. The booths are very tight though and four seating in one could be a bit cramped.

On the upside the menu is absolutely awesome. Tons of options and very highly customizable. There are also special lunch deals on weekdays (something not specified on the menu by the way.. womp womp) and they also have options for kids as well. I really liked being able to customize a combo with anywhere from 1 to 3 items. I also loved the variety of options that you don't see very often including birria ramen ($16).

Our portions were nice but our food was never seasoned. We add to add salt to every single morsel of food we received; everything was incredibly bland - our appetizer and our entrees. My chile rellenos was covered in cheese but had zero flavor. My enchiladas had ground beef (I had requested shredded beef after asking the waitress for a recommendation and following her suggestion) and it has nearly no flavor what-so-ever - spices or salt.

Pretty frustrating to see the lack of execution considering the potential this spot has and it's awesome location. Seems like an ideal spot for a pre or post-movie cocktail (Showcase Cinemera is across the street). So many options but just bad execution from the kitchen, which is a bummer.

There's plenty of parking and service was relatively good all...

This place is somewhat new. It's taking over the location previously filled by " Not your Avenger Joe's." The place looks beautiful on the inside. They did a great job with the decor. Unfortunately, the rest of the experience didn't quite measure up. My friend wanted something light, so she got the Quesadilla. The chicken was not tender, and they didn't crisp up the tortilla. Very lackluster. I got cheese enchiladas with pork and bacon. The flavor was pretty good, but the bacon was not cooked well enough, so I ended up with unrendered fat. The rice and beans were good. I got a strawberry mojito, and that was nice. It's hard to get a decent mojito nowadays. My friend also got the chocolate lava cake. It didn't have much lava, but the sponge cake was ok. The vanilla ice cream was excellent. The service is average at best. There are 3 other Mexican places in the immediate area, and for me, it just doesn't stand out. This place has potential, but they have a lot of work to do. With so many other places in the area, it's hard to give it a...

Last night we went to a Mexican restaurant because it was 5 de mayo. The restaurant is Santa Madre in randolph. My first turnoff was getting margaritas in plastic cups. We are not in a pandemic anymore so plastic is inexcusable. The manager said they don't have enough glassware for the whole restaurant so if you don't sit at the bar you can't get any margarita in a glass. The next thing was the quality of food. I ordered mine a certain way and had to have it sent back and then the food came out cold and my kids chicken and rice wasn't even seasoned so she barely ate any of it. The tortillas for the fajitas weren't even warm they were cold along with the refried beans which were also cold. The consistency in the kitchen was terrible although the atmosphere was nice and our server was pleasant and did her job well. They should have been better prepared for a big Mexican holiday like that. For a new establishment they did not make a good impression on me and others I'm sure. I would not recommend eating at this...