Camelia's Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Royal Oak

If I could give negative stars I defiantly would. This was our first time at this restaurant and from the beginning the server had an attitude with us before we even ordered anything. We were given a very small basket of chips that in comparison to other Mexican restaurants fell very flat. Mexican food is my favorite and I generally eat at Mexican restaurants and these were the worst chips by far. Impatiently waiting for us to be ready to order which only took us about five minutes after she rudely asked if we were ready and glared at us waiting from across the room. Now upon trying to order one person from my 3 party group asked if he could have beef with rice and beans. The server blatantly said they could not do that because it was “unprofitable” for the restaurant. So he chose steak quesadillas instead. Another party member ordered quesadillas and the server asked if she wanted them fried or grilled. Never being asked this before for a quesadilla she was unsure. The server rudely said “if nobody has ever asked you before then they were fried.” Therefore she ordered the fried thinking that it would be like a traditional quesadilla... it was far from. In case your wondering, normally quesadillas are grilled... We were pretty hungry while waiting for our order to arrive so we asked if we could get another basket of chips. The server said it would be an additional $1.75... we said never mind. Our order came and was less than impressive. Also the steak quesadilla came with steak in two shells with rice and beans on the side.... soooo almost exactly what they told us they would not do just with a couple shells added on. Now if you ask me just take off the shells and bam... you have the simplified order requested. Charge the same price, no big deal- then they’d even save a couple cents on two tortillas. The fried quesadilla was not good, might as well have grabbed one from Taco Bell. Would have been better and cheaper. I ordered nachos. The nachos weren’t bad, just with those weird chips. I took off three ingredients tomatoes, onions, and sour cream and asked if I could have lettuce and cilantro added. They did give me an extremely small side of lettuce and some cilantro. When the bill came we noticed that they charged us .75 cents for the cilantro which is the price to get an entire bunch at the supermarket! Also the lettuce which was about just a handful of they charged $1.29.... and entire head of lettuce is only .99 cents at the grocery store. Over all the service, food, and prices were not worth it. If you want some good Mexican food I’d recommend going...

Sigh...We've been to Camelia's other times and usually we've left satisfied. Unfortunately, this evening was not one of those times. Our family waited...and waited...and waited...We saw four other groups come in after us, be seated, and at least get drinks and nachos. Meanwhile...we waited.

I kept my mouth shut and took my husband's lead. Since I wanted to be sure it wasn't just me being impatient. Finally, he quietly said, let's go. So we went. I stopped to quietly inform the manager on the way out and was super disappointed that he put the blame on us saying we should've complained to him sooner!

Wow... Shouldn't a manager want to prevent complaints by walking the room and making sure all is well? Apparently this manager believes he should be able to stay behind the bar and wait for complaints.

Then he said lots of others have complained this evening because they're short staffed. Again, if you know you're short staffed, shouldn't you be more vigilant and diligent about communicating the issues with customers beforehand and preventing dissatisfaction? Apparently not here.

I recommended that since they're short staffed, if people are not served promptly perhaps he should give a coupon and apologize. Nope. He said they would lose money that way.

I thought to myself, Dude, your logic is backwards. You are more likely to have customers return if you show them their satisfaction matters, than if you act like, oh well, should've told us sooner, sucks to be you. You're losing money right now as we walk out this door!

And if that's the management's philosophy our likelihood of returning...

I’ve been coming to Camelias since I moved here a few years ago as it is my favorite Mexican in town. The guac is delicious! I love the fresh chips and salsa and I have always gotten the steak quesodillas and they are awesome! This time I got the steak quesadillas and they were different (on fried flour tortillas) I looked on the menu and saw they changed them so completely my fault and they were still good! Just not what I was expecting. I didn’t eat much of them cause I wasn’t hungry and the manager (I’m assuming) came up to me and asked if everything was alright as she noticed I didn’t eat much of my food. I told her everything was great I just wasn’t hungry. And she kept asking to make sure I was happy. I told her that it just wasn’t what I was expecting and she went above and beyond asking if I wanted her to make it grilled (the way they used to make it) and I told her it was okay! I loved how above and beyond she went to make sure us, as guests, were happy! We still would have gone back because it’s my favorite but I’m so happy to support a business who cares so much about their customers that I had to share!! Support small businesses who go above and beyond to make sure everyone leaves happy and full!! As we walked out the door she pulled me aside and told me when we come in again to ask for it grilled so I got what I was expecting next...