Grand Hacienda — Restaurant in Saint Pete Beach

I have been here before and while the service speed has always been on the slower side, I was always pleased with the experience. This time the whole experience seemed to miss every mark. I am a local and have family in town and decided to stop here while they were staying down the street on the beach. I have taken them to the Grand Hacienda location at the Tyrone mall while they were in before and they have loved it so we were excited to have a nice dinner at this location! While it took over 30 minutes to find a spot to park because the location has maybe 5 or 6 spots total, my family waited inside. I know that parking is sometimes limited on the beach so while this wasn't high on the disappointments list, it certainly didn't help. It took almost the whole time for me to find parking for them to even get a drink delivered to the table along with chips and the order of queso. There were many tables empty so this was not a case of being busy. After finally getting to order and receiving our food, the food was actually quite good for most of the party. We had the steak taco salad, the chicken fajitas and the kids quesadilla which were all really good. The order of an adults quesadilla that had pork in it was completely filled with inedible gristle. Unfortunately this could not be finished. We also could not get a refill because the waitresses all sat at a booth at the rear of the restaurant in plain sight of all patrons on their phones. After having to call the waitress over she jumped clearly knowing she was caught on her phone. They had all been there on their phones through the whole experience not once checking on tables. I had to ask for new cutlery because the one given had rice stuck to it. I'm unsure how this wasn't seen while wrapping it. There was no atmosphere in the restaurant. Just complete silence except for patrons speaking. Typically there's music. Not a deciding factor on the experience but an observation as a whole. The location at Tyrone isn't that far off the beach and I'm so disappointed that we didn't just go there. Not sure if it's because it's where the locals go that they have such an amazing staff and at this location they don't feel like they have to care much about return customers or what? But it's very disappointing. For the prices, the experience was more than lacking. I'm disappointed that my family had to waste one of their meals here on this location. I hope they do better on their attentiveness and lack of care. I would be so embarrassed if my staff sat in plain sight of the patrons playing on their phones and not checking on tables if I was the...

I've been to GH a couple of times now and it's time to write a review. They get a perfect 5-starts from yours truly. Excellent decor, service and most of all really, really good Mejican food. Mexican is my favorite food and this place definitely does NOT disappoint. One of the barometers I use for "real" Mexican restaurants is rather simple. # 1 do they have hot salsa? Sounds simple enough, right? You'd be surprised how may do NOT. You ask for, "Salsa Picante" and it's a no go at many placed or they hand you a bottle of hot sauce (Tres X's is worth .25 star if they have it. :-))

They passed the test and have every time now. # 2 is how are their fajitas? Fajitas are the Cadillac dish, if they don't have them (rare) or they don't do them right (small, bland or just not appetizing) it's a NO-GO. GH passes the test on all of these.

I really like the traditional wood booths used in the main dining room, very Mexican in a nice way, that's what it's supposed to look like. The Men's room has a very nice Mexican vanity with the bright colored tiles one would expect, another +, although that has little to do with the taste of their food. Can't comment on the Lady's room, but presume the furnishing are similar.

Their queso + chorizo is just right, creamy, smooth and not to greasy from the sausage. Their salsa (and most importantly HOT salsa) is fresh and tasty.

Sopas are not something I normally go for, but tried a bowl of their pollo soup and was very pleased, it was a meal in and of itself, delicious.

Lady had the ceviche, I had the chicken chimichanga, which is a dish I do not frequent much, but was in the mood for on this particular visit. Both were very good, visually appealing and most importantly very palatable.

Final review is this is an outstanding place to dine on Mejican fair and enjoy a nice meal with friends and family.

Edit: Had the fajitas recently,...

Came here in search of delicious Mexican food, and Grand Hacienda did not disappoint.

Starting with what was served first: their chips and salsa were definitely delicious, but not spicy. Tastes homemade, and the 1st batch is complimentary which is always appreciated.

We got the Esquite (it’s like elote but not on the cob), very good, kinda sour and goes well with the chips and salsa for more flavor.

Wifey got the crispy tacos with chicken. She enjoyed them, but said they were definitely the choice for “American Mexican style” tacos. She added the salsa provided because she said it was a little dry but with the salsa she said it definitely helped and tasted good. Basically, a safe choice if you don’t like authentic Mexican style food.

The birria tacos were 💯. Not the absolute best I’ve ever had, but very very solid and worth ordering any and every day. The cheese is melted and has a crispy skin to it, and the consomé has plenty of flavor. For some reason there was some rice in it? Never seen that before but it didn’t throw off the flavor or anything. Oh and lots of red onion, so if you don’t like onion gotta make sure to tell them to leave it off. The main thing here is the meat: very clear they put thought and effort into slow cooking it and it absorbed the flavors very well. This would be my first choice when ordering here, you simply cannot go wrong.

The frozen margaritas were 🔥 make sure to get the small and not jumbo (unless you wanna engage human 4x4) because even the small is HUGE.

Overall the food was solid 4/5, everything could use a little spice, especially the birria tacos, some spicy salsa would give it the umph it needs.

I gave it a 5/5 because as I was writing the review, our server said they have a spicy sauce that can be served upon request. It’ll knock your socks off, order it, a few drops on your food and it’ll elevate everything to a...