Frida’s Mexican Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Salem

The one positive: The food was absolutely delicious, I'll give them that. Was it worth the several hundred dollars spent? No.

I called the restaurant well in advance to make a reservation for 8 adults and 2 kids for my birthday. I then called the morning of to change the reservation to 12 adults. The person who took my call knew me by name, rechecked the information at least twice, wrote it down and wished me a happy birthday.

Fast forward 8 hours later.....a few of us arrived, and the hostess with no expression whatsoever (didn't even greet us) chose to ignore us. We said we were checking in for our reservation for 12. She looked at us like we were stupid, looked at her calendar, then resumed looking at us like we were stupid and said "you mean 8"? I let her know that I spoke with someone earlier in the day to revise the reservation and that it was all confirmed 8 hours prior, for 12.

Instead of proactively finding a solution, the hostess was rude, dismissive, and made no effort to acknowledge or apologize for the mistake. l asked for the manager, I asked two different wait staff to speak with the manager, and was told that he had gone home.

To make matters worse, it seemed as if none of the staff spoke English, making communication extremely difficult.

Service was disorganized and frustrating-our server would take just one drink order at a time and then walk away instead of taking everyone's orders together. We had to repeatedly ask for basic necessities like extra forks, menus, and other table essentials.

I was later magically asked if I wanted to speak with the manager by another wait staff and of course, I said yes. He came to the table, already knew the problem, apologized and offered a plate or two of comp nachos, which we appreciated.

Mind you an hour and a half of this nonsense had already taken place before we were actually seated at a table that fit our entire party.

Maybe an hour and several issues later and a seemingly ruined birthday dinner for myself, (the one time ever that I plan a birthday dinner for myself) I was just irritated and wished we had chosen a different restaurant. I legitimately wanted to leave. It was so crappy that some of my friends were seated at a table not even with our party.

Eventually, someone got the wise idea to move us across the entire restaurant to an area where they could accommodate all of us at the same table, which I appreciated.

If it was just a dismissive hostess, and then the rest ironed out and we were treated like human beings, everything that took place afterwards wouldn't have been such a big deal. To further compound my irritation, their drinks are not cheap and they argued with my husband on how many drinks he ordered. He had two beers and they charged him for three, it's not the end of the world, but it's their audacity to argue with him about how many drinks he drank, his mugs were on the table!

Overall, this was one of the worst dining experiences l've had. A restaurant should be able to handle reservations professionally, provide attentive service, and at the very least, acknowledge their mistakes. Unfortunately, this place failed in most aspects.

There is no flow or organization and they need to work on that, I feel like they've been open long enough to work out the kinks.

The free nachos DID NOT solve the issue nor do I feel...

Went here during the first week of their “soft” opening (though in my opinion it should be a “hard” opening by how poppin it was).

The food: I started out my evening with an alcoholic beverage called “Duck in a boat”. The picture in the menu does not do it justice on how BIG it actually was. And yes, it does come with a duck you get to keep (the reason I got it). It was on the pricey end on totaling to most $27 but with how big it was and a duck to keep as a friend, so worth it. The chips, salsa, and beans you get that are complimentary were delicious “chefs kiss”. There was something different about their salsa, a good different. It makes it stand out from other Mexican restaurants. Then for the main course I had steak fajitas that came in an awesome serving dish (and yes I got it for the looks). I only had a few bites because of how full I was already from my drink and the chips, but from what I did have, super yummy. The flour tortillas were made fresh as well. They accidentally brought me an extra side of beans, rice, and shredded lettuce with tomatoes. Got to keep it, so that’s a plus!

Service: Now I rated this a 4/5 simply because there was a mix up with my order but I understand it was their first week and they were busy. The manager kept checking in often on his customers and was a big help to his employees. There was one angry guy who walked out yelling he was giving the place a bad review because he was waiting 30 minutes and I definitely awkwardly made eye contact with the manager and we both shared a look of an eye shrug and continues on with our day. My service was typical for a busy restaurant. The wait was 10 minutes for a full parking lot but granted there was only two of us to be seated. Some others behind me were a 30 minute wait for a spot. The parking lot SUCKS. I can tell it’ll be a pain in the future for how busy they are. Once seated, our server was diligent on having our needs met. Our food also didn’t take long but I’m unsure if that’s because of the bucket of alcohol I was drinking or because it truly didn’t. Check out was speedy.

Atmosphere:

The remodeled version of where Venti’s stood was very low and cool setting. I really liked the artwork they had and the nice tree they have in the center. The vibe was great, especially with alcohol in your system.

Price:

This is a more spendy location in comparison to nearby Mexican restaurants. But the food quality is worth it. Expect an average meal to...

A Tale of Two Experiences: Great Service, Disappointing Kitchen

Let’s start with the sweet stuff: zero wait for a table of two, and the service? Impeccable. Our waitress, Marce A. deserves a standing ovation. She was calm, professional, and compassionate—even in the face of a less-than-glowing review. She didn’t charge me for my meal or drink, and she genuinely seemed to hear the feedback. That kind of grace under pressure? Rare. If she’s not already leading the wait staff, someone needs to fix that ASAP.

The chips and salsa were a welcome opening act—fresh, flavorful, and hinting at promise. But alas, the supporting cast faltered. The beans were so bland they could’ve literally been served straight from the can, while the cabbage was a salt bomb—so aggressively seasoned, it had to be a mistake. I'm talking "mouth-pucker, reach-for-water, what-just-happened" levels.

Now, about the drinks: the traditional margarita? A triumph—balanced, bold, exactly what you'd hope for. But the mojito was a whisper of what it should’ve been. Light on flavor, possibly watered-down rum... either way, forgettable.

The final act: the food—and sadly, the real heartbreak. The traditional tostada? A soggy catastrophe. The lettuce was practically rinsed and draped—water pooled on the plate, soaking the tortilla and diluting everything in its path, including the meat. It was like my dinner had taken a bath.

The quesa birria tacos were okay at best. They flirted with authentic flavor, but never committed. Again, the rice and beans were as exciting as cardboard. And for the love of all things edible, can we talk about the bay leaves? Whole, broken, stems and all—left lurking in the meat like little flavor landmines. Not only unpleasant, but also a real safety hazard for anyone not expecting to chew on tree parts.

Final Verdict:

This place has potential, no doubt. But the kitchen seriously needs to tighten up on quality control and seasoning. That said, the saving grace—truly—was our server Marce A. She turned what could have been a disaster into a display of empathy, professionalism, and genuine hospitality.

So here’s my hope, learn style over substance will never last: fix the food, keep the staff like her, and you might just win back a community who is eager to welcome a local place to have a meal where you can always count on delicious food and service eaqul to what we received with...