Old Town Tequila Factory Restaurant & Cantina — Restaurant in San Diego

Update 04/17/2022: My wife and I had our minds set that we were never going to return to this place. We received a weird call while on our way back to Old Town San Diego to pick up something that we bought the previous weekend. The general manager had the restaurant manager call us and offer to make up the horrible experience that we had. Keep in mind that they did not have to call us since this place is always busy, but they did. We will not be afraid to go back there since they owned up to their mistake and went above and beyond to make things right again. Most businesses don’t even bother to make things right. I have no idea how they got my contact information and knew that we were going back to Old Town this weekend but we are so glad that they went out of their way to make things right.

04/09/2022: This review is only for the Bar area and tables by the bar area. I have been lucky enough not to have my Mexican heritage used against me simply by the way I look or speak. For the fist time in my 48 years I experienced discrimination simply because I am Mexican. Ironically, it was in a Mexican restaurant and was done by a latino waiter. He approached every white person around us multiple times asking them “how is everything mi familia. Do you need anything else”. Meanwhile we were ignored the entire time. A person in a blue shirt who was not the waiter had to take our order because he couldn't find the waiter. No one approached us after we got our food. I had to get up to get water since the waiter ignored us the entire time. I also had to get up and walk to the main entrance to ask a manager for our check to pay and leave. The manager was nice enough to give us a 10% discount but I told her that we weren’t asking for anything other than good service. The food was really good and my wife would have really enjoyed the salad that much more had she been able to ask for more dressing. The salad was tossed and was very watery so it needed more dressing. If you are white or at least look white, then you will love this restaurant. If you are latino looking then stay away from the bar area and take your chances at the main restaurant. The hotel is awesome but the restaurant needs new personnel. Or re-train the...

I am writing to express my disappointment following our recent visit to the Tequila Factory on Sunday, August 31, 2025. We had a reservation for a birthday brunch but encountered several issues that significantly impacted our experience.

Upon arrival, we were seated outside in the hot sun with only one umbrella, while other parties had multiple umbrellas. We spoke with the manager at the front counter and requested an additional umbrella but were told none were available. When we asked if we could be seated at an open table inside, the manager said no, stating that someone was already waiting for it. She then offered the option to sit at the bar, but we declined as we preferred to stay together, especially since there were minor children in our party.

The manager then said she could have the area with the open table cleaned for us. We waited, but after some time, asked a server if he could clean it. He rudely replied that he was busy and it would be a while. Overall, we waited about 25 minutes to be seated, delaying our opportunity to enjoy our brunch.

Our waitress was polite and explained that the restaurant was short-staffed and overbooked. We had to wait a long time for our unlimited mimosas, and the overall level of service did not meet our expectations, especially given this was a special birthday celebration. While I understand staffing challenges due to the holiday weekend, this is not our responsibility as guests.

The outdoor seating was uncomfortably hot, further impacting our experience. Given that we spent over $400, I expected a much higher standard of service and care.

Most importantly, the way we were treated left us feeling uncomfortable and, unfortunately, discriminated against due to our race. We are Black, and the experience made us feel this played a role in the treatment we received.

Given the circumstances, I believe compensation is warranted, whether in the form of reimbursement or an invitation to return on the restaurant’s dime to enjoy a better experience when fully staffed and not overbooked.

I hope you take this feedback seriously and address these concerns to ensure future guests do not have similar experiences.

Thank you for your attention. I look forward to...

I waited several days after the Mother's Day fiasco to cool down and collect my thoughts. First, we have eaten here before and it is a 3 star restaurant basically for tourist. Not bad, but nothing special either. A fun atmosphere for food and drinks. However, we found that high occupancy special events are not well managed. We arrived on time with reservations set weeks in advance, and waited about 10 minutes to be seated. Not bad, but the seating was 2 plastic tables situated in a hallway. This is not what we expected. Since it was a buffet we were able to go get food almost right away, but silverware was never brought to us. There were several nice tables not being used with silverware already on them, so we finally took sets from those tables. The drinks were an entirely different situation as we were served 3 teas and then no one returned. We did not have a waiter until after a half hour of arriving. Our waiter was the bright spot. Benjamin was obviously over stretched, but took the time to be courteous and kind. He did a very good job considering the amount of tables he was obviously handling. And since there were no bus persons he had to clear the tables as well. Thank you Benjamin for salvaging the day. The plates piled up because of the lack of organization or experience by management, but at least we had drinks, silverware, and someone who actually cared. The food was as good as one can expect for buffet mexican. The overall experience is one I will not repeat and here's why. When we left at 2PM there were lots of empty tables and the waiting line outside was almost gone. With so many reservations No one should have been seated without a reservation because there was not enough seating nor personnel to handle the overload. This simple fact tells me that they might be able to run a restaurant when it is slow, but large crowds are beyond their abilities. My suggestion is that if you see a line, just walk away. See our table...