Garcia's — Restaurant in San Marcos

I rarely feel the need to call a manager over when I’m dining out but today was one of those days. My server, Juliana, kept rushing through my service and several things were not correct or done with my order to the point I finally had to ask if she was new. Not surprisingly, she was, so I understood a little better the dynamic, but it was a very disappointing experience being it was my first time here.

I was looking over the menu when she brought the drink and immediately asked if I was ready to order. I wasn’t ready yet but was when she came back. I ordered a beef and cheese enchilada with charro beans, jalapeños, cilantro and a water. She came back with my meal and asked if I needed anything else but I didn’t receive the cilantro and jalapeños so she brought those back. Then I noticed it had refried beans instead of charro so she corrected that. Then I started eating the enchiladas and noticed I had a chicken instead of cheese enchilada, so then she corrected that and I asked for the water as well. Visibly showing frustration, she came back with the check and said no rush. She didn’t ask how the food was at all before that time, and I probably wouldn’t have either given the amount of issues that occurred. When I looked over my check, I was charged for two drinks instead of one AND for the cheese enchilada. At that point, I decided to call for the manager.

The manager was very courteous and understanding of the situation. I simply wanted her to know my concerns and a potential way to help the server slow down and repeat the order to avoid this happening again. The manager corrected the check and I still tipped over 20% regardless, but I had to wait almost 10 minutes after that just for her to come pick up my check with the money.

I’m not sure if I’ll visit again since I don’t live in the area, but the food was decent and the...

Have been anxious to try Garcia's based on other's reviews talking about the wonderful food. Service was decent, nothing special but really no complaints. We would have expected no less since we arrived at 8:30p and the restaurant was fairly empty. Apparently only 30 minutes from closing time although the big sign outside on the wall says 10p. We addressed this with the server and she said no rush, had no knowledge of the sign?! Started with queso, chips, and salsa...chips were fabulous but salsa and queso was lacking flavor. Ordered pretty soon after queso arrived, food was delivered a few minutes later and was hot and fresh. One person had Sour cream enchiladas and they were bland at best, rice nothing special. Other had Fiesta plate, menu mentions no substitutions but server graciously agreed to add ground beef to chalupa for a small up charge. Cheese enchilada comes with enchilada sauce so chili gravy also an up charge. Flauta was crispy and hot, best part of the meal but everything could use some salt and SPICE!!! Very bland, not the flavorful Mexican food we were looking forward to. 9p rolls around and we're still eating and server brings the tab! Remember the no rush statement previously?! Time for a little sticker shock, $10 Fiesta plate had more than small up charges; $2.50 for a scoop of flavorless beef added to a chalupa and then $1.00 for chili gravy on one enchilada. They also added on a $1.48 for "Non Cash Adj" which really should be their cost of doing business! $49 later and we've marked Garcia's...

I asked a local where to go for good Mexican/Tex Mex and they recommended Garcia's. We drove an hour to go there then found the tiny lobby packed with people and a sign reading please wait to be seated. No hostess to be seen, a number of tables available and waitstaff gathered at the back of the dining room chatting. While I was in the ladies room, a young lady asked my husband for his name. We continued to wait until everyone before us was seated then our name was called and we were led to a booth. Wait time really wasn't long, it was just the unknown that raised my anxiety. We were asked for our drink order then waited for quite some time for drinks and chips & salsa. The menu isn't huge but has a good variety. I ordered the Deluxe which came with a taco, tostada, enchilada of choice, tamale, beans and rice. Everything was acceptable but not exceptional, not much flavor honestly. Hubs had the carne guisada with beans and flour tortillas. He liked it and commented that it had good flavor. I wish we had tried the queso. I noticed many tables ordering it. Our server, Meghan was very attentive and pleasant once she got started. I did feel it was a bit pricey but we want to support local as often as possible and I realize that often costs a bit more. Bottom line, we'll probably try a different place next time but our bellies are full and we had a pleasant...