Margaritas Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Santa Clarita

What's happened to my favorite Mexican restaurant? I've been going there for years, at least 20 (if not more). And, until about 9 months ago, I never had a bad meal, bad service or a bad experience of any kind.

But two nights ago, on 12-30, I called at 4 pm to order dinner for four. It was my friend's 80th birthday and Margaritas is his favorite restaurant. I gave the order to the woman, in detail. As I asked the total price, she said she had another order to take and would get my order together and give me the price - then she put me on hold. Four dinners! One steak and shrimp, three dinner plates and a large guac, and she put me on hold. When she came back, I asked the price (over $100) and told her I'd pick up at 5:30. Oh no! she yelled. Why didn't you tell me??? Then she yelled back to the kitchen to stop cooking the meal for [me]. (Can you imagine how long I was on hold if they'd already started cooking? Again she said, You should have told me. I told her I didn't get a chance to because she put me on hold before we were done with all the details. She went on to reprimand me - "This is why we always tell people 20-25 minutes for your order." You didn't say that to me, I told her. Yes, I did, she argued. By now I was mad. Why was she arguing with me? I told her, I'm getting upset and I'm about to hang up, "You DID NOT say 20-25 minutes!" Her response? Was it, You're the customer and I'm representing this wonderful restaurant so let me apologize for any mixup and get you some extra chips for the inconvenience? NOOOOO! Her response was, "I'm pretty sure I did, Ma'am." Click. I hung up and ordered from Maria Bonita (which, by the way, is my new favorite place in town!

Let me also add that about 9 months ago I took a friend to lunch there. I ordered the ceviche salad (which I'd had before and loved). On top of each little salad was a beautifully butterflied shrimp. It was translucent in color, but I figured it had been marinated in something. I mean, I'm not the ceviche expert. It went from the cook to the server before it got to me, so I trusted the process. Turns out, the shrimp was raw and I got sick. I was sick for about 2-3 days. When I recovered, I went to Margaritas and asked for the manager. I explained that the customer shouldn't have to assume the role of quality control (clearly I'm wrong - ALWAYS send it back if it looks funny, even if you've frequented the place for decades). His response? Oh, I'm so sorry. Period. That's it.

Well, Margaritas, you've lost a loyal customer. I'm so sorry....

AMAZING FOOD, ATMOSPHERE, AND OWNERS!!

Margaritas has been a long time favorite of mine, their shrimp and steak burritos and carne asada dish are out of this world! Service is top class and I've never had any issues dining here, even when ordering takeout. Their cocktails are unique and very reasonably priced for the quantity you get, and the bar staff is very friendly and knowledgeable in preparing amazing margaritas. They really live up to their name. Really honored to have them be a part of our community, especially during the fires of last year where they provided meals for the brave firefighters that put their lives on the line to protect our community. The family that runs it is an amazing group of people who genuinely want the best for the community by providing an amazing customer experience and prioritizing for the health and safety of their employees and patrons. My favorite Mexican spot in SoCal, hands down, you have to come try it out...

Very good mexican food and margaritas but they charge a fee if you don't use cash and it is about 4% and they call it a "non cash transaction fee". They put in on the bill and you don't know about it unless you look closely at the bill. This is ridiculous and the only restaurant I have been to that has such a fee. I caught it and mentioned it to my wife. I asked the server what it was and he said they charge if you use a credit card. I paid cash and told him to take off the fee. The couple next to us heard us and questioned the fee to the server when he left them the bill. I will probably not be back. This is not a good business plan to pinch your customers for a couple of bucks. I hope the $3 they tried to charge me was worth...