Margaritas Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Sierra Madre

This is the worst Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles County and I told them that on my way out the door. I lived in L.A. for 39 years and have been to Mexico. I know Mexican cuisine up one side and down the other. This place is a complete and utter disaster. Had I known how bad it would be I would have gone to a liquor store for a canned margarita and gone through the drive-thru at Taco Bell. Taco Bell's food has more flavor than this.

The beans are runny and flavorless. The guacamole was not prepared properly. It had no cumin, no onion, nothing you find in real guacamole. This wasn't even at the level of fast food guacamole. Del Taco has better guacamole than this. The beef enchilada had no flavor. And same with the chicken taco. The salsa is store bought from a jar.

But it gets much much worse. Despite the name of the place being "Margaritas" they CANNOT MAKE A MARGARITA!!! Let me give you the details of this saga:

I asked for a Gala Margarita "straight up." The waitress said, "Ice?" I said, "No, ma'am, I said straight up. That means no ice."

She argued with me. She said "straight up" means "with ice." No it does not. You can Google this. Here's what Google says:

"Yes, "straight up" is a bartending term that usually means an alcoholic drink is shaken or stirred with ice, strained, and served in a glass without ice."

Okay? That's what Google says. So she asked me, "Do you want it blended?" I said, "Just take the ingredients and shake them over ice and pour it in a glass."

Again she said, "Blended?" So I said, "Sure," thinking maybe to her that blended meant all the ingredients together -- or something.

So she brings me back this slurry, slushy thing which is 90% ice. I started to get annoyed. I said, "All you have to do is put the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake them and pour them in a glass." I said this at least five times.

So then this guy accompanies her back to the table. He had in his hand a plastic tumbler, about 1/4 full, filled with what looked like dishwater. If the guy had any brains -- or class -- he would have put the margarita in a martini glass (or ANY GLASS) and put a lime slice on it. This is how things are done in the real world. Serving a $13.50 drink in a plastic tumbler is SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

I said, "THAT'S the "Gala Margarita?" THAT costs $13.50? Forget it."

By that time the food had come -- SERVED WRONG. I ordered guacamole, plus an entree. In a PROFESSIONAL Mexican restaurant, the guacamole comes with the margaritas and then the main course. So I just asked for a box because I was disgusted and I just wanted to get out of there. I left zero tip needless to say, although now I wish I had written on the back of the check, "Learn how to make and serve a straight up margarita."

I was kicking myself for not going to El Torito, which was nearby. But it NEVER CROSSED MY MIND that a place claiming to specialize in margaritas CAN'T MAKE A SIMPLE, BASIC MARGARITA WITH NO ICE. Do you need a degree in physics to do this?

I am going to post this same review on Trip Adviser, Google, any platform I can find. Travelers, in particular, don't have the time to waste on a dump like this that cannot do anything right. Not one.Single.Thing.Right.

I wish I could give this restaurant negative stars.

I had a great vacation in L.A. All I wanted was a margarita and a plate of good Mexican food and I would have been happy as a purring cat before I had to get on the road. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get it here.

Not only is this the worst Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles, it is the worst I've ever been in -- certainly in this price bracket. If you're going to spend $25 - $35 plus on lunch, you expect at least bare minimum cuisine, drink, service.

ALL of it was HORRIBLE!!! I hope this place goes out of business so people like me don't continue to come in and get ripped off.

I wish I had read a review like this. I would have...

You know the feeling you get when you leave a place and realize you didn’t take ANY pictures for a review? That’s me, that’s this review. Lame, I know. I was meeting a friend for dinner and it simply slipped my mind!

Haven’t eaten here since before the pandemic, and didn’t really pay close attention back then to the food, etc. So we’re gonna take this from scratch.

I DO remember that their blended tamarind margaritas were MAGICAL - I ordered several, they were so sweet/spicy and good. However, having one this time, I was super disappointed (and embarrassed - I insisted my friend order one, too). It was mostly slushed ice, the taste was super bland, and the sweet/chili rim garnish that was like candy way back when, was so salty and bitter, it made me cough the two or three times I sipped from the glass. No bueno. 👎🏻

The chips and salsa were good - but we had to ask several times (sometimes twice) for more before and during our dinner. Kinda like water - these things should simply keep being replenished (at least before the food arrives) without guests having to ask or remind the staff that we’d already requested more. It was not busy at all - so that wasn’t a distraction in this case.

I ordered the carne asada burrito, which comes wet with red sauce over it and small scoops of sour cream and guac. No rice or beans on the plate, which was fairly surprising/disappointing. The burrito was tasty - not mind-blowing, but something I would have again, no problem. I do think for $15, the burrito plate should come with beans and rice. That would make it much more attractive in my opinion.

The staff was friendly; just not terribly attentive when it came to certain aspects of our experience. And once we’d paid the bill and were sitting talking (hadn’t caught up in years, so we were there about two hours or so - again, it was not busy, so we weren’t being real estate hogs), we were invisible. No one asked if we needed any more water, more booze, more chips - we were done and they were done checking on us. At one point, I had to snag someone passing by to ask for more water (would have been another margarita if the first hadn’t been so disappointing).

All in all, this is a decent spot. Even solid, I’d say. But I do think the quality of food has declined post-Covid, which makes me sad; I can’t see myself going out of my way to eat here again with so many other Mexican options in the...

I discovered Magaritas Restaurant 5 years ago when I relocated from Cartersville Georgia. At that time I would've rated the restaurant 5 stars (and if possible a ++) for their service and food. The presentation and the food was very good. Coming from a Hospitality and restaurant background I understand the value of good service and food. Due to other commitments I was unable to frequent the restaurant until yesterday assuming that the service and quality of the food was the same. Unfortunately I was highly disappointed. It started off when I drove into the parking lot and noticed that there was a vehicle in the Handicap parking space (the vehicle did not have disabled plates, nor did it display a Disabled Place Card), being a Disabled Veteran) I informed the hostess that the vehicle was illegally parked. Her response was nonchalant and said it was managements responsibly (in other words nothing was done). The server was polite and took my order. I had the abondiga soup and the stuff (with crabmeat) shrimp, it came with rice and vegetables. The soup was good, but served not as hot as it should've been, when I received the main course the plate was cold and not hot, the rice was cold and the vegetables were luke warm. The shrimp were medium sized and if they were stuffed with crabmeat as the menu stated I certainly didn't notice or taste it, and were wrapped in bacon. The outside of the shrimp and bacon was was highly over cooked and burnt and the shrimp was chewy. For the price of the entire meal and two Margaritas it was not worth my time and effort. I will not return anytime soon. As I mentioned earlier I came from a hospitality background, and when I informed my server of my dissatisfaction with my meal experience I calmly explained to him that I I truly understand it was not his fault and that the back of the house was at fault for preparing and...