Mexican Villa East — Restaurant in Springfield

First time visitors: WE’LL BE BACK!

Appetizer: Didn’t order one

Chips: Warm, fresh, durable

Salsa: Three types (sweet, mild, hot). Unique! We like spicy, so we chose mild & hot, to mix them

Meal: Burrito Enchiliada, lunch size. Unusual sauce, almost like red gravy. Ground beef inside was cooked perfectly, ordered the beans on the side instead of in burrito. Okay portion of cheese. This “half portion” was enough for one person. Caution: VERY salty. I won’t order this again b/c my salt intake has to be minimal b/c of hypertension.

Dessert: Didn’t order one

Menu: Very varied! Offers traditional Mexican fare, but also hamburgers/fries, hot dogs, chicken strips. It was priced probably 10% more than we felt would be competitive with other like restaurants. Menu is available online to view before visiting.

To Go: Pick up had its own door to the side, near the parking lot. Impressive.

Server: ALYSSA was attentive, but didn’t hover. We carried on a conversation w/o being interrupted. She refilled my water, as necessary. When I asked her to bring something to us, but mentioned we didn’t want her to make a special trip, she said, “That’s what I’m here for, to make sure your experience is positive”. At that point, restaurant was reasonably busy, so that was an impressive response. That’s not often heard these days. She had a bright smile, and used it often while talking, which made her approachable. Side note: another server walked past an unoccupied table, and evidently noticed a spot on the table, went back to the server area to retrieve a washtowel to clean the table. That type of overall care isn’t seen much these days, either.

Restaurant: Well-placed on main road, across from Mercy hospital. Would be a welcome break from the pressures of taking care of a loved one in the hospital, whether it be Mercy or Cox. Clean, well marked with signs (“Restrooms this way!”, “Caution: Top plate is hot!”). Decorated in a welcome Latinx ambiance. Hostess stand directly inside door; we were seated immediately. Floor was very clean. Food came out of visible window at kitchen. Music was at a reasonable level. We noticed professionals in business suits, individuals in casual clothing, older, younger, alone, in a group. Diverse patronage.

Parking: adequate amount of spaces, no...

I just finished eating there, and the food was good. The service I received however was not what I expected. I had lunch alone in a booth and there were three surrounding tables. All those tables got checked on 5-6 times, the waiter made sure to have conversation/contact with them, and was super friendly.....I however did not get one ounce of that type of service. I was checked on once when I was pretty much finished with my food and asked if I wanted more water. I politely declined and she brought me my bill. That’s it. I felt so unwelcome there that it really got to me. I also politely asked for a manager and told her how I was treated compared to every table around me. She was nice about it and apologized and said she wanted anyone and everyone to feel welcome there, however, that was not the case for me. The manager said she would speak with her about it. I hope they treat people like me better. I was going to give it one star but because the manager was nice and the food wasn’t terrible I gave it two stars. I hope everyone else has a better...

Convenient location across from Mercy. Allows in-store and curbside pickup and food is ready in ~10 minutes.

Usually has amazing tasting food at a decent price...

However, today was different. The chips and tacos today were very stale.

Also, apparently they increased the prices on their website (but not on google!) by a few dollars for each meal (for example: $8.20 combo plate is now $10.99, $9.99 villa special and $10.50 villa dinner are now $12.99)

This was my go-to Mexican food place until I realized today that its not as cheap as I thought. Guess its time to try out some other places.

Edit: The price increase is getting ridiculous. 2 tamales used to be a little over 4$. Now they're 6.99$. Increasing your prices just because you're across from Mercy and everyone there has been working hard AF during the pandemic and you want to skim more money off the top of them. I'm done...