Nena's Mexican Cuisine — Restaurant in Stockton

Let me start by saying, we’ve. Been eating at nenas for almost 20 years, my father actually got married at their old location in 2005. I will never go back again, neither will my family or friends. It will never cease to amaze me how people are willing to put up with such bad service for food that’s pretty good. I’m willing to put up with the difficult to access location or the floor plan that is difficult to navigate or even peeing shoulder to shoulder in those tiny restrooms, but man this place has gone down hill, I’ve been maybe 5 times in the last 6 months and each experience is worse than the last , it started with snarky wait staff, everyone there has an issue, I’m not sure if it’s because they work at the presigeious nenas or what but everyone in that staff really needs to humble themselves and provide a better service. If you ask for a refill they act like they’re doing you a favor, rude remarks, no responsiveness , last time I went they gave me a cold piece of carne asada, cold! I asked her to please give me a new one and to no reheat the old one. She told me “ there’s no way it can be cold “ before ripping the plate from my hand. She came back with a slop of beans and rice smeared on a plate and a “ new “ piece of meat, fine, whatever, literally kept giving me side eye from across the room. Super moody the rest of the meal. But today was the last straw. We went at three to ask for a table , they said it would be 20-40 mins, an hour goes by and we check in, they assured us that there was only 3 parties ahead of us, so we wait another 45 mins , with 2 small children). There is literally no one else waiting outside anymore at this point so we go in and ask what happened to our table. He was super apprehensive and told us that he just got there and that no one told him anything and they our name is crossed out, we asked for some clarification and he told us that we needed to calm down if we wanted to eat. We weren’t being rude, or disrespect and we literally waited outside for almost 2 hours and he told us we would need to wait again because our name has been crossed out . I manage a restaurant, I understand things happen but you need to make sure you do your best to make it right, so I called the manager on the phone. Explained what happened and all he said was uh huh , okay, it’s busy(there were plenty of open tables) well sorry . My response would have been something like, “ oh my gosh how embarrassing ; let me take care of your family and find you a seat immediately” this aweful service begins with management, none should have to tell you how expensive it is to eat out, to get cold food , poor service or even denied service. Not that you care considering you didn’t care about the issues when I brought them up, but you lost original costumers nenas. Consistent costumers who have brought you business from others time and time again, if everyone else wants to pay for good food served by angry...

Customer service was horrible! Served alcohol to my 11yr old daughter. Had to wait way too long for drinks, food and we gave up waiting for the check. First thing was after the table was wiped down it stunk of bad water and bleach. We (A party of 6, 5 adults, one child) went here for my grandmas 90th bday dinner on 6/22. First the customer service was HORRIBLE, it was pure hell just getting drinks while other customers that came in after my party were getting drinks and there meal before my party. We did get chips and salsa, but no drinks, no water..I requested a pepsi, but took so long I gave up. But thats not the worst of it, my mother ordered a virgin strawberry daiquiri, after my 11yr old daughter tried grandmas virgin strawberry daiquiri, she wanted her own. When it was brought to her in a different type of glass as a father I was concerned, upon asking the server whether there was alcohol or not in the drink got no answers as the one female server, well I dunno what language she spoke, because she didnt speak, she just looked lost when I asked. I asked another server and they did not know either whether my daughters drink had alcohol or not. My adult cousin tried the drink and couldn't tell virgin or not drink. Because it took so so long just to get drinks, my daughter just kept the drink but a few minutes later after drinking her drink says she feels funny and this drink doesn't taste like grandmas. So my mother who doesn't drink and is on heart meds tried my daughters drink, my mom is like yes this drink has alcohol and not a virgin strawberry daiquiri! How do you serve someone, anyone let alone a child a drink and not know the contents?? Shortly thereafter my mother felt sick and nausea, from the alcohol and heart meds? Nenas server did comp my daughters drink and apologized, no management spoke to my family or me regarding this situation. I tried contacting Nenas in Stockton,however there phone number is disconnected when I tried. So then I called there Sacramento Nenas location, (not sure exactly who was being texted by the server on the phone I was speaking with, but I felt misled and not being contacted by Nenas since I called the Sacramento Nenas on Thursday (6/24) solidifies my feelings.) I was informed Nenas owner/management is aware and supposedly was being texted at same time I was on phone with server at Nenas/Sacramento and I was informed I would be contacted by management/owners very quickly as this is a situation that should be addressed. Can't be to important to Nenas as they haven't reached out to me yet. I just wanted to bring this to the attention of management of Nenas, but since they cant be contacted and were not concerned enough to contact me. So thats why I am writing this review. The food was alright, Just customer service sucked, and they do not know what drinks they are serving to children, let alone...

If i could give less than a one star i would. I sat at the bar because there was a 45 minute wait...understood Sat at 6pm...expected. I was alone so I didnt mind the bar. I sat 20 minutes before even being acknowledged. Another couple came after me...their drink orders were taken before mine...go figure. I ordered the spicy shrimp soup..HUGE bowl given and it was a small! Not complaining about that! However it was watery, thin and lacked spice and flavor. I also ordered the pork with sauce verde..the sauce was good but the pork was dried out and tasted old. I asked the waiter if there was any newer cuts of meat that he could exchange this with...he informed me that he had no problem taking it back but he had no better meat to exchange it with. He said it was old because "the lady comes in at like 5 in the morning to cook the meat...once its done..its done...we use the same meat throughout the day" I dont know if this is a normal practice in other resturaunts but surely there must be ways to keep the meat fresh and moist? Totally disappointed although this resturaunt came highly reccomended by a coworker. Once given my bill the waiter NEVER came back to retrieve my card. He cleaned multiple setting and wiped down the entire bar as i stood waiting with my bill in hand approx 10 minutes. I left him a $5 tip on a $26 bill. He didnt deserve that but I had the feeling he didnt expect me to leave a tip at all. My plan was to give him the amount of the meal that he returned...$17. But after he failed to come back to retrieve my bill I totally wasnt going to be nice and leave that much for a tip. Forgot to mention I ordered a frozen strawberry margarita...a Cadillac version...it was weak and I dont know what alcohol the bar tender used but it wasnt top shelf tequilla and definately NOT Grand Manier. Total dissapointment. I miss Tex Mex (im from Texas)highly seasoned food and friendly servers! p.s. Homemade tortillas were REALLY delicious!!! I wont be back to this spot...New to Stockton area...still searching for decent places to eat...so far...my...