Casa Real Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Rotterdam

The good - I was seated quickly and the alambre plate was tasty. It was full of chicken, steak, bacon, peppers, onions, and cheese. It came out on a sizzling platter with corn tortillas and a plate of sides. It was a lot of food for a fair price. Atmosphere isn't the most important thing to me as I come for the food but I didn't notice anything too wild and crazy here. It was typical Mexican restaurant decor and was clean. There is an impressive painting or two on the walls that caught my attention and I wish I would have jotted down the artists social media accounts to see more of their work.

The bad - the service was fair. I'm pretty sure my waitress hated me and everyone else. The way I finally caught on was when she brought me the bill and I apologized but was hoping to order some friend ice cream. She said sure and I then made a mistake and asked if that was a good choice as I didn't see a dessert menu and was just hoping they had a good fried ice cream. She replied she couldn't say. I asked if there were other options she'd recommended, she said no, they are all the same. It really gave me confidence in my choice. It turned out to be an okay choice but I don't know what the other options were as she wasn't about to tell me about them. She just wanted to get me my bill and get me out of there. It looked delicious and was covered in whipped cream. A nice ending to the meal.

In general the service was as expected and I was pleased with that aspect.

The ugly - I love Mexican food and have pretty high standards. It has been hard to find a good Mexican restaurant since moving to the area and I was excited to give this one a try after driving an hour or so. Chips and salsa were brought to the table quickly and after eating a few I should have known better because they had no flavor or spice or even taste. Why make tasteless food when you're able to make Mexican food full of complex flavor and spices? I don't have to have spicy everything but I do enjoy it. If the salsa was mild to appease the general demographic, that's great, but don't let all these people leave thinking that's what salsa is. I also didn't get the feeling it was the freshest batch they had ever served. It did appear to be homemade and pureed tomatoes so maybe they just forgot to throw in the food stuff that round???

Besides the alambre plate, the other items I tried were just flat out bad. The enchiladas tasted old and stale on the outside with rubbery chicken lacking any flavor on the inside. The green sauce was gross. I normally love green sauce and all sauces really but it did not taste fresh. Now that I think about it, maybe that's why she asked if I wanted green sauce when she was taking my order. She knew it wasn't a popular choice and they'd have to dig around the kitchen for an old can of sauce to dump on it... without heating it up it seemed. To clarify, it was heated up enough to melt the cheese under the broiler but not hot or warm like it just came off the stove at Grandma's house.

I normally love refried beans, rice, and guacamole. None of these items had taste here. I put them into my fork with the alambre to give it some flavor but struggled to eat any of them on their own. I wish they had good beans with some flavor to leave me wanting more but instead I ate what I could stomach and took the rest to go. I will say the enchiladas tasted a little better as leftovers the next day but maybe it is due to my expectations being low from trying to eat them when they were fresh and served at the restaurant. They were actually heated up as leftovers and I still didn't think the sauce was great or dream of a bowl full of it but it was better than the day before.

If there is any great Mexican food around or dishes I should have tried here, please let me know as I'm still on the hunt for the good stuff after...

We have been coming to Casa Real for some time and have always enjoyed our visits — until now. Unfortunately, this recent experience was extremely disappointing and we are hoping this was just an "off" day. The restaurant was not very busy, there were maybe 6 tables filled and it appeared like they had 2 servers working. The music was very loud for a Sunday afternoon, the food arrived cold, messy and poorly presented, and 1 of our meals was incorrect. They did bring out the correct meal when we told them of the mistake. We had to call over the wall separating the dining room and the bar to get the attention of our sever. Service was severely lacking; our server seemed more like a food runner, with minimal interaction or attention to our needs. Essential condiments salt/pepper/sugars/hotsauce were missing from the tables, and requests for them were delayed. At 1 point the gentleman who appeared to be the owner was visibly disengaged, sitting at the bar preoccupied with his phone rather than overseeing operations. We ultimately had to leave our table to find someone in order to pay the bill. Given how much we have enjoyed this place in the past, it is disheartening to see such a noticeable decline in quality...

I'd heard people here and there remarking about having had good experiences at Casa Real, so when a couple of our friends suggested we meet there, my wife and I were quite enthused. When we arrived, I was a little surprised that it was in a sort of strip mall and the interior of restaurant didn't have much in the way of 'atmosphere, but enough of that unimportant stuff. Let's get to the stuff we care about... The place was packed. Lots of happy patrons. Service - We were greeted and seated promptly. Chips and salsa were provided immediately. Our waitress, came over in short order, taking our drink and appetizer orders. After they arrived, we ordered our entrées. The waitress was attentive and accurate. Food - Great! My favorite ,if the restaurants offer it, is Steak Tampiquena. Casa Real had it so I ordered it. When it came out it looked different than what I'd had at other restaurants, so I was kinda worried. But one bite of at steak was all it took. Mam o man, so tender and flavorful. I made the mistake of letting my wife try a bite. I all but had to fight her to keep her from stealing it from me. Portions were large, the drinks tasty and had just the right amount of alcohol. Price -...