Margarita Grille — Restaurant in Town of Southampton

One line summary: Not bad, but not great, one-note experience.

Situation: Table of four. Two apps and four entrees for a work lunch, so no boozy. ☹️ Seated quickly, we selected an alternate table than what the hostess wanted to give us. This was because the outdoor seating area under the awning has a four-corner sound system that was piping music louder than it needed to be. What’s more annoying than having to struggle to hear and have a conversation with someone that’s only three feet away from you at your own table? Not much in my mind.

Appetizers: Chips and salsa: (free for the table once seated) Chips we’re good, nice and crunchy, none stale, salted, but not over salted. Salsa was yummy, slightly chunky, good flavor. All at the table enjoyed. Gave us hope for good stuff to follow. Guacamole: Meh. It was okay, but it just didn’t seem freshly made and falls into my one-note summary line. It may have been freshly made, but it only had a basic avocado flavor. Where’s the cilantro & lime? Option for spiciness? Salt & pepper even? (which BTW are by request only, not on the tables) Calamari w/jalapeños: Thought they were great. Loved the breading; flaky, crunchy, not too much on each bite. Jalapeños were a fun addition. Squid tasted fresh and were cooked well, not spongy or rubbery. This app disappeared quickly as all enjoyed.

Entrees: One person had the Cobb Salad and he finished the whole thing, so I would imagine he enjoyed it, but I didn’t get a chance to get his direct feedback. The other two got the Red, White and Blue Tacos, the Chicken Tostada and I had the Grilled Shrimp Tacos. For all three of us the feeling was same - the flavor just wasn’t there. For example, on my Shrimp tacos, if the shrimp were not cooked on the grill the entire dish would be completely flat and without flavor. The pickled onions looked like they were pickled, but had no distinct flavor. I don’t think there were any tomatoes at all (which was supposed to be included), and the avocado was just a half-moon wedge of avocado lumped aside the shrimp. And the iceberg lettuce - let’s just all agree that’s basically crunchy water, so no flavor there.

Final take: It was okay. Was I satisfied when I left? Sure. Is it a “Must Go”...

Food was very tasty, staff was very helpful and accommodating. Although the menu is limited the food was still very delicious. I would like to give the restaurant a 4 star rating or better but unfortunately my friends and I who are people of color had an experience that made us feel unwelcome by the people in the area. As we were leaving and saying our goodbyes to each other, hugging, laughing etc. we were told by staff that there were complaints about us and were asked to make our way out. The staff did not seem aggressive or oppressive when they informed us of this BUT we still felt that it was unfair for the staff to justify this complaint and approach us about leaving which we were clearly already doing instead of simply informing the complaining customer that we were on our way out. I did overhear another customer around where we were sitting tell us that we needed to “disperse and break this up”. And when we turned around to make our way out we were met with faces that were looking at us and watching us walk out which made us feel very unwelcome it was not a simple stare of interest or admiration but rather a stare making us feel like we did not belong. We had already had similar encounters in the area earlier in our day and this was added to it. The restaurant itself is nice but let this review serve as a warning to people of color who intend on visiting the restaurant. And I hope the restaurant will see this review and feel compelled to train their staff to treat matters like this with more awareness and sensitivity to people who may not be from the area and who are also people of color. I hope this review is met with understanding...

I and several of my close friends who happen to be people of color decided to visit this establishment yesterday (July, 19). Our dining experience was ordinary up until our party of 10 began to clear out. During our farewell hugs, we hear a fellow guest at the restaurant audibly say to us to, "Disperse, and break this up", then repeated the same to ask our server.

A moment later our server(John/Johnathan) saw fit to echo the concerns of the entitled guest and escorted my friends and I out of the establishment leaving quite a bitter taste on our experience. The interesting part was we had not left the area of our table which was also located outside. What was bothersome is that the server could not casually express that we were exiting the following moment, a point that was so plainly obvious.

The embarrassment of being approached and escorted out resulted in a 2 hour car ride in which we had to console and explain to the youngest, now teary eyed teenage member of our group, about discrimination. It is important to mention that this was 1 of 4 incidents that day. Understanding these were isolated events that happened separately from Margarita Grille, this review is to highlight the need for sensitivity training on behalf of ALL GUESTS who visit this establishment, and not just entitled ones.

Explaining biases to a minor is no way to end a day, but expressing why a waiter complies with irrational demands is unacceptable. Overall, we have faith that Margarita Grille will treat our experience as a catalyst...