El Mezquite Grill & Taqueria — Restaurant in Tucson

Group of 7 on a Saturday evening. We were the first people to be seated in the dining area and we ordered drinks pretty quickly but our server immediately let us know that any alcoholic beverages would take a while because the bar “was being hit hard” right now which seemed odd since there was hardly anyone at the bar and the event they were hosting was a high school winter formal. After about 15 mins our bottled beers were brought out and our orders were taken. We had an event @7pm at the arena next door and we initially were seated at 530p. Our food came out at 620p, almost an hour after being seated and there were maybe 3 other tables seated.

Food was not hot, warm at best. The ribeye steak was very fatty and dry and the fries were soggy. The Caesar salad was wilted and the chicken it was served with was not seasoned well.

We asked for our bill and my husband went to pay for it and we had items on our bill that were incorrect and gratuity was added at 18% (that’s fine, but our server didn’t mention it was auto added). My husband asked for an itemized receipt and he was told it would only print AFTER they processed payment. Well, after it was processed ($309 total) it was noticed there were items charged incorrectly. My husband asked them to correct it and the person running the register wasn’t sure how. It took about 15 mins for them to reverse the charge, reinpuf our items and recharge our card. We were late to our event which began @7pm and was literally a few minutes walk away from the restaurant. Zero apologies or consideration from staff for their lack of staffing, food taking so long and their error on billing.

A very disappointing dinner experience at a restaurant with prime location for events in the downtown...

I'm writing this review as a courtesy to the employees (former and current). To the owners: you seriously need to take a closer look and make sure who you have running this place is strong, fair, LISTENS , hears, acts and reacts in a non toxic way all while being an excellent communicator. Currently this place has absolutely no foundation because of the severe lack of communication within your team and it seems like you have no concern hence the heavy hiring turnovers as of late. It is also bad news for business, haven't u ever heard of word of mouth? Not too long ago U had patrons walking out before they got served their entrees cause it took way too long, it wasn't the staff's fault and they were nice and apologetic about it, but obviously management didn't care and pay close enough attention to the fact that maybe there just wasn't enough staff to give excellent service to the volume of clients that were being let in all at once. This restaurant has the potential of being absolutely amazing, its a great location, lovely atmosphere, excellent food and drinks, BUT I really hope you start paying close enough attention to your staff. A new manager, team monthly meetings and employee surveys could help tremendously, not trying to tell you how to do your job but someone HAS to say it and something has got to...

We kept driving past this hotel and finally decided to give their restaurant a try.

The corn soup? Pretty darn good! The French fries? Absolutely on point! But the steak? Not so much—way too much fat for the portion size, and I just didn’t enjoy it.

Service was okay, but not the best. If I only had three or four tables, I’d be on it. I get that they have other tasks, but if you're going to have a restaurant in the building, have a dedicated waiter. I even had to ask for the check myself just to get it.

For two people, the bill came to $90, which felt steep for a hotel restaurant that, honestly, had the ambiance of a hospital cafeteria. There, I said it.

Will we be back? Nope. But I’ll definitely remember the French fries and that corn soup.

I won’t give them a one-star review because, to me, a real one-star experience would involve being punched in the face and held at gunpoint—and they did nothing like that. I don’t like people who throw out one-star reviews for minor issues.

So, for that reason, they get three stars. The fries and corn soup saved them from a...