Mariscos Chihuahua on Grande — Restaurant in Tucson

I will never go here again! My family and I had the worse experience last week for my Mom's birthday... DO NOT GO HERE! I called a few times before I could get a hold of someone. Then I was my finally able to place my family's order around 6:45 pm and I was told to pick it up in 20 - 30 minutes. I was there at 7:20 pm at the entrance where there is a Sign asking to "Wait to be seated". There was no one there to greet me or acknowledge that I was there. Another female customer showed up at 7:30 pm and still no one would come out of the restaurant. I called again twice around 7:35 pm but, there was no answer. Then finally an employee came out and asked if I wanted to be seated. I let her know that I called in an order and it should be ready for pickup. I let her know that I was waiting for 15 minutes before anyone came out. She said that she was sorry and that she was going to check on my order. Then she helped the female customer after me. Then the female employee went inside the kitchen. And then another 10 minutes passed then another customer showed up, a man. She came out about 5 minutes later with a partial order for the female customer after me. She got the cash from the female customer then she asked the other customer if she can help him. He said that he was picking up an order. The employee went back inside. The female customer after me didn't want to wait anymore and went inside after 5 minutes to get the rest of her paid order. She was mad and said that they always make her wait at least 15 minutes to pick up her order. Then the male customer said that he too waits about 15 to get a to go order. The male customer asked me how long had I been waiting... I responded "About 30-40 minutes and I don't know where's my order". Then the employee came out with his order. He asked her what was going on with my order and she said that they forgot about it so it was barely being made. I asked her that why didn't she tell me. She said sorry but, your order will come out soon. My order didn't come out until 7:58 pm. I asked her if she could give me a discount for making me wait and her poor communication. She said that she couldn't. I asked her to get me her manager. Her manager said that she would give me an $11 discount off my $74 order. That's not ok. The staff should acknowledge their customers and provide good service. I'm not sure why they treat their customers this poorly. I will not ever...

Rating: 2.5 stars (rounded up because this place has potential)

Food had good flavor but was far from hot or fresh. My food was clearly prepared well before I ordered it....and probably before I thought about coming to this establishment... It wasn't just my dish, it was like this for our entire table. Chicken was tough and dry. Shrimp was somewhat rubbery.

The only food that was actually freshly cooked was the chicken nuggets & french fries that we ordered for my young daughter. My assumption is that is only because it's probably not ordered often enough to actually be prudent to cook so far in advance.

The presentation was below par. None of the veggies, seemed crisp or fresh. More like leftovers from food that was prepared two days earlier. This includes the chips, salsa and pick de gallo. Perhaps this local chain has grown too large...or perhaps they have intentionally shifted their focus to something all together different.

No plans to repeat...

We saw that this restaurant had very good reviews, so we gave it a visit this evening. Our first impression, the dining room is fairly small, but it seemed full of local people, not tourists like us ! Our server immediately made us feel welcome, allowed us to choose our table, and promptly provided complimentary chips and salsa. We ordered the calamari empanizado and the filete culichi. The breading on the calamari wasn’t quite as we expected (hence 4 stars) but the fish culichi was excellent. However, the highlight of our evening was our server Mina, who was terrific. She waited on tables, took customer payments, brushed the floors, assisted an elderly couple to their table, and still had time to chat with us without being intrusive, the only task she didn’t seem to be doing was actually cooking our food ! We highly recommend trying Mariscos Chihuahua, for the food, for the atmosphere, and for the best server we’ve met in Tucson,...