Plaza Mexico Mariscos Mexican Restaurant Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Venice

First & time having Mexican food at the Plaza in Venice Florida. Warm tortilla chips were served with a very hot salsa I asked for a reminder seltzer which they did not have other than the green salsa which was a little less hot but that never came out. I ordered one cheez enchilada with a side of guacamole. This had been pre-made in advance (it tasted like 2 weeks old) they used two types of cheese which was hard and barely warm. It wasn't melted per se it's more like taking a bite of a bland chunk of cheese. The outer shell broke apart, like it had been frozen and quickly thawed out. The guacamole was very bland and full of onions even salt and pepper didn't help it. I sent it back after two small bites. My coworker ordered a steak fajita she wanted double meat not mixed with onions & green peppers. Her food arrived, it was just a steak fajita with green peppers and onions, sizzling hot. Of course she had to send it back because it wasn't what she ordered. Brianna was a cheerful waitress and did what she could do to make it correct. Her corrected meal came out incomplete. She had ask for her tortillas along with the typical fixings that come with it. About 15 minutes go by (the other three co-workers were just about done their meal by the time her full order came out) and she gets her fixings which is sour cream tomatoes rice and beans. Then she had to ask for her tortillas. Waiting another 5 to 10 minutes. Our co-worker felt bad, even though she didn't screw the order up (as she takes her time when eating, always being the last done) (me and most people are Hoover's lol) eating slow is great for digestion. Upon our arrival about 1:00, (never a good sign) it wasn't very busy so for the chef to mess up the order there's no excuse. Brianna was excellent at handling the situation and deducted the meal. She did everything she could to try to make up for the screw up. Being new to the area and my love for Mexican food, this place is no doubt, a drive by only. I prefer not to leave a bad review, God willing, they...

We have a favorite local Mexican restaurant, but decided to try something new last night. We chose this restaurant based on its Google reviews

I would have given this restaurant 5 stars, but the hostess who “greeted us” was so surly we almost left upon arrival.

She made no eye contact, did not smile, and initially continued looking at notes in front of her while we stood there waiting. It was around 4:30 so the restaurant was fairly empty and there was no one waiting behind us. She walked us to our seat, said nothing and walked away. I won’t mention her name because I’m positive the management must know there are issues with this hostess. I hope she won’t be there when we return because after our delicious meal last night, we would like to return.

Once Leo, our friendly and professional waiter arrived, everything was great. He promptly brought water and drinks and left us with the menus to review.

By the way, there is a special cocktail every day and on Saturdays there is a monster margarita special. We weren’t sure what the ingredients were, but we did not know that “monster“ referred to the massive size! We could have split one, but it was delicious even though we weren’t able to finish them.

Once Leo dropped off chips and salsa and the menus, Felipe came by with a tableside, guacamole cart. He proceeded to peel and chop fresh avocados, onion, cilantro, squeeze fresh lime juice, and add a little spicy jalapeño at our request. He left us with a huge bowl of delicious fresh guacamole. It was a very big size serving for 11.95 and we were really happy that we ordered it.

We then ordered Chili Relleno, chicken, enchiladas, and housemade refried beans. Everything was delicious and the portions were huge. We barely ate half of it.

The great food and amazing service turned everything around for us and we are now eager to return.

Hopefully there will be a happy...

Nice new menu with some creative new recipes. As always, well-prepared and oversized portions, which I can't seem to avoid devouring to my regret later. I did miss seeing a chile relleno with its own entre standing (it's available ala carte, and maybe as part of something else; I confess I did not read every detail of every dish). Also, it seemed that the burritos on the menu were more like enchiladas than taditional burritos. Service is creative, if anything. For example, I ordered a mezcal with salt and lime. I got a shot glass full to the brim with mezcal (I was not familiar with the brand he offered and I can't recall it now, but it was tasty), with a wedge of lime resting on the rim, and a saltgrinder, period. No coaster, no saucer, not even an extra napkin! 😆 The place has been spruced up a bit since my last visit, including some nice, multi-colored, blown glass light globes, new wall paint, and I believe new upholstery in the booths. My family of five all enjoyed their meals, with the exception that the one with the chicken enchilada said she expects the chicken in her enchilada to be shredded or pulled. Nestled carefully in the tortilla was a moist and well-flavored but, nevertheless, fully intact chicken breast. Another exception was that the steak tampico was cooked to the next higher of doneness than ordered, so I guess I should have said 60% of my family of five were satisfied with their meals. Shrinkflation? Yeah, we found it here. Don't we find it everywhere? Here, it's in the form of flour tortillas you could literally read a newspaper through, if newspapers still existed (Would that mean one could literally read a figurative newspaper through them or figuratively read a figurative newspaper...