Margarita Villa — Restaurant in Ventura

My recent visit to Margarita Villa in Ventura Harbor was deeply disappointing, marked by poor customer service, lack of attention to detail, and a mediocre dining experience.

Upon arriving at 5 PM, I entered from the patio side and found no clear area to wait for seating. Employees ignored me as I stood there for several minutes, forcing me to flag someone down for assistance. I was told to “sit anywhere,” but the only available table was dirty, littered with empty bottles and dishes from the previous customers. Despite sitting at this filthy table, employees repeatedly walked by without acknowledging me, seemingly avoiding eye contact. It took multiple attempts to get someone to clear the table, and even then, it was never wiped down.

The service issues continued throughout the meal. I had to request a menu, utensils, napkins, and even chips and salsa—items that are typically provided without asking. When I ordered a beer and asked for a glass, I was told they only serve bottles and was not offered an empty glass to pour it into. The lack of basic hospitality was frustrating and made the experience feel unwelcoming.

The food was equally underwhelming. I ordered the Villa burrito, which came with a salad on the same plate. The salad was soaked in burrito sauce, making it unappetizing. The burrito itself was mediocre at best, lacking the flavor and quality I expected from a Mexican-inspired restaurant. To make matters worse, they were out of Caesar dressing, which felt surprising for a restaurant of this type.

The final straw was the excruciatingly slow process to receive my bill. Once again, I had to flag down an employee to request it, adding to the overall sense of neglect.

In summary, Margarita Villa failed on nearly every level. The lack of customer service, unclean dining environment, and subpar food made for a highly unpleasant experience. Ignoring customers and failing to address basic needs is unacceptable for any restaurant, let alone one in such a prime location. I will not be returning and cannot recommend this establishment based...

I have been here before 2 or 3 times. I thought I had reviewed them before but I guess not. Anyway, it had been about 2 years from the last time. Keep in mind we drive from Long Beach to come hang out in Ventura and this is the place we look forward to eating with friends and family. So we were there for lunch on Labor day, it was 4 of us this time. We ordered drinks, the drinks are okay, a little pricey for the quality and alcohol content. Then we place our food order. They had brought chips and salsa. There was maybe 10-12 pieces of chips and at the bottom there was crubs or broken up tortilla chips. I had to ask for more. When the food came my wife thought she was getting a decent serving of ceviche and it was 1 tostada with chips around the plate. The tostada is almost $20 with tax and tips and it's not good ceviche. My $30 dollar mixed fajitas had like 2 oz of chicken and beef with 3 shrimps. I took pictures before touching it. Our friend's chile verde plate was cold. And the corn tortillas were horrible. I do some cooking myself and know good food and quality, and this place has gone down on both. The view is amazing but they need better servers that actually listen also give people their money's worth. I don't mind paying your prices as long as we get what we're paying for. I probably will look for another spot to eat when we...

May 2, 2021 - My significant other and I went for lunch at this establishment and have never had food as unacceptable as this. When you climb the steep stairs there is a girl at a register before gaining entry. You order and pay for your food up front and we were not given a receipt. Ordered Taco, Enchilada rice and beans, coke and water with a side cup of Chicken Tortilla soup of which the chicken was very dry. The salsa was something other than what salsa is supposed to be, the food was 'cold' I mean cold like it had been just taken out of the refrigerator, microwaved 3 sec. and served to us. We told the waiter and he took them away only to bring them back still cold. My enchilada was dry with red dried sauce on it, the other was supposed to be a green enchilada but had no sauce at all, was dry and with what maybe was a squirt of sour cream zig zagged across the top of the enchilada, it too was dry. Taco shells were like the one you get at a Taco Bell. We could not eat the meal. We got up and the Bar Tender asked us if everything was alright. We told him the food was the worst we had ever attempted to eat. There was no offer to refund us our food charge of $38.00. We left...