El Mariachi San Lucas — Restaurant in Voorhees Township

This is a long review to clearly share our experience.

Stopped by for a late lunch with my husband. The decor outside was inviting and we were excited to find a new place for Mexican food. We were the only ones in the dining room, although we occasionally saw people coming in for take out.

Our server was nice when she came over and we asked for taco recommendations so I ordered the beef tacos. My husband asked about the dipping sauce that comes with the bacon wrapped shrimp appetizer and when he asked if there was a different sauce that wasn't as hot, he was told he couldn't substitute but that he could use one of the sauces that comes with the complimentary tortilla chips. We also ordered a small Guacamole and side of pico de Gallo.

The tortilla chips, guac, and pico de Gallo came out timely. Then it went downhill. The rest of the order took almost 30 min. We were the only people in the dining room. I kept looking over to the doorway where I could see our server on the computer behind the counter (she was on that for a really long time). She never came in and checked on us or give an update why our food was taking so long. I normally would go over to ask but decided to wait and see how long before she'd come over. We thought about leaving but decided to give the benefit of the doubt that maybe there was a reason for this long wait (my husband and I both worked in hospitality so we understand).

When I finally saw our server coming into the dining area, she wasn't coming to check on us, but was walking to the back. I got her attention and asked if there was a reason our food was taking so long. She said, 'no' but that she had just checked and was told it'll be a few more minutes. So basically, she had no intention to update us nor was she apologetic about the long wait.

After a little longer, she brought out our food and gave me al pastor tacos instead of beef. I told here I ordered the beef tacos that she recommended. Again, no apology but said she could ask them to make me beef tacos real quick. At that point I was done. I said no because I couldn't wait any longer (I generally don't send food back). I asked for boxes, which was the quickest thing we received. My husband shared his bacon wrapped shrimp. I tried a little piece of meat from the al pastor to see if I'd like to take it home but it wasn't good.

When the server came back, I told her I wasn't taking the tacos. The one thing she did right was offer to take it off the bill (which I was going to request anyway).

She brought our ticket, which only had the original itemized receipt and a 'merchant copy' (usually there's also a customer copy so you can track how much tip you left and what your total charge would be). I was going to ask for one but my husband said to let it go. I wrote the tip and total on the itemized receipt. We left almost an 18% tip, which is the lowest I've ever left a server. I just couldn't justify leaving more and will never leave an extremely low tip.

The food was not as good as I've read in some reviews. The guacamole was bland (maybe a little salt, which, BTW there was none on the table), the pico de gallo was bland and the ingredients tasted like they used older peppers, onions, tomatoes (the flavor changes when they're not fresh) and the little bit of cilantro didn't even taste like it was fresh, and though the shrimp was good, the bacon wrapped underneath the top cooked layer was not cooked so I had to cut that part of the bacon off because the uncooked fat was inedible.

We were very disappointed because we wanted to make this a spot to go for good Mexican food. Overall, not a good experience for food, service, or atmosphere.

We will never return here, but will keep La Esperanza, on Gibbsboro Rd, Lindenwold, as our go-to. Their food, service, and atmosphere far exceeds this place.

Lastly, I rarely write bad reviews because I understand how hard hospitality work is. But this one was unacceptable. Their staff should be trained better and their food needs quality...

Worst experience in the ONE day we expected good Mexican food delivered: cinco de Mayo during the pandemic! My wife placed the order at 4:30pm for delivery at 6pm (expecting to be a very busy day!). We waited until 7pm to start calling because we knew it was the busiest day in the year for Mexican food, all good, kids were hungry but excited. Our calls never went through, the phone line was completely collapsed. Called for hours!!!! Literally!!! Zero response! Confirmed that the charge had gone through the credit card, money was debited from our account. By 8:30pm we had to cook for our kids, no alternative. Finally put them to bed. Already 9pm (3hrs late for when we should have gotten our food), tried calling one more time (after tenths if not hundreds of tries calling) and finally someone answered. My wife stated the concern and they said they were sorry and that they were overwhelmed with the volume. I understand that things happen and businesses get overwhelmed, but the offer that we got was to get the money (obvious!!!) and MAYBE a discount for next order. To me, this is terrible customer service. To top it off, she said you have to go to Uber Eats and put your complaint to get your money back... not as seamless as it sounds.... terrible experience all around!!! I know there is so many people liking the food, but we never got the chance to even smell it... and the way we got a response I don’t think was...

I've been a pretty loyal customer since I discovered this place during pandemic lockdown. The guacamole is excellent and really good tacos. However, my experience today means I do not know if I will return.

I placed an order online at 9 am for 5:20 pm knowing that Cinco de Mayo would be absolutely ridiculous. When I went to pick up, they couldn't find my order and didn't even have a record of it. Probably not their fault, clearly a malfunction of the app, not a big deal.

However, I showed them my receipt and that my account had been charged for the order. I assumed they would try and fill my order. I was told takeout orders was currently a 3 hour wait time, and there was nothing they could do, and "even if you ordered it now, jf would be 3 hours." But I didn't order it now, I ordered it 8 hours ago. I should get bumped to the front of the line.

The order was al pastor tacos, a side of rice, and chips and guacamole. Nothing huge, and all stuff I'm sure they were preparing in mass quantities. They could have given me anything at that point and I would have been grateful. Instead, I was turned away empty-handed handed.

I pointed out to the hostess that I had already been charged for the food I ordered, and she just gave me a look as if to say, "well what am I supposed to do a out it?" I had to take it up with the app in order to...