Agave Mexican Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Wendell

If I could give this place 0 stars I would! It all started from the moment we walked in. We walked in and there were 2 people waiting to be seated and NO ONE and I mean NO ONE acknowledged us. The restaurant was not full at all (it was only about 6:15 pm) and employees kept walking around and COMPLETELY disregarding EVERYONE!!! Finally a very sweet soft-spoken lady (who apparently is the owner) starts seating us but at this point there was a line literally to the door of people. Now I understand it is Valentine's Day but this is not a flashy restaurant and regardless of holiday or not, everyone should be on their game. When we finally get seated no one comes to check on us they bring tortilla chips but don't even offer water, etc. After waiting for literally about 10 minutes we had to ask someone if they could bring us water and that is when our waitress comes. Oh boy, she DOES NOT welcome us, ask if we have any questions or anything simply holds her order list in front of her and asks, "Are you ready to order?" It was our first time so we obviously had questions well the first question was what were their specials for the day which her response was, "I haven't even looked" so my husband asked her if she could go check and she did and came back and told us their 2 specials which none seemed appealing. I tell her I want tacos and I want 3 different meats to which she tells me there's an additional charge for that and I'm not going to pay $15 for 3 tacos so I ask her (to see if I'm willing to spend the extra $$$) how the tacos are and her response, "I don't know" so i asked her what she recommends and she says, "fajita quesadilla". How do you work at a restaurant and not know how your tacos are but know there's a surcharge for more than 1 protein. She tells me that "it's because they are already prepared". I ask her if the tacos are premade and she says, "No but the meat is already separated (which I guess she's trying to say portioned out) but whatever. We order choriqueso and my husband tells her to please bring that out first. Well my husband referred to it as cheese dip BUT I HAD ALREADY TOLD HER we wanted choriqueso so she comes back with a small white bowl of what looked like milk, doesn't offer more chips and RUNS AWAY! When I look at that I had to summon someone else and ask if this was what I truly ordered and he said no so he brings me the choriqueso but doesn't offer more chips and we're clearly out of chips at this point. What seemed like forever later she LITERALLY walks to our table throws our food in front of us and LEAVES!!!!! Brings my husband his dish with NO TORTILLAS and doesn't even say, I'll be right back...NOTHING!!!! My husband is disgusted at this point and he's trying to get someone to bring him tortillas while I'm sitting at the table just stewing because I cannot believe this is the type of service I am getting from a place that has AMAZING reviews!!! Finally she comes back throws tortillas and sliced avocado and LEAVES AGAIN! NEVER asked if my food was ok, did I need anything...NOTHING!!! My husband and I are livid at this point and my husband gets up and DEMANDS a manager. The guy starts pacing and REFUSES to get the manager and I told him in Spanish, I need a manager URGENTLY! Finally, the sweet soft-spoken lady who took us to our table comes by and she's I guess the owner of the place. We tell her EVERYTHING that happened and of course, she apologized. My husband told her straight out we are not paying for any of this (which we did not) and hell I didn't even eat my food I was so upset. When we were walking out the manager tells us that she's already spoken with Stephanie who is the waitress who was "taking care of us" and she was also going to speak with her husband. I have NEVER been treated so poorly at a restaurant and frankly DISGUSTED that there are people who treat others like this. At no point were my husband or I rude but even if we were, customer service is a hard job so if you don't like...

Every restaurant can have slow nights and new wait staff that might not totally know the full menu yet, so to all the overly busy, in a hurry folks that just can't be bothered to wait more then a McDonald's drive through minute for your food, and to all the folks that point out how slow the service is at Agave, and all those that say how inept the wait staff is and how the food is average, please stay home. You'll help speed up our service the next time we go to Agave since you won't be there to complain and send the servers back and forth a hundred times to find you just the right color lime for your Corona.

No really, we've all seen you in there before. You probably just don't know, or are too arrogant to care, that you're "that" customer that not only the wait staff overtly dislikes (which is why your service is probably really slow because the wait staff dreads going back to your table), but other customers can't stand either.

I'm talking about you "guy that showed up a few weeks ago and acted like a fool when you and your significant other were asked to produce your ID's because she tried to order booze". You got the cops called on you because not only did you both look like 12 year olds trying to get booze, (which is why you were carded), but acted like out of control, bratty pre-teens when you were denied service. Yep, we all saw you. And you, "Salsa is from a can" guy, and the "gastroenterologist" that's apparently a "salsaologist" to boot and can state with certainty that Agave's "salsa alone will take you on an adventure through your own bowels of simultaneous discovery and heinous defilement ". Let's not leave out "Mrs. My Margarita is not sweet enough".

It's Wendell and the majority of us locals are glad to have Agave in town. I've been here long enough to watch several restaurants come and go in Wendell so it's great to see Agave surviving and thriving, especially since it's a small family owned business and not a chain. Yes, sometimes the service takes a little longer, but I've also been there when the service was crazy fast. I also watched the staff deftly handle a full house and take on an unannounced group of around 20 people that showed up after the Christmas lighting event in December. The place was packed, including the back bar area, and they handled the evening with no issues.

So, for all you one star Google reviewers, Food Network wannabe food critic "foodies" that just can't get over yourselves long enough to know that restaurants have other customers to serve and are not there for your sole pleasure as a customer, I ask you again on behalf of all us Wendell folks that really like Agave, please don't come here. Save your unwarranted negative reviews and one stars for a restaurant that really deserves it, and feel free to stop by Food Lion on your way out of town and pick up some of that delicious Old El Paso Mexican food in a box and Margarita mix kit over on...

We’ve been visiting this restaurant for years. It’s always been okay, but recently they made significant changes that have taken it to the next level. First, bar none, they have the best margaritas of any other Mexican restaurant in a ten mile radius. They are totally different than they used to be. They taste like fresh juices are used versus the standard out of the plastic bottle others in the area use. Now for the food. They make their own sauces fresh onsite daily. That’s right. Every single day and sometimes multiple times a day, they do it right. Ever single dish is prepared to order and not in advance. No microwaves required. Their meats are high quality and seasoned just right. From the fajitas to the tacos to the enchiladas, to the ACP, and much more, everything is delicious and authentic. Something that is just icing on the cake is the fast and friendly service. They are on it. If you tried this place before and might have had a less than favorable or average experience, please try it again. It’s done a full 180 and is pointed in the right direction to have you coming...