Carlos O'Kelly's - Wichita-East — Restaurant in Wichita

The worst service we have received here. We frequently come to Carlos for the queso and margs, and today's March Madness special drew us in.

Upon arriving, we encountered a slightly more busy lunch crowd than usual, but nothing too crazy. Unfortunately though we sat for over 20min before a server came to even take our drink order. Meanwhile, at least 2 other tables that had been seated after us had already been waited on and received drinks.

Once a server finally came over (only after we asked the host who our server was supposed to be) he took our drink, appetizer, and lunch order. Never told us any of the specials, barely even greeted us. We ordered 2 small queso's with ground beef, 2 jumbo margs, a ground beef taco, and chicken strips with fries.

So, we wait and we wait and we wait. Now the other 2 tables have their food. We have yet to even get a water, or chips and salsa. Finally out comes chips and salsa. Still no water, apps, or margs. After a lengthy wait our queso and water finally arrives. Plain queso. No ground beef. We ask about the ground beef and the server seems annoyed. So we wait and wait, about another 5-7min and finally our ground beef comes out, along with the rest of our food. Still no margaritas. My biggest pet peeve is when the appetizer comes out with the entree. Then it is no longer an appetizer, but a side to my entree.

The taco has a sprinkle of ground beef that doesn't even cover the bottom of the shell, only about half the taco had ground beef, and the other half had a sprinkle of other toppings. Not impressed. The chicken strips were burnt and over cooked.

Approximately 5min later our margaritas finally show up. They were wonderful as usual. We send the taco back and get a much more appropriate amount of filling for the taco, but a cold shell not a warm baked shell. To top it off, the server just sat it on the table and walked away. No apologies, no acknowledgement that there was a mistake, nothing. Just an annoyed server.

In fact, there were no smiles on any of the wait staff faces nor the host. Certainly not a warm, welcoming friendly environment. The whole experience was negative. While we will be back, I sure hope the demeanor of everyone there changes for a more positive experience for...

SUMMARY: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR ENERGY ORDERING FROM THIS PLACE DURING THE CURRENT TIMES.

Background:My wife and I are both in customer service, and understand "hiccups" happen. This was not a "hiccup", we have attempted to support local businesses during this crisis and have experienced our fair share of issues. NONE have caused a complaint, bar this one. If you review my reviews, you'll notice I seldom post anything but positives unless it is a GROSS ISSUE. Below are the details.

We ordered food tonight at approximately 430 through the online system hosted by Carlos O'Kelly's online for pickup at the 3025 N Rock Road location. We were at the restaurant at 5 pm. With no signage available to direct clients with online orders, my wife approached the door and was told by a staff member that she'd need to call in to pick it up and not go inside (she had tried with to no avail prior due to busy lines but she tried again). After 20ish times she finally got through, the employee on the other end told her she should've come in and that her order would be available in about 5 minutes. This was at 5:07 pm. After 5:30 she attempted to call again to check on the order after being told to wait in her car (again) by another employee. At 5:55, she walked up and was told she'd need to wait in line, after she waited she was told her order STILL WASN'T MADE and WAS NOT EVEN IN QUEUE... Fed up she requested a manager and let them know of the issues and requested a refund, disinterested they replied they had been busy and that the refund would process in 3ish days. Let me be loud and clear this WAS NOT a busy issue, it IS A POOR management issue. We loved Carlos O'kellys but this experience will leave a sour taste that is sure to last.

Prior Review :( Was 5 Stars:

Great service and good food. Worth a stop in, while not authentic Mexican food it is a great spin on traditional Mexican food with a definite...

We have always enjoyed Carlos O'Kelly's in the past. This experience will last awhile! When we arrived they were not seemingly busy. We were escorted to our table by a young lady who seemed bothered by having to seat us. After we were sat the same young lady brought chips and salsa. She kind of tossed them onto the table again seemingly bothered by us being there. We sat there approximately 25 minutes (chips almost gone) still no one had been to our table. No drinks or even a hint from any of the employees including management who looked our way several times that we were going to be served. I went to the hostess stand and asked for a manager. The manager was very nice and seemingly apologetic. She asked the bartender to be our server and offered us a free queso. She then never checked on us again. The bartender took our drink order and food order. She forgot part of the food order so she returned to ask for clarification. After an appropriate amount of time another employee brought our food. Food was not what I would call hot but also not totally cold. The food has become just ok not the standard we have always seen at Carlos O'Kelly's in the past. The bartender obviously was waiting for us to finish so she could end her shift. She was nice enough but wanted us to go quickly it was apparent. I do believe it will be a very long time before we...