Rancho Viejo Cantina & Terrace — Restaurant in Winder

I have stewed on whether I should leave this review or not. I’m going to preface by saying that tonight was graduation with lots of large parties present and it was apparent that the establishment was understaffed. So I do understand that some of my experience was impacted by these variables with no faults to a specific individual or series of individuals. That being said:

Tonight, my party of 6 arrived to the establishment sometime around 7. When we checked in with the host station, we were asked if we wouldn’t mind being seated on the patio, to which we responded that we didn’t mind. Once we were seated, there was a party of 2 already out there who were well into their meal. Once we were seated, we looked over the menu and in anticipation of a server coming to get our drink order. At 7:12, I debated calling the establishment via phone or go to the host station, to which I chose the ladder and asked the host if they had staff assigned to serve the patio area and was responded that someone would be out shortly. Once I went back out, we waited until 7:20 when someone finally arrived at the table to take our drink order. Our drinks finally arrived around 7:28 and we placed our respective meal orders. At 7:47, a separate server came out and began putting food on a table who were seated after my party. That table began saying how some dishes weren’t theirs, and thus someone from my party said they were probably ours. The server confirmed the rest of the dishes to belong to my party, with my dish and another party member dish served to the other table, with no response on rectification of this mishap. At 7:57, our server came out and dropped off the other party members dish at our table. They looked at me and said they would find out where my food was and before I could respond went back inside. They then brought my dish out at 8:04, which I promptly responded with requesting a to-go box, as I cannot eat after a set time due to health concerns. I would have preferred informing the server to not bring the food out and comp it off our order as it wouldn’t get eaten, but was not given the time to do so.

My family usually frequents this establishment on a once a month basis, but after this experience, we may reconsider. For this establishment to be “The Best Mexican Restaurant in Winder” as stated on the front page their menu, I was very disappointed in tonight’s experience.

Again, I do understand that through the series of circumstances that were taking place tonight, it did appear that there was no system in place in regard to the care and service of the patrons in the patio area. I am not particularly angry with this experience, but I am mildly frustrated and deeply disappointed as 3 of our party members came on our recommendation of this establishment so this was a terrible first impression for potentially...

DO NOT HAVE A LARGE PARTY HERE Reserved the rooftop 3 weeks in advance. 30 people, fajita bar ($16.50/person) for 4:30pm. We asked if we could show up 2 hours early to decorate for the party. We were told they were do minor renovations to the rooftop but that they would be done well before our date. -We showed up at 2:30pm to decorate. Our name was incorrect (which we had corrected multiple times when we called to confirm or ask questions) and they were unaware that we had ordered the fajita bar. -At 2:45pm 4 construction workers showed up with boxes and ladders to replace all the string and outdoor lights. Moving the tables and chairs after we had set them up, putting boxes and tools on our décor, popping our balloons and overall just in the way. Frustrated, I asked the manager, "You knew were coming today right?" in which he replied "Yes, just 20 more mins." They started cleaning up about 20 mins before our guests arrived. Our (single) server was sweet enough but it was clear he was unexperienced with big parties, had his own section downstairs and was also completely aware that he would be getting an automatic tip from our $500 (plus alcohol sales) tab. He came and took all 30 drink orders at the same time (not asking names or tabs) and took another 45mins to get our first round of warm drinks. -With our guests arriving at 4:30pm we asked that the Fajita Bar be served at 4:45pm. Our food was not set up until 6:15!!!!! And this is after countless trips downstairs asking where the food was. -After we were done eating and wanting to do birthday cake, we again had to take multiple trips downstairs to ask for cake plates and bussers to clear the tables. We had two bussers come up (AND I KID YOU NOT) the first one grabbed ONE plate and the other went back down empty handed. I literally chased them back down the stairs and asked them to go back up and clear the tables. -Needless to say anything extra we needed; trash cans, extra napkins/silverware, refills, etc.. we had to track down our server and it look forever for him to return. -When brining our questions or concerns to the manager he was dismissive and acted like we were an annoyance.

We have been patronizing RVC&T for years and have always enjoyed ourselves, which is why we chose them for our event but I would NOT recommend having a large party here. 100%...

Wife and I finally stopped in to Rancho Viejo for dinner tonight. Have been driving past this place and vowing to return, just never did. And it is by no means due to lack of curb appeal, the place is very attractive. THE FOOD: it is in no way an exaggeration that this was the best Mexican food I have had outside of Mexico. The carnitas were delicious. As was the guacamole fresco, the rice, the beans and even the chips and salsa were better than most, if not all other places we've been to eat Mexican. The serving size was more than adequate, in fact it was abundant, as we have 2 whole meals to carryout as leftovers. THE DRINKS: my wife's beer came at the perfect temperature and my Blackberry Mojito was amazing. THE SERVICE: our server was Israel, and he took really good care of us, and to find out he made the drink and the guac....this brother is on point...eloquent, personable and knowledgeable!! Everything was brought out quickly, exactly as ordered and he checked on us several times without being intrusive. THE AMBIANCE: very cozy, great lighting, tasteful art, lots of televisions, and reggaeton playing overhead. Made for a really great first experience.

UPDATE: It obviously depends on the server you get. Went back for second time, with friends from out of town. The food is still exceptional, but the service was lacking, to say the least. We were a party of 6, and the restaurant was mostly empty. Terri was our server this time, and maybe she was having a bad day, but the negativity was palpable. Just to test it, I asked for an additional serving of rice, and she told me that wasn't possible as rice was made to order. Now, I do not and have never worked in a Mexican Restaurant, however, I can only imagine how inefficient and ineffective it would be to individually "make to order" each serving of rice. Oh well, it was more of a test to see if the vibe I was getting was true. In any event, I will likely be back, but rest assured I will ask for a different server if seated in...