Servando's — Restaurant in Winter Garden

In the overwhelming choices of Mexican restaurants in the greater area...

Based on suggestions from friends and Yelp of course, my family and I wanted to try Servandos. Today was that day, a Sunday afternoon after Church services. We arrive and I can see that the restaurant already had several large groups enjoying their meals and a line about to form. With that said, we only waited about 15 mins to get seated. This was the shortest wait we had this afternoon. Then everything went rolling downhill from there.

Server greeted us within a reasonable about time (~5 mins from seating) and proceeded to take our drink orders; nothing wrong with that. We then however flagged her down after drinks were served that we were ready to order. Again acceptable as the place albeit small was already getting packed fast. We placed our order and then the wait began. Fast forward, the order taken to serve time was roughly 45 mins all said and done. The server said at about 25 - 30 mins that the order (Beef/Chicken Fajita, Tortilla Soup, Chicken and Beef enchilada combo, kids chicken taco, and Burro Gordo) was being worked on. Hmm... Worked on is vague but ok, meanwhile tables who were seated after us of similar size were being served before us. At 40 mins, I reach out to who I assume is the owner and he then said as well its being worked on but it took another 5 - 10 mins before it arrived. A positive here is that the food was hot and I will give them that homemade Mexican food is true to word. The Burro Gordo, doesn't look pretty, but the steak was flavorful and overall meal was tasty. My wife who ordered the half chicken/half steak fajita, received more chicken than steak, she wished it was more balanced but again flavorful.

One negative is the Tortilla soup, it appeared to have a hair in it. Not the end of the world, but quality control the dishes that come out please; plus the fact, the request was to have the soup come out first, instead came with the enchilada entree. Lastly, from a meal perspective, and this goes in line with quality control of the entrees, but if the customer states, no beans/all rice, please ensure it comes out that way, I don't blame the server for not writing it down as we saw it was the case, but when the food came out, or before it hit the tray, she should have said, hey "no beans for the following dishes". At the point we received it, the beans just went to waste.

Lastly, time to settle the bill, the soup was the only thing taken off (which again had hair, so it makes sense) but the owner nor the server would extend anything else; just an apology that it took too long and stared at us like deer caught in headlights. I get it, local family owned and I'm sure I'm not the only disgruntled customer; however a little acknowledgement of "hey we screwed up, how about a free appetizer next time" didn't cross their mind. Customer retention especially for us being our first time, again would be nice.

In summary... food is the real deal... questionable on the service and please QA the food before it goes out... not wiling to go the extra mile especially for first time customers.

Maybe today was not the best day... but it has left an impression that they can't handle large crowds and kitchen nor front of house can enhance the customer experience. If there is a next time, it may have to be take out as from today's experience, start to finish, took well over 1.5 hours... of...

Nom nom nom in my tum tum

(COVID-19: Masks are required to enter. Staff are all wearing masks. No tables seem to be blocked off for social distancing)

What I have gone here multiple times. Ive had their tacos, guac and this massively good burrito! OMG... Lets talk about the highlight, The Original Burro Magnifico. This is a 10" burrito filled with your choice of meat chicken, beef or shrimp then melted with cheese on top. This is one filling burro! I really like it with the steak.

Vegan Folks: This place is not friendly at all with dairy free or meat free options. Ive tried getting the burro without meat and they didn't offer to add more beans or veggies inside. They are willing to take the meat out and not put the cheese but doesn't guarantee there will be more of the other fillings.

CHIPS and SALSA! Chips and salsa are complimentary, BUT a refill on the chips are a charge. The guacamole came with a couple of chips.. Not sure if it is cause they have a comp basket... but they should add another basket of chips with a guac order, imo

Environment Located in the plaza with Habor Freight and Aldi. This place has plenty parking available. There are also outdoor seating (not sure if this will stay after things "go back to normal, after COVID"). The interior has about 10 tables.. not very big. There is a bar table and bar area as well

Niceness of the staff This staff were really nice. Language may be a little barrier which may explain why they can't do customization on the food... You either want it on there or take it off kind of feel. Super nice staff though.

Dollar It was very reasonable. The burro was 10.99 and this can be shared! (SCORE!)

Yes Yup, my friends and I...

My wife and I just returned from an unexpected visit to Servando's. We were nearby, and stopped by due to needing food. This visit did not go well and we will never be back.

The food was, quite simply, awful. Nobody on staff was rude or unpleasant in any way. This review is exclusively for the "food".

I went to wash my hands before I saw a menu, so upon sitting down I saw the chips and salsa had arrived. The chips looked ok, but the "salsa" was abhorrent. It is more of a pico de gallo type salsa, with some raw chunks, while still being very watery. I normally enjoy good chips and salsa, but the "salsa" was disgusting.

I perused the menu, but after seeing their version of salsa, I wanted to leave. But, we stayed even though it was obvious that the food wasn't what I expected, but we did need to eat.

I declined to order, as I saw neighboring tables receiving unappetizing plates. My wife ordered some cheese enchiladas. She was born and raised in Texas, and has had many a cheese enchilada.

When her food came out, the visual and aroma of the food was closer to cheese lasagna or similar. The aroma was more Italian than Mexican to both our noses. The red enchilada sauce was in such a miniscule amount that you couldn't even see it until peeling cheese away from the tortillia.

Speaking of cheese, her cheese was more reminiscent of mozzarella than any cheese my wife or I have ever seen used in an enchilada. It was thick, heavy, and not appropriate for an enchilada.

My wife was unable to eat her food, because it was quite simply disgusting and inedible.

I am amazed at the high ratings this place has. The food is not good mexican food, it...