The Whole Enchilada Fresh Mexican Grill & Bar — Restaurant in Winter Garden

Oh, where do I start? My experience was… well, interesting. My friend had opened a tab, and another friend went up to order for all of us. Naturally, I joined him at the bar to say what I wanted since, you know, we’re all on the same tab. Simple enough, right? Apparently not. The bartender made some comment about “it’s like five people now; I thought it was just you.” Sure, buddy, but we’re all on the same tab. Why does it matter if my friend orders for all of us?

Anyway, I walked away pretty confused. When I came back and tried to catch another bartender’s eye (since it seemed clear the first guy wasn’t up for the job), he comes up and I ask, genuinely, if he can take my order. I thought it was a reasonable question since he hadn’t exactly explained the issue before. But instead of answering, he starts getting worked up, telling me I have an “attitude.”

I calmly explain that I’m just asking because I didn’t understand the reason he wouldn’t take my order. That’s when he jumps to asking if I need to speak with a manager. No, I didn’t ask for the manager; I just wanted a drink. He kept going on about my “attitude” while I repeatedly said I just wanted to place an order. And for the first time, he mentions there’s a “line” (which would’ve been nice to know upfront). Meanwhile, my friend behind me—who got no such attitude for simply existing—was somehow deemed “sweet” enough to have his drink made. Must be nice!

Apparently, Joseph or whatever his name is wasn’t prepared for even the slightest shift in tone. If asking a genuine question sets him off to the point he wants to escalate things, maybe a customer-facing role isn’t for him. It’s all good, though—next time, I’ll look for the bartender who’s up for some basic communication. Careful, though; they’ve got a sensitive one...

Let me start off by saying that the reviews here had me skeptical, but I decided to give it a shot. I love downtown Winter Garden; this place is always busy, so I figured why not?

The atmosphere is super laid back. You order your food at a counter, pay, and then it’s delivered to whatever table you choose to sit at. Good service. Great staff.

The food is where the issues come in. We ordered The Red (burrito served enchilada style), the Cheeseburger Chimichanga, and the nachos with steak.

The Red - this thing is supposed to be smothered in sauce. The only sauce on this thing was about 2 tablespoons of red sauce that was cooked into the tortilla and then the sour cream. Actual burrito flavor was very bland.

Cheeseburger Chimichanga - 90% of this thing was rice. About 5% of it was ground beef, all pushed into one end, and then the onions and beans next to that. The only way I could eat this was smothering it in Bam Bam sauce (like a jalapeño lime ranch).

Mama Nachos - this was a sloppy plate of nachos filled with salt. The beans were all smashed together randomly on 5-6 chips. The cheese was coated, and stuck together so when you grab one bite, the entire top came with it. Zero cheese pull here. And about 1/4 cup of steak that was nearly $3 extra.

This place was just not it. The food is overrated. Bland, messy, and just not worth the money. I would truly rather go to Taco Bell or Chipotle for the cost. The staff was super friendly and the only redeeming factor...

We visited again and were repulsed by what we saw.

The floors were disgusting and looked as though they hadn’t been swept or mopped at all.

There was a group sitting across from us, inside the restaurant, with two dogs. I love and own dogs, but one of their dogs was sitting on the bench with them, with its head hovering over their food (over the tabletop), and the second dog was in a stroller with its chin resting on the table where food is served and eaten. The Whole Enchilada servers brought them their food and said nothing about the dogs being inside the restaurant, being on the furniture or being on the tabletop.

These are violation of Winter Garden code, for sanitary reasons. I don't know if I'll be back, considering I don't know if this is a common occurrence or whether they actually clean up after someone brings their animals into the restaurant. Disgusting.

Old review: Nice place. Downstairs is a similar to a quick service restaurant - get in line, order food, hope to find a seat, and food appears a while later. The food is average with nothing extraordinary that we've had so far.

The second floor offers more of a terrace bar atmosphere, but it's hardly worth the effort on the weekends - too busy and the bar service slows down. If you get a chance to go during the week, you'll have a much better experience, in my opinion.

The real draw to this place is its location. Right in the middle of...