El Olivo Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Winter Haven

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. We are new to this area and saw this place a few weeks ago. I wanted to try it, it looks cute from the outside. It was slow, but so was everywhere else that Saturday. Tonight, my family and I were in the mood for nachos and thought it would be fun to try this place. Our "server" took our order and then never returned. We had to go up to the window to ask for more napkins and to ask for our check because everyone disappeared. We did not get refills on our drinks. Every time my boyfriend did go up to ask for something, a lady in the back kept looking at him like we were bothering them and she even asked the host, "what does he want now?" (Not thinking he could hear her, Hopefully but who knows!) The food was very bland. The portions sucked. We always tip but because everything was so horrible and the service was nonexistent, we did not tip. When we got home and my boyfriend checked his account, we see that they added their own tip! It would have been exactly 20%. That is illegal!!! We will never be back!

To the owners response.... This lady definitely spoke English. She was speaking to other people in the restaurant right next to us. Everyone there spoke English just fine. About calling and asking for a manager, we just did and we were told there is no manager and no one is in charge. I'm just writing this to let people know our experience. We are on the phone with the bank about your servers taking money because I guess that's what they need to do to try to get tips because they all...

If you like microwaved TV dinners and or always wondered what a Gordon Ramsay "Kitchen Nightmares" experience is like, then this place is for you. We were very disappointed. I've written a lot of reviews, most of which are positive but not this one. Our experience here was dreadful. For starters our waitress was boarder line rude as if she didn't want to be there. The chips they served were over fried and salsa tasted like stewed tomatoes out of a can. No onion garlic nothing, just tomatoes. After ordering our drinks, we were informed that they were out of straws. This should have been our signal to leave. We ordered the chicken chimichanga and were further instructed that they were out of guacamole. Really?? This was a prelude for what was to come. Our chimichangas came and they were not crispy at all. They looked like and tasted like they were microwaved from frozen empanada. It was not a tortilla, it was chewy and the chicken tasted like week old fish. The whole plate tasted like a microwaved TV dinner. It's been several hours and after only two bites I still have that taste in my mouth. The waitress had to have seen that we didn't eat anything and she never inquired about our food. It was the worse 30 bucks I've ever spent. Pass this place by and find somewhere else. I'm just hoping we...

Yes, it’s Cinco De Mayo. Yes, you were extremely busy and quite apparently short staffed. I’m sorry, but that is a poor excuse to ignore two tables with customers outside in the heat on your patio with no ceiling fan I might add. The other couple out there with us were using napkins to wipe sweat off of themselves. Both tables, once our food arrived, received no more service. No one came out to see if we needed more drinks. No one came to see if my son wanted a refill on his all you can eat tacos. We all understood that you were busy but you sat people outside on a 90+ degree day with no fan and kept all of the focus on your customers inside in the air conditioning. You could have offered extras right away due to being so busy. We all would have understood that. Don’t seat people outside in the heat if you cannot cope. We finished our meals at 10 minutes to six, probably earlier than that but I didn’t know there was such a problem or I would have looked at the clock sooner. The other couple gave up, went inside and apparently paid and got a to go container. It was 6:25 when we’d had enough. No tacos, no drinks, not even the check. Completely ignored. Thanks a lot. The food was ok, nothing special, but we will...