05/20/08

Quite decent, don't believe the bad reviews

by zaranoff

I've eaten there several times over the past several years and my overall experience has been good to very good, depending on which dishes I had (and the company I've been with..). The service has always been decent/good (although many reviewers will disagree with me..), the food tasty and reasonably priced, portions are generous, and the atmosphere casual and down to earth (one might call it "homey"). Their "El Molcajete Norte?o" (a steak & shrimp dish served on hot lava rock) is one of their signature dishes and is actually (very) good. I remember their Chiles Poblanos dish being very good too. The Tortilla soup is pretty spicy and good, although it has too much tortilla for my taste (they should cut it to smaller strips). As others have written, the guacamole is prepared fresh, in front of your eyes (but I haven't tried it so I can't vouch for it).

Is this the best Mexican place in the city? I'm not sure there IS one, but this is a really decent choice, especially in the "very reasonable" price category, and certainly one of the best in Park Slope and probably in Brooklyn in general.

• Pros: Tasty (esp the steak and seafood dishes), generous, good ambience
• Cons: Tardy service

04/19/08

worst service ever

by xena59

this was probably the worst service i have ever had. i work in a restaurant and i couldnt even tolerate the blatant rudeness and ignoring of our party. we waited 45 minutes after ordering guacamole to be told that they just ran out. they filled us up with chips and delivered our food 1.5 hrs after we ordered it. we werent even hungry anymore. dont waste your time on a saturday.

04/12/08

Horrible Service, Unethical Practices

by soupround

This place has good food and really good guacamole. But the buck stops there. Service was super slow. We were in the restaurant for approx. 45 minutes more than necessary waiting for the waiter to take our orders and bring us the check. In case you think you may have better luck with another waiter, you won't! There's only 1 waiter on a Friday night. First they charged us more for more drinks than we actually had. Then we had to wait even longer to get the amended bill. Our tip reflected the poor service, but it didn't matter to the restaurant. They decided to change our tip amount from 15% to 20% on their own on our credit card. I'll bet they get away with this all the time since most people don't double-check their credit card bills.

• Pros: food
• Cons: unethical billing, service

02/14/08

great food nice place

by illmaticspic

two weeks a go i stopped by it had great food i love the scene and the owner showed me the patio they have in the back for wen the weather gets good oh man this place should be getting packed. the mole sauce was great the chicken mole poblano had a nice savioring taste kinda sweet and spicy mucho bueno.i had a piece of the carna asada it was a nice tasting steak. not to sound corny but the rice and bean was one of the best ive had i dont think my girl will every cook something like dat.we started off with some fresh guamole man i need to know how to make dat now dat is fresh. its a nice place i herd it just opened its a nice change for sunset which only has those quick taco spots nothing where you can sit down and exctually enjoy your meal.

12/21/07

Ringing Taco's Bell

by dgoldman1

This is MEXICAN. Not some dog eating taco bell, or fake Tex-Mex. This is Mexican that your grandmother would make - if you were lucky enough that she was Mexican. Like every year, I take my contractors here for a holiday dinner. The ones that are Mexican can be seen driffing off to their home town, reliving their boyhood at their mother's hearth with every bite. The ones that aren't are surprised that Mexican doesn't just just come wrapped in wax paper or a hard crunchy shell. Maria's is to Rosa Mexican what Cinderrella is to her Step Sisters - the Belle of the Ball.

I just had the Homeny Corn Soup Yesterday - I'm looking to have it again for lunch today!

One of the guys - a white boy from FLA wiped his Chicken four cheese clean off his dish. My Mexican friends are still day dreaming.

Maria, Ma - Rrrriiiii - Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.....

• Pros: The food, the food, the food
• Cons: slightly off the beaten path, but worth the trek to 4th ave

08/08/07

Don't Bother

by mkaybkay

The only reason to go is for the guacamole and they're not the only game in town who makes it fresh. The food was dry and the service horrendous - inefficient and unfriendly. They even charged me for someone else's dinner and have been extremely difficult about crediting my card. Unfortunate because I am a local and very supportive of places opening up on 4th Ave. I will not go back.

• Pros: guacomole
• Cons: service service service

07/12/07

What's all the fuss about?

by sta122

Don't know why people rave about this place...the food was mediocre and the service the same. Try Los Pollitos just down the street for much better Mexican. A disappointment.

• Pros: atmosphere
• Cons: average food

04/30/07

A Ludicrous Failure: Who's In Charge? Absolutely Nobody.

by tranzorz

We ate here last year and it was inviting and decent. But how the tide has turned! Evidently, Maria's has expanded and opened a new bar. You'll need it because if you go there now you're going to be spending hours in Tecate purgatory waiting for a table that will never open up. You'll be lucky if you can even get a drink there because the restaurant is woefully understaffed, completely disorganized, and even a tad devious--we were told repeatedly for an hour and a half that we were up for the next table while other same-sized parties were seated before us. While sitting in lime limbo, we saw anguished patrons getting up from their seats begging the bartender for drinks from the bar, which indicates to me that there was some serious neglect all around from the waitstaff. For all I know the guy playing the guitar by the bar was the manager it was such a bad scene. I didn't remember the food or drinks being good enough to endure the punishment so, starving and stripped of all dignity, we staggered out disillusioned and angry.

02/28/07

has become a disaster

by klatt

I used to really like this place, but my last two experiences have been outright disasters. The last time I ate in the restaurant every table around us was complaining, as drink order s took roughly 30 minutes to arrive and food well over an hour. At least 3 groups walked out.

Because the food was still decent, we decided to give it another shot and placed a delivery order. Long story short, our food never arrived. After :70 minutes and three phone calls, we were informed that the delivery guy couldn't find our apartment (we live 8 blocks from the restaurant and have never had such a problem). The women on the phone said they would send the food back out (cold), but that the kitchen was closed and they couldn't even reheat it. When I said (admittedly somewhat angrily) that that was ridiculous, she insisted that I apologize before she would continue talking to me. I hung up instead.

Never again. The food is pretty good, and I generally tolerate spotty service in the Slope, but there's is the absolute worst in the neighborhood. Have a Plan B before you place a delivery order!

• Pros: decent food, if you ever actually get it
• Cons: the worst run restaurant in park slope

01/04/07

Home Delivery: slow, inaccurate,unpalatable. They don't know how to fix a dinner to go,

by annemargaret18

I have not eaten in the restaurant but ordered twice. Each time they quoted delivery within 30 minutes. The first order came within an hour and the second time I tried them it took 40 minutes and the order was wrong. I ordered a taco salad and they sent a dish of guacamole. I asked for diet soda and they sernt regular in small bottles that resembles the 1940's. None of the food descriptions were accurate. The ingredients listed either never appeared or was so minimal it didn't matter....and they sent sides for one entree and not the other. I was on the phone with them for 1 1/2 hours and they offered to send another meal. please.......don't order in,