El Mezcal Mexican Restaurant - Lakeland

I've been eating here for over 10 years and the food is consistantly wonderful. I try to switch up my orders. I love the Pollo Tampiqueño at lunch and the fajitas and chilaquiles are also a favorite. And the enchiladas. Okay - everything is good! My father recently treated me to lunch. He's in his 70's and is of that generation that analyzes the check down to the penny. He noticed that El Mezcal is now charging to use your card to pay. (He frequents the Perkins location) With every card transaction, there is a small charge, and restaurants have always just incurred this fee themselves as "the cost of doing business". My father looked at me, and with a very stern tone said "I don't like that one bit!". It was only $1.10 or something, but it was the principle of it for him.I wasn't paying, though, and I enjoyed my Pollo Tampiqueño very much! Bring cash if you want to avoid the surcharge. Oh, great health score as of July 11, 2022!!! They got a 96.

So they sneak on a 7$ tip for pick up orders. Not delivery. Not dine-in. Pickup. I saw it when I was ordering on the website so I went to the restaurant to ask them. This is their new policy. Charging 7$ to put the food into containers and a bag. The food is good, but I'm never going to order from here again. To charge 7$ for 60 seconds of work and to sneak it on like they do I will just go to one of the other Mexican restaurants in town.

For one there is a waitress with a horrible attitude. We've had her twice now. The first time, after a long 10hr shift at the clinic I wanted an ice cold beer and tacos. Upon arriving there Myself and my daughter sat down, waitress (polite) asked if I wanted a drink while I wait for one more person. I said "yes I will take a modelo especial" she said ok. Comes back with negro modelo, and I politely said "oh, I asked for especial not negro modelo" she began to argue with me (who has been having modelo's for over 20 years and understand one is different by NAME) that no, negro modelo IS especial when in fact it's not. I politely said no it is not you just said negro modelo, I asked for modelo especiale NOT negro modelo especiale. She argued for another 10 seconds telling me that negro modelo is the especial and I do not know which one I wanted. She began to have an attitude the entire stay there. Not a big deal, maybe she was having a bad day. Understandable, I've worked in the food service industry and can empathize. Secondly NO, I decided to give it another try hoping that we did not get her again. And my luck, we did. No grudges, she came by asking for drink order. Now I say "modelo especial, not negro modelo especial". She cops an attitude AGAIN "oh, so you want 'white' modelo not dark. Ok" I say no, regular modelo not negro be modelo. "White" modelo, really?? She repeats herself and walks away. Completely un professional, you do not argue with customers. Especially when you're wrong, twice. We ordered tacos. Carne asada tacos sour cream cheese onion cilantro. Basically a supreme with no pico. She bring me 3 bare tacos with nothing on it. Never checked on us after dropping off the food, completely ignored the entire stay. We watched her make her rounds checking on her tables in her section. I did not recognize her as her attitude was completely different towards the other patrons. A large party sat next to us as they complimented my daughters dress were nice and polite. This waitress had the same attitude towards them as their food did not come out correctly, she argued with that table about the order they placed WHICH SHE WROTE DOWN. These patrons were not seem happy with her demeanor either. This establishment will suffer from employees like this. 100$ tabs twice and this is the experience we receive both times. She needs to be trained on Customer Service and basic waitress duties and habits to have. This was not a bad day the first go around for her. She is ugly, rude, discourteous and unprofessional. I've managed before, and bad apples like this need to go. The food was good, the guac and salsa are amazing. But the overall experience this waitress provided does not make up for the good food. We will be going to a different location next time, if we decide to go.

This is the location adjacent to Kroger. Didn't think I would be writing about a Chicken Taco Salad. I average eating a CTS about every 2 weeks, so I have had scores @ scores of restaurants over the years. You do the math. But I was served The Tiniest CTS ever here. Server disappeared while I was staring at it & didn't come back for a while. So I reluctantly ate it. Couldn't resist taking a pic of the CTS that I overheard a man at a nearby table order. The shell looked bigger, but not by much. I didn't expect a Combination Dinner Plate-full ($8.99), but for $7.50 I assumed it would be average size. I can't recall leaving a Mexican Restaurant hungry, but tonight I did. Texas Margarita was weak & watery. I should have sent it back. But when it comes out of a pre-mixed container, another may taste the same.

Great food, each dish is huge. See ordered the special, poblano and enchiladas. All were very very good.

The fajita was excellent. The place was clean and the service was fast and friendly. For the value, you can't beat it compared to more expensive Mexican restaurants in the area.

We have been dining here since the Restaurant opened. When my kids come in town, the first place they want to go is El Mezcal. We eat there 2 times a week. But the last couple of weeks the food has been awful. They usually have the best tacos because they used a lean ground beef, but that has changed. The meat used now is really fatty. The tacos were really, really greasy and there was a pool of grease left on the plate. (I paid for that) The guacamole also used to be really good, and it too has suffered and is now super bland because they have eliminated the garlic and whatever other spices are used. The rice is really bad, and it looks like what is swept up off the floor. They have also watered down the cheese dip. It no longer stays on your chips and will drip all over the table. Reviewing what I just wrote, If you are trying to save money you are doing it the wrong way. Another complaint, they would usually place everything on one plate unless you got a meal for two. For the past couple of weeks, everything was divided out on several plates where your table was crowded with a ton of plates to make it look like a lot of food. But in reality there portions have gotten smaller over the last couple of weeks. Please consider returning your food quality. I will be finding another favorite place to eat soon if this continues. The staff are fantastic people I love them all like family.

We have been dining at this restaurant ever since it opened, and it is usually very good. Of course, like everyone, they would have an occasional bad night, but for the past few weeks the food has been pretty awful. I do not know if they have changed chefs or what, but the food quality has steeply gone downhill. They usually have the best tacos because they used a lean ground beef, but that has changed. The meat used is now really fatty. The tacos were really, really greasy and there was a pool of grease left on the plate. The guacamole also used to be really good, and it too has suffered and is now super bland because they have eliminated the garlic and whatever other spices are used. The rice is really bad, and it looks like what is swept up off the floor of the rice factory. They have also watered down the cheese dip. It no longer stays on your chips and will drip all over the table. Reviewing what I just wrote, I realize that they are trying to save money by purchasing substandard ingredients. Another complaint, they would usually place everything on one plate unless you got a meal for two. For the past couple of weeks, everything was divided out on several plates where your table was crowded with a ton of plates. We will give them a couple more weeks, but we will probably spend our money elsewhere unless they change back. That is too bad because we really love the wait staff and decor of the restaurant, but we are not going to pay high prices for poor food quality and reduced quantities.

Great food always. I mostly do takeout and when I'm getting something that's supposed to be crispy, they package it for me so I can build it once I get home. That's good service in my opinion. The restaurant always looks clean. I live in Millington and I'm hoping they will open a location there.

Friendly service, great Tex-Mex and generous margaritas. Clean. This part is gibberish to meet the word count quota