03/24/09

Great location, not so great experience

by sehhey

Recently I visited this restaurant and feel that I need to pass on how bad the experience was:

•Server was very slow to come to our table and seemed disinterested.

•I ordered tea for my beverage, the only time I could get a refill was when I flagged down a waiter from another table.

•When the food came out, our server said he would be right back with the tortillas.

•When the food came out the Chicken Fajitas my wife ordered were swimming in a broth and had an off taste, we decided to send it back and see if it could be served without the broth (like normal fajitas?), ideally we would have sent this back when he brought out the tortillas, but it was a good 15 minutes before we saw him again. We sent them back, they came back without the broth but still with an off taste so my wife didn’t eat them.

•The Carne Guisada wasn’t much better, but I was extremely hungry and ate it anyway. My wife made the comment that it tasted like Dinty Moore.

Here’s the rub, we were tired after a long day and had a trip back to San Antonio ahead of us, so we were ready to shrug off all of the above and get out of there (lesson learned), however, the least I could do was ask the waiter to pass on to the kitchen our dissatisfaction with the quality of the food served. Our waiter’s response was to comment that I had ate most of my food (smart aleck). I told him I wasn’t looking for money back, only for him to pass on the message, whereupon he mumbled something about next time I come he’ll make sure to cook everything himself (condescending). Neither of these responses was appropriate, he had a chance to save the situation and didn’t care enough or didn’t have the training to pull it off.

I googled this restaurant and saw most of the comments being posted were about the bad service, so I’m not confident that they’re doing anything to correct the situation. The service issues need to be addressed if they care to stay in business but if they don’t care I just hope the demise is a quick one so that others do not have to suffer through a bad experience like ours.

• Pros: Ambiance
• Cons: Food and Service

12/23/08

Average.

by ally9024

I love the food at Serranos! They have great food and great margaritas; however even the great food and great ambience cannot make up for the service. I have been to the Serranos on MoPac and Red River -- service not so great at either location. We like to go on Monday nights because of the Buy 1 Get 1 Enchilada meal ... well last week and this week, our order was messed up both times! Our food came out and it was not what we ordered. I got a chicken enchilada with refried beans when I asked for Beef Enchilada w/ black beans! I know they have a really high turn over rate with their staff, so it is unfortunate that most wait staff there is new - and it shows! All of the times that I have been there, the wait staff does NOT write anything down! I think that is why they mess up so many times. I keep going back for the food (even if it's not what I ordered ...) because it's a great atmosphere and such good food! and they have parking ...

• Pros: good food and margaritas. parking lot. ambience
• Cons: WAIT STAFF

06/23/08

Great Food and Margaritas!

by justeatit

This place has really great food, everything tasted very fresh! The Margaritas are wonderful. I love the ambiance. Only complaint was the service. I think our waiter was a word citysearch won't let me use, but it begins with a J has an ER in the middle and ends with K. He sighed a lot and made us feel like he was doing us all a favor. I even had to order my last margaritas from the bar and take them to the table myself, because he was MIA. Just ditch the dork and it was a great place.

• Pros: Food, Margs, Pretty Place
• Cons: Wait Staff

07/07/07

Unpleasant staff, unclean facility and bland food

by morgoniousmonk

We came in a party of 6- two memebers of the group have physical disabilities...one blind and one in a wheelchair. The accessible entrance is next to the garbage dumpster, grease trap and a very prominent urine odor...which we could only presume came from the people who were lingering under the small bridges near the patio. Once we were finally able to negotiate the labyrinth to the patio, things were looking up, or so we thought. We managed to navigate into the restaurant and were promptly greeted. We requested a quiet table in a cool area inside as the humidity was very high, and we were promptly given a table in the back of the restaurant with no air conditioning, and we had to ask them to clean the table. When the man came with the rag, the waitress had to show him how to wipe a table down...

We sat down, and then waited nearly 10 minutes for an opportunity to place a drink order. We also requested queso, and received it fifteen minutes later when our entrees arrived. Our food was tepid. It was not only greasy, but it had evidently been sitting in the kitchen for a while because the grease had begun to solidify around the edges of our plates. When the queso arrived, it had been sitting long enough for the cheese to reharden nearly the whole way through. We did not eat it, but we did pay for it.

We had to ask for refills the entire night, as there were no other clients in our room. The service was inexperienced, somewhat condescending and inconsiderate. We have agreed to not return simply because we do not want to have to squeeze past garbage dumpsters and walk through questionable puddles that reek of human excrement. If that were not a problem fo us, we still would not return because we would rather spend our money at a restaurant that is willing to treat us as equal customers, rather than watch us all try to negotiate out a very small door without even offering any kind of assistance. WE did not feel that we belonged there.

• Pros: The opportunity to walk out the door
• Cons: believe I covered it already

10/03/06

Lukewarm

by carolines12

Overall, no overwhelming impressions either way. Lukewarm.

We decided to go there driving by one night- the patio lights and ambiance seemed lovely.

Unfortuntately, the service was so-so - and be sure you call ahead if dining outside to avoid the spill-over of large groups (we were caught in the misdst of a

shrieking sorority type gathering/dramatic life event/Lifetime movie outtake, not so much) and I remember my husband tried to order 2 things they were out of. On a weekend. Still hopeful, I ordered one of their special 'sangrias' they have on the menu, hoping to overlook any mediocrity fortified with that. No, they were out of that too. And the food was not spicy, Taco Bell looked like haute cuisine next to their fare. The salsa was higher than average to be fair - but really, who goes to a mexican restaurant only for their salsa?

• Pros: Nice patio outside
• Cons: Bland tasting food, do not have everything as shown on menu

Editorial Review by Citysearch Editors

by Contributor

This dependable chain serves up tasty Tex-Mex standards, like chicken enchiladas, fajitas and taco salads.

12/05/05

User review by dianne82

by dianne82

Wonderful Mexican Flavor! Very unique setting! Serranos has the freshest salsa I have tasted . . .it is wonderful!

07/18/05

My Austin Favorite

by avf18

I LOVE SERRANOS! When my boyfriend comes into town to visit, it is an absolute must for eating out. We love the food and the service is great. It is a beautiful place with lots of different food options to choose from. They make great drinks no matter what you order and my boyfriend tries something different to eat every time and loves it all. I have taken family there as well and they love it too. There's not much to complain about with this restaurant. It's delicious, reasonably priced, has great service, and worth every penny. I highly recommend it.

• Pros: Food, Service, Atmosphere

06/27/02

good mexican grub

by jpanderson_citysearch

Ate outside here last week. The patio is gorgeous, all stone and wrought-iron tables. Good food, too, and service is very friendly. They make a kick-butt margarita, and the food's good Tex-Mex fare.