I am shocked, SHOCKED to see so many 5 star ratings for Mamacita’s. I’ve been here several times over the years and it’s never been good. I keep coming back because I don’t live in Fredericksburg and keep forgetting how bad this place is. Last year there was a hair in my fried shrimp. I mean, actually fried into the shrimp. This weekend, no hair but the experience wasn’t much better.
First the good stuff. The atmosphere and decor are really nice. It’s the kind of place you want to take family or a group for a nice dinner out. The tortillas are made by hand and the quesadilla was pretty good. Same for the rice and charro beans. The service was fine and the food came out really fast. A little too fast to be honest. There’s just no way our food was cooked to order.
Our server was friendly but got weird when the check came. He was standing in front of me when he handed me the card reader. But then he moved beside me and looked over my shoulder as I was selecting his tip. Literally standing over me, looking over my shoulder watching me add the tip. I tipped 20% even though the food was bad because I’m not a jerk.
The margaritas were weak and tasted like they came from a premade bottle. My wife got the Poco Todo. More like Poco Sabor. Not much flavor. Nothing really stood out. Everything tasted the same. The chile con queso tasted like nacho cheese from a can. The salsa was bland. Like water with a hint of tomato. The jalapeños were black and rotted on the edges, like they really old.
When I got home I was thinking about the black jalapeños and decided to look up Mamacita’s health inspections. I wish I had done that before we went. They’ve failed a few times but most recently got a score of 82. A solid B minus. Cited for “Food employees observed not washing hands” in every inspection. That alone will remind me never to go back. Along with the bad food and weird waiter.
