I am giving them a 3 star only because they are new. If I had this type of an experience at an established restaurant, I would have given them a 1 star. Perhaps things will improve over time. My son and I decided to try out the new Mexican restaurant in Ferndale, and that was a mistake. First for reference the restaurant wasn't that busy, they had 5 tables with customers (counting us), and 2 wait staff serving those 5 tables. The first thing we noticed was that the service was really slow, then we noticed that between the two wait staff one of them was doing a really good job and the other was really slow and far less attentive. The service was super slow to even take our drink orders, another group than came in after us had their drinks before our waiter even took our order. After a while we noticed that the tables on the other side of the restaurant were getting chips and salsa, but not on our side of the restaurant. Apparently with our waiter chips and salsa were items that needed to be ordered, rather than just bringing them to the table at first contact like the other waitress did. This really lacked any type of theme. The bar area had some Mexican tequila, but as far as the theme, it looks like a big warehouse that was converted to a dance hall that is now being used as a restaurant. For ambiance in the restaurant they had a TV with a message on it from Pandora saying "Are you still listening", which makes me think that they had some type of music on, but that Pandora timed out on the streaming. My son (22 years old) described it as cafeteria style seating and that it felt like eating in a cafeteria, not a Mexican restaurant. Perhaps that's enough, but next came the food. Looking around the restaurant as we were seated I notice that all the plates on the other tables looked like huge piles of rice and beans, and I wasn't in the mood for a massive pile of rice and beans, so I decided to order the Taco Salad. The salad was describe as this "Taco Salad: Lettuce, tomato, cilantro, and choice of meat topped with sour cream and avocado". Ok, that sounded really good to me, and there was even an option to get it topped with carne asada, or carnitas for a minimal extra charge. Yumm, that sounds good. Well when it arrived, perhaps a better name for it would have been the rice bowl. It was one of those tortillas fried in the shape of a bowl. It was mostly filled with Mexican rice, and it was topped with a light sprinkling of lettuce, cheese, salsa, guacamole and ranch dressing. Now keep in mind that the whole reason that I ordered the salad was that I didn't want a pile of rice or beans, and what did I get, the salad "rice bowl" that was mostly rice, and barely salad. So then I wanted to bring it up with them that I had not ordered the rice bowl, and that I was expecting salad items in my salad, and not a pile or rice. However it wasn't until after my son had finished his meal and we were ready to leave that they even came back to check on things. When it came time to pay, they didn't seem to know how to use their credit card machine, and after fumbling around with my credit card for a while, they said that they could only take cash. My rating (scale of 0 to 5): * Atmosphere... 0, its a warehouse space. * Service... 1, the service from our waiter was horrible, it appeared that the waitress did a good job with her tables. * Cleanliness... 5, the area was very clean. * Food... 2, maybe its just me to think that a rice bowl is not a salad. Perhaps they need some time to work out the kinks, train the staff to be service oriented, improve the atmosphere and for the chef to learn how to prepare what is stated on the menu. Give it a while, but for now I wouldn't recommend Don Samuel Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar. Any of the other Mexican restaurants in Ferndale or Bellingham would be a better choice. read more

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This restaurant/nightclub in Ferndale was an unexpected delight Pacific highway and industrial road. It is north of Pacific Commons Center. The two of us were amazed by the attentiveness of the server, and both owners. Charming people and good food. This place gets packed on Thursday nights when they have line dancing ($5 cover includes instruction) and often has specialty international and Latin music in many saturdays. Sunday's they have family style events and karaoke. There is ample free parking and easy access from Pacific highway. read more

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Excited to try the new place in ferndale we found ourselves.... by ourselves at Don Samuels. We should have known when there only other patrons ordered just drinks. We left feeling sorry for our sever Stacey. She was wonderful! Sweet, personable, and all out wonderful. I would give her a 5 star rating! ***If someone owns a restaurant please hire her and save her from this place! Drinks where okay. Spicy margarita is great and a nice Mexican beer selection. Sadly the reason for the poor review would be the quality of the food. The food was tired, old pico and chips to start the meal. We thought whatever it's a slow local Mexican food place it's not super uncommon. When our food arrived we knew we where wrong. The guacamole was black not the brown that happens with real avocados.... black. The cabbage and carrots in the coleslaw where soft. I had the stuffed bacon wrapped jalapeños and the jalapeños had gone bad. When I bit into one it was slimy. You can see by the photo the seed where brown and the insides where goopy like an aloe vera plant. I cut into a second one hoping it was a fluke and no such luck 2/4 rotten was enough for me to be done. My husband had fish tacos. He said they are bland and the frozen fish was still watery and soaked his plate. When the waitress checked in I showed her and she ran it right back to the kitchen. What happened next is prompted me to write a poor review. The appalling attitude of the female owner. When the waitress took my meal to the kitchen we could hear from the far corner of the establishment the rant in Spanish. I feel like the majority of people understand a little Spanish... unfortunately for her my husband and I are fluent. After hearing what she said we just stared at each other. Our meal was over at that time. Oh but it gets worse. The cook/owner came out with my plate told me there was nothing wrong with my food and told me to 'eat' and stood there. I said the jalapeños have gone bad. She said no they do all their cooking on Thursday and freeze it. So here we sit on not Thursday with rotten food. What came next was appalling. She again told me to 'eat'. I pointed to the brown seeds and goop and said see it's gone bad. Then she told me everything was fresh made. I said mine was not and pointed out the other way past their prime side and then..... she PUT HER FINGER INTO MY MEAL!!! She fished around the jalapeños to dig out the brown seeds and wipe the goop on her towel!! Again she told me it was fine and to eat.... I simply said no and pushed it away and she slid it back in front of me and walked back to the kitchen. Where she continued her loud rant about me, the town, and everyone else who doesn't understand Mexican cooking in Spanish. I slid it back and we started packing up our things. The waitress ran over our bill having removed the rotten jalapeños and my drink with embarrassment and apologized for the 'show'. We paid our bill and graciously tipped the server who was great. read more

Don Samuel Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar - Rotten jalapeños - Mexican Near Me - Ferndale, Washington

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Pretty sure they are out of business. Stopped by there several months ago and looked through the door and the site was cleaned out. Too bad. One of the best stages and dance floors in the county. Fatally bad lication, however read more

Really glad we went early so we could sample the menu items. Very pleased with the welcoming attitude of the staff; especially Lisette who served us & answered all questions regarding the bar as well as menu items. As viewers can see we had a good sampling. The salsa that came with the chips was very bland so she brought us 2 others as pictured; very good sampling to meet all tastes. The main plates were properly executed & truly "Mexican" fare; especially the Verde! Would've gladly given this new establishment a 4 star but, only criticism I have is the margarita, the tequila was "weak" sadly and the entire drink not up to the par I'm used to. The Diablo was much better. Remembering this is a fairly new venture & seen as heading in the right direction; especially with the staffing witnessed, the "bar" needs some adjustments. A great dance floor & a compliment to the area undoubtedly. We will return for more "sampling", especially when the have live bands! read more

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3 weeks before Covid-19 shutdowns happened I was delighted to have found Don Samuels/Samy's night club. The first visit was memorable. We were welcomed, servers were very attentive. Food and drink was tasty and prices are standard for this region. The owners quickly let us know that the following day they had karaoke. So my friends and I returned on Sunday with daytime karaoke. We had more food and drink that day. Equally delicious as previous day. We were able to sing and dance to our delight. Talk about a holistic place to destress before heading back to work on Monday. That day we learned of their night life. The following saturday we returned for live music and dance. Now this is where as women we felt that the employees really are able to work under night life scenarios. My friend and I both women were having a blast dancing, we did dance with other patrons who kindly asked to share a song on the dance floor. Obviously we expected there to be people who were having a good time drinking. Security was extremely comprehensive of who was there and what was going on. As soon. As a couple of patron had were visibly getting a little more impaired kept coming and we kindly declined security made sure to come by and check on us. He also talked to the other costumers to be courteous. Security was very graceful in the way he addressed the situation and didnt make either parties feel awkward. That being said we returned the next day for more karaoke and during these few visits witnessed family birthday parties. It was so wonderful being somewhat knew to whatcom country to find this restaurant. I can honestly say that as a latina I feel that I finally found a space that I feel welcome, appreciated, and not to mention accepted. As many of you who know our culture, we are hospitable, hardworking. Food is overall how we are able to show love for one another and unity. The extra component of music shows our holistic way of living life. Muchisimas gracias Don Samuel's Mexican Bar and Grill. Los extraño un montón y les deseo lo mejor durante estos tiempos. Nos vemos pronto. read more

It is no wonder they got our order wrong. The music was way tooo loud. When I asked if they could turn it down they came back and say No. I ordered a tostada with asada. It came out ground beef that made my tostada shell saggy . My husband ordered a burrito with asada and that came out ground beef. I thought the food was bland, no flavor. The only thing that was good was chips, salsa and the soda. There was 4 of us and 5 other people in the place. Sure they are going to have a live band later. But if you can not even hear to get the order right, you should at least try to read the order back. read more

Carne asada was great and chicken fajitas were good also! And the drinks were great also!!!!

Really loved their fish tacos, it was really delicious. It's kind of hidden in the back, but well worth it.

Great food, great drinks and really friendly, accommodating staff! They just need to expand their menu a bit and they will be great! Looking forward to going there on live music nights. read more

5 stars for the pomegranate margarita! The best margarita I've had in years. If you don't like it too sweet ask him to tone down the sweet. I could drink 59 of them ! The service was great. The restaurant is really nice inside. Don't let the outside fool you. Nice tables and a cute bar. They have karaoke sometimes and a stage for music. However the food was ok. I so wanted to give them 5 stars for the service and drinks l, but the food was underwhelming. My taco salad barely had any meat in it and lacked flavor. The Carne asada was just ok. The pico de Gallo was just ok. I hope they invest in a better chef. They could really do well if the food was turned up a notch. If you are just looking for a good drink and chips then you should go now. The drinks are fabulous! read more

I can't speak to the music volume as described from a couple other reviews, it was fine when I was there, however I can attest that the food is phenomenally good! The chef is a native Mexican and makes her salsa with three ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, jalapeños. The guacamole is fresh from the avocados and great to mix with the salsa. For my entree I had the Chile Verde plate and it was on par with native Mexican home cooking. The margarita was great--the bartender free pours the tequila and mixes it with margarita mix and freshly squeezed lime served over ice. The restaurant is located in an industrial complex, which at first I thought I got lost, but there's a big sign and the are is totally safe. You would be amiss to not try this restaurant at lest once, I wager it'll be a favorite for everyone. read more

Don Samuel Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar - Fresh salsa asada - Mexican Near Me - Ferndale, Washington

We wanted to go out for food and listen to music. The service was slow, it wasn't crowded yet and only went downhill from there. We ordered nachos the were so heavy on the habanero (or what ever super hot chili's they used in their salsa) I certainly couldn't eat it and my husband who eats whole jalapeños said it was just to hot and spicy to eat. All our food came out at once. As more people arrived our waitress couldn't keep up. The atmosphere was well done and there was no cover for the band. That's why the 2 stars. But, don't go there to eat and plan on going to the bar and getting your own drinks!? read more

Well where do I start? This is the second time we have been here once on Halloween which was fun and our line dancing coach was very good that was pretty much where it ended. We went again last night to watch a band where we knew the lead singer. The place was packed and they only had one waitress, who was also the only bartender. From our last experience, we knew not to wait at our table to be waited on. I went straight to the bar and it still took 10 minutes to get a drink. $19 for two margaritas. There were eight of us and we told them to go get their own drinks because we would never see the waitress. It took forever to get service and they told us another waitress was supposed to show up but did not. We asked for some tortilla chips while we waited, the response was "you have to pay for salsa you know" wow that was a surprise. Towards the end of the night we decided to get shots of tequila for our group. We were told one shot of tequila was $10. WTF ..... it was nine dollars for a margarita, does that not contain one shot of tequila. We told her to forget it. If they had charged six dollars for a shot which is not unreasonable, we would have bought eight of them. The waitress would come to our table and clear off glasses plates and bottles but never asked once if we wanted another drink. This was our last visit here. They have a lot of work to do to be successful and with a building tucked back in the middle of an industrial area, they may survive as long as the last place. read more

Great food. Service was excellent and the portions were awesome for a lunch size. I can't wait to come back!

Extra slow service, chewy over cooked steak, mediocre service. Will not be coming back.

Loved the food this new restaurant served. I will definitely go back! The margaritas were better than any I've had at other restaurants, hands down. I don't expect fast food in a sit down restaurant, so maybe that's the reason I had a different impression on my first visit than other reviewers. read more

Best Mexican in Ferndale. Food was great and drinks were better! Staff was very friendly. Daisy was a sweetheart. Spacious food with very nice decor. Best dance floor I have found in Whatcom and Skagit Counties.Very much looking forward to returning for line dancing on Thursdays, or live music on Fridays, and just good times anytime. read more

Nice staff and Good food. Carne asada was very good! I would rate this a 9/10. The only thing i didn't like was the atmosphere and the chips were a bit to crunchy. But for a new mexican restaurant it was very good. read more