We came across Hacienda while taking a detour through Salinas due to heavy southbound traffic to Monterey. There was plenty of parking. The service was quick and friendly. Our server Veronica made us feel so welcome and made our dining experience fun. The food was delicious! I ordered cheese enchiladas with both the red and green sauce. It was on par with my food experience in Santa Fe NM. The Cadillac margarita was perfect. Loved the background salsa music which was right on for setting the ambiance. read more

Hadn't been here since they renovated, but wanted to come back. It was early on a Tuesday, so not a lot of people. Our waiter was great! He was very accommodating with our requests. We asked for a vegetarian taco salad for my mom, even giving her grilled squash in lieu of meat. I asked if my tostada could be one of each, pescado and camerones. We also loved the fresh guacamole and shared a chile relleno. The cucumber lime agua fresca was perfect and refreshing! read more

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i have come here a few times and it has only been for drinks and appetizers at the bar i have not had an entree here.... chips n salsa are good drinks are good, prices are reasonable howevere there is a charge to pay with a credit card parking is easy to find on sundays there is a buffet and a band playing there is indoor and outdoor seating ladies bathroom could be better kept up read more

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The food is as tasty but not even lukewarm except for the tortillas they brought out. My husband had chili verde which were unfortunately tasty but cold. I had chorizo eggs they were tasty but barely lukewarm. As for the server she was nice when we could get her over. There was only one other table so not sure why she wasn't more attentive. We had to go looking for her several times. Oh well. read more

Review for Hacienda Mexican Grill. Breakfast Buffet only. Sunday's only from 7a-2p. 20.00 each, kids are 10.00. We got here at 9 and it filled up fast in this large dining room. They have a great variety of foods and desserts. Beans, rice Chili Rellenos Costillos puercos Potatoes with eggs Potatoes with chorizo Potatoes with peppers Chilaquillas with 4 different sauces Pancakes with syrup, no butter 3 different types of tamales, chicken, pork and pineapple Champurrado, Atole, Café de olla, no black coffee Menudo, Pasole Corn tortillas in a cooler to keep them hot Fresh cheese enchiladas on the fly! Chicken mole Sodas in cans, Orange juice, cucumber Agua Fresca Good variety of desserts Churros, fruit, flan,eggs custard and jello I would like to see them offer black coffee and butter for my pancakes. Tried everything and every was good. All the sauces and Salsa's very tasty. All the meats were tender. 3 different types of pan dulce They kept refilling all the dishes as fast as they could. Live music All the staff were so nice and helpful. We can't wait to come back! read more

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Went in a few months ago, and just wanted to add my input. I took my family out to the movies and we were in the area and had spare time until the movie so we decided to get something to eat. We were seated and all was good until about a few bites into the food we see a cockroach on the plate itself then walk off onto the walls. We informed the staff and they had no urgency on the matter all they told us was that it was okay, they didn't even apologize for the inconvenience. We decided to leave after that and when we paid they still charged us full price with the fee on card even after them knowing we didn't touch the food after the first few bites due to the cockroach being in the food. Very unprofessional on their end. read more

I came today for a dance. The premier was Bryndis, the tickets were $90.00. The show was meant to start at 9:00pm. It was a very unplanned sold out event. The dance floor was divided in half! The VIP which had only access to the restrooms. The rest of the crowd only had access to 4 portable bathrooms (2 for women, 2 for men). These portables were unkept and dirty! There was no garbage cans and the paper towels were just thrown and all of them were used. By 11:00pm there was no towels to dry your hands. The DJ played for 2 1/2 hours. There was no additional bands or Banda. Will not be coming back. Not worth the price. read more

Went a day ago. Only went it for a drink. The cazuela had a good taste but I'm putting a bad review because the ladies bathroom was disgusting. DIRTY. I can imagine the men's restroom. I didn't really enjoy my drink because the nasty smell from the restrooms reached to the bar. Not coming back again!! Fui hace un día. Solo fui a tomar una copa. La cazuela tenía buen sabor, pero estoy poniendo una mala crítica porque el baño de mujeres estaba desagradable. SUCIO. Me imagino el baño de hombres. Realmente no disfruté de mi bebida porque el olor desagradable de los baños llegó a la barra. ¡¡No volveré otra vez!! read more

Gave this place a second chance based on nostalgia(some really good memories). Elizabeth, hostess, was the shining star and food was good. Bartender was polite. Waitress was sour and somewhat hostile to the Guests! Yes, to the guests. My larger group was made up of mostly nurses, so we are in the service industry. We appreciate kindness but there was none here. There were only two other groups of diners and a handful of people in the bar. There was an event later on for a famous singer from the 90's. They were moving us around all over the dining room (several times) and then, the event staff(not the restaurant staff) asked us to leave when we wouldn't fork over $150 for the table. We were happy to be together but we ended our night here before 10pm. read more

We just received the bank statement and they changed the charge from $29.35 to $44.00. Thank goodness we wrote in $0 for the tip and put the total, and saved our copy of the receipt. This will be disputed. But watch your statements folks. Edit....looks like I messed up and deleted my initial review I attached a photo of it. read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - First review - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

Employees were rude. Didn't even acknowledge the table I was at but did acknowledge everyone around us we had to out of our ways to get the tab. Our seating wasn't cleaned. I've never been one to say bad things about ANY restaurant but this has been the worst service ever. read more

The food had good flavor, good portions too. Appetizers are brought out at the same time as your meal. The restaurant was not well maintained. The tables and chairs were old and torn. The floors were dirty, the restrooms are poorly kept, toilet seats were all broken. There was only one server when I went, so the customer service was not the best. read more

We stopped in while passing through on a Sunday morning. We got the brunch for $25 drink and dessert included. The chili verde was the best we've had. You could tell it was slow cooked with bone in, it was so tender and flavorsome. The handmade corn tortillas, the cafe de olla, rice, beans everything was delicious. read more

I have been to low quality restaurants but this one is beyond, looking at the cockroaches between the bottles and the bar counter during working hours is because there is a cockroach infestation in the kitchen, this is something very serious according to the health department codes, I do not recommend it and this place should be closed ASAP! read more

Mariscada only had four shrimp, slice of tilapia and two mussels the rest was veggies $50. Not worth it.

Since it has new ownership my husband and decided to try it again, we stopped going for a while because their food was not good at all. This time we order the molcajete mar y Tierra for $ 42.00 dollars, it had a piece of chicken a small piece of carne asada 3 shrimp and most of it was chorizo and no sauce it was a dry molcajete . Service was awful we were completely ignored we had to get up a couple of times to call the waiter for drinks the place was almost empty, I guess all of them were in the kitchen cutting chiles. By the way there was a table with 2 young ladies and they did went to their table to see if they needed anything even the owner, we are in our 60's I wonder if that's why we where ignored. Definitely not going back. read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - Seafood Molcajete - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

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I have had servers ignore us and some bad customer service but what I have never had is servers so bluntly having no regard for the guests comfort and experience. I went with my mother yesterday (party of 6). We walked in and were told to sit wherever we want so we did. After getting our food and by the way the portions are completely off now especially for all these different hidden fees they put at check out. We used to come here pretty often but it's really gone down hill over the years service and food wise. We were told to sit whoever we wanted and when we write eating and drinking around 9pm they told us to move to a different table which I asked why since we were told we could sit here and they said they needed the table for the band event. We told her we would move shortly and we would try and eat and drink faster to be outta here before the even would take place. 10 mins later a security guard comes and asks if we are leaving and if not to go pay outside. Before the switch in owners they would have live music for the entire restraunt to enjoy but now they make you pay and sit in specific seats for the band. I get wanted to charge for the band now but what I do not understand is why would you tell people to sit themselves wherever and then 30 mins later tell you to move. We reluctantly moved and our server apologized for the hassle. We had to move all our food and drinks to a different table by ourselves since she only helped us with the beer bucket and once we got settle in another server came and told our server to move us again because they also needed that table. Come on!!! They need to get a better handle and coordinate this better. We came in for a celebration yet we were treated horribly. We were asked to move not once but twice and that first time they had even the security come as if we needed to be intimidated to move to correct the mistake on their end. We told them to just give us the tab and we were leaving. Our server brought us the tab super quick and we saw the card charge and the automatic gratuity. I don't mind paying the automatic gratuity when I feel like they have done more than the bare minimum and she in turn did do more than the bare minimum and humiliated us by moving us around with no help and talking about us litterally in front of our faces. We paid with cash to avoid the card charge and told her to take the card service see off and told her to take the automatic off because we were not given 18% worth of service. She said she coudldnt so I asked to speak to her manager or supervisor or higher up and she said there was no manager or higher up. She said she'd speak to the manager the next day about everything that happened. How is there no higher up when a restaurant is serving alcohol?? That makes no sense and it sounds illegal since someone needs to be responsible at the very least a head bartender or something. I asked her to bring any higher up and she said there was none. To top it off she never came with our receipt and after we gave her the money she completely disappeared and never came back. I failed to look at the yelp reviews which already look pretty terrible. The yelp reviews do not lie and they have horrible horrible customer service and incredibly ridiculous charges and prices. I know non corporate restraunts have more freedom with prices and what not but they seriously need to put a 4% up charge for using one card with a group of 6?! I get if it was multiple cards but even if you just put one card down. What kind of broke rundown restraunt needs to put that charge for customers to pay on a single card. This establishment is a joke and is bound to close down. I am getting in contact with a manager one way or another because this was a completely ridiculous situation. read more

Worst restaurant ever.. We had a party of 5 we asked if it was possible to get charged separately for each person they said it was fine, while we were eating my friend found a bug in her food. We didn't say anything but when we got charged we noticed our totals were over 40 dollars each for a plate that's 25 and a water that's 6 PLUS a 18% TIP each person without asking us if we wanted to tip. we weren't gonna tip on card but in cash, after seeing they charged us 6 dollars each for tip and one of my friends got charged 10 tip we asked them for the receipts and they said they couldn't because they had already charged us. We asked if we could take a picture of the receipts and they were hesitate to even show us the receipt. They offered to give us only the 10 dollar tip back but that they couldn't give us the other money. I've came to this restaurant before and we always get an option to tip but for some reason we didn't get to decide how much tip we wanna give?? This place is a Scam for sures no wonder they were gonna get shut down when they sold alcohol to minors that ended up crashing. We should've noticed when the restaurant was empty. No music and our wait for food was long. read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - My friend tipped 10 dollars and they charged her an extra 5 for tip - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

Before my ex and I broke up, he said he always wanted to take me here. Now that we are back together, we finally got to come in together. It's cute how they have live music. But hot dam! I must be old AF, because I thought it was loud. Our waiter was nice, and there was a 15% off Yelp checkin. Our waiter was super nice too. read more

Recently went to this restaurant, was a bit worried because of the reviews but we had such a great experience. We did go around 1:30pm and it was pretty empty the waiter was so nice! Always checking in on us and the food was delicious. Definitely will be coming back. read more

Sad to see such a great place and idea go to waste. There's so much potential for this restaurant to be great, but it's far from it. The place is filthy. Table and chairs dirty and unorganized. Food was not great. Drinks were pretty good. Our server, Diego was so kind and hardworking. Assuming they are short staffed, the poor guy was working his shift alone. He had about 6 tables, 2 of which had more than 6 people. He was seating people, answering calls, serving food, bussing his own tables, and preparing drinks with no support. read more

This has to be the worst place I have ever eaten Mexican food. And it's so exclusionary, if I may say so. I am okay with a place having a cultural theme, but this place is downright unwelcoming on many levels. The hostess and the bartender treated me like scum from the moment I walked in. They didn't ask me how my day was going or make small talk; I was just a lowly customer with money to be taken. That was the vibe I got, anyway. The margarita I ordered tasted like a burro relieved itself in a sweaty old sombrero. The older male bartender, who made this liquid garbage, said he had been making quality margaritas for 25 years....dios mio y que barbaridad! And the younger, female bartender didn't know what Grand Marnier was! This is so reminiscent of the hiring pool in this area; ignorant and impolite 20 somethings that are unskilled and only eager to look at the next social media post on their phones. Geesh, I'm sick of that. The quesa-birria quesadillas were greasy and obviously fresh out of the freezer; I would swear that it was actually a quesa-perrito, because that meat had an odd flavor. And they had about 10 beer taps, but none were working. What a third rate, awful dining experience! They have remodeled the whole inside of this, but if you know anything about interiors, they went cheap! They have these cheesy portraits of heroes and heroines everywhere that look like they were bought at la pulga! Frida Kahloh was actually clean shaven in the painting....totally not realistic. It honestly looked like a giant, flying alebrije took a dump on a 300-year-old crumbling pueblo in there. Hijole! read more

The owner of this place is rude, takes advantage of his employees and does not pay his employees on time. The food is mediocre and the service was ok. I don't recommend it. read more

We tried the mole enchiladas rice beans red sauce enchiladas mango margarita michelada flan Everything was absolutely excellent the mole was outstanding so so good don't let the outside deceive you this is not Chevys , el torro, the outside gives a feeling like that but once you walk in the ambiance is more inviting with a huge screen biggest i ever seen in a restaurant the waitress Elizabeth was amazing very attentive and took very good care of us. If you never had mole this is like your moms but better truly a gem highly recommend this place. read more

Even after the bad reviews we decided to give it a shot and was impressed. We went for lunch and the waiter was very friendly and checked on us often. I had the chiliquiles patrias and it was great. Much larger than it appeared in the menu so make sure you brought your appetite. My daughter liked the burger and fries which is always a win. Wife got the red enchiladas plate and liked it allot. read more

Waiter was very impatient tapping his foot talking so fast couldn't understand him and also to find out that they can't serve alcohol because they had their license revoked by the ABC government. Food wasn't that great ask for medium heat level and everything was really hot heat level. Lots of uncooked rice kernels this place is no fun anymore since they can't serve alcohol will not be coming back. read more

I see this place gets some negative reviews but let me tell you we went in during the week so not a lot of people but starting from salsa to chips to horchata water to drinks to food it did not disappoint, I would definitely be back. read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

I've been to Hacienda a few times, they always seem to be really short staffed. If it's one of there banda nights, it can be really loud. If you're there for banda, great. If you're there for dinner, not so much. Location has good parking. read more

My husband and I have been wanting to come back to this restaurant because my sister got married 3 years ago and they catered the wedding. Their reception took place there at the restaurant and the food was really good. My husband distinctly remembers the homemade flour tortillas and we were looking forward to that. We ordered chorizo with beans and Chilaquiles with egg. We also ordered some Café De La Hoya. The chorizo did not have enough egg and it was over cooked and the Chilaquiles were fine but they did over fry the eggs I asked for over easy and they were just about cooked through. The coffee was dark as mud and was too strong. I even asked for hot water to water it down but even then it was still strong. To say the least I was disappointed. I should have looked at the reviews first. My bad!! Never again. Oh and they no longer made homemade flour tortillas. The server was nice. ‍ read more

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Best frozen strawberry margarita I ever had. The bartender was very nice and accomidating

Amazing food ! We got her because chili's didn't hold our reservations so we came here and they took us in right away ! Amazing food great atmosphere and amazing service read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - Shrimp cocktail - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

They really have the presentation down to a science and the atmosphere was great. Unfortunately the good tasted and smelled like a sewer. It was obviously expired and smelled rotten. We ordered 2 separate margaritas and both tasted like water with lime juice. No favor or alcohol. I highly recommend not going here read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - Seafood - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

I have not eaten at this restaurant since it's opening. My wife and I stopped by one Saturday morning for breakfast. I figured its not hard to screw up breakfast. We entered about 10 am and there was a family of four at one table and a couple at an other table. The place had a wide open Mexican rustic atmosphere and the waitress was kind. I looked over at the table next to us and see this fantastic looking drink it was a michalada so I ordered one....dam good! Rimmed with shrimp celery salted rim. We both had a bowl of Menudo and it was good. In fairness my conversations with see friends and family are negative about this restaurant my experience was good I'd go back again and will soon enough! Even if it's just for that drink! See pics of that drink and Menudo. read more

Hacienda Mexican Grill - Large bowl of menudo! - Mexican Near Me - Salinas, California

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Don't go here if you're looking for good Mexican food. This place has been opened for quite a few years now. I personally had never gone up until now because I heard bad things about it, but finally I decided to give it a try. Was not impressed. Table and seats were dirty. Food was served on paper plates with plastic utensils. Chips and salsa were so stale. My food was cold and bland. The rice had a weird after taste and the beans had no flavor. My chicken enchilada was dry and no cheese to be found. The only good thing was the grilled chicken, but that was it. It gets one star for the chicken. The waitress didn't come check on us and didn't introduce herself either. 1/10. I was really expecting more as the owner is family with a very well known and popular YouTuber... De mi Rancho a Tu Cocina. Her photo is at the front (I asked about it and they said she's the owners Tía) Apparently they "use" her recipes. If that's the case, she's be so disappointed that her recipes are coming out bland. Have you ever watched one of her videos? When she says add "poquito sal" (little salt) she goes to town with it! The owners cooks need to learn a thing or two from her. read more

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We went for dinner Thursday night at 5:00 we were the only customers when we were done at 6:00 I felt bad for them. The food, service and atmosphere were excellent we will return. The only negative was the menu it was very colorful but very difficult to read terrible organization all three of us had a problem finding items on it. They really need a new menu that is more customer friendly. read more

We were visiting the area and we wanted some good Mexican food so based on their food pictures we chose this place I ordered fajitas mixtas steak, chicken and shrimp well the steak was bad it had a weird taste that I still taste in my mouth I cannot believe they didn't see this I hope whoever is in the kitchen cooking cares to check their food before they serve it people can get sick and dye from food poisoning that's by far the worst fajitas I've ever had. Plastic forks, paper plates I mean I understand is COVID times but they can do so much better. read more

I wish I could give this place 0 stars. I came in and was seated right away. It was not busy, now I know why. When the man went to take our order, he spoke Spanish. When I responded in English he just walked away. We waited for 20 min before we ended up leaving. We were not the only people in there being ignored. Other people were in there and ended up leaving for what appeared to be the same reason. An elderly white couple was not even being acknowledged. Not sure how long they sat there. read more

****DO NOT I repeat DO NOT GO HERE**** My bad for not reading the reviews before my family and I stopped here to eat. 1: my husband and my son are trying to find someone who can tell us if we sit ourselves or they sit us. This waitress walks right by my husband and my son and never even acknowledged them standing there. I had to get her attention as she walks by me and my other children. We sit ourselves as instructed. 2: table we sat at looks like it was left outside in the rain. Pictures attached. 3: Our waitress didn't even introduce herself she just handed us the menu. She didn't even know the drinks the restaurant had for children. She had to go ask. I told her everything my family wanted and watched her write it down. 4: our drinks come out, but no straws. I ask for straws and she said no problem. 15 roll by and still nothing. She comes back out with my kids drink and I ask her politely for the straws again. She said yes I'm so sorry. I told her not a problem. She hands me one straw that she had in her apron that had food all over it. So I just left it on the table. Than she comes out with a box of bar straws and hands it to my husband. Photo attached of these straws. I laugh because we can't use these to drink our sodas with. 5: food comes out and what my daughter ordered wasn't even what comes out which the meal included oysters. Botana Mixta photo attached of the slop that came out. It looked like chum. I had to ask our waitress for the oysters that come with the meal. The rest of our food comes out minus my 6 year old daughters meal that I watched our waitress write down. She said ok that's all your meals I said no your missing one of my meals. I tried to explain to her the meal that she was missing and she didn't understand so I asked her to bring me a menu so I can show her. Which never came out BTW until another 10 min went by. Another waitress comes out and said you need a menu? At this point I'm just beyond livid and ask to speak to a manger. Shd said ok and walks away. I assumed she understood what I said, but I think with the language barrier there was a huge issue. The manager never came. So I walked into the restaurant to talk to the manger. I found the lady at the front who I asked for the manager at my table and I asked her again. She said I'm sorry I dont speak English. I said ok.. well of you didn't understand me why not say you don't and go get someone who can help? Finally the only person who can help with the language barrier comes out which was the lady who first walked by my husband and son with out acknowledging them. I asked her for a manager and she brings this guy from behind the bar who I knew couldn't be a manager. He was very sincere man and as I was talking to the waitress that speaks English and the "manager" our waitress walks by when I was telling them about my daughters food. She shoves the plate in the "managers" face and says you see im bringing it. I raised my voice and told her she didn't need to give attitude. The "manager" said they would give us a discount. I said thank you, but this restaurant needs systems in place. The waitress told me our waitress is new its her 2nd day. I said ok that's fine, but you don't 1 give people attitude and you shouldn't put her out on the floor if she doesn't know the menu cause its not fair to her. Or upper management who has to deal with unhappy customers. I said you should really see your review online they are horrible. She apologized I said I get it when you don't have systems in place how difficult it is to do your job. 2 min after that two people approached my table and it was the owner and another lady who spoke English. He was livid when he came out. I told him my story and told him that you need systems in place to make sure yoru staff is trained properly and not feed them to the wolves its not fair to these people. He said he was sorry and offered a discount I again said thank you, but that doesn't explain the horrible training that is being provided to your employees and read your reviews online to improve your restaurants reputation. I was told they needed two more waitress i laughed when they told me that because they are running at 10% occupancy no reason to have more staff. If you just had a system that worked in place. The owner stormed off and said he's going to pull our waiter in to talk to her. 6: my husband taco salad only came with 3 shrimp which cost 3.50 extra. The meat had no flavor. Shrimp and meat and beans and rice on point. My sons hamburger was hard. As we were walking out this other party ordered the same thing as my daughter and it came in the right dish with the oysters and shrimp cocktail glass and they even got tapito. Our waiter didn't even offer that to us or even gave my youngest silverware to eat her plate. read more

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Only came here for drinks but vibe is cool, drinks and drink menu is tasty. Live mariachi music was a nice bonus. Bar tender is attentive and very nice. I'll have to come back to try the food. read more

Cuidado por que tres cuberas y dos charolas cuestan 550 aguasssssss y el dueño se pone al tiro yo pence que el cliente siempre tenía la razón aguaasssss read more