South of the Border seems to be stuck in a time warp. However, the childhood memories of our family drive from NY/NJ to FL and stopping here is epic. We always stopped here to play video games, fill up the tank and get fireworks. This was the first to eat at the restaurant. This place is not bad. The food is not really authentic Mexican food but still good. The salad bar shaped like a sombrero is interesting looking and the food in there seems fresh. I wished the salsa was real pico. I had the fried chicken and came with two sides. It needs more flavor and had to use hot sauce to give it some spice. The staff is friendly and very attentive. It was great to bring my kids here and show them around. The table maps and information is pretty cool and took some home. Brought stickers to complete the moment. read more

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Half the menu is Mexican. No margaritas or let alone alcohol on Sunday. The sweet tea is sugar. Do I need to go on.

If you come here expecting authenticity, keep going. You'll find that somewhere other than here. However if you want a quick burger, then look no further. It's a bit of an oxymoron, I know. Getting a burger at a place called sombreros, however that's about all that I can say looked good other than the salad bar. The other American fare might be a safe bet also. So, I had the burger with one trip to the salad bar instead of fries, my son had tacos and BF had a burrito. The refried beans on the plates looked a bit questionable in my opinion and the burrito looked suspiciously inauthentic but hey, it's south of the border. I can't vouch for the taste of either because I didn't eat the beans or burrito. The salad bar was alright. A good section with the chips and salsa placed with the lettuce and such. That said, you don't get the complimentary chips and salsa brought to your table when you are seated. I know, BOOOOOO. My advice, order something non traditional from the menu. You'll be happier. read more

I don't usually write reviews, but after a horrible dining experience we just encountered i felt the need to share how awful this place truly is! The host did not even greet us when we arrived and the ladies at the counter were rude and absolutely made me feel uncomfortable. It felt as if we interrupted their social time. If you need to use the restroom, enter at your own risk they were disgusting. I do not believe they were ever cleaned. The food and service was terrible. Their is so much advertisements along 95 we were so excited to final stop at the iconic location with our family, but this experience was a total letdown. We will never stop here EVER again!!! read more

This is the first place that we stop everytime we are here and we really enjoy the food one thing were do not like is being lied to we usually come in at night and love nice tea found out today that they do serve sweet tea but at night the waitress will tell you that they do not serve ice tea what they do is not serve it late at night because. They do not make it once it is gone but the food is really and I am really picky about what I eat and the gift shop is attached no need to go other places they all have the same thing read more

Ordered a burger and McDonald's is way better than this place. If it's the apocalypse and this is the only place to eat on the planet, I would more than willing to starve myself. That's all. read more

I am NEVER the one to rate restaurants but THIS ONE needed to be done: First of all, when we first got to the restaurant the place was outdated, rundown, and the employees looked miserable. Despite our first impression, my friends and I decided to eat here anyways (for a quick stop before heading back on the road.) We were seated at the table and mind you this was a Monday night with only 5 maybe 6 tables. We DID NOT get waited on for about 20 minutes. No drinks, no greeting, nothing. When the waitress finally came over she had a very sour attitude while taking our order. Secondly, after we ordered our appetizers and food, we had been waiting for a good half hour. Finally, my significant had enough of a wait and decided to mention to the waitress how much longer the food will be. With no emotion or anything, she turned and walked away from us and didn't give us an answer until 25 more minutes after that while bringing out our appetizers. After we finished the appetizers we had to wait ANOTHER 25 minutes for our entrées. When our entrées arrived, it was ICE COLD. Mind you, what we ordered from the menu did not replicate what was on the dish. The burritos/chimichangas were just PURE BEEF (no lettuce, tomatoes, or sour cream.) The rice tasted like the minute rice I can buy at Walmart for $1.00. After a long while, everyone at my table decided to stop eating because we were just disgusted. Lastly, the manager of the restaurant was nice at first and she took care of our bill and didn't charge us for the majority of the food. My main problem was that she had mentioned to my friend, "have you never had Mexican food before? That's how it's supposed to taste." MIND YOU, we come from a very diverse state and we are used to different ethnic foods. Overall, the experience was just horrible. This place is NOT what it used to be and NEEDS ALL THE HELP they can get!! The workers are clearly worn out/disengaged and the manager does NOT know how to talk to their customers. read more

One of the worst Mexican restaurants I've ever been to. The salsa & chili both taste like it's out of a can! One star is too many! Then they one have ground beef. Not shredded! read more

El Disgusto!! We should have walked out when I felt the sticky floors under my feet. Place smelled funny and everything felt sticky at the tables. My husband could smell the nicotine in the food and got very queasy in the middle of lunch and could not eat his food. No longer Mexican Village atmosphere-like when we were kids. My husband was livid because he was told that they had both chicken noodle and beef vegetable soup We ordered the salad bar and there was only chicken noodle soup. We asked where the Beef Vegetable soup was and we were told in a thick Southern accent, "They like to switch them up." She was too lazy to find out what soup was there and said Chicken Noodle AND Beef Vegetable instead of "OR". The "novelty" of the site attracted familes with hoards of loud and screaming kids adding to our displeasure. Of course you cannot fault the Restaurant for top of the lungs loud kids!! But it certainly reminded me off the days of being in an old and run down sticky Elementary school cafeteria. Hindsight is 20/20. Should have stopped at Taco Bell for a more authentic Mexican experience. Definitely a "Tourist Trap" that has long lost it's charm. read more

Great 1/2 fried chicken. Not oily, and very crispy . Also the chopped steak is very good. read more

Sombrero Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Hamer, South Carolina

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE From the food to the service!! Do yourself a favor and avoid this restaurant by any and all costs! The restaurant was very empty (not to our surprise with Corona Virus being a big topic on many people's minds). My boyfriend, Matt, ended up ordering the "Super Steak Burger with choice of French Fries or Onion Rings" with a Diet Coke, while I ordered the "Grilled Chicken Breast served with choice of potato and steamed vegetables of the day" (the waitress didn't seem very knowledgeable about the options of potatoes they had to offer but I ended up asking for a baked potato with mine) and a Diet Coke, I also decided to add a side house salad for an additional $3 First my side salad came out in the smallest of bowls with a pinch of lettuce, 4 cherry tomatoes, and 3 pieces of cucumbers. I immediately ate this very slowly, trying to make sure it seemed worth the additional $3 I paid for it. Shortly after our food came out... but the only thing on my plate was a small piece of dried out chicken. I asked about the baked potato and the lady seemed confused. She ran back to the kitchen to indicate that my waitress didn't ring in for a baked potato and that it would take an additional 5 minutes for that to come up. I asked if french fries would be quicker to prepare and she said yes, so I agreed to switching to french fries. After dropping off the french fries she asked if we needed anything additional at the moment which we declined at the time. Shortly after I realized I was missing my steamed vegetables. We looked around for our waitress, or any employee for that matter - which we failed to find ANYONE for a solid 15-20 minutes while we finished eating all of our food. We sat for an additional 10 minutes with empty cups in front of us and empty plates before anyone came to check on us. I asked about the vegetables and their response was "you didn't order any vegetables with your chicken." I then showed them the menu sitting in front of me that it said it came with steamed vegetables. She then asked what vegetables I would like. I apologized as I had not ever been there before and just assumed it was a vegetable mixture. She said they had "stir fry, broccoli, broccoli with cheese, ... stir fry, broccoli..." yes she repeated herself on the stir fry and broccoli (and I'm still confused what stir fry consist of for their steamed vegetables). I then asked to have broccoli but if I could have it to-go since we were ready to head out. A manager came over shortly after and I explained why I was frustrated with my experience. Instead of simply apologizing and making it right for Matt and I, she immediately snapped in my face and said that she stopped by earlier (when dropping off the french fries at the beginning of our meal, before I even knew she was the manager) and we indicated we didn't need anything else. Matt explained he wanted a refill on his Diet Coke and her response was that we didn't ask her for a refill when she asked if we needed anything else (30 minutes ago at this point!!!) I then asked about the vegetable situation and then explain that if I didn't order vegetables with my chicken, then I simply didn't get them? No discount if you didn't get them, but you also don't get any vegetables unless specified you wanted them. There was also no list of these vegetables, sides, or anything on the menu. Also we never received any refills on soda the entire time and when my 6 tiny pieces of broccoli finally came out it wasn't in a to-go box like I had requested multiple times. Without having to say this was literally the WORST restaurant experience I have EVER EVERRRR experienced in my entire life. From the food to the service. I ended up leaving the restaurant in complete tears down my face because I just had a manager yell at me because I didn't order my food to how they want me to order it?! I left hungry and no discount was ever given for inconvenience or anything. Beware of this restaurant if you're ever in this area. Please don't give them your business! read more

This place sucks. Me and my mom ordered ONE plate of food that took them one full hour to bring to our table. On top of that, it could not be defined as Mexican food. We got bean enchiladas, which were literally three tortillas wrapped around a spoonful of beans. No sauce, no baking, no happiness. Overall, we would rate our experience as very very bad. Highly would not recommend. read more

I hate giving restaurants poor ratings and reviews but this one is deserved. First off don't expect a 5 star restaurant. This is a hole in the wall restaurant at best. When we got there the hostess said we had to wait for a server to free up. Wait a minute...a server to free up?!?!? The restaurant was maybe at 20% capacity. Whatever sure so we waited about ~10 minutes then we were seated. About 10 more minutes went by before a server approached us. He was kind and asked if anyone was helping us. Since we said no, he said he would take care of us. He disappeared for about 5-10 minutes before he came back. Remember this place was not that busy when we were there. Even worse it was clearing out and no one was being seated. So he finally took our order and that's when the fun began . My order and my children's order was simple. Server had no issue since nothing was modified. Then my wife placed her order. She ordered the quesadilla. They only have two options for quesadilla chicken or beef. My wife is a vegetarian so she asked if they could sub the meat with vegetables. His heart must have exploded. He quickly prompted that wasn't an option. Then he said this was only his 3rd day on the job(how the hell would he know if that's not possible). He even came up w a lame story saying "someone else just asked for that and they couldn't accommodate them". My wife baffled stated "you guys don't have a cheese option and I have to pay for the meat. Just add the vegetables". The server stood his ground and said that was not an option. He said she could order a side of veg and request no meat. Ok fine. We did that. So we still paid for a full price quesadilla(w no meat) and had to pay for a side of vegetables that the cooks wouldn't add to quesadilla. Finally our food came out. We still did not have utensils even after we asked him for utensils. I had to grab them off another empty table. Our server said they were still cleaning utensils. Overall it was a horrible dining experience. They are not accommodating and their food menu sucks. Oh I forgot to mention the table top and menus look like they have not been cleaned since 1987. The place is gross and I would suggest anyone go there. If you do, you've been warned and be prepared to be grossed out. Restaurant appearance: dirty Service: mediocre Food: very mediocre and thoughtless We will avoid at all cost read more

I think we will pass the next time and go to Taco Bell. 45 minute wait for "fast food" Mexican. Our waitress spilled a drink on us and never cleaned it up. The bathroom floors were so wet you had to try NOT to fall. When you have to advertise every few miles for 100 miles that should tell you something . Go on yelp for other suggestion and drive by this tourist trap. read more

By far the worst place I have ever sat down to eat!!!! It's like an old low budget bad movie... It was so bad that all 4 of us just left and I'm writing this review to stop anyone from wasting your time or money... We left all our food.. The lady that served us was very present but that's all... Oh and if you need to was your hands the restroom are a mess.... South of the border had let its self go it should be called ghost town ..... read more

Sombrero Restaurant - This looks ok but by far the worst food ever... No flavor no taste and old tasting too - Mexican Near Me - Hamer, South Carolina

Is not a true authentic Mexican restaurant. There is it's enough Mexican restaurant to cause you to stay but there is also lots of "American" food (burgers, chicken fingers...). There are no Mexican options for kids but they all liked their grilled cheese & chicken tenders. We really wanted queso but they didn't have any. We did have chips & salsa. It was fine. The chips were from a bag & slightly stale & the salsa was from a jar. I got the chicken quesadilla...it was massive. Again, it was fine. It wasn't cold like some reviewers claimed. It had some flavor but nothing to write home about. The service was great! The waitress was really nice & the food came out quickly. I don't think I would return but it was right on point with most fast food. Not great but not horrible read more

This place is Trash. How do you mess up a burger. And there is nothing Mexican about this food what so ever. They need to rename this place or fix the food. Never coming back here ever. I'd rather get something from Mc Donald's instead. Thanks. read more

Has so much potential looks decent from afar but you will hickory realize when you enter it's pretty crappy. There were flys everywhere, our waitress was rude and the food was terrible. Out of 4 meals and a salad bar thing, the best food of all was my 2 year olds chicken tenders... read more

Service was on point! Holly was very sweet and attentive. The steak was alright, however would not recommend the tacos or chimichanga. The quesadilla was probably the best. Chips where good as well.!! Overall not an overwhelmingly good experience but not bad either. I probably would come back. read more

There should be a no star option for a review. We waited atleast 10mins to get seated knowing the fact that the restaurant isn't packed. The service took over an hour, almost 2 hrs.Their margarita had a piece of like pet hair on top of the cherry. I returned and told the waitress it has hair and showed it to her,after 10mins the bar tender delivered the margarita back without the cherry garnish and she asked what's wrong with it?she was rude, I told her about the thing, no apology at all she just left.She obviously just removed the cherry on it bec the glass still had the cherry syrup dripping on the side. Now let's go to our food, French fries was really cold and soft, chicken salad sandwich was so bland, wings aren't really wings,they're all drumsticks.All in all,our experience was terrible. read more

Sombrero Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Hamer, South Carolina

i went here to get something to eat with my family. We had to wait a whole 10 minutes for our food to come. There was MOLD on the wall and bugs! The fries I ordered was cold and I asked for ketchup but they said they were out of bottles of them. I asked for a sweet tea and the tea wasn't sweet AT ALL! BAD PLACE. NEVER VISIT HERE. read more

To purchase a soup and salad for $13, I would at least expect a sizable selection. Not the case. Better off driving another 50 miles, getting a motel and eating at Denny's. Not at all appealing. read more

No free chips and salsa. I think I could've had better beans if I just opened a can from the grocery store. The french fries in my daughters kids meal we're not even good. I asked for some salsa they gave me pacontie sauce in a little to go container. I would not recommend this place to anyone read more

You are way better off going to Taco Bell... unless you would like a quesadilla that tastes like it was microwaved. The server was very friendly but I honestly feel bad that she has to work there.. I highly recommend that you don't eat here. read more

So we walk in and I check out the salad bar. Flies everywhere. We sit down and check out the menu. Our waitress is quite rude when we ask for soda water. "What is that" "we don't have it" but very rudely. We decide we don't want to stay and dine in so we ask if we can get it to go. "Listen, we don't do that. You can go to tamales if you want take out" we are exhausted and just drove for the whole day. So we order and ask for take out boxes immediately. She waits about 10 minutes to bring us the check. We leave with our food. My tuna salad sandwich was tiny and on burnt toast. Good thing I didn't eat anymore of it because it did not sit well with my stomach. read more

Our server/bartender Melissa was great and a total sweetheart but an older woman there was so nasty to me and my friend. We were the ONLY customers between the bar and restaurant and were spending a lot of money and she screamed ya because we said the f word when talking within ourselves. Will not be back! I believe she was a manager and was truly rude about it and unprofessional. Good luck making money read more

After reading all these reviews I was skeptical to try this place but I gave it a shot and I was not disappointed at all of course being Hispanic I knew I wasn't going to get authentic Mexican food in South Carolina so I didn't have high expectations for that. Me and my husband had the grilled salmon with Mexican rice and mixed veggies and it was delicious. Our waitress was great very attentive the food took about 15 min to come out but definitely worth the wait. The restaurant it self is very Mexican Style so the decor and ambiance was to meet my expectations. Overall I had a good experience here and would recommend. read more

If anything, the Sombrero is worth a visit to check out the old-skool decor and nostalgia. This is probably one of the last pieces of vintage roadside history you'll see in a long time, all the way down to the tile floors that resemble busted up triangles and trapezoids, and a massive, oval, gold plated salad bar, complete with several types of jello. Nobody does jello anymore! Keep in mind that the Sombrero is the original restaurant that was built back when the property was just a beer depot in the 50s. The food has been great on the three visits I've had over the years. I've done burgers, hot dogs, and a few burrito platters. You'll find the Mexican fare a bit more authentic than some of the other eateries at the complex. Not too expensive, and the portions are reasonable. Definitely worth it, just keep in mind it's a full service restaurant and not fast food, check out the Hot Tamale for that. read more

Honestly I think many of the reviews here are people with unreasonable expectations or who came to the restaurant looking for something to complain about. The service was friendly and quick and all the food for breakfast was perfectly good. The place was very clean and the prices reasonable. You're eating at a restaurant with plaster pigs in front of it... temper your expectations for that. read more

The place was empty and they could not get a nachos and cheese correct. There was another family that tried to order and it was is not correct. I also heard the waitress said this is not a Mexican restaurant but it serves Mexican food. They're playing Mexican music and a bunch of articles that screams Mexico. What is that about? Don't bother read more

Should have read the reviews before stopping here. In brief, food was passable, but service ridiculously slow. Restaurant was quiet, and seemed amply staffed, but it still took a half hour for our food to arrive after ordering. One would think that a glorified highway reststop restaurant like this would understand that most of its clientele are in a hurry to eat and get back on the road again. There must be better options close by along I 95. read more

I give them a solid 4 stars for food. Good basic Mexican fare. The cleanliness factor, service & price gets a 5 star. We had a fantastic waitress at the very end of her day and the food came out fast. I wouldn't hesitate to stop here again for a meal. My family appreciates this classic, unique part of roadside America. Hope they are around for another 70 years! read more

DONT DO IT! The worst restaurant experience I've EVER had. After driving straight through from Pennsylvania, my family and I were starving! We checked into a hotel room (which, btw, was just as disappointing) and headed over to the Sombrero Restaurant, because it was the closest food to us. We walked in, no one to be found. So we seated ourselves. There were only 2 other family's there. We watched a waitress come to one of their tables and take their order, then disappear again. Over 20 minutes later, a different waitress brings out their food. We flagged her down and asked if we would be receiving service. She apologized for the wait and took our drink order. ANOTHER 20 MINUTES PASSED BEFORE WE EVEN GOT OUR DRINKS. When she did finally bring our drinks, she threw straws down on the table that were completely soaked! I asked for new ones, and she huffed at me, throwing dry straws down on the table. she told us someone else would be out to take our food order. Another extremely ridiculous wait. We were sure to let the waitress know how we felt about the service we had received so far. She didn't even offer an apology, just an excuse that she had to take a "mandatory 30 minute break" even though we had seen her less than 10 minutes ago. We ordered, and as you could have guessed, waited FOREVER! In that time, We watched 2 other sets of customers seat themselves, then get up and walk out because no one ever came to serve them! Another woman walked out of the rear seating area and was yelling at a staff member who was rolling silverware because, according to her, they had been seating for over 20 minutes and not seen any waiters! All of our drinks were empty when they finally brought the food, and no refills were ever offered. We were never even given silverware. The burgers weren't cooked, and the orders were all wrong, and extremely un-appetizing. Needless to say, we had had enough. We stood and loudly announced that we would not be staying, or paying, for our meal. The staff went and got their manager, who apologized once, and rang up our drinks. We did not pay for the food, and we made sure to let the manager know how we truly felt about our service. After driving all day, and going in to eat at 8:30, we ended up at the Waffle House for dinner at 11 o'clock at night. I will NEVER EVER be returning to ANY PART of South Of The Border!!! read more

Sombrero Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Hamer, South Carolina

Awful all over. Service was slow and wait staff were rude. Place was lit poorly, dirty and bathrooms smelled bad. Food was mediocre at best. Do not go here. read more

This is a warning, the food and the service is awful, relies on first time customers to survive, the only Mexican thing about this place is the stereotypical music. read more

Ate with family on 2 July 2017. The service was ***HORRIBLE***!!!! Our server was not much of any help. She barely came over to see if we were alright. It took an HOUR to get our food, which was a Hot dog, Quesadilla, and 2 Tacos. The server did not come over explain the hold up. In that hour time frame, we only received 1 refill on our drinks. And once the food came out after that HOUR. The order was wrong. And when they corrected the mistake with the order. We got our opportunity to eat and the food was not good at all. It was very Bland and didn't taste fresh. It tasted like left overs. I will not recommend this establishment to anyone. Like others said in their comments, take pictures and go to the gift shops. But do not eat at Sombrero restaurant. read more

This is awesome the service is amazing Betsy our waiter was amazing if you're in South of the Border stop by here

I gave this restaurant a star because I couldn't give it a lower rating!! There was a sign that said please wait to be seated but there was no hostess at the entrance. Finally we were seated and 15 passed and no one ever came to get our drink order I kindly ask a waitress to get our server as we had been waiting for 15 mins. 10 mins later still no one had come to our table... I got up and asked for the manager! The manager in formed me that they didn't know we hadn't been helped! We continued to wait and no one ever helped us! Such a waste of time... we waited a total 30 mins! Service is horrible! Ended up leaving and going somewhere else! read more

Don't eat here. Stop here for the experience and buy a keychain or magnet in the shop then keep moving. Disgusting.

Is there a zero star option? No...then one star. The nicest thing about this place were the hand painted sinks in the bathroom. That's it. If u can manage to wait the half hour for your server then another 15 minutes for drinks then another 15 minutes for the food then "only god knows how long" for the food...then I guess you're a stronger person than me. We only made it as far as the sodas and nachos which were about on par with an old bag of stale Tostitos. The cokes were good tho...Didn't make it to the food once the 50 minute mark hit and we were still waiting....we walked out. If you're brave enough to try, God bless and god speed. read more