Is it Mexican fare with a side order of nickel and dime? A reader writes…
Last night I decided to call a takeout order in to Mexicali Rose for my girlfriend to pick up on her way home. We ordered two chicken dishes listed on the menu at $10.95 each. The man who took our order told me the price was $29.57. I asked him if the prices went up and he said yes.
Knowing I had a recent menu, I called Allie (my girlfriend) and told her to double check the price when she picks up the order. She looked at the menu when she picked up the order and each dish was still listed at $10.95. She then questioned our total and had the following exchange with two members of Mexicali’s staff:
Mexicali Rose: Those are delivery prices. When you pick up you have to pay in store prices.
Allie: But why should I pay more for take out?
MR: We keep our delivery prices low to be competitive. This is the real price.
Allie: That doesn’t make sense. I’m not taking up a table or using the time of a delivery person.
MR: Well the in store portions are bigger. You are paying for a bigger portion.
(Allie then opens up the bag with two dishes and noticed that Mexicali is now using the cheap smaller aluminum takeout containers compared to the large plastic containers they used in the past)
Allie: There is no way this is a bigger portion. In fact, if anything it is smaller. Besides, are you trying to tell me that you pack up your delivery orders differently than you pack up your take out orders (as she points to a few orders that were bagged up and ready to be picked up or delivered).
MR: $10.95 is the delivery price, not the pick up price.
Allie: Ok, well then I don’t want it anymore.
MR: Ok, we’ll discount for you this time.Have you ever heard of anything so absurd???
That’s pretty hard to top, but of course, it’s brought to you by the same folks that gave us this.
If you order from Tinga in a few weeks a sexy boy will deliver it straight to your door for regular price (tip him well, we are poor).
what is it that he’ll be delivering?
why “in a few weeks”?
Because he just got home and isn’t working yet. And he’ll be delivering handsomeness obviously.
High quality Mexican food
The system doesn’t accept links, so here’s the copy and paste version for a review of Tinga’s fine food:
http://www.artfuldiner.com/tingataqueria.html
You mean they aren’t selling nickel & dime bags at Mexicali?
no. but they are selling illegal sangria at another (unnamed) restaurant and preparing it in the parking lot.
isn’t that enough restarant excitement for you?
Totally absurd!
Takeout prices should equal in store prices, period. Especially if you go to the trouble to pick it up yourself rather than have it delivered.
With an asinine policy like that, I doubt they will be in business much longer. Hey, no biggie. There are plenty of other places to order from in Baristaville.
P.S. Katie, I love the food at Tinga’s but I don’t think they deliver to Verona.
Oh! surprise surprise
The chips & salsa at Tinga are
no charge aka complimentray.
cardboard + tomato sauce = mxicali rose…
we tried it once… and where horrified by the food…
Thest thing about Tinga – after the food and the cute delivery boy – is the fact that the food arrives before you hang up the phone.
I finally stopped using their delivery. Mexicali rose has gone so far down hill. My orders would come wrong, witht he price seemingly made up on the spot. Mistakes took an hour to correct and redeliver.They didn’t care. It was thr owners who made the place, and the new owner’s have broken it.
In the words of Marty Robbins, “El Paso.”
We gave up on Mexicali Rose. We don’t even understand how they are rated the best Mexican food in Essex County. We now go to Senorita’s in Bloomfield. They opened in the past year. The food is good and we think far better than Mexicali, the staff is extremely friendly, and their take-out/delivery is fast and efficient. Plus, they just opened up a bar so if you go there to eat, you can get a very good margarita. Senorita’s in on Glenwood Avenue, right next to the Bloomfield train station.
I second Gregory’s comments. Their food is very good Tex-Mex / Cal-Mex style, and if you ask, they will kick the heat up a notch. Terrific servers, and even though I am not much on frou-frou drinks, their margaritas are nicely balanced, tasty, and relatively inexpensive at $6. Muy bueno.
Mexicali Rose = what happens when uneducated louts somehow have money to spend. It’s a trend in the area lately. See “Red Cheetah” for reference.
Chips at Mexicali Rose are $5 each and they decide not to tell you they just go “you guys want chips?” and thinking they are free everyone says okay.
Mexicali rose has great atmosphere and cheap prices for adequate food. Stop your bitchin’.
Here’s another vote for Senoritas! As a born-and-bred So Cal gal, I was desperate to find real Mexican food when I moved to NJ. Tried Mexicali Rose once, and it was quite possibly one of the worst dining experiences of my life. The food was inedible. I was thrilled when Tinga first opened, occasionally eating there three or four times a week. (Old Mexican food habits die hard). Still visit there and the food is still good, but because of its size, the wait is sometimes long and it always feels cramped.
Senoritas, on the other hand, has never been a problem. The owner and wait staff couldn’t be any nicer, the sangria is great (yes, WITH alcohol, and ahem, not cooked) and the food has been delicious every single time, whether we’ve eaten there or had it delivered. Chips and salsa are free, in-house or with delivery and the prices are the same for both. Delivery is lightening-fast and the food is still hot enough to not require nuke’ing. The restaurant is nicely decorated and the restrooms (for all of you clean-freaks out there) are spotless. Can’t say enough nice things about the place and no, I’m not their publicity person. : ) My family recommends Tacos a la Plancha (with pineapple) and the Enchilada Platter, but I’m in love with the Mexican Stir-Fry. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the perfect takeout meal, and at just under $10.00, worth every penny.
take-out, take-out.
sounds to me like people need to learn how to boil water
We should all get together an agree to ban Mexicali Rose. Call it a “sanction” if you will.
Mediocre food and poor business practice.
I noticed that Senioritas has ceviche on the take out menu, but not on the in-house menu. Why not?
The chile rellanos were excellent, but I was very disappointed that I couldn’t have ceviche too.
Mexicali Rose sucks. Simple as that. And their delivery service is awful – creating the triple insult of lousy delivery service bringing inedible food that is overpriced. The fact that anybody gives them business is a testament to human masochism.
This is ridiculous, absurd, and idiotic. I’ve never thought Mexicali Rose was anything to write home about. This just cements my feelings. Anyone who thinks this is the best Mexican in Essex Co. or NJ should seek help.
Tinga’s is great, as is Toro Loco in South Orange – great food, great service, great drinks, free homemade chips & terrific salsa.
For REAL honest-to-God Mexican food, you can’t beat Los Tapatios in West Orange. What it lacks in atmosphere, it makes up for in authentic Mexican dishes.
Looking forward to trying Senoritas, too!
Senorita’s inBloomfield is a wonderful, affordable, clean, friendly place. I’ve been raving about it since it opened (see Food section).
Another “new Latin” place to check out in Bloomfield is around the corner: Pradito’s. It’s a completely different set-up though. But it’s worth it if you want huge portions of freshly-made, good food!
Senoritas has the same menu as Mexicali Rose–I belive the chef from M.R. is now apart of Senoritas…- Still not ‘true Mexican” though! – More “americanized”.
M.R.’s old owner is of course at Cuban Petes (with the illegal Sangrias)- I will not try because everyone I know says it is not try Cuban Food- It has also been ‘americanized”-And palm trees in CUBA- Since when??- Are owners so afraid we cannot eat the ‘real stuff’? Love GREEK DEIGHTS- TRUE GREEK FOOD! COMPARES WITH ANY OF THE GREEK REST. IN NY CITY! WE NEED TO SUPPORT THE REAL FOOD!
We took kids to Senoritas and found nothing kid friendly: long wait, hot plates, tall drinks without lids, huge portions; and icing on the cake of “not going back” was serving the a beef burrito to the 7 year-old who doesn’t eat meat (she ordered a veggie).
And Mexicali Rose? Went twice, first time (around 10 years ago) they screwed up the order, second time nobody would wait on us, so we left (maybe 8 or 9 years back). We kept wondering how they rated ‘best Mexican food in NJ’……
I heard Cuban Pete’s pretty much boils out the alcohol so you are paying $16 for a pitcher of high-priced coolaid!!…..
I believe there is not a better place in New Jersey than senorita’s. Time and time again their service has been above and beyond good. Iam yet to try everything on the menu and I have been coming here for 5 months at least once a week. By the way I learned that they are “transitioning” to a new spring menu, that’s why the ceviche is only available for delivery as they transition and train the staff on the new menu for dine in. This place is the best thing to happen in Baristaville in 2005, and hopefully they will keep it up for many more years.There is also a new long list of margaritas in the works.
by the way, cinco de mayo will be out of this world!!!
I guess it’s going to be Cinco de Mayo at Senorita’s this year
To begin i will say that i am a former waiter from Mexicali. I’m not here spreading lies and sour grapes. i was honestly appalled by the cheap, shady, bargain basement practices of this restaurant.
However, i also had bills to pay, so i sucked it up and tried to make money. I’m not the kind to talk smack about someone good enough to employ and pay me, but since i dint work there anymore, i have no qualms.
To begin, you all should know that the “honey baked plantains” are actually deep fried.
On the menu, they claim to offer any fish dish with “snapper, Salmon, or grouper.” This is bullshit. They have only salmon and “tilapia,” and you get tilapia whether you order snapper or grouper.
The worst offense, however, is that every last thing in that kitchen is pre cooked. the steaks are seared to something akin to rare in the morning, and thrown back on the grill when you order. the chicken is cooked through in the morning and reheated and given grill marks at night.
look people, Ive seen dinner entrées come out in 4 mins. quick service is one thing, but any steak or chicken dish that takes less than 10 mins to prepare means it WAS NOT COOKED FRESH.
Personally i think its a shame that the new owner (Dan) and current manager (Armando) are running a once proud restaurant into the ground. I implore you all to go to any other Mexican resturant nearby, and show these guys that cheap food, lying to customers, and over charging will only bring you one thing: bankruptcy
Tired of second rate Mexican food? Want the real thing? It’s not hard to make it yourself. If you’d like to learn authentic Mexican cooking, look at these photo essays by an excellent cook in Mexico:
http://rollybrook.com/kitchen.htm
after years of hearing rave reviews about mexicali, we finally went a couple weeks ago. our experience was terrible. armando, the manager, was unforgivably rude, and to put it generously, the food was disgusting. it is far from authentic mexican cuisine and far from the best mexican in the area. if you are staying in montclair, tinga has superior food, superior waitstaff (by far), and much better management. yes, it is small and you may have to wait, but it is worth it.
Does anyone remember how great Mexicali Rose was when Dominick owned it?
Having countless happy memories of Mexicali when he ran the place, it breaks my heart that now it has such a bad reputation. Even more so because everything bad that’s said about it it’s true.
I just hope people remember what it was like before the new owners took over and ruined it. It really did have great food and had a great, fun atmosphere and attentive wait staff.
The last time I ate there—a year or two ago—I ordered one item, which was not prepared as I’d asked it to be, the flavorings had drastically been changed (and I’d dined at Mexicali ever since it first opened, so I know what the menu items originally tasted like), and the wait staff had an attitude.
It’s sad how people can ruin a great thing. I just hope people who’ve been in Montclair for years—as long as Mexicali has been there at least—remember Dominick’s original restaurant and vision, and realize that the disgrace is the fault of the new owners.
Here is a letter i wrote to the local paper a year ago that was never responded to.
A restaurant in Montclair takes advantage of its customers
Hi, my name is Dennis Jamiolkowski and while I don’t live in Montclair, I do frequent many of the fine establishments that your town has to offer. I’m writing because last night several friends and I went to dinner at Mexicali Rose. I’m saddened to inform you that this restaurant goes out of its way to swindle their customers. As soon as we sat down, the waiter asked if our group would “like some chipsâ€. I do not think we were naïve in thinking that such a request would be the equivalent of an Italian restaurant putting bread on the table. Thus, needless to say, we were stunned when the bill came and we learned that these three little baskets of chips, with an even small dish of guacamole and salsa, were an outlandish 7 dollars each.
Now, my complaint isn’t just a case of finding something overpriced. It’s the dishonesty of the situation that needs to be addressed. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the waiters are told to phrase the question in such a way so the customer assumes they are complimentary. He didn’t say “would you like to try our home made guacamole as an appetizer?†At least if it was phrased like that, the customer would at least be suspicious about the nature of this question and could inquire as to what the cost was. Instead, “do you want some chips†clearly is meant to confuse and misguide. The question is asked right as you sit down, and not after you get the menu (note: I’m not even sure if they are on the menu, as their “real†nacho appetizer comes with cheese and is around 5 dollars). I refuse to believe that there is a single person in the entire town of Montclair who would knowingly and willingly pay 7 dollars for a small basket of plain chips. It’s also worth noting that they brought us three baskets at once without ever asking how many we would like.
This practice is an outrageous scam to basically steal money from their customers.
I’ve asked around, and other people I know have also been the victim of this scam. One person actually had the “nerve†to ask the waiter about the bill, and was eventually told by the manager to never come back to the restaurant. In another situation, a friend innocently asked if he could have some sour cream on the side of his entre, only to later find out that it was an additional $2.50
I, for one, will never go back to the Mexicali Rose. I hope that this letter will protect other hard working people in the Montclair Area from being the victim of this vicious practice.
Sincerely,
Dennis Jamiolkowski, esq.
“Another “new Latin” place to check out in Bloomfield is around the corner: Pradito’s” – Where’s Pradito’s? I’ve never heard of it?
On Washington Street. It’s right next to an Indian clothing store Taj Mahal – Washington is at the corner of Lackawanna – by the Farrand Street parking lot.
There is a gem of a Mexican Restaurant in Hasbrouck Heights
It is only open Friday and Saturday nights 4 – 8 pm
Great Authentic food… It is Family Run GREAT PLACE
They operate as a cafe 7 days a week until 3 except Fridays & Saturdays
Check them out online http://www.foodhaven.nopots.com
We ordered delivery from Mex-Rose and the portions were much smaller than in the restaurant and the prices were completely inflated! I’m not sure why they think delivery costs $10 one time – $12 another time – $13 the next…etc.etc!!!! We stopped ordering from them since it’s completely a rip-off and they aren’t consistent with their ‘delivery cost!’
Nothing beats Fiesta Hut in Rutherford or East Rutherford. They’re only open for dinner and closed on Mondays. Excellent, fresh and real Mexican. Its off the Park Street exit on Rte 3 and then pass through all the restaurants on Park St in East Rutherford.
Also, the Mexican place next/attached to Tartuffo on Broad St in Bloomfield is quite good. Went there on a night Fiesta Hut was closed and we were very pleasantly surprised. Great prices at both too.
Senoritas in Bloomfield center is my new favorite place, liquor license, great atmosphere, the food is amazing and the prices are right!!
I just wanted to offer up another vote for Senoritas. It truly is sad to watch the downward spiral of Mexicali Rose. I lived on North Fullerton Street in the late 90′s and my wife (then my girlfriend) used to eat at Mexicali at least once a week. The place had such a cool, comfortable vibe and the food was reasonably priced and nicely prepared. It wasn’t gourmet but it was never intended to be. The last time we tried to have dinner will be the last time ever, due to many of the issues already raised. (Games with pricing, the chips, etc.)
I was going to try out Cuban Pete’s , since Dominic is over there, but I have not heard anything good. What is even more disappointing is the amount of vindictive and nasty behavior or the staff and Dominic himself. (Leftover Mexican ingredients dumpted all over some poor ladies car?)
Love love cuban Pete’s, the food is great! You feel like you are eating in the carribean. Try eating outside,it is so cute.
Mexicali Rose only needs to be tried ONCE to know that it is truly terrible food. Quality is bad and have a VERY generic, flat taste. The only reason people go it Mexicali Rose is: 1) Its open or 2) They’ve never been there before.
There is a great new restaurant on Bloomfield Avenue in Verona. “Sonny’s on the Avenue” Great Italian food, great service, comfortable warm setting!
I was just hanging out with some friends in Hasbrouck Heights N.J.and we were all craving some authentic Mexican. My friend remembered a new spot on the boulevard Food Haven which doubles for a Mexican place on Friday and Saturday nights. The food was fantastic and the prices were resonable we’ve just found our new local Mexican spot. Be advised they are not fancy but they are nice with a pretty big selection and the food is fresh this is key. I recommend anyone to try it out.