Mexican Cafe
Cuisine: Mexican, A La Carte, Desserts / Bakeries
Auckland Central
Auckland City 09-373 2311
Hours:
- Lunch: Mon – Fri 12 Noon – 4pm
- Dinner: Mon – Sun from 5pm
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Facilities/Features:
- Business Dining
- Children's Menu
- Great View
- Live Music
- Out Catering
- Private Dining Room
- Private Functions
- Private Parties
- Payment Types: EFTPOS, Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, Diners
- Price Range: Moderate, $15 - $25
- Dress Code: Casual
- Alcohol: Beer, Wine, Spirits, Cocktails
- Seating for: 140
- BYO/Corkage: No BYO
- Parking: Pay, Pay & Display
- Good For Groups: Yes
- Good For Children: Yes
- Takeaways: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Dietary Restrictions: Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free, Gluten-free
- Wheelchair Accessible: No
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Meals: Lunch, Dinner, Late Night, Dessert
The Mexican Cafe was established in 1983 and has since become an institution in Auckland and beyond. The restaurant offers food, drinks, entertainment and atmosphere – something for everybody to enjoy and a place where people can just be themselves. It is a unique ambience that stimulates all the senses and transports you to another world. Of course our customers also contribute to the atmosphere at the Mex and no two nights are ever the same. Upbeat or laid back, it’s what you make of it.
While the atmosphere may change one thing that always stays the same is the consistency & quality of our food. We offer more than 40 dishes seasoned with the taste of Mexico and Southern California. Most of the spicy dishes can be adjusted to suit the individual.
Our outside deck often provides a more restful atmosphere where you can enjoy dinner in the balmy night air of summer or the warmth from the heaters in winter, as well as an amazing view of the magnificent Sky Tower across the road, weather permitting.
Our traditional cantina style bar is just the place to meet friends for a snack and a Margarita, or a place to chill out should you need to wait for a table. We offer over 80 different Tequilas, 18 beers (including Mexican beers), 35 wines, an exciting house cocktail list and, of course, the expertise and ingredients to create almost any cocktail you wish.
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29 Reviews for Mexican Cafe
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Every single time myself and my friends eat here it’s the same thing – the rice is DRY, the beans are cracked and dry, and the main is always average.
The worst part about Mexican Cafe is the service. The service is beyond appalling. I have nearly gotten into a yelling argument with staff here a few times now. They treat their customers like absolute crap – I wish I knew why they think they can get away with treating customers like this. Staff are rude, unhelpful, unfriendly. I went to pay my bill last week and the girl behind the bar said “where were you sitting” I told her, she printed out the receipt and put it on the counter. I looked at it and explained it was the wrong receipt as we had burritos and two margaritas – she rolled her eyes, heaved a huge sigh and screwed up the receipt, printed another reciept (the right one this time) and completely ignored us. Didn’t say “cash or eftpos” didn’t say “hope you enjoyed your meal, thanks for coming” – NOTHING. Totally silent. We said thanks and walked out, nothing.
That was the last straw. Myself and my friends and partner will not be going to the Mexican Cafe any more. I will personally recommend Mexicali Fresh in Newmarket – the food is great, servings are huge, much more affordable, and the staff actually like their job! And the customers! Get it together Mexican Cafe you are losing customers by the day. Something needs to be done as this could be a great place (and it probably once was).
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My husband and I were recently in Christchurch and he recommended us going to the Mexican Cafe there. After I finished rolling my eyes I asked him if he wanted to be treated like rubbish but in a different city. He convinced me to try it and we were impressed to say the least. Staff at the Mexican Cafe in Christchurch should train the staff in Auckland. It was a very busy night but Christchurch staff were very nice and told us ahead of possible delays, kept coming back to check on us and it made all the difference. Great atmosphere, same menu as in Auckland but with staff who do not hate their jobs or the people they serve. In short, if you want to go to Mexican Cafe make sure you go to the one in Christchurch.
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The Auckland Mexican cafe could take some tips from it’s Christchurch branch, which has far better service and a loyal following of regular diners. We will not be having another social gathering here as it is not worth the hassle of getting a group together to go to a restaurant and be treated like second class citizens.
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The great first impression soon went away as the waitress we had seemed to push us too order really quickly. She seemed quite adamant that we hurry and we we’re hungry so we didn’t think much of it.Service here is slightly slow and very casual. We felt that the staff as they were all dressed to casually, and didnt behave very professionally. It really decreased the value of the average $20 main. We also found that everything on the menu seemed to be almost the same as everything else on the menu.
We settled on the steak and chicken enchiladas. My steak which was supposed to be medium rare came more rare than medium but i was too hungry to bother. There was also a lot of fat on it and a bit too much salsa on top. The enchiladas were quite nice, but still not amazing.
Sarah had the chocolate cake for dessert, and I just had a beer as the dessert menu didn’t really appeal to me. Once again the waitress screwed up with my enquiry about the lagers they had, and gave me an answer i completely couldn’t make sense of. The beer was good though, and the cake was very rich and chocolatey.
Back came the waitress, to hurry us away even before i had finished my beer. We got the message and asked for the bill. The price was expected for any restaurant in town, but I didnt think it was reasonable for what it was. Its a good casual place for a few drinks and a quick munch, but it doesnt suit if you want a place to relax and chat, and take your time to enjoy your meal.
Not sure if i will be heading back, not for dinner anyway.
1
So, go for the okay food and the vibe, but drink your Sol at home.
2
There is a nice balcony section but all the tables there were full when we arrived. The staff asked if we wanted to be moved outside when a table became available and I was impressed when they followed up this later on.
My friend’s taco salad was nicely presented and she was pleased with it. I thought my vegetarian enchilada looked a bit limp and unexciting but it tasted ok, though nothing special. It did however seem like the salsa dip was watered down and the guacamole was so bland!
To go with our meal, we ordered a jug of pineapple margherita as it was happy hour and cost only $15. Alas we couldn’t taste the pineapple or the tequila – this too seemed to have been watered down. Most disappointing.
The food quality really didn’t meet my expectations and I’m not sure I would eat there again. It wasn’t awful but it really wasn’t good value for money either. A few more smiles from the bored looking staff might have helped too.
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A bunch of 12 or so of us friends went there for a birthday dinner tonight(so obviously spent a lot of money) and and we were all literally shocked at how rudely we were spoken to and not one of them had a smile on there face… we all left feeling really disappointed(including the birthday girl!) I notice from previous reviews most of the bad ones are about the customer service, so maybe its time they looked at this issue seriously!!!
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i will be going back and will take my american friend with me as she dragged us there in the first place!
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The service was definitely substandard for Auckland. It appeared that customers are a nuisance to be endured. It was not busy, but it was difficult to get refills.
The only way this place could be the best Mexican restaurant in the southern hemisphere is if there were no others. Fortunately, there are others and a few of them are pretty good.
Nathan
ooh and happy hour every day!
The last time i went there with my bf i was very excited about going since I’m Hispanic myself and was looking forward to a nice Mexican meal. Once we got there we waited for few minutes to be seated which was alright. We ordered, i asked if i could change something from my plate and she responded no, they couldn’t since it was premade, which i found upsetting since you would expect to have a fresh meal when you are paying $20+ for a meal. My bf had to get up from the table to ask if we could get a refill on our drink since our waitress hardly ever came around to made sure if everything was OK. Both of our meals were warm to cold instead of hot. We even found it hard to find our waitress since none of them wore a standard uniform.
Once i got home i emailed the Manager to complain about the poor service that we received. i used to work at a Mexican Restaurant that holds more than 150 and may i add every meal that they did was made to order. When i finally heard back from the Manager, sadly i must say he was nice enough to call me back but he was a little bit rude. He even told me that since they do get busy they do have to make all their meals beforehand, so thats why most of the food you will receive will be cold instead of hot.
I personally will recommend a fantastic little Mexican restaurant in Parnell called Hola!! The waitresses are very friendly and all refills are free! so next time you want to try a good Mexican meal with great service i would say go there and check it our for yourself.
UPDATE:
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firstly, i want to point out that i did make one small mistake on what i wrote
“that since they do get busy they do have to make all their meals beforehand, so thats why most of the food you will receive will be cold instead of hot.”
Where i made the mistake in that sentence was “so thats why most of the food you will receive will be cold instead of hot.”
The manager did not say that and i can at least be honest enough to admit that. as to the rest about making meals before hand he did say that.
Now my question to the manager is… You can come one here and correct me from my small mistake in that sentence, but what about the other stuff that i wrote. about service you didnt bother much to clear that up on here. Im not trying to trash your restaurant. Its just my point of view as we do have freedom of speech in this country.
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Reccomendation : Dont go to this resturant unless u like cockroaches
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On a plus, the atmosphere is good for a Saturday night eatery and our Waitresses were very nice.
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The Mexican Cafe is a busy restaurant and on most nights has a waitlist – often up to 45mins/1hr for patrons waiting for a table. The reason behind the tables for diners only is that the bar is cantina stlye and easily accomodates those wanting to have a drink and share snacks.
With a waitlist so long, policies such as these are in place so that everyone can have a place to eat and enjoy the experience.
None of the food is “pre made and popped in the microwave” – yes some of the dishes are prepared at lunch time so some ingredients can not be taken out, but any dish can be altered to suit the spicyness the customer wants.
Although the Mex gets very busy, the wait staff are very friendly and enjoy looking after the customers.
For those that were unhappy I would definately suggest giving it another try
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but a little over-priced if you’re feeling hungry!
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Did you eat at this restaurant? Have an opinion to share?





The service is APPALLING!!! Staff were VERY rude – one of our group ordered chicken enchiladas, and was given a vegetarian one. When she pointed this out to the waiter, she said ‘you ordered vegetarian! and was not very enthusiastic about sorting the problem. Wrong drinks were delivered, jugs of water banged on the table, no please, thank, kiss my ass, nothing.
No effort is put into the presentation of food. It is just slopped on the plate. And the food is very bland, Old El Pasco from the supermarket is more exciting!
On the positive side, when I discovered a shard of glass in my drink, it was replaced in less than 30 seconds, with no apology however.
This place could be much better, all it needs is some effort putting into customer service and presentation, and it could be a very nice place. However, in their current state, I would NOT recommend anyone dine at the Mexican Cafe. No one from our group of 10 will be dining here ever again.