Mad Mex – University City

Prices are fair and the food is ALWAYS great (especially the «Gobblerito» — on the menu around Thanksgiving). I’ve visited many times and have never had a bad meal. The happy hour, 4:30 — 6:30 on week days, is a great deal. You should show up early if you want a table or a seat at the bar. It gets VERY crowded very quickly.
There is quite a bit of seating so it’s good for a date or a larger group of people. Knocking a star because of the environment. They tend to play pretty loud music, louder than most restaurants/​bars. On one occasion I had to shout at my boyfriend across the table and couldn’t even hear him because the people next to us were (understandably) shouting as well.
Overall, a decent place to eat with friendly and efficient staff. We’ll continue to drop by for drinks and dinner.

So many mixed feelings about this place. I love the food and I love the specials. Great specials for students and regular specials are awesome. I want to love these margaritas so bad but they are so hit or miss. There is times when I’m tipsy half way through, and there are times when I feel like I’m just drinking juice. Regardless, they have my favorite wings and I love the jersey chips as well. The food, the price, and the location are what saves this place. However, I wish they were more consistent in the margarita department. I’m really only doing 4 stars because I love the wings that much!

Got the $ 7 big azz margarita and it is actually pretty huge. I’m very sensitive to bitter drinks so this was perfect for me. I got the strawberry slushy margarita.
I also got (true to my nature) the vegetarian enchilada which was really good. It was mainly stuffed with Portobello mushrooms and if I wasn’t such a fan of it, it would have really been overwhelming.

Mad Mex is a chill place to begin your night. I’ve gone with friends about twice, with similar experiences both times.
The margaritas live up to their name and are HUGE. The food, decent at best, but they serve pretty large portions, especially their nachos. You can always expect a large, diverse crowd here. Only negative was for a Friday night, the music was an odd, mellow choice. I was hoping for a bit of a more pumped up music environment in the Philly bar scene.

Beware of the lame manager, Kevin, who threatened to throw me out as I was leaving anyway for asking questions. He claimed I was threatening and harassing him. He’s about 6′, I’m 5’1. Puzzy. I complained to their corporate office and they are looking into discipline which I doubt will happen.

Slid in here with fellow Unilocaler and friend, Kenisha E. Happy Hour is from 430 – 630 and if you dont get there at 430, you’ll be grabbing a table because the bar stays packed and doesn’t more than 10 – 15 people. We arrived at around 5ish, saw the packed bar and opted for a table.
The atmosphere here is super dark, need a flashlight to see what’s in your purse. It’s loud with college kids, but not super annoying. There’s a chalkboard full of drafts, craft beer and margarita options. I’m not entirely sure if the taps are rotated but it’s a decent list. They also have tons of various tequilas. I’ve been here a handful of times but haven’t tried any tequila. Simply because-​one tequila, two tequila, three tequila FLOOR…
There was no wait time for our table, seated immediately. Because we were not seated at the bar, I asked the server if happy hour specials were only for the bar area. I do this in any restaurant I go to because a lot of restaurants only extend happy hour specials to the bar and the lounge area. Good for us, because happy hour was for everyone. They have about 6 – 7 flavors of margaritas. I ordered a strawberry and Kenisha had a Black Cherry. Word to the wise, if you dont like stronger drinks, drink water. Okay? Okay. Only specials they have for HH, are half priced bone-​in wings and $ 3,$ 5 and $ 7 margaritas. Which was fine with us because that’s what we wanted.
We decided to go with the large order of San Francisco wings seasoned with red pepper, garlic and honey and an order of Jersey Chips which came with a ranch dip and a Queso, I believe.
I love a good wing. Seriously, but these San Francisco wings just tasted like regular buffalo wings and for me, a bit overcooked. I found myself doing a lot of crunching on them. Not horrible, but I was really hoping those flavors of honey and garlic would shine through. The Jersey Chips were hot and crispy waffle fries. The dips were great. That Queso was spicy. Before our food arrived, the server set down some salsa and chips. Kenisha and I looked strangely at each other because neither r of us ordered them. We let the server know and he said we could keep them, free of charge. Nice! Spicy salsa too!
Check comes and we split it. I looked again because I saw not one, not two but THREE types of TAX on the bill. There was a 10% Philly Drink Tax, 6% sales tax and a 2% Philly Tax. I’ve never seen or heard of a philly drink tax. Unless, in all these years of drinking, I’ve never paid attention to my checks. Which isn’t true. I know Philly tax is 8%, so perhaps they separated the sales and philly tax? Idk. Just seems that the bill was basically taxed 18%.idk, weird. Otherwise, we had a good time. I’ll be back for margaritas.

[ Yay for this being my 100^th review ]
(6 /​100)
I love lady dates with Camay. Mad Mex has happy hour from 4:30 — 6:30 and we decided to partake in ½ price drinks and appetizers. Because of its location, this restaurant serves a lot of college students. That’s not a problem for me. I’m a fan of cheap and tasty eats.
We asked our server what the specials were and he told us that the bone in wings were ½ off and the big azz (their lingo, not mine) 16 ounce margaritas were a mere $ 5 during HH. I started with the black cherry. The bartenders are Mad Mex are NOT stingy with the liquor and I am a FAN! The margaritas were absolutely delicious.
We ordered a large (14) order of wings and an order of waffle fries. A few minutes after placing our order, our server placed an order of chips and salsa down at the table. We didn’t order these — no worries. Once we got the server’s attention he just told us that he’d comp them. Ohhh yeahh baby! Who doesn’t like free food?
I ordered another margarita about 10 minutes before the HH specials stopped, this time I got Sangria and I really enjoyed that flavor as well. We asked for the check and we were confused by the 3 separate taxes that we were charged for. Camay and I joked that we would start a thread about it.
I’d definitely come back here again.

I came for some late night happy hour, which includes the famous $ 7 big AZZ margaritas. 22 ounces of frozen or iced margarita for $ 7 is a pretty good deal, and they don’t skimp on the alcohol.
Food is average, and overall a nice place to share your average (but huge) nachos and wings. I would take coming here over new deck any day.
Service is kind of a mess though. The first time we ordered a round of water for our group of 8 our server only brought us TWO. The second time we asked, she brought us another 2. When I asked to order a margarita she rudely told me no because I had already ordered a beer… which I hadn’t. One of our food orders didn’t come out until we reminded our server 3 times and everyone else had already finished their food.

I do really really love Mad Mex. The food is great, and yes duh the Big Azz Margs are amazing too! I will advise that you should come here in the summer or winter because there are SO many college kids that clog up the works.
Sorry to hate on the students but they can be really frustrating. However, if you go for the late night happy hour, you will get a good group of locals rather than students.
If you sign up for their email list you will get a free lunch and a free burrito for your birthday!

I almost loved Mad Mex. They have good food. Their chimichanga is fantastic. The guacamole kicks ass. The prices are right, too. And, the they have a respectable bar with great margaritas and a good set of drink specials.
The downside is that one of the two times that I’ve been there, it took well over an hour to get our food. Our waitress kept coming back to our table to apologize about the wait. She was really nice about it. The manager came to apologize and to explain that the chef was working with a couple of new cooks that night and that the kitchen had wound up in disarray. They wound up comping the appetizer that we order, bringing us another one for free, and comping our drinks, too… All completely voluntarily (we hadn’t specifically complained, mostly because they recognized the problem on their own and beat us to addressing it). They did a model job dealing with the problem, which, since we weren’t in a rush, mostly redeemed the experience. But, we still had to wait well over an hour.
I expect to go back, and if I have a couple of visits that are like that one but without the wait for food, I’ll move it firmly onto my list of preferred restaurants, but I’m not quite there yet. If you spend a lot of time in that neighborhood, I think that it’s definitely a place to try sometime… But, I can’t, at this point, recommend it if you’re not prepared to wait for your food for a long time.

Having been before, I can honestly say their wings are pretty hard core, left my lips tingling… they have a great tap list, which includes many beer louvers go tos, ie dog fish 60, bells two hearted, sly fox, troegs the list goes on.
Come here with friends, enjoy yourself and the beers. also don’t forget they have amazing tequila listed that rivals some mexican cantinas I have been to.

3.5 stars-​Convenient location, enjoy the décor and vibe, the staff is always friendly, and the music playlist is always on point w/​a little something for everyone. The food is always teetering between average and tasty nothing that I have had (or anyone that I ever go with) that will knock your socks off just yet. The wings are pretty good and the nachos are huge! And come with all of the fixings, I did enjoy them but I have had better of course. I definitely recommend checking it out and they have great drink specials which I have yet to partake in but hear good things about.

Love their pickadippa, the beer selection, the wings and the happy hour specials. Service is generally very good. They make a great jalapeño margarita and ‘pensatucky fried tofu’. Their salads are good and fresh. Tortilla soup is just ok. Love their outdoor seating (when the weather permits)
By no fault of the restaurant, it’s generally overrun with college students (hazard of the location, I guess) so the place is pretty crowded pretty often. If you’re looking for something quiet or intimate, this isn’t the spot for you.

Great restaurant and finally got my fix for Mexican food.
Delicious salsa and dips: Pickadippa (XX Cheese dip, Guacamole, Pineapple habanero salsa) –YUM we practically inhaled this while waiting for our main dishes
I highly recommend ordering the Barbacoa tacos! The meat was extremely juicy and flavorful. it was a bummer I had to share that plate.
Super Mad Mex burrito tasted good but don’t order it if you can’t stand eating burritos w a fork and knife. It was too big and soft to hold up with your hands so we didn’t have a choice but to use utensils.

Used to go here all the time in college. Loved getting the student discount or late night discount on their «Big Azz Margaritas.» Since graduating I’ve been back several times with my wife. We had an honest discussion after our last visit which started something like «Honey, why do we keep coming here?»
At one point, we must have had some good experiences that made us always say «Aw yeah!!» when someone would ask «Want to go to Mad Mex?» But every time we go, we never really enjoy the food, and the margaritas just aren’t quite as good as we expect. Maybe our tastes have changed, but it feels like the food quality has gone down over the years. I usually order the Chimi or a Wing-​o-​rito and it always seems overcooked and lacking on the protein. The one thing we still like is the Pick-​a-​dippa with Queso, Guacamole, and Pico de gallo.
We’ve sort of tired out on all the entrees, though, (which is the main point of coming for dinner) so have decided we probably won’t come back here anymore.

Craving a huge margarita? Mexican food? But also want wings? This is your place… Their Mexican food is decent, but the strawberry margarita and the wings are my favorites here!
The strawberry margarita has a lot of flavor and their honey chipotle wings are SO good! My roommate and I would come here late at night just for that
Other things that you should definitely try here is the blue corn bread, and the Mexican brownie with ice cream (both are so savory and delicious!)
Now that I moved back to Hawaii, I still find myself craving mad mex so definitely try this place out if you are in the area! (Go late at night for happy hour. About 11pm)

Alright. One extra star goes to the raspberry frozen margarita — nom.
The first mistake this Irish-​girl-​living-​in-​Texas made? Going to a Mexican restaurant anywhere outside of Texas.
I am horrified to note that chips and salsa aren’t standard. When you so much as put your name down on the list for a table in TX they hand you a bucket of chips’n’salsa. Here, you had to order them as an appetizer. What gives Philly?
Secondly, I ordered Fajitas — hard to go wrong, right? Uhm. I guess all of the pieces were there, and they weren’t terrible, but they just didn’t quite go together like fajitas should. I was sorely disappointed here!

We were pleasantly surprised by the food at mad Mex!
We stopped by during the summer to sit out on the patio and have drinks. We thought the pull of this place would mostly be the atmosphere. We ended up ordering dinner and I absolutely loved the seasonal crab quesadilla. My husband had a Carnitas burrito and it was delicious. I was expecting The food to be heavy and flavorless (given that this is near a college) but instead I found it tasty and well-​balanced!
Also, who can beat a $ 3 margaritas?!?
Our waitress was fabulous out on the patio. Overall a great experience!

CROWD CONTROL CROWD CONTROL CROWD CONTROL
Apparently this place is really popular with the local college students and it was PACKED but the way the front door system works is ineffective and I am assuming some type of fire hazard.
There were a lot rude college students, but that is not really the fault of the restaurant.
They have a text notification system for when your table is ready which is kind of cool. Once we went back into the restaurant and sat down. The music is blasting so loudly that it’s hard hard to have a conversation with the person sitting next to you. Though I will concede that I did enjoy the type of music being played.
As far as the food it was decent. Nothing extraordinary or ground breaking. A popular item is the late night happy hour with «extra large» margaritas. In my humble opinion just taste like juice with very light alcohol if any.
Our server was pleasant and attentive considering the crowd.
Overall not a terrible spot, but not a place I would go again on a friday night.

Just had to hit up Mad Mex after watching Mad Max! Caught the happy hour — when the bar is usually quite busy, but it’s empty (ah, glorious silence. no manbrodudes with popped collars or catty hair twirlers) for the holiday weekend.
Decent beer selection that covers the guzzlers (Miller Lie 4.2%) to the sippers (Spring House Big Gruesome 8%)
We’ve had the wings (half off during happy hour) and Barbacoa nachos — both yum!