Marianito’s Extreme Tex-Mex Grill

1 star… Food Network you are 2 for 2 with restaurant favorites. Don’t know that we can trust your judgment any longer. The appetizers were very bland and unimpressive. We had their version of jalapeño poppers and regretfully even the jalapeño had no flavor. The fried pickles were pickle spears and personally I eat pickles every day but these were a bitter, extremely salty and mushy choice. The cheese sticks were just that. But that’s not what we came for! We came for the Extreme Chicken Fried Steak since we are traveling we had planned it out weeks in advance since we, like most Americans, are on a budget. Using a compilation of Google and Food Network we chose them. After we orders the chef came out and told us he had medical issues and did not get his meat order in this week so no chicken fried steak so we each ordered something. Monte Cristo for 3 of us and I had the Coyote beef fajita burrito. Meat was tough and rice tasted like it was from one of those 99 cent frozen dinners. I managed to choke down a quarter of it and the Monte Cristo was okay but just okay.
The waitress was very good and the chef comped our appetizers. The best part of our meal was not having to pay for the appetizer.
Food Network, shame on you for steering us wrong twice in a row!

We noticed all the bad reviews before coming here, but we can’t rely solely on online reviews so we gave it a shot. We were wrong, we should have listened. We ordered queso dip for our nachos, never got it. When we got our food we told them that we didn’t want it anymore. Before we got here, we saw their Facebook page advertising mashed potatoes, green beans, and Mac & cheese. When my wife tried to order them, they said no. She said their only sides were fries and onion rings, nothing else. Later on we saw other people eating mashed potatoes and Mac & Cheese. I ordered 2 Miller Lites and my wife ordered a margarita cause the sign next to us said they were on happy hour until 8p, it was 7pm. Our waitress forgot the take out box also, very forgetful. When we finally got our bill, they charged us almost $ 8 for the margarita, sign said $ 3, and almost $ 4 for the beers a piece, sign said $ 2. Our waitress said that was a sign for next door at the 151 saloon. The sign said nothing about that and I took a picture of it. Complete false advertising! Instead of trying to fix it, all we got were apologies and excuses, but still had to pay the entire amount. Aside from bad service and false advertising, the food is actually good. Compliments to the chef but nobody else, will not return!

Checked out all of the bad reviews before walking in, so I was weary. We started off with queso, which wasn’t filled up to the rim when we got it. It was good but for $ 5.95, I’ve gotten bigger servings of queso, although it’s a good amount for 2. I ordered the Acapulco burger and my friend got the Marianito’s plate with beef enchilada.
When my food came out, a classic burger came out instead, noticed no guac, so we had the other waitress bring it back to the kitchen for us. The cook put together an entirely new burger for me pretty quickly with a beef patty considerably larger than the first burger I got, so that was nice. Her food was alright, not the best enchilada in the world but u know, Tex-​mex. She didn’t touch her rice, so I tried it & definitely nothing to brag about.
I ran out of tea before getting a refill, & I’m the person that will stop eating if my drink is empty. So that sucked.
At the end, ordered fried cheesecake with strawberries. Delicious. Perk of the entire experience. Literally went from 2 stars to 3!
Service was… Ok. it even seemed kind of like a busy time for the staff since it was dinner time. One thing, though. I don’t like when waiters/​waitresses hover & talk but please, at least be aware if your customer needs more drink.
As bad as everyone’s reviews? No. Overpriced? Yes.

We’re just visiting SA for the week and bought a Groupon. On the plus side it was 5 minutes from Sea World and we were starving after walking all over the park. The waitress was friendly and efficient. They were pretty slow for the time we went in late afternoon and the food didn’t take too long to come out. However, we were baffled by all their signs about being featured on the Food Network. The tortilla chips tasted like they came from a bag, the salsa tasted like it came from a jar, and the fajita meat tasted like it came from the frozen food aisle. None of it seemed original or fresh in anyway. Big disappointment.

Went during a rare 1 hour lunch break. I sat down at a table at approx. 12:07pm and wasn’t served until 12:39pm. I ordered a plate of 2 cheese enchiladas, and an extra crispy beef taco. The waiter was very nice, but I never saw him again until after I was served. I had to ask another waiter about my order. She came back and said just another second. The table of 3 young men next to me hadn’t been served yet, and they were already seated when I arrived!!! Once the food came, it wasn’t worth the wait or price. I ordered the lunch special for $ 8.95 which included tea. I paid for the extra taco, so my bill was $ 11.25. I paid a tip of $ 2.75 to even the pay to $ 14.00. I shouldn’t have given that much for a tip, but I felt bad for the waiter because it likely wasn’t his fault. And there wasn’t a huge crowd. I was expecting to eat from the buffet, but it’s not served on Mondays. The food is typical Mexican fare. Nothing special, and I always enjoy better service and quality at one of the Jalisco taquerias. Likely won’t be back unless invited for lunch and someone pays for me.

Unfortunately 1 star is too much. Poor service. We sat outside on the only clean table. The other outdoor tables were dirty for the longest time, birds were flying all around eating the leftovers. The server had a great personality but we saw her only a couple of times. We waited 2 hours for our food. It’s wasn’t worth waiting for. Such a huge disappointment bc with the previous owners, it was exactly the same. Thought it would be different but it wasn’t. I won’t ever eat there again and you shouldn’t even try it. No wonder they had a Groupon…

I felt like writing this after seeing there have been a large amount of negative reviews lately. I’m afraid some of it is accurate, and most likely the result of growing pains.
I’ve been coming to Marianito’s for a few years now. The old location was on Bandera, and it was a very small restaurant. There were probably only ten tables. There was usually only one waiter, and the Chef’s wife at the cashier. You could actually see Chef FX making the food in the small kitchen behind the tables. Service was quick, and the food was always outstanding and done right. This is why Food Network must have been interested.
Things seemed to have changed a little since the move to Westover Hills.
The first time I met the Chef’s wife, she did come across as a little flat and distant. After getting to know her, I assure you she is a nice and caring person. However, not everyone has a bright and cheery personality, especially around strangers, that is needed for excellent customer service. Since Marianito’s has grown, I would suggest letting the waiters handle payments, like most bigger restaurants do. This would free up the Chef’s wife to handle other responsibilities, and not be stressed with customer service.
Next, I have interacted a few times with the Hostess/​Lead waitress at the new location. While she seems nice, I didn’t feel like she had any sense of urgency to take care of our needs. I noticed her walking around slowly, and laughing with other waiters, instead of rushing to seat guests or refill drinks. I wonder how much experience she has with being a manager. As I’m writing this, I’m also wondering how much of this Chef Fx is aware of…
We last went to eat at 7pm on a Saturday night. It appeared to be a fairly busy night. We were only a party of two, and were seated immediately. After being seated, I quickly became worried when our waiter had not came by the table after five minutes. But luckily, he arrived about two minutes after that. We both ordered the House Tea (which has always been very good) and chips with queso. The waiter went and got the tea and queso, and returned within five minutes. He then took our order around 7:15pm. I got the Chicken fried Chicken, and my girlfriend got the Cheese Enchiladas. The food arrived around 7:40pm. So it took about 25 minutes. The food was good in my opinion. The chicken was extra crispy and the gravy was hot and tasty. (My other favorite thing to eat is the chimichangas.) We had finished eating around 8pm, and then had to sit there for another ten minutes until the waiter brought us our bill. Our waiter was a nice guy, but I felt he should have brought us the ticket a lot quicker than that.
So overall, a little less than 1 ½ hours for a meal on a Saturday night.
Overall, I think service is getting better. But they still have a long way to go. I believe part of their move to the bigger location, was out of necessity… and now Chef Fx is trying to catch up.
For those that say their food was not up to par, I would imagine that the same problems at the front of the restaurant, are occurring in the kitchen as well. They must be getting overwhelmed and the Chef is delegating to other cooks.
I hope they will continue to improve, and I can write another review next year, about how great this place has become. :)

This place was embarrassing. I took my boyfriend for some Burgers and as soon as walked in through the door something smelled like urine and dirty wet towels. I should told him we could leave at that point but I had already bought a groupon and we were already there. We both got burgers and the server a older woman got upset and had attitude with me and ripped the first sheet of paper she wrote because I forgot to ask her for no onions and she actually said to me“you should’ve told me I wouldn’t have to re write the order” –_​– seriously how rude! It’s my money and I should get to have it like I want rewritten or not! It’s about the customer satisfaction.
Food was not all that. I think I could’ve made the both of us better burgers at home and I’m not sure if she treated us that way because we are a young couple/​had a groupon but we didn’t get refills and we also didn’t see her until we walked up to the counter to pay! Terrible experience I was embarrassed I even suggested this place for the both of us.

Bad, just bad. Incredibly slow service and average food. The waiter came and took our drink and appetizer order (4 waters and chips and queso). Twenty minutes later (no joke) he came back with a bowl and said «Here’s your cheese.» We got to sit there and look at our bowl of cheese for more than five minutes before he came back with chips and the waters (still not joking, it was probably closer to 10 minutes). He reached over us and put multiple drinks in front of the same person; he was acting more like a busboy than a waiter.
He took our orders and we didn’t see him again until he came out with the meals. Two of the orders were completely wrong. At that point we had been there for well over an hour, and had given up. I had the carne guisada enchiladas. It was poorly seasoned, bland, and not as good as Jalisco enchiladas (but double the price). The tortilla warmer had one (ONE!!!) tortilla in it. I burst into laughter when I saw that.
We had such high hopes of the place, but it was a complete disappointment. Normally I’d say I’ll give this place a second chance but no way I’m indulging the possibility of anything close to that happening a second time. You can’t just slap an «As seen on Food Network» sign on the front door and expect everything else to fall into place.

Went here with high hopes after seeing good review on another site and had a Groupon for about half off. Took about 20 minutes to get our waiter to take our order at about 6:00 on a Friday night. They were not overly busy and nobody was waiting to be seated. About 15 minutes later the waiter came over to tell us they did not have the ingredients needed to make our dinners. At the 45 minutes mark we had to pass on another try and hope for better luck next time. The waiter was apologetic and we will probably try again, just not a good first time experience.