El Molinito

Had a great experience here on a Saturday night. Even though it was ridiculously crowded, we easily got a table for two. The service was a little slow but that was because it was packed. The prices here are amazing, with two hefty meals and two margaritas the bill was under $ 30. I enjoyed the carne asada and Chilaquiles and my dining companion had a carne asada burrito which we both thoroughly enjoyed. My least favorite part of the meal was the rice, which is kind of huge for me because I love some good Mexican rice but I just wasn’t a fan. I couldn’t believe the amount of food. The margaritas were stiff and the chips and salsa were refilled regularly. Overall it was a good Tucson Mexican food experience.

I was on the great wall last week thinking about how much i needed a chicken chimi enchilada style from here. Got here this week and it was everything i dreamed of. Never fails — this place has the best mexican food. Been going to this ppace for like 20 years+.

First time here. BLAND WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT WHEN DESCRIBING THE RICE. Salsa was nearly frozen when served. Waiter brought the wrong soda. Enchiladas were made with a very processed shredded cheese that wasn’t melted and barely heated, they tasted like oily chunks of fat! Disgusting. It’s basically a suped up Filibertos. Won’t be returning.

I used to love this place 12 yrs ago but a lot can change.
1– Service & food is not consistent. Sometimes its great other visits a disaster.
2– Be prepared to wait if your there during a lunch or dinner prime time, Noon & 6pm.
3– prices are good for the size of the meal
4– You have to choose rice or beans with the combo, really? For 10.00 to 17.00 on a combo
5– Make sure you ask to get refills when you sit down, very stingy on even the water…
11:00 lunch –chicken enchiladas with white sauce… refried beans are homemade
Try & request a server that is actually working ;)

First I want to say that, Molinitos has been a family staple restaurant for over 20 years. It is a place where they offer decent food for a more than fair price. We decided to go last night with some friends before we walked it off at Winterhaven. We got to the restaurant around 6PM, and I already went with a mindset due to being Friday there would be a little bit of a wait to be seated. We checked in with the hostess and suprisingly only a 25 min wait, so I said «LETS DO THIS». As we waited the other 3 in our party shortly joined, and we got seated, around 20 min wait, things are looking up. But, that was the positive experience we had this evening. We got seated in the patio area, total of 7 in our party, 5 adults and 2 kids, not an overtly huge group I would say. After about 5 minutes of seating we were than asked what our drink choices would be, the drinks came out immediately followed by chips which were a little slow to come out. We all looked at the menu while munching on chips and salsa after about 5 minutes everyone knew what the wanted and we waited for the server who was busy with other tables. Finally after 10 minutes of waiting he finally came over to take our order. So here we are 20 minutes in and barely getting our order in. Within the next few minutes this is where the chips ran out and the drinks ran dry. An older server/​employee noticed the chips were empty and stated he would bring some back but that became a wasted effort as they never appeared from him. About 40 minutes our drinks finally got refilled as well as our chips. At this point we are all getting a little restless and the kids are getting grumpy. I usually tend to enjoy my time and not get worked up, but when 2 tables that were seated 30 minutes after us gets served their food before we do thats when my patience runs thin. We gave it another 5 minutes after the 2^nd table after us was served and finally decided to give up. I went to the cashier to pay for what we received thus far (drinks and Chips), though annoyed I will never walk out on what was delivered. At that point hearing me tell the cashier what was happening the manager on duty wearing a red shirt got off from leaning on the wall in the server prep area where he was chit chatting with a female employee. He stated his apology and told me the kitchen was backed up. Yet food was getting served all around us. I politely gave my opinion on the issue. The restaurant was staffed appropriately if not overstaffed but there was no clear direction and a lack of execution. People were standing around talking and there was no follow up or guidance for what is needed to be done and what tables need attention. I dont blame the servers or floor personel one bit in this. They are only as good as their leader and this not there was no leadership. Its sad that this long time establishment in Marana is falling in their service. I think there needs to be a lot of re-​training and expectations set by the owners with follow up at this place. Until it is fixed I am afraid my family will choose elsewhere to go.

Great place! Delicious food and you can’t beat the prices! The servers are always nice too

I come here a lot and the last few times we have had Lera as our waitress. She is as amazing as the food! She is attentive and nice even while busy! From here on out I’ll be requesting Lera.

They may seem busy but always worth it! We live hour drive away and never miss it when in Tucson. They do simple catering with amazing food at a great price!

Eating here is a hit or miss experience. Sometimes food and service is good. But what does one expect from a restaurant that looks like a dump.

I don’t write a lot of negative reviews, but after trying El Molinito several times, I feel like I have a good idea of this restaurant. And, sadly, I wouldn’t recommend it.
The prices are great. About $ 6 – 7 for a taco plate, combo plates for $ 10 – 16. The first time I had their food, it was take-​out and everything went smoothly and tasted good.
The next time we tried their take-​out there were big chunks of bone in my enchilada. We tried it one last time today at lunch and it was awful. We waited 45 minutes for 4 tacos and a tamale. They refilled my empty water after 30 minutes, and brought my fiancé the wrong soda. We managed to get ahold of the server after another 10 minutes and she brought us a correct refill. Lunch was missing the sides when it came out, something we had to point out to the server. The tacos were tasty, but miniaturized and cold. The server apologized profusely, and said she would ‘hook us up’ since we waited so long, but instead she forgot and charged us for the second soda she had incorrectly brought earlier. The manager gave us a discount after we complained.
Their prices and location are great, but I’ll never eat there again.

I absolutely love this place! I went there all the time when I lived there and I miss it dearly. Their chimichangas are to die for and so is their mild salsa and chips. :)

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant for casual eating. low prices and plenty of food. Only negative is the kids noise but can’t knock the place for that. Also the servers are very friendly and helpful. The margaritas are well liquored.

What can I say, I love this place, friendly service, great food and they managed a huge crowd on Mother’s Day very well with only a smidge slower service than usual.
I recommend the Asada Special. I have had it nearly every time I have gone there. That’s how good it is.
House Margaritas are really good and they don’t skimp on the alcohol at all.

This place in one of my favorite restaurants in Tucson! Everything in the menu is so tasty and all of the staff is so friendly and nice! Very reasonable prices!!! Must try the Cadillac margarita!!!

Seriously the worst restaurant I have been to in Tucson. It took so long to get noticed and seated. It took forever to place our order, the waiter was sitting in an empty booth with another employee talking. The food looked and tasted old with little to no flavor, the chips were stale and the salsa was more tomato sauce than anything. The waiter never returned to refill our drinks, we ultimately placed our complaint on deaf ears, we asked another employee passing by for our check and left. I love Mexican food. THIS IS NOT MEXICAN FOOD. This is lazy, tasteless, no good, would not recommend to my worst enemy, old, belongs in the trash food. Don’t eat here. I wish I could give it NO stars.

I have been going here for years. Its probably the biggest bang for the buck in my opinion. Some may say its not authentic Mexican food. I will have to disagree since the salsa is amazing and the chips are fantastic (so they are heavy on the shredded cheddar).
If one wants a fancy Mexican food and experience this is not the place. Also, the lunch specials are an amazing deal (comes with guacamole and sour cream). They have improved the quality of the cleanliness overall, but it may not meet some peoples expectations. I will say the tables, glassware, silverware, and dishes are always clean. The walls carpet and bathrooms need some TLC.
Side note: They do cater and do an amazing spread for the price! Have had gone to events and its always been great! For the price per person you will come up short finding some one to out do what they offer.

I want to love this place, but there are some negatives that really hurt this place. I am going to list positives and negatives so it’ll be easier to understand my review.
Negatives
–Place is absolutely filthy. When I mean filthy, I mean filthy. There are chips on the floor, carpet is old and worn out. This place could use a serious cleaning.
–Service is sub-​par. Our server was nice in our interactions, but forgot one item we ordered and did not return for refills. Again, not the worst, but not what I would expect from an excellent restaurant.
–Décor is bland and does not really do anything for me. It seems like this place needs a massive remodeling for me to enjoy eating here.
Positives
–Food is fantastic. Everything the wife and I order was probably one of the best things we have tried in Tucson. The enchiladas were seasoned perfectly, the carne asada was juicy and flavorful, and even the beans were good.
–It is extremely cheap for what you get! Wife got the carne asada plate, which cost $ 11 dollars! Anywhere else we have tried a plate like the one she got would be priced in the upper 10’s, perhaps $ 20. Our total bill was 23 dollars. That is the cheapest I have ever paid for the things we ordered.
Overall
–This place has excellent food that makes you want to come back, but it needs a serious cleaning.

I actually used to love this place. It has really good salsa, and cheap, pretty good Mexican food. I tried to steer all after-​work meals to this place, and took friends here all the time.
I’m afraid now, I will never go back, because of the management.
I was at El Molinito with my friend, we were just enjoying our meal, when all of a sudden… wham! A piece of ceiling had come loose after a leak post-​rain, and had fallen right behind me, hitting my back and getting my jacket that was on my chair.
It was shocking, and the staff quickly moved us and got us new food. There were no apologies though, and we were still given a bill when we were ready to leave (which was pretty soon after). My friend went to talk to the manager about why we were still given a bill, and he gave us the run-​around, saying that if we didn’t like our food he could waive it, but not because a ceiling had fallen on me. I wasn’t expecting a free meal per-​se, but there was no customer service from that guy at all. We called the Health Department on them, but I don’t know what ever came of it.
Anyway, good food, but I hope you never have a problem there… and always check above your head!

Ugh! The worst food ever! The place is a dump! The carpet is old and dirty. The chairs, tables and décor is worn out and sad looking. Our waiter kept calling us ‘guys’…I am not a guy!
We ordered and the orders were both wrong. We notified the waiter and rather than bring us the correct food they brought out more and added to the terrible meal. We barely ate any of it. The beans were not beans at all but resembled baby food on a bad day. The chicken enchilada was completely flavorless as was the rice. My husbands carne seca had a very odd flavor that screamed ‘don’t eat this!’
We shared with the waiter our complete dissatisfaction and we barely got a reply.
What a terrible place!

This place is ok if you’re looking for some relatively cheap Mexican food and drinks.
The service we got was a bit sub-​par; we had a hard time getting our waitress to come back to help us more than twice the whole time we were there.
The food tasted GREAT, I got the enchiladas and we split a pitcher of frozen margarita.
Plan on having a DD if you’re getting a margarita…
I will definitely be back.