03/07/09

A-mazing!!!!!

by gduke10

This place totally deserves the five diamond award it won! I always order there when i want mexican food, and trust me, there are two other mexican restaurants nearby i can order from, but they never come to mind. Though i've eaten food from Mama many times, i've eaten inside the place once but it was still pretty good. And the band and table-side quac was amazing! the one downside was that it was crowded.

• Pros: every thing incredible!!
• Cons: croweded

11/13/08

Mexican Food at its Finest

by janenstyle

Two friends and i went to eat here a few weeks ago and I have been meaning to write a review ever since! I was shocked to see a negative review on here, especially because we had such an amazing night! This wasnt my first time here, but it was my friends. We ordered the guacemole, which is fresh-made at the table! Im personally not a guacemole eater, but the boys were scraping the dish trying to get every little bite! One of my friends ordered a shrimp dish, and he went crazy for it!! Unfortunately, I cant remember the name of it. My other friend and I split the surf and turf fajitas for two and we were in fajita heaven!! The meat is amazing and all the veggies taste so fresh! We also loved the seasoning of them! The boys also ordered a couple drinks, which they said were amazing...me, just a diet coke. The bill wasnt cheap, but we thought it was appropriate considering we were eating at a top Mexican restaurant in the city! All three of us already have plans to eat dinner here agin in a few weeks!! Definitely worth the price...this Mexican food is awesome!!

• Pros: MEXICAN FOOD--gorgeous restaurant!!
• Cons: none--ill be back

11/07/08

Overpriced, Terrible Service, Mediocre Food

by Tomahawk23

I visited Mama Mexico today for lunch with two friends.

Service: The reason I will never go back to this restaurant is definitely because of the service. Initially the wait staff was very attentive. It was typically the type of service I would expect with prices like that, but when the bill came it was an entirely different story. My friend and I both ordered a lunch special off the menu but the waitress apparently brought us a nearly identical lunch special that was NOT on the menu that also cost $4 more. When we saw the price on the bill for $20 for our lunch entrees we asked her to clarify. The waitress then proceeded to tell us that we should have informed her that the entree was incorrect before we ate it--albeit we had no idea what the difference between the two entrees was besides the price. Anyway, to make a long story short, our waitress just left us at our table and never took care of our problem so my friend had to get up and talk to someone else who also told us we should have told them before we ate it and that he couldnt alter the price on the bill because the manager was not in. In total we waited for about 20 minutes for them to tell us they couldn't take $8 dollars off a $123.00 dollar check. Their lack of problem solving skills was astonishing. Someone needs to let them know that the customer is always right.

Food: I was initially shocked by the food prices for lunch. The food was okay, but nothing spectacular. I ordered a plate of enchiladas, one with filet mignon, one with shrimp and another with chicken. The dish was very generous on sauce but lacking the flavor I look for when I want Mexican food. The guacamole (an astonishing $11 dollars for a small bowl) was also bland. I found myself mixing it with the salsa just for some kick.

07/14/08

Gorgeous Mexican Restaurant

by U2FanU2

My husband and I had a fabulous experience at Mama Mexico. The place is absolutely gorgeous and the fresh guacemole made right at our table was delicious!! Our food was prepared perfectly and we left extremely satisfied.

• Pros: guacemole made at your table, great food, gorgeous place

07/08/08

Soooooo disappointing

by lisannenyc

used to be a great place. overcooked chicken, fishy tasting fish dishes, bland quesadilla, mousse desserts served at refrigerator temp - no flavor, no mousse consistency. definitely avoid mama mexico. ridiculously expensive, too. great tableside guacamole, great drinks.

• Pros: tableside guacamole, margaritas
• Cons: food and desserts

10/30/07

fabulous night out!

by raviolirinaldi

Went with an old group of friends - we had a wonderful time!

Seating is a little tight and we were practically sitting with our neighbors- but this place is a fun loud atmosphere - be prepared!

our waiter made us fresh guacamole at our table which was awesome and the drinks were amazing! we racked up quite a bill so the management kept sending us shots and complimentary drinks.

I ordered the red snapper in green sauce-- yum! The food is the most traditional I have had in NYC and this did not let me down! It was fantastic and we had a wonderful time

They also had a mariachi band playing and when one of the members of our table started singing along with them everyone in the restaurant applauded!

Fun for large groups!! Not fun if you want a quiet romantic dinner

• Pros: Excellent night out!
• Cons: not good for quiet romantic dinners!

06/20/07

great for its atmosphere

by mellowyaelo

Talk about a fun night out. The most important thing about this restaurant is the company that you bring with you. Yes, the food is ok. Yes the drinks are fine. The great thing about Mama Mexico is that it lends it self really well to having a loud, rowdy, and fun time. Mama Mexico isn?t enveloping to the point that you feel like you left Manhattan and ended up in Tijuana but the colors are bright and the mariachi band doesn?t let you have any deep, depressing and pensive dickens moments. No, the food wasn?t amazing, but it was actually fine, (maybe a little on the expensive side.) I had a camarones cancun, which was shrimp in a red cream sauce with onions and peppers ($19) and a few mojitos, which definitely cheered me up. My friends all had one version of a burrito or another but everybody?s food was ok. What actually bothered me was that the service was so hurried that they couldn?t take a second to do their jobs with ease. We had a few more drinks in lieu of desert, which I prefer any way because if I am going to pack on the calories it might as well get me a little buzzed. No offense to flan, but I will skip the desert this time.

05/26/07

a tourist trap for the unwise

by elisemischief

this place was recommended to us by a chef downtown, but it was lame and the food was mediochre and way overpriced for how mediochre it was. everyone at my table got either fish burritos or fajitas, and the food was boring, as if it was americans trying to do mexican food. it wasn't authentic in the least. there is a loud mariachi band that plays constantly, and the waiters will upsell to you without telling you the costs of things -- then you get your bill and realize the little bowl of guacamole you shared at the table was $12. i've had much better guacamole for much cheaper at bonita's in williamsburg. and i've had much better seafood burritos at downtown bakery in the east village -- for $8, not $16 like at mama mexico. do yourself a favor and don't waste your money at mama mexico, you will be sorry you paid so much for such a lousy meal.

• Pros: good service
• Cons: the food, the atmosphere, the prices

05/09/07

Mexican food for the NYC gringo.

by zosyn

Not sure if i am being unfair, but being from California I guess my "standard" of mexican food is different from what east coast mexican food is. Have been to this place 4-5 times, with several different people and I can only say the good is horrible - I mean really really bad. This food is bland, uninspiring, tasteless. The "spanish rice" is just white rice soaked in tomato sauce, the guacamole is horrible overpriced at 12 bucks and not even that good. If this is mexican food, no one sent me the memo. Just a really bad, overpriced place. The only people who seemed to be enjoying it were all the gringo's that live on the UWS, surely not a place for those of taste. If you want mexican food, go to california,

• Pros: Service is decent.
• Cons: Food, food, food.

05/07/07

Horrible place

by lee12

First i have to agree with the previous reviews. I always wanted to go to this place because a couple of my friends had recommended it. From the minute my boyfriend and i got in it was a total mess. First i asked to be seated by the window. The guy instead wants to offer a sit in between two people. Keep in mind this place has plenty of seats and it was not pack. Then they sat us by the window, but in a crowned corner, every time someone pasted by we had to make sure they didn?t spill our drinks. They took forever to bring the menu---hello the menu!! It got to a point i had to ask for the menu. When we finally got our drinks, my boyfriend?s orange juice was horrible. When he try to tell the waiter it wasn?t good, the waiter argued back, then finally he took it back. I felt I was been rush from the minute i sat down. I thought why are they rushing when it wasn?t pack nor they had a line of people waiting. When we did get the food it was horrible. I tend to be picky about food, but my boyfriend will eat anything. This time he didn?t. He?s food looked as if they had cooked it the day before and heat it up again. I only took about 2 bits out of my plate. The one thing I could not believe was that they actually changed the tablecloth while we were still sitting!!! Who in the world does something like this? Other thing is that some waiters are just standing there looking to see if you are done to get ride of your stuff. Im telling you this restaurant should be called ?Rushing?. When we did get our bill, it was very confusing. Instead of putting something like drinks or beverage they put something else and we had to ask what was that. This place is too pricey, has horrible service, nasty food, therefore I will never go back to this place and will not recommend it to anyone.

• Pros: close to subway
• Cons: service, price...too many to name