Molcajete Grill

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  I was so disgusted by my meal earlier this evening (7/20/13) at the Molcajete Grill that I was motivated to write this review in the interest of informing would-be diners not to throw away their hard-earned money at this poor excuse for a Mexican restaurant.   And perhaps to movitivate an extremely arrogant establishment to respect customers more....and serve better quality food.
  
  I preface this by saying that I LOVE great, homestyle Mexican food -- not the easiest cuisine to find in New Jersey, despite a burgeoning Mexican population (the counter/server person here indicated being Costa Rican) -- developing my passion for Mexican food within only a few hours of the Mexican border, in Corpus Christi, Nederland, Port Arthur, Houston, and other South Texas communities.  
  
  Trying a new Mexican place I usually play it safe, going for something like Enchiladas Verdes (they don't serve the common Corpus staple of chili/cheese drenched enchiladas that melt in your mouth, or sopa de fideo as found in some of the mom and pops in South Texas).
  
  So, when I asked for a recommendation on the Enchiladas Verdes, I was told by the two counter women that this was their personal favorite, and that the chicken would be the best choice.   So, I went with it.  
  
  Well, I must say that I have rarely found chcken enchiladas verdes that were not only so off-key in taste, but also just plain miserable and uncomfortable to eat.
  
  Cheap, bubble wrap type lettuce is smothered over the top of the plate, so you can't see what's underneath.   On top of the lettuce are chunks of non-melted hard cheese resemblant of feta.  Below it all are the enchiladas verdes, or alleged enchiladas verdes.    
  
  The chicken filling was, for lack of a better word, HIDEOUS.  The chicken pieces were not only dry, but they were cubes so small in size that they would be the small pieces/ends that you would normally have to floss out of your teeth!
  
  They were smaller than baby food pieces, literally, making it difficult to chew, because the pieces were too small to get a bite on!   When I expressed my dissatisfaction, no replacement or correction option was offered.
  
  "That's how we make it," one of the counter/server women said.   I pointed to the prettier piecture of this dish over the counter and replied that there was no way I could have known that, and that this absurd style of filling should be made known to the customers.  
  
  Again, I expect cubed, shredded or cut chicken of some sort, but, not pieces as small as barley.  
  
  The dish was just vile....and again, it was treated as my tough luck.
  
  Also, while rice is shown in the picture, you're told upon the meal being served that that is only for the purpose of the picture; the rice will be an additonal $2.
  
  After tasting and struggling with the horrid microscopic chicken that popped out of the poorly-wrapped tortillas, my feeling was that they could keep the rice, and the scam that goes with it.
  
  I'm all for supporting mom and pops over chains -- not that NJ really has any good Mexican chains.   But, on the same token, if a meal is not satisfactory to the patron, even at a mom and pop, the management should want to make it right.
  
  These folks won't.   They're right, and you, as the customer, are wrong.
  
  Skip this place, if you want an authentic Mexican dinner served with even a modicum of caring about diner satisfaction.

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  Posted on 07.21.13 Cruse B.

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  Disclaimer - Yes, I only went once.  But I don't plan to revisit soon...
  
  I was there on 5/18/13 for dinner with two others.  We all ordered three different dishes off the menu and all of them were extremely bland!  My beef was dry, tough, and had a huge strip of gristle running through it.  My meat was served cut into strips, couldn't they have just trashed that one bad strip?  Hello quality control.  My fiance's dish was supposed to be enchiladas but it came with two different pieces of meat and no enchiladas.  He figured he just didn't read the menu right, but when asked, the server didn't even know what kind of meat it was and said it WAS enchiladas.  Unless there is a slab of meat that is generically referred to as "enchiladas" that I am just not aware of, she had no idea what it was either.
  
  Overall, my biggest complaints are simply the lack of flavor and the cooking of the meat.

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  Posted on 05.19.13 Samantha Y.

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  I have tried a lot of these little more authentic mexican resturants, and they have all been just so-so. Then there is Molcajete. It has topped them all. I have been here 4 times in the short amount of time that they have been open. I am yet to have anything I don't like. However, the chicken in one of our dishes wasn't as good one time.
  
  I like to load up on appitzers and split an entre with the wife when we order.
  
  As far as authentic Mexican goes, I don't think I will bother going anywhere else in the area anymore.
  
  We have only done take out, so I cannot really comment on the service, but they were friendly enough at the counter.

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  Posted on 02.12.13 Eric B.

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