I love love love this place although it's more like a dive than a restaurant it reminds me of things that I'm used to having down south. Everytime I go I have to have the mondongo everyone so courteous and nice and I like that they speak Spanish as well my children love to eat here too an excellent Groupon deal I know a lot of people have given it bad reviews but he gets it thumbs up for me :-)
(4)
Richard M.
I found this restaurant to be very clean and affordable. There is tons of variety to choose from. Service was slow but the food was very good. My party tried cuban sandwich, taco salad, and paella. The owner was our waiter. Mr Ramirez is fantastic. He went out of his way to make it great.
(4)
Heather W.
worst service I've ever had. After waiting 15 minutes for my order and 40 minutes for my food, it was bland and cold. NEVER AGAIN will I go back there.
(1)
Maggie C.
The Mexican food was utterly lifeless. Ground meat cooked with no spices makes even simple tacos not worth the chewing. The service was abysmal, the owner/manager was somewhat rude & clueless. We had to ask for the check at least 4 or 5 times and even then it wasn't produced until we got up & waited by the door 30 minutes later. This place is completely a waste of time.
(1)
Jackie M.
I had seen the ratings here, but happened to have $10 off $20 coupon to use and decided to give it a try. We made the trek from the Southside all the way to Orange Park, and I had high hopes when we got there, because the parking lot seemed full. When we got in, we were greeted promptly by who I guess what the manager or owner (an older gentleman). Upon seating, a waitress came and took our drink order... Everything was pretty much downhill from there. The service was very slow, and there were only 3 And I don't know if the waitress spoke Spanish or not, but my husband was speaking to her in Spanish and she kept replying in English. Luckily he understands English well enough to get "We don't have horchata." (On that note, please don't call yourself a Mexican restaurant if you don't serve horchata. This goes for any restaurant.) She was really slow, barely attentive and way too quiet. We could barely hear anything she was saying. There was another waitress who was a little more helpful, offering to fill our glasses, but she had this zombie-like personality where she would just stare at you with an expressionless face and ask in a monotone voice, "Do you want more water ?" Does either waitress know how to smile ? We ordered the food and the menu sounded really delicious. My husband had the carne asada - and he said it was very bland. The yellow rice and refried beans were also very "standard." Nothing spectacular. I had the bistec empanizado, and it was as hard as a rock. It was luke warm and tasted like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for an hour. The white rice and black beans decent, so no complaints there. I had asked for some more salsa, and the waitress never brought it to us. Walked by several times, chatted up the other tables, but not us. Really ? At one time, a couple came in to eat, and while I wanted to scream, "RUN AWAY FAST !" I sat and watched them stand for several minutes before anyone greeted them. This includes one of the waitresses who was standing at the counter right next to them who preoccupied herself with writing something and didn't even acknowledge them. Then came the time to check out. The same guy who greeted us looked like he was walking up to help us, then he got stopped by a table on the way for drinks. Their waitress was AT THE TABLE helping them, so it really irritated me that this happened. Service - Needs Improvement Food - Needs Improvement Decor - Needs Improvement Prices - Not worth it at all!
(1)
Ty C.
We've tried this place twice and there won't be a third. The first time we ended up leaving after we couldn't get any service or drinks. The second time (last night) we stuck it out and got the food, but it took forever. The service was not very good, but that's because the one lady who was doing the serving was doing it all. She did the best she could while her partner wandered around trying to look busy. The manager/owner hides behind the bar and doesn't help out at all. I felt bad for her as she was all over the place, busting her behind with zero help. It didn't help that the kitchen sent out the wrong order. Out of 6 people, they got one plate right. The food was edible, nothing special, certainly not good enough to put up with the experience. I'd advise against the buffet as My wife and I observed one individual frequently pick through all the taco shells until he found the right one; pretty gross. On a positive note, the one server was as nice and helpful as she could be. The tortilla shells were really good. My suggestion is to call Kitchen Nightmares because this place needs help.
(1)
Astrid B.
This restaurant gets an extra star because we had a good family gathering here and they had a mexican buffet.. This is a unique thing for me since I have never seen this idea before in a cuban restaurant. It was a good combination for cinco de mayo though. The service was slow this day but it is not enough for me to take away more stars.
(4)
ALex W.
So I went with a cuban, which someone had said was pretty good. I don't know if I had upset someone somehow,but my sandwich didn't have Swiss, pickle or mustard on it. I asked if I got the right order,to which the waitress replied "I think you're the only one here,so yeah you probably got the right order" You're probably better off eating gas station sandwiches than this.
(1)
Clay P.
One of the most disappointing meals ever. late lunch maybe 4 people in place and service was painfully slow, food took forever, evidently owner (?) felt I didnt warrant knife or fork for first half of meal and topper was a most bland nasty cuban sandwich. Had odd smell and a microwaved soggy texture . Beans and rice were best thing on plate. Took 15 minutes just to pay and get out. For a place owned / run by retired military this place runs more like the DMV on a snow day.
(1)
John S.
As usual, Naomi is 100% correct. I had seen their sign a few times advertising Cuban Sandwiches so I thought I'd give it a try. They have a fairly extensive Mexican/Cuban/Caribbean menu that you may need a flashlight and a pair of reading glasses to see, but the selection looked pretty decent. It was 7:30 when I arrived, there was one young girl eating at the bar and the restaurant was empty... bad sign. I ordered a beer and a Cuban and in the meantime pulled up Yelp to read the reviews. I laughed thinking it just cant be that bad. Well, it is. My Cuban sandwich was missing the required ham and swiss cheese, basically it was a roast pork sandwich with mustard and one pickle chip. It was cut in half and each half was the width of my iPhone. It looked like something my grandmother used to serve at Bridge Club. The pork was freshly made but it had no taste, sort of a watery flavor as if thats how they had been keeping it moist. I didnt complain, this is how I extract my revenge. DONT EAT HERE, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, THIS PLACE IS A JOKE.
(1)
Candice Y.
How is this place still in business? I had to sign up for an account just to post what I would have left as a zero star review if yelp would let me. We walked in after a long day on the road to Ocala and back, and hoped for a local, fun dining experience. As soon as we got inside, we noted that there were zero other patrons. Zero. This was prime dining hours on a Saturday. Deep breath, and hoping for the best at this point, we were seated. The place is very dark and service is very slow, though she was pleasant and had a smile for us when she did come by. Standard chips/salsa were presented in a plastic basket/tray. When queso was ordered, it came out cold and gummy. I sent it back to get warmed up, only to have it returned warm and gummy. It never melted. Appetizer was ordered, and entrees ordered as well. It took well over 20 minutes for food to arrive to the table. This was after we had to remind her that we placed an appetizer order, only to be returned with a surprised look as if she had completely forgot to put it in. We ordered the combo platter. It arrived lacking the one key item we were wanting (sweet plantains) because they were out. Once I set aside the dirty knife in my silverware, the rest of the platter turned out to be just awful. Meat that was fried and cooked to the point of being hard as a rock. I wasn't convinced this was fresh pork we were eating, but rather leftovers from who knows how long. Two bites, and I gave up on the whole thing. My husband tried the rest of everything but gave it a lackluster response. The meat bricks he tried were hard and full of grizzle and grease. When the entrees arrived, I could hardly believe how much grease was falling out of a ground beef taco. The shredded cheddar cheese was placed on top of everything, and had calcium lactate build up on it. I choked down a taco out of politeness to my husband, and had a bite of the super dried out yellow rice. It all had zero flavor save for the grease and cheese. My husband ordered a bowl of some chili looking type stuff with rice and beans. After two bites in, he opted to just finish the rice and beans. Thankfully our cups were refilled to wash it down with, but we left the plates mostly full. After not seeing a server anywhere in the restaurant for a long while to ask for a check, we waited up front by the register. We were asked if everything was alright and if we wanted a box. She was only mildly concerned that most of the food they brought out was left behind. Go somewhere else. Anywhere else. Don't brave it and hope that you are the exception to these reviews. You won't be. I have no idea how this place stays open with low quality food and less than mediocre service.
(1)
Joseph M.
Just plain horrible. Table was not clean. The food took forever, and was bland at best. DO NOT GO HERE
(1)
Mark S.
Wow. Well, I'm just now reading the reviews on Ramirez Restaurant after my visit instead of before. My mistake. First, the restaurant looks interesting, good concept, nice and clean. Coming from central California I have grown to become a big fan of good Mexican food. Sadly, this was not the case tonight. First, we ordered margaritas. They tasted like a sugar free- store bought mix (that saccarine after taste) with no tequila. I asked the server what kind of tequila they use as I couldn't really taste it. She offered to 'fix' them, and they came back with a bit more of a tequila flavor. Second, the chips and salsa came. The salsa looked and tasted like a mix between cold spaghetti sauce and V-8. No chunks, nothing at all fresh. Perhaps this is a Cuban style salsa? Certainly not Mexican, at least not from any region of Mexico I've ever been to. Unless this is an authentic Cuban thing that is over my head, I'd seriously consider changing this salsa to a fresh pico de gallo style salsa. It just didn't make sense to us and wasn't very tasty. Third, the entree. I forget the name of it, but it's basically a seafood medley (clams, mussels, large shrimp and some octopus, all with shells intact like you see in Cioppino, only with some chicken, fried plantains all over mexican rice with a few peppers thrown in. Actually very tasty and imaginative. I've never had anything like it. Well done. Fourth, the dessert. We ordered 2 pieces of cheesecake. I know this isn't a Mexican or Cuban dish, but it sounded good. It came as 2 different flavor slices of cheesecake like you get in those Costco samplers. No attempt to make it their own like fresh sauce or anything. Just put onto a plate for $6 each. A suggestion to Mr. Ramirez, if you want to do your cheesecake like this, I'd get the plain New York style, not the sampler of different flavors, then serve it with some fresh sauce or caramel or something drizzled over the top. Make it your own. Overall service was good, no issues with the servers (other than not being able to make a decent margarita). We were seated at a table right under a soccer game being shown on a Spanish network. Could be a plus or a minus depending on who you are.
(2)
Maria S.
Used a half off restaurant.com certificate bit did not find the food appealing. It was spicy but had no good taste to the picadillo. We tried three different items and none of them were good. I don't think I'll be back to try again.
(2)
Jaye P.
Ugh. We tried this place tonight because it seems to be busy on the weekend. Must be underage drinkers, because no one in their right mind would eat this food. I wish I had read the reviews before we went. The menu was sticky. The chips came with salsa - cold spaghetti sauce from a jar - I kid you not! Yellow rice with no flavor. Beans from a can. This isn't Cuban or Spanish food - it's a shame they actually have the audacity to state this is what they are serving. Nasty!!!!
(1)
Nathan G.
I can't speak for the Cuban aspect, but as a Mexican food place it is truly horrible. I muscled down most of it to be polite to my companions. The rice was an odd orange color and was very sticky. I worry about the other review saying the salsa was good. Honestly I didn't even bother trying - I'm from Texas. I know good salsa and the consistency was all wrong. Flavored tomato paste.
(1)
Naomi B.
Mom and I met a family friend here for lunch at 1 p.m. on a Friday to use a Groupon we purchased online. We were the only customers...oh no wait, there was a couple outside on the patio feeding their food to a dog. Shoulda coulda woulda got back in the car, but mom said she was starving, we already bought the Groupon, etc. etc. *sigh* I just.....don't even know where to begin.Ok, so I'll start with the positives. We were greeted at the entrance by the owner. The World Poker Tour was playing on one of the TVs. The end. Atmosphere: In case the owner might see this...they're called LIGHT BULBS. The dining room looks like a testing facility for night vision goggles. Of all the tables in the dining room, he sits us down at the one thats filthy and sticky. Food crumbs, straw wrapper pieces, and I'm guessing (or rather hoping) that the stickiness came from old spilled soda. He cleaned the table off, but only after we asked him to. The old, dated, and grungy fabric on the chairs and booths could use a good steam cleaning...or 5. Food: They have a $6.95 lunch buffet, and mom went with that. Family friend and I decided to split a chicken chimichanga plate, since I was feeling a tad under the weather and didn't have much of an appetite. I got up with mom to do a quick scan of the lunch buffet. Out of about 12 dishes, mom picked 3. The rotisserie roast pork, the beef stew (I maybe wrong, could have been pork, nothing was labeled), and some mixed vegetables. Everything else (including the rice and black beans) looked suspiciously past expiration, to put it mildly. My mom is one who strongly believes in getting the most for her money, especially at a buffet, especially when she's starving. She ate half the plate of food and nothing else. Speaks volumes, doesn't it? As for the chimichanga...the red sauce on top highly resembled the watery tomato sauce that they gave us alongside our basket of cold chips. The chicken itself was dull and flavorless. Come on people, it's SEASONING, not rocket science. Even with the dish being shared, a good half of it was left uneaten. Service: How do I count the ways? From the dirty table to having not so much as ONE offer to refill any of our drinks...and we were waited on by the owner??? It's a local business, and I wanted to give it a chance AND the benefit of the doubt after reading negative review after negative review on the joint. Yet, sadly I have to concur and profess that this place is simply a waste of time, money, and gas, and you'd be much better off eating somewhere...anywhere else.
(1)
Paul G.
To be fair I have to say I feel people expect too much of a place like Ramirez. The place is more of a cantina or a bistro, so you should not go in expecting the food to be of Le Cordon Bleu caliber. I have not tried the whole scope of their menu, but I am satisfied with the items I have tried. The mofongos have a great combination of plantains, garlic and a decent portion of the meat you choose with it. I also like their mondongo (chicken tripe) soup. Once or twice, I have tried their sandwiches and they're all right. Overall, I enjoy my visits to Ramirez. The food is well-portioned and fills you up well. Better option than any fast food.
(4)
John E.
No stars. If the cook was my mother I would Leave home. I can make much better margaritas at home. I had to select a star to be able to post. Does not rate even one.
(1)
Dena G.
my boyfriend and i wanted to try this place, especially since this place is owned by a retired u.s. navy chief and because my boyfriend is crazy about cuban sandwiches. we bought a groupon for this restaurant and didn't notice that the $40 groupon was valid for four people. the waiter made it really difficult and came to the weird conclusion that we would just use $20 now and $20 later. either way, we would be using $40 so we didn't quite get why he wanted to arrange it that way. our total bill came out to $2.50 and when we went to pay, they told us that their card minimum was $5.00. we blew it off and just payed the $5.00, especially after that terrible experience we had there. it started with the chips and dip-dip was cold and they mixed homemade chips with stale ones that tasted like cardboard. yucks! i ordered something and it came out looking like an asian dish with little to no flavor and my boyfriends burrito was the smallest burrito ive seen full of rice and little beef. we ordered desert, tres leches, hoping that it would make our experience a little sweeter-but it was undercooked and tasted like strait up dough. don't waste your time, guys! it's no bueno.
(1)
Donell S.
This place has no organization. .. I waited for 30 minutes before any waiters came to the table. . The Salsa taste like tomatoes of the can!!!! What a waste of time. . Never again. .
(1)
Shawn M.
The food was ok. I had the chimichanga my son had the fajitas. So afterwards I asked for the fried ice cream. So it comes and it is ice cream that has been rolled in cinnamon and oats and clearly not fried. it was ok tasting but the owner came by and asked how things were. I told him that the fried ice cream did not seem to be fried at all, simply rolled around in some stuff. He simply said, "well now you know the recipe". I found this to pretty brazen. I won't be back simply from the attitude.
(2)
John N.
I have eaten here a few times in the past but gave it another try today. Bad decision. The waitress seated us at a booth below a TV with a loud episode of Jerry Springer playing. The chips were stale, the rice was burned and the ground beef enchiladas had shredded beef mixed in. It was like someone in the kitchen was winging it. The unclean silverware came wrapped in a ripped paper towel. The server never refilled our glasses and didn't check on us once as she also had to entertain her child who was off school for Thanksgiving vacation. I don't have high expectations for local Mexican restaurants but Ramirez has hit a new low. Next time ill go back to La Nopalera.
(1)
Neal B.
I got the Burrito al Pastor. I have been using the bathroom fairly nonstop for the last day and a half. Thank you for whatever you gave me Ramirez's. Do not eat here. Oh and the burrito was pretty terrible, it was full of huge chunks of fat, yuck.
(1)
M W.
Roasted pork special was great especially with the rice and beans that comes with it. The Ropa Vieja was also tasty. What needs work: Gaucamole was definitely creamier, would like to see fresher stuff Service is definitely island time, don't be in a rush.
(3)
Stephanie T.
Me and my family went here for lunch one day. I really wanted some Cuban food, but was sadly disappointed. Their lunch buffet did not look appetizing, so all of us ordered off the menu. Apparently they're not used to that because all of our food came out and was just not good. My mom ordered a fish sandwich and wanted yucca for a side, to which she got french fries. She also asked for tartar sauce or mayonnaise because there was absolutely nothing and after 10 minutes, he returned to say that they had neither. We wouldn't have been too bummed, but the menu said it came with sauce. So we chalked that up to ordering something pretty plain at an ethnic restaurant. But, the other dishes that came out were nothing far from edible and it was very overpriced for the quality. The only good thing I can mention is that the staff seemed friendly.
(1)
Joe W.
TOTAL waste of time.... The only thing worth the $$ was the .99 draft Happy Hour of Dos XX's and the drafts were hot at that. I tried these folks out at 4pm on a Monday hoping to catch them with little to no traffic in the restaurant. Well I got what I wanted. There wasn't one person in the restaurant besides a cook and 2 waitresses. I started off ordering a Beef Empenada ($3).... It was garbage, totally bland. My entree was a "Baliche Contrillo" or something like that. What it was, was a round eye steak that was supposedly stuffed with chorizo. ($12) Well it didn't taste anything like chorizo at all. It really tasted like regular sausage you buy at the supermarket from Jimmy Dean for $3. Then they smother it in a gravy, and put a few olives on top cut up. The sides you get with this is fried plantains, along with steamed rice, and black beans. The entree had good flavor, but to me it would only been worth it had it had a $6.99 price tag not a $12 price tag. For dessert I decided to give their Tres Leches $3.50 a shot. Yeah they missed the mark on that one, and Tres Leches is a pretty easy dessert to make! I sat at the bar to make it easier on the waitress since she was also the one serving the drafts from the tap at the bar. My drank ran out twice and I had to walk over to the other side of the restaurant to ask her for more. Each time she was sitting down in the booth laughing and talking with the other waitress. I set the table for them to win a customer service nod by being the only thing in the restaurant. When you can't even give me basic customer service when I am the only thing, I would not want to be here when they have to wait on multiple people. I can't recommend this place at all. Also, don't be fooled by their attempt at a buffet advertisement for $6.99. It only consisted of 5 items, and make your own Tacos and Burritos were 2 of them.
(1)
Neil W.
I found their menu at the reception desk of my hotel. I had no car so I had to get delivery or take a taxi. They delivered the food ($25min) in about 30 minutes. The seafood salad what what I wanted it to be (though I can tell the seafood was previously frozen from those mixed bags). Still, it was good. The seafood mofongo was great. I'm sure it would have been better at the restaurant in terms of presentation, but it really hit the spot. I loved that the mofongo was topped off with a hunk of chicharron/pellejo. What a great idea! So, I've read plenty of bad reviews and, in spite of them, I ordered out of pure laziness. It paid off and I was happy with my food.
(3)
Mama C.
The buffet looks very unappealing. Pass. Ask the waitress BEFORE you order if the kitchen has all of the ingredients that the menu lists are in your dish. Still disappointed in the so called Cuban sandwich. Why is processed white American cheese okay as a substitute for Swiss cheese? Guess what? It's not. The dining room is much too dark. Outdated. Silverware wasn't clean- had to ask for a clean fork. The staff walks around talking to customers who are obviously their friends and other staff members while sitting around drinking beers and watching soccer. The two waitresses "working" continued to walk past my table without refilling our glasses AT ALL the entire time we were there. Customers at other tables were constantly asked repeatedly for the waitress to come over. Watched another table order dessert, then 10 minutes later the waitress emerges to say- oh we are out of that twice before they finally brought them flan with whipped cream on top. Waitresss never bothered to bring us our check though we sat at the tables a good 15 minutes after we finished. So I had to stand at the register for ten minutes until she wandered up.
(2)
Elizabeth C.
The Hispanic food is such a disgrace! The service was even more horrible- went there with my fiance back in August of 2012 and we were both very disappointed. Took our waitress over 15 minutes to bring us our waters and it took even longer to receive our food. When our bill came out it was overcharged by $10! they said it was a "gratuity charge"- per person-- for what? We had NO service (mind you this was NOT a groupon) and then when we asked to speak to her supervisor she walked off and never came back.. Called our bank with the fraudulent $10 charge and the bank credited the full amount to us. NEVER will I go back again. Instead-- if you're looking for Puerto Rican food there is a place called El Palermo over on Kingsley Avenue with MUCH better service and FRESH food!
(1)
Mike C.
The food is a step above Taco Bell except the tacos which are not as good. Unfortunately the service is considerably worse than the food. A horrible waste of time and money.
(1)
Maris R.
Love this place - yum! I love their beef and chicken tacos!
(5)
Mark J.
The restaurant makes makes me want to quit my job and move back to Cuba. That is the only way I will find food as good.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : No Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch, Dessert Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : No Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
TaKisha N.
I love love love this place although it's more like a dive than a restaurant it reminds me of things that I'm used to having down south. Everytime I go I have to have the mondongo everyone so courteous and nice and I like that they speak Spanish as well my children love to eat here too an excellent Groupon deal I know a lot of people have given it bad reviews but he gets it thumbs up for me :-)
(4)Richard M.
I found this restaurant to be very clean and affordable. There is tons of variety to choose from. Service was slow but the food was very good. My party tried cuban sandwich, taco salad, and paella. The owner was our waiter. Mr Ramirez is fantastic. He went out of his way to make it great.
(4)Heather W.
worst service I've ever had. After waiting 15 minutes for my order and 40 minutes for my food, it was bland and cold. NEVER AGAIN will I go back there.
(1)Maggie C.
The Mexican food was utterly lifeless. Ground meat cooked with no spices makes even simple tacos not worth the chewing. The service was abysmal, the owner/manager was somewhat rude & clueless. We had to ask for the check at least 4 or 5 times and even then it wasn't produced until we got up & waited by the door 30 minutes later. This place is completely a waste of time.
(1)Jackie M.
I had seen the ratings here, but happened to have $10 off $20 coupon to use and decided to give it a try. We made the trek from the Southside all the way to Orange Park, and I had high hopes when we got there, because the parking lot seemed full. When we got in, we were greeted promptly by who I guess what the manager or owner (an older gentleman). Upon seating, a waitress came and took our drink order... Everything was pretty much downhill from there. The service was very slow, and there were only 3 And I don't know if the waitress spoke Spanish or not, but my husband was speaking to her in Spanish and she kept replying in English. Luckily he understands English well enough to get "We don't have horchata." (On that note, please don't call yourself a Mexican restaurant if you don't serve horchata. This goes for any restaurant.) She was really slow, barely attentive and way too quiet. We could barely hear anything she was saying. There was another waitress who was a little more helpful, offering to fill our glasses, but she had this zombie-like personality where she would just stare at you with an expressionless face and ask in a monotone voice, "Do you want more water ?" Does either waitress know how to smile ? We ordered the food and the menu sounded really delicious. My husband had the carne asada - and he said it was very bland. The yellow rice and refried beans were also very "standard." Nothing spectacular. I had the bistec empanizado, and it was as hard as a rock. It was luke warm and tasted like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for an hour. The white rice and black beans decent, so no complaints there. I had asked for some more salsa, and the waitress never brought it to us. Walked by several times, chatted up the other tables, but not us. Really ? At one time, a couple came in to eat, and while I wanted to scream, "RUN AWAY FAST !" I sat and watched them stand for several minutes before anyone greeted them. This includes one of the waitresses who was standing at the counter right next to them who preoccupied herself with writing something and didn't even acknowledge them. Then came the time to check out. The same guy who greeted us looked like he was walking up to help us, then he got stopped by a table on the way for drinks. Their waitress was AT THE TABLE helping them, so it really irritated me that this happened. Service - Needs Improvement Food - Needs Improvement Decor - Needs Improvement Prices - Not worth it at all!
(1)Ty C.
We've tried this place twice and there won't be a third. The first time we ended up leaving after we couldn't get any service or drinks. The second time (last night) we stuck it out and got the food, but it took forever. The service was not very good, but that's because the one lady who was doing the serving was doing it all. She did the best she could while her partner wandered around trying to look busy. The manager/owner hides behind the bar and doesn't help out at all. I felt bad for her as she was all over the place, busting her behind with zero help. It didn't help that the kitchen sent out the wrong order. Out of 6 people, they got one plate right. The food was edible, nothing special, certainly not good enough to put up with the experience. I'd advise against the buffet as My wife and I observed one individual frequently pick through all the taco shells until he found the right one; pretty gross. On a positive note, the one server was as nice and helpful as she could be. The tortilla shells were really good. My suggestion is to call Kitchen Nightmares because this place needs help.
(1)Astrid B.
This restaurant gets an extra star because we had a good family gathering here and they had a mexican buffet.. This is a unique thing for me since I have never seen this idea before in a cuban restaurant. It was a good combination for cinco de mayo though. The service was slow this day but it is not enough for me to take away more stars.
(4)ALex W.
So I went with a cuban, which someone had said was pretty good. I don't know if I had upset someone somehow,but my sandwich didn't have Swiss, pickle or mustard on it. I asked if I got the right order,to which the waitress replied "I think you're the only one here,so yeah you probably got the right order" You're probably better off eating gas station sandwiches than this.
(1)Clay P.
One of the most disappointing meals ever. late lunch maybe 4 people in place and service was painfully slow, food took forever, evidently owner (?) felt I didnt warrant knife or fork for first half of meal and topper was a most bland nasty cuban sandwich. Had odd smell and a microwaved soggy texture . Beans and rice were best thing on plate. Took 15 minutes just to pay and get out. For a place owned / run by retired military this place runs more like the DMV on a snow day.
(1)John S.
As usual, Naomi is 100% correct. I had seen their sign a few times advertising Cuban Sandwiches so I thought I'd give it a try. They have a fairly extensive Mexican/Cuban/Caribbean menu that you may need a flashlight and a pair of reading glasses to see, but the selection looked pretty decent. It was 7:30 when I arrived, there was one young girl eating at the bar and the restaurant was empty... bad sign. I ordered a beer and a Cuban and in the meantime pulled up Yelp to read the reviews. I laughed thinking it just cant be that bad. Well, it is. My Cuban sandwich was missing the required ham and swiss cheese, basically it was a roast pork sandwich with mustard and one pickle chip. It was cut in half and each half was the width of my iPhone. It looked like something my grandmother used to serve at Bridge Club. The pork was freshly made but it had no taste, sort of a watery flavor as if thats how they had been keeping it moist. I didnt complain, this is how I extract my revenge. DONT EAT HERE, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, THIS PLACE IS A JOKE.
(1)Candice Y.
How is this place still in business? I had to sign up for an account just to post what I would have left as a zero star review if yelp would let me. We walked in after a long day on the road to Ocala and back, and hoped for a local, fun dining experience. As soon as we got inside, we noted that there were zero other patrons. Zero. This was prime dining hours on a Saturday. Deep breath, and hoping for the best at this point, we were seated. The place is very dark and service is very slow, though she was pleasant and had a smile for us when she did come by. Standard chips/salsa were presented in a plastic basket/tray. When queso was ordered, it came out cold and gummy. I sent it back to get warmed up, only to have it returned warm and gummy. It never melted. Appetizer was ordered, and entrees ordered as well. It took well over 20 minutes for food to arrive to the table. This was after we had to remind her that we placed an appetizer order, only to be returned with a surprised look as if she had completely forgot to put it in. We ordered the combo platter. It arrived lacking the one key item we were wanting (sweet plantains) because they were out. Once I set aside the dirty knife in my silverware, the rest of the platter turned out to be just awful. Meat that was fried and cooked to the point of being hard as a rock. I wasn't convinced this was fresh pork we were eating, but rather leftovers from who knows how long. Two bites, and I gave up on the whole thing. My husband tried the rest of everything but gave it a lackluster response. The meat bricks he tried were hard and full of grizzle and grease. When the entrees arrived, I could hardly believe how much grease was falling out of a ground beef taco. The shredded cheddar cheese was placed on top of everything, and had calcium lactate build up on it. I choked down a taco out of politeness to my husband, and had a bite of the super dried out yellow rice. It all had zero flavor save for the grease and cheese. My husband ordered a bowl of some chili looking type stuff with rice and beans. After two bites in, he opted to just finish the rice and beans. Thankfully our cups were refilled to wash it down with, but we left the plates mostly full. After not seeing a server anywhere in the restaurant for a long while to ask for a check, we waited up front by the register. We were asked if everything was alright and if we wanted a box. She was only mildly concerned that most of the food they brought out was left behind. Go somewhere else. Anywhere else. Don't brave it and hope that you are the exception to these reviews. You won't be. I have no idea how this place stays open with low quality food and less than mediocre service.
(1)Joseph M.
Just plain horrible. Table was not clean. The food took forever, and was bland at best. DO NOT GO HERE
(1)Mark S.
Wow. Well, I'm just now reading the reviews on Ramirez Restaurant after my visit instead of before. My mistake. First, the restaurant looks interesting, good concept, nice and clean. Coming from central California I have grown to become a big fan of good Mexican food. Sadly, this was not the case tonight. First, we ordered margaritas. They tasted like a sugar free- store bought mix (that saccarine after taste) with no tequila. I asked the server what kind of tequila they use as I couldn't really taste it. She offered to 'fix' them, and they came back with a bit more of a tequila flavor. Second, the chips and salsa came. The salsa looked and tasted like a mix between cold spaghetti sauce and V-8. No chunks, nothing at all fresh. Perhaps this is a Cuban style salsa? Certainly not Mexican, at least not from any region of Mexico I've ever been to. Unless this is an authentic Cuban thing that is over my head, I'd seriously consider changing this salsa to a fresh pico de gallo style salsa. It just didn't make sense to us and wasn't very tasty. Third, the entree. I forget the name of it, but it's basically a seafood medley (clams, mussels, large shrimp and some octopus, all with shells intact like you see in Cioppino, only with some chicken, fried plantains all over mexican rice with a few peppers thrown in. Actually very tasty and imaginative. I've never had anything like it. Well done. Fourth, the dessert. We ordered 2 pieces of cheesecake. I know this isn't a Mexican or Cuban dish, but it sounded good. It came as 2 different flavor slices of cheesecake like you get in those Costco samplers. No attempt to make it their own like fresh sauce or anything. Just put onto a plate for $6 each. A suggestion to Mr. Ramirez, if you want to do your cheesecake like this, I'd get the plain New York style, not the sampler of different flavors, then serve it with some fresh sauce or caramel or something drizzled over the top. Make it your own. Overall service was good, no issues with the servers (other than not being able to make a decent margarita). We were seated at a table right under a soccer game being shown on a Spanish network. Could be a plus or a minus depending on who you are.
(2)Maria S.
Used a half off restaurant.com certificate bit did not find the food appealing. It was spicy but had no good taste to the picadillo. We tried three different items and none of them were good. I don't think I'll be back to try again.
(2)Jaye P.
Ugh. We tried this place tonight because it seems to be busy on the weekend. Must be underage drinkers, because no one in their right mind would eat this food. I wish I had read the reviews before we went. The menu was sticky. The chips came with salsa - cold spaghetti sauce from a jar - I kid you not! Yellow rice with no flavor. Beans from a can. This isn't Cuban or Spanish food - it's a shame they actually have the audacity to state this is what they are serving. Nasty!!!!
(1)Nathan G.
I can't speak for the Cuban aspect, but as a Mexican food place it is truly horrible. I muscled down most of it to be polite to my companions. The rice was an odd orange color and was very sticky. I worry about the other review saying the salsa was good. Honestly I didn't even bother trying - I'm from Texas. I know good salsa and the consistency was all wrong. Flavored tomato paste.
(1)Naomi B.
Mom and I met a family friend here for lunch at 1 p.m. on a Friday to use a Groupon we purchased online. We were the only customers...oh no wait, there was a couple outside on the patio feeding their food to a dog. Shoulda coulda woulda got back in the car, but mom said she was starving, we already bought the Groupon, etc. etc. *sigh* I just.....don't even know where to begin.Ok, so I'll start with the positives. We were greeted at the entrance by the owner. The World Poker Tour was playing on one of the TVs. The end. Atmosphere: In case the owner might see this...they're called LIGHT BULBS. The dining room looks like a testing facility for night vision goggles. Of all the tables in the dining room, he sits us down at the one thats filthy and sticky. Food crumbs, straw wrapper pieces, and I'm guessing (or rather hoping) that the stickiness came from old spilled soda. He cleaned the table off, but only after we asked him to. The old, dated, and grungy fabric on the chairs and booths could use a good steam cleaning...or 5. Food: They have a $6.95 lunch buffet, and mom went with that. Family friend and I decided to split a chicken chimichanga plate, since I was feeling a tad under the weather and didn't have much of an appetite. I got up with mom to do a quick scan of the lunch buffet. Out of about 12 dishes, mom picked 3. The rotisserie roast pork, the beef stew (I maybe wrong, could have been pork, nothing was labeled), and some mixed vegetables. Everything else (including the rice and black beans) looked suspiciously past expiration, to put it mildly. My mom is one who strongly believes in getting the most for her money, especially at a buffet, especially when she's starving. She ate half the plate of food and nothing else. Speaks volumes, doesn't it? As for the chimichanga...the red sauce on top highly resembled the watery tomato sauce that they gave us alongside our basket of cold chips. The chicken itself was dull and flavorless. Come on people, it's SEASONING, not rocket science. Even with the dish being shared, a good half of it was left uneaten. Service: How do I count the ways? From the dirty table to having not so much as ONE offer to refill any of our drinks...and we were waited on by the owner??? It's a local business, and I wanted to give it a chance AND the benefit of the doubt after reading negative review after negative review on the joint. Yet, sadly I have to concur and profess that this place is simply a waste of time, money, and gas, and you'd be much better off eating somewhere...anywhere else.
(1)Paul G.
To be fair I have to say I feel people expect too much of a place like Ramirez. The place is more of a cantina or a bistro, so you should not go in expecting the food to be of Le Cordon Bleu caliber. I have not tried the whole scope of their menu, but I am satisfied with the items I have tried. The mofongos have a great combination of plantains, garlic and a decent portion of the meat you choose with it. I also like their mondongo (chicken tripe) soup. Once or twice, I have tried their sandwiches and they're all right. Overall, I enjoy my visits to Ramirez. The food is well-portioned and fills you up well. Better option than any fast food.
(4)John E.
No stars. If the cook was my mother I would Leave home. I can make much better margaritas at home. I had to select a star to be able to post. Does not rate even one.
(1)Dena G.
my boyfriend and i wanted to try this place, especially since this place is owned by a retired u.s. navy chief and because my boyfriend is crazy about cuban sandwiches. we bought a groupon for this restaurant and didn't notice that the $40 groupon was valid for four people. the waiter made it really difficult and came to the weird conclusion that we would just use $20 now and $20 later. either way, we would be using $40 so we didn't quite get why he wanted to arrange it that way. our total bill came out to $2.50 and when we went to pay, they told us that their card minimum was $5.00. we blew it off and just payed the $5.00, especially after that terrible experience we had there. it started with the chips and dip-dip was cold and they mixed homemade chips with stale ones that tasted like cardboard. yucks! i ordered something and it came out looking like an asian dish with little to no flavor and my boyfriends burrito was the smallest burrito ive seen full of rice and little beef. we ordered desert, tres leches, hoping that it would make our experience a little sweeter-but it was undercooked and tasted like strait up dough. don't waste your time, guys! it's no bueno.
(1)Donell S.
This place has no organization. .. I waited for 30 minutes before any waiters came to the table. . The Salsa taste like tomatoes of the can!!!! What a waste of time. . Never again. .
(1)Shawn M.
The food was ok. I had the chimichanga my son had the fajitas. So afterwards I asked for the fried ice cream. So it comes and it is ice cream that has been rolled in cinnamon and oats and clearly not fried. it was ok tasting but the owner came by and asked how things were. I told him that the fried ice cream did not seem to be fried at all, simply rolled around in some stuff. He simply said, "well now you know the recipe". I found this to pretty brazen. I won't be back simply from the attitude.
(2)John N.
I have eaten here a few times in the past but gave it another try today. Bad decision. The waitress seated us at a booth below a TV with a loud episode of Jerry Springer playing. The chips were stale, the rice was burned and the ground beef enchiladas had shredded beef mixed in. It was like someone in the kitchen was winging it. The unclean silverware came wrapped in a ripped paper towel. The server never refilled our glasses and didn't check on us once as she also had to entertain her child who was off school for Thanksgiving vacation. I don't have high expectations for local Mexican restaurants but Ramirez has hit a new low. Next time ill go back to La Nopalera.
(1)Neal B.
I got the Burrito al Pastor. I have been using the bathroom fairly nonstop for the last day and a half. Thank you for whatever you gave me Ramirez's. Do not eat here. Oh and the burrito was pretty terrible, it was full of huge chunks of fat, yuck.
(1)M W.
Roasted pork special was great especially with the rice and beans that comes with it. The Ropa Vieja was also tasty. What needs work: Gaucamole was definitely creamier, would like to see fresher stuff Service is definitely island time, don't be in a rush.
(3)Stephanie T.
Me and my family went here for lunch one day. I really wanted some Cuban food, but was sadly disappointed. Their lunch buffet did not look appetizing, so all of us ordered off the menu. Apparently they're not used to that because all of our food came out and was just not good. My mom ordered a fish sandwich and wanted yucca for a side, to which she got french fries. She also asked for tartar sauce or mayonnaise because there was absolutely nothing and after 10 minutes, he returned to say that they had neither. We wouldn't have been too bummed, but the menu said it came with sauce. So we chalked that up to ordering something pretty plain at an ethnic restaurant. But, the other dishes that came out were nothing far from edible and it was very overpriced for the quality. The only good thing I can mention is that the staff seemed friendly.
(1)Joe W.
TOTAL waste of time.... The only thing worth the $$ was the .99 draft Happy Hour of Dos XX's and the drafts were hot at that. I tried these folks out at 4pm on a Monday hoping to catch them with little to no traffic in the restaurant. Well I got what I wanted. There wasn't one person in the restaurant besides a cook and 2 waitresses. I started off ordering a Beef Empenada ($3).... It was garbage, totally bland. My entree was a "Baliche Contrillo" or something like that. What it was, was a round eye steak that was supposedly stuffed with chorizo. ($12) Well it didn't taste anything like chorizo at all. It really tasted like regular sausage you buy at the supermarket from Jimmy Dean for $3. Then they smother it in a gravy, and put a few olives on top cut up. The sides you get with this is fried plantains, along with steamed rice, and black beans. The entree had good flavor, but to me it would only been worth it had it had a $6.99 price tag not a $12 price tag. For dessert I decided to give their Tres Leches $3.50 a shot. Yeah they missed the mark on that one, and Tres Leches is a pretty easy dessert to make! I sat at the bar to make it easier on the waitress since she was also the one serving the drafts from the tap at the bar. My drank ran out twice and I had to walk over to the other side of the restaurant to ask her for more. Each time she was sitting down in the booth laughing and talking with the other waitress. I set the table for them to win a customer service nod by being the only thing in the restaurant. When you can't even give me basic customer service when I am the only thing, I would not want to be here when they have to wait on multiple people. I can't recommend this place at all. Also, don't be fooled by their attempt at a buffet advertisement for $6.99. It only consisted of 5 items, and make your own Tacos and Burritos were 2 of them.
(1)Neil W.
I found their menu at the reception desk of my hotel. I had no car so I had to get delivery or take a taxi. They delivered the food ($25min) in about 30 minutes. The seafood salad what what I wanted it to be (though I can tell the seafood was previously frozen from those mixed bags). Still, it was good. The seafood mofongo was great. I'm sure it would have been better at the restaurant in terms of presentation, but it really hit the spot. I loved that the mofongo was topped off with a hunk of chicharron/pellejo. What a great idea! So, I've read plenty of bad reviews and, in spite of them, I ordered out of pure laziness. It paid off and I was happy with my food.
(3)Mama C.
The buffet looks very unappealing. Pass. Ask the waitress BEFORE you order if the kitchen has all of the ingredients that the menu lists are in your dish. Still disappointed in the so called Cuban sandwich. Why is processed white American cheese okay as a substitute for Swiss cheese? Guess what? It's not. The dining room is much too dark. Outdated. Silverware wasn't clean- had to ask for a clean fork. The staff walks around talking to customers who are obviously their friends and other staff members while sitting around drinking beers and watching soccer. The two waitresses "working" continued to walk past my table without refilling our glasses AT ALL the entire time we were there. Customers at other tables were constantly asked repeatedly for the waitress to come over. Watched another table order dessert, then 10 minutes later the waitress emerges to say- oh we are out of that twice before they finally brought them flan with whipped cream on top. Waitresss never bothered to bring us our check though we sat at the tables a good 15 minutes after we finished. So I had to stand at the register for ten minutes until she wandered up.
(2)Elizabeth C.
The Hispanic food is such a disgrace! The service was even more horrible- went there with my fiance back in August of 2012 and we were both very disappointed. Took our waitress over 15 minutes to bring us our waters and it took even longer to receive our food. When our bill came out it was overcharged by $10! they said it was a "gratuity charge"- per person-- for what? We had NO service (mind you this was NOT a groupon) and then when we asked to speak to her supervisor she walked off and never came back.. Called our bank with the fraudulent $10 charge and the bank credited the full amount to us. NEVER will I go back again. Instead-- if you're looking for Puerto Rican food there is a place called El Palermo over on Kingsley Avenue with MUCH better service and FRESH food!
(1)Mike C.
The food is a step above Taco Bell except the tacos which are not as good. Unfortunately the service is considerably worse than the food. A horrible waste of time and money.
(1)Maris R.
Love this place - yum! I love their beef and chicken tacos!
(5)Mark J.
The restaurant makes makes me want to quit my job and move back to Cuba. That is the only way I will find food as good.
(5)