Moctezumas Mexican Restaurant

service is HORRIBLE. last night was our 3rd and final time coming here (we always give restaurants 3 chances before assuming they suck). last night we went out to dinner to see my in laws after a death in the family, and i had to go find someone (bartender was the only person out) bc our drink order was not taken after sitting there for TWENTY MINUTES. i order a dr pepper and my bf asked for the drink menu, and ordered our food at the same time. she comes back with 4 waters and immediately leaves, and we didn’t see anyone again until the food came out. the girl who should have served us was yelling with her manager and pointing at us (we speak spanish lol, awkward!) it didn’t stop until i made eye contact with her for 5 seconds, and then she ran in the back and continued from there. we also felt sick af this morning after eating there last night. last time we went, we stood in front of the host stand for almost 3 minutes, while the host was right in front of us, so deep into her phone she didn’t notice us until the manager saw, and again started yelling with her in front of us. every time we come here it’s a cluster f*** and we’re over it. wish they didn’t tear down the san jose on forest bc now we’re stuck with this place.

It was alright, but it's definitely gone downhill since moving to it's new location. The service is not good, every time I've gone I've had to sit there for a number of minutes before somebody notices that I haven't been served, and then has to fetch somebody down to wait on my table. In addition, they only check on your table 2-3 times while you're there. The food and drinks aren't terrible, but it's not as good as some of the other Mexican restaurants in town. I go to Moctezuma's once or twice a year, which is disappointing because I used to love it. Oh well.

Felt very welcomed, made new friends while enjoying dishes highly recommended by the staff. Viva La Mexico ??

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Our first dining experience at Moctezumas Mexican Restaurant was great! The environment was open, inviting, and had a rich cultural vibe that immediately drew us in. From the start, the staff was incredibly friendly, making us feel welcomed.

Our waitress was wonderful—very nice, patient, and accommodating. She took the time to explain the menu thoroughly, ensuring we understood all the options. When our food arrived, it was freshly prepared, hot, and looked amazing. Every bite tasted fresh and delicious, making for a memorable meal.

We are definitely hopeful to return in the future and enjoy more of what Moctezumas has to offer.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Restaurant was very busy but we were seated quickly. Food was good. Service could improve as we had to get our servers attention for additional drinks and for our check.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 3

Service: Ordered on DoorDash. At the To-Go counter, a woman was taking an order over the phone. But she never even acknowledged me (the only one standing in front of her) and when she got off the phone, she just left the counter. The restaurant wasn't very busy, and there were servers loitering. Not once did any of them offer help. Eventually, someone came from the back and assisted. This is not the first time I've experienced this here.

Food: There was a roach in the salsa. Not a palmetto bug, mind you. Fortunately (or unfortunately) we didn't break into the chips and salsa to see that until near the end of the meal. But we also stopped eating after seeing it. The food wasn't good enough to push through that. We weren't impressed before this visit, but we definitely won't be returning now.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

Very nice atmosphere, plenty of waitstaff but terrible service. The food was bland and we had the Chori chicken and taco salad.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 1

I've eaten at the other location, but this was my first time at the new spot. It seems much more upscale now, but the food is still just as delicious. I usually get the chori-chicken. It's one of my favorite meals. The new location has tons of parking too.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We had a good time.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Recommended dishes: Chips Salsa

They treat their military with a lot or respect. I recommend this restaurant to everyone

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

First time going here, we had a large reservation in the back room, around 22 people. Servers came in, dropped off chips and salsa, then came back to take drink orders. The salsa was very inconsistent, some much spicier than others, even though the salsa was supposed to be the same red salsa. Tasted great, but the inconsistency was odd. Drinks took a while to arrive, and there were incorrect drinks. One drink did not arrive, so someone had to go to the bar to get it. A couple extra drinks, that were not ordered, also arrived. Like the salsa, the margaritas were also very inconsistent. We had one that tasted like a double amount of tequila, and another that we could not taste any alcohol at all. The latter margarita was sent back, but was still incredibly weak when remade. When food arrived, the servers did not annotate where each meal went, so they had to ask the whole 22 person group for each meal. This would've been fine, expect there were four meals brought out that nobody ordered, one meal had to be sent back twice because it included items that were requested to be left off, and four of us did not receive our food. These four meals came out later, but the fact that they were forgotten and came so late was disappointing. Nobody had complaints about the food taste. When the waiters started figuring out checks, they had multiple double-ordered drinks for people, didn't know who ordered what, and the whole process of paying for our food took around 45 minutes.

I feel like this place is perfectly fine for regular dining, but I'd steer clear for large groups.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 1

A real Mexican restaurant food fresh n hot the chips and salsa excellent overall very happy with them

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Chips Salsa

THE place for mexican food in columbia

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

It's a cool place with good food it's pretty noisy but the food makes up for it The avocado soup is killer and the California burrito is good

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Chips Salsa

Got seated quickly but no one ever came to check on me or take my order or anything after sitting for 10 minutes and watched some tables around me not have anyone check on them either. Lots of the employees gathered around the bar just talking without checking on anyone.

Service: 1