Abuelo’s

Just got back after a terrible dinner experience
We had a reservation for 9 and got a nice table assigned to us
Waitress came by to take our drink orders and main course orders and stood at the head of the table and required us to shout out our orders. No explanation of the specials and no suggestions. Then she brought the main dishes and we are still waiting for the drinks and I had to remind her about this. I asked for some spicy sauce and she said that they ran out of the sauce at 730pm on a Sat night. Food was just ok. We ordered dessert and it was delivered without clearing the dirty main course dishes. I asked for a glass of water that came when I was about to leave
Last time I go here and the 1 star is a generous rating
Adiós Abuelos!

I’ve been to a few Abuello’s and this one was ridiculous. My daughter and son have a dairy allergy. So we told our server that at the beginning. She brought out the manager because she honestly didn’t know what was in the food nor had any idea about what a dairy allergy entailed. Apparently neither did the manager. He assumed margarine was fine and brought us the GFS sticks to show us. The ingredients clearly had dairy in it and we pointed that out. He advised us on a few dairy free foods on the menu that didn’t use the margarine. After getting home both my kids had reactions and he is lucky it didn’t send my daughter into anaphylaxis. Never visiting this one again.

This was our first time visiting Abuelos, in fact we had never even heard of it. We arrived @7:45 on a Monday evening. There were a number of people waiting to be seated. However, because there were only two of us and we were more than willing to sit at a high-​top in the bar area we were seated immediately. Our waitress arrived promptly to take our drink order and deliver a small tray of tortilla chips along with three small salsas. The chips were greasy but also incredibly light. There was a bland chunk tomato salsa, a spicy roasted salsa which I enjoyed, and slightly sweet green salsa.
When the waitress delivered our margaritas, she took our food order and asked if we cared for me chips. We did, so time she brought a larger basket of chips as well as bowls of each of the salsas. The margaritas were good.
For my entrée I had the pork tenderloin abragada. It came with papas con chile and charro beans. The beans were good and the papas which were mashed potatoes with peppers and cheese were delicious. The pork was intensely smokey and incredible. My dining companion had enchiladas, refried beans, and mexican rice. Tasty but not exceptional. Because we had so many chips we asked for a box for the leftovers.
For lunch the next day, I heated up the leftovers and I thought the port was even better.
I would be happy to eat here again.

We went there recently on a Sunday at around 2:00 in the afternoon. There were only four other tables with customers. We sat there for quite a while, and no one came to wait on us. It’s like we were seated, and then forgotten. We had PLENTY of time to read the entire menu, and thought it looked delicious! Too bad the service was non-​existent. There was a «server call» button, that we pushed, but even that did nothing. Once we decided to bail, the manager came rushing out and offered us a free meal if we stayed. Lol. We didn’t want free food. We just wanted to eat, and be waited on like a normal restaurant. Idk if we will try again… it was our first time there, and it was weird.

A great atmosphere with friendly and quick service. But for me the chicken fajitas were pretty boring.

What a letdown! I always like samples from Abuelo’s at Taste of Madison. The restaurant experience was quite disappointing.
Hostess (es): Two women were seating people when we arrived. I watched them as we waited for our table. I never once saw a smile — in fact, their facial expressions were complete scowls.
Server: Our server was friendly. He may have simply been a bad server or overwhelmed, but the actual «service» was not there. We left the restaurant quite thirsty since we finished our drinks about halfway through our meal, and our server never refilled them.
iPad thingy: ***Abuelo’s, get the technology off the table!*** I don’t want to use a touchscreen device at my table to place my appetizer order and/​or «call server.» (A button on the screen actually says «call server.») If I’m spending a good hour of my night at a sit-​down restaurant, I expect prompt and professional service from a competent human being during my dinner — not a button. (Does this tech rant make me sound old and out of touch? I’m not even 30.)
Atmosphere: Stucco arches mixed with Victorian-​style curtains. Top 40 music on the speaker. What is this theme?
If you’re in Madison and want Mexican/​Tex-​Mex, go to Eldorado Grill.

Please get free WIFI, Abuelo’s – have bypassed stopping here many times for that reason. Otherwise, consistently above average chain food – fresh and plentiful with prompt
service and reasonable prices. The chips are super thin with a variety of complimentary salsas. I agree with earlier assessment of table game technology – tacky, unclear, and a bit sticky/​germy The décor is lovely and spacious. The hostess might actually thank you when you leave – have visited many times, and they are generally all cadets – nice, but not focused.

Our Midwest quest for queso led us here while staying in Madison. The queso was okay, but it isn’t really fair to compare to our Texas memories either. Not bad for Tex-​Mex at all. The salsa was good and getting a variety is helpful since my wife sweats on sight of it even looks hot. Tabitha rocked keeping the drinks full and checking on us. The hostess made me feel a little like a 5^th grader the teacher I was the student she was either angry with or disappointed in. I wasn’t even the one who told her we needed the seating for three. everyone has bad days I guess. We will come again.

Abuelo’s was pretty decent, it’s definitely not my favorite restaurant but worth trying. I went here for my birthday dinner and they have really good happy hour specials every weekday, which is really cool! But the happy hour specials only apply if you sit in the bar area, luckily we grabbed a booth but I thought that was a little odd. I had 2 Margarita Mugs for 2.99 each!
The service was excellent and the restaurant was clean.
My fiancé and I split the fajitas for two which has a good selection. We got to pick 4 fajita fillers (chicken, steak, Yucatan shrimp, and roasted veggies). You also get to pick 4 sides. The food was just OK.
I do plan on returning to leave a better review.

Tasteless chips. Blandish street tacos. Beautiful restaurant. Clean. Wish the interior matched décor the flavors of the food. Disappointed. Would not waste time nor money there.

Atmosphere was great! Staff was very nice and attentive except for the hostess without the mostess! She had an attitude that could have ruined the meal but everyone else made up for it.
Food was very tasty and pleasing. Came out very fast and hot and fresh. For appetizers we had the jalapeño cheese fritters, mini chimmies, quesadillas, and the queso. Wouldn’t order chimmies again, they were good but too much like an egg roll. Cheese fritters were pretty good, quesadillas were ok, and the queso was pretty tasty. Appetizers were overall were just ok I would skip except for queso. Chips and salsa was really good.
For food I got the grande platter. It was amazing. My wife got the pork tenderloin plate that was also very very good.
I had the platinum margarita, and my wife had the skinny which were both very good. Next time I would skip the appetizers we chose or try something different. But the food was amazing and so were the drinks!

A very stylish Mexican restaurant with both the space and food being delicate.
First comes with chips and three different salsas. We always get the fajita. And there’s always lots to choose from their menu.
Too bad that they took off the green peppers with steak wrapped outside… :(

First class! Service was awesome and the food was fantastic!
I had the pescado guerrero and the enchiladas.
They make a green salsa that is amazing.
Hit the spot, highly recommend.
Even the music is good.

My colleague and I are working over in Middleton and thought we’d hit Abuelo’s for lunch.
When we walked in, it seemed very much like a chain, and that’s okay, but the hostess wasn’t that friendly and there were only about 4 parties in the entire restaurant. Peak lunch hour. 12:30pm.
The menu is pretty standard ‘Mexican’ food with smaller portions on the lunch menu (back page). Everyone gets chips and three salsas (mild, medium, hot) as an appetizer, but for meals my colleague ordered the chicken enchiladas and I ordered the chicken fajitas. The chips were warm and seemed to be homemade, so that was a bonus.
While we were waiting for our food, there was a little computer game with a credit card swiper on it. We tapped a button and it said «YOU ARE NOW PLAYING…» however, we never had to swipe a card, so we didn’t realize we were paying.
After 2 – 3 games of trivia, and a basket of chips, our food came. The chips and three salsas were fine and the lunch food was just «okay»; I felt underwhelmed. My coworker said his was fine, but we have definitely had better ‘Mexican’ food. Ah, well, we needed to eat lunch, right? It was fine for ‘lunch.‘
The bill came and our meals were correct, except… the games were charged to our table! There were our trivia games, right on our bill. This is EXTREMELY misleading because you don’t swipe your credit card on the machine and it doesn’t say it’s being added to your tab.
We are so disappointed by this and bring it to our server’s attention. We explain how it’s extremely misleading and there should be note that says games are added to your tab. Seriously, why would we think we would be charged if it didn’t make us swipe our card in the machine?
Anyway, the server fixed it, but it was really disappointing, so don’t play the games on the little machine. Even if you never swipe your card, you will be charged.
All in all, I wouldn’t eat here again, i wasn’t super impressed by the food and from the looks of it, neither are others. It just didn’t seem all that flavorful and for the price, i’d rather go to Quaker Steak and Lube.

Best Mexican I’ve had in madison.
We always get the dip sampler and I get enchiladas a lot. Try all their flavors!

My wife and I had a taste for Mexican food today so we stopped for lunch. After living in California for the first 25 years of my life, I have yet to find a Mexican restaurant that reminds me of home. This was not it either but will review based on the food only.
We both had a combination of different enchiladas. My wife had one spinach and one avocado. I had one shredded pork and one shredded chicken. My wife loved hers and I thought the pork had lots of flavor. The chicken was very bland.
The search continues for authentic Mexican food in the Madison area.

Excellent service! Our waitress took a little bit to come to the table and the manager, Natalie, came personally to apologize, we had no need to complain, and she made everything right quickly. Would highly recommend and the food is excellent!

I think Abuelo’s has a great potential to be an excellent restaurant and they just haven’t figured it out how yet and I really don’t know if they will someday.
It is a shame because Abuelo’s is a beautiful restaurant and it has a great ambiance with that open space, high arcs, nice music, private booths and colorful decoration. They just need to work harder on their food PLEASE, I had not been there in a long time and nothing has changed, I really was expecting more.
I always get their sautéed chicken zucchini and the last two times I had been there it has been kind of salty, today I tried a chicken enchilada with a green chile salsa and it also tasted salty, both dishes really needed a pick me up ingredient and that was acidity, I put some tomatillo salsa on them and they tasted better. They really need to make some deep reflections and make a twist on their dishes. I had a piña colada and that was nice. Service was good too.

Had a late lunch at this place for the first time last month. It was pretty slow at the time we went. I liked how the restaurant looked on the inside, it has a beautiful fountain when you walk in.
I tried their Watermelon Margarita and was pleasantly surprised. It was not too sweet or too tequila-​y.
The chips and salsa that are brought to the table were so-​so, fairly spicy. They had there different types they brought to the table and they mixed a bit of the three on a plate.
I ordered a burrito and my coworker had the fajitas, neither of us were impressed. My coworker had been there a few times prior to our visit and she was disappointed in how things tasted.
Not some place I would go back to again. I’d rather drive all the way to Pedro’s or go to pasqual’s.

This was my second visit here at the Madison location. I had the «chose your own» enchiladas platter the first time. It was overall decent but nothing special. The enchiladas are drenched in sauce and if you order ones with cheese sauce, it’ overwhelming. This was the case this time when I tried the enchiladas de Cozumel. They are listed under the Seafood section but the enchiladas are filled with guacamole and topped with a couple pieces of shrimp, scallops, and drenched with cheese sauce. It really wasn’t my thing.
The side vegetables were steamed and delicious. They provided a much needed relief from the cheese sauce. The rice was white rice with some cilantro and also mixed well provided from extra flavor. Overall I was a little disappointed with this dish. My friend had the fajitas tacos and they looked pretty good.
My favorite thing about this restaurant are the chips and salsa. They provide a trio of salsa, a chipotle flavor medium, a green mild, and a hot. All of them taste great with the hot being my favorite. The mild one had a bit too much garlic but was still delicious. The chips are light and crunchy (not the thick ones). I like these better although occasionally you’ll break the chip in the salsa.
The service was great and the atmosphere is clean and casual.