Tequila Beach - at the Summit Sierra
On November 18th we decided to give Tequila Beach at the Summit Sierra a try. As far as I know it is the only mexican resturant in the mall.
For those of you who don’t know, the resturaunt used to be Cortinas, a higher end Italian resturant. Not only was it a few hundred feet away from a more casual Italian resturant the food was generally overpriced for the quality. I had tried a calzone there last year for lunch and what came out was burnt on the outside and cold in the middle - not a good experience.
Anyways - we went around lunch time. We walked in and the design is still similar to the old italian resturant. You will still see the bar on the left when you walk in but now there appears to be a bar on the right also. The floorplan itself seemed identical to Cortina - which isn’t good in my opinion - its extremely open and feels somewhat cold. I think changing this alone would make a big difference to the experience.
The hostess took us to a seat that we politely rejected, it was next to a hallway to a back area/restrooms and we asked for a booth instead. (On a side note - the hostess tried to sit EVERY other patron int othe resturant at this location and nobody wanted to) She gave us a booth that had a torn seat with a piece of cloth laid over it. Not sure what was going on there but it didn’t matter, we sat down and looked at the menu. The first things I noticed were: 1) The food is pretty expensive for casual mexican food, 2) there are no lunch specials and 3) there are few ‘classic’ mexican meals (chimichangas?).
While we were deciding on our order they brought us the chips and salsa. The chips are colored (not sure if its infact blue/black corn or just food coloring) and some salsas. The 3 salsas were quite good however the chips we got were very stale and cold. We told the hostess and she brought us a new batch.
We went ahead and ordered. I ordered 2 steak tacos and my wife ordered 2 fish tacos (approx. $10 for 2 tacos). A few minutes later the waitress came back and let us know that they no longer had any fish. My wife, frustrated that they didn’t know originally, then ordered chicken tacos. A few minutes later the waitress came out and told us they did in fact have fish and if we still wanted them. We went ahead and said yes.
About 20 minutes later the tacos came out (it took a while). The dish included the beans and rice (the menu didn’t specify) which was nice, especially if your paying $10 for 2 tacos. Firstly - the refried beans were very good (i suspect because they use lard) and the rice was OK. The first thing we noticed about the fish tacos - they were breaded and deep fried - NOT grilled. The menu actually doesn’t specify but generally most people expect grilled fish, not deep fried. Secondly, the fish was petrified. Not just slightly overcooked but completely petrified. On top of all that there was just some lettuce and tomato chunks sprinkled on the top - it looked like a taco you’d make at home. After taking a bit it all came together - it was terrible. We let the waitress know and she offered to bring out chicken tacos instead.
The steak tacos were the same construction. There was VERY little steak and some lettuce and tomato sprinkled on top. The steak was tasteless - not just bland but absolutely tasteless. Salt and pepper would have gone a long way. I had one soft shell taco and one hard shell taco. I got most of the soft shell down but only could take one bite of the hard shell before giving up out of sheer disgust.
My wife then got the chicken tacos. We opened up the taco to find unpleasant grey matter that did resemble chicken and was not only mostly uncooked (pretty sure it was microwaved) but had no seasoning. She ate a few bites, mentioned it to the hostess who simply apologized and walked off.
At this point we realized it wasn’t worth going any farther - we asked for the bill - which took TEN minutes to get. We were asked if we wanted ‘doggie bags’ to which we laughed and joked with each other that we would not in fact, even feed this to our dog. We paid for our meal ($30 for 2 coronas and 4 tacos) and left.
In my honest opinion - and if you read the comments on this place - is that this place is just as doomed as Cortinas is. To be extremely blunt it appears the hostess’ were hired based on bra size and not experience and while mostly friendly they are not knowledgeable. Its a bummer that the Summit Sierra doesn’t have a good mexican restaurant.
Please feel free to comment below.
22 Responses to “Tequila Beach - at the Summit Sierra”
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Mike
Said this at 11:56am:We read your comments before trying Tequila Beach at the Summit Sierra. We should have listened. We waited 20 minutes because we had a party of six to have them take us in the back room. We were the only party except a small 2 person. They could have moved two table together which is what they did, but they made us wait for it. The they were having a drink special for their grand opening wave bar. The overcharged us for the beer and then they charged 24.00 for two mexican coffees. These have shot of Tequila and another shot of liquor. The food, with the exception of the kids food, was reheated. When we ordered it only took a few minutes and our food came out. Would have been gret except the fahitas were reheated and all on one plate. Looked like a buffett fahita. Two orders were put on one plate to share! The food was expensive and was not prepared fresh. Most of it tasted like it was made during the day and microwaved. Under our table we found old silverware, fries, and other interesting items. Not real clean. This place used to be a fancy Italian rest. I have heard its the same owner, but new theme. Unfortunetly, same bad food, bad service, yuck. Would advise against trying.
Kamie
Said this at 6:29pm:Terrible!!!
Mike
Said this at 2:17pm:Just read your comments. Better stated than mine and definetly true. We paid 80.00 for 6 people and my wife got sick from the salad dressing.
susan
Said this at 3:21pm:i thought tequila beach was excellent. the food and the staff were very good and friendly. i am grateful to have such a nice place that i can go to in my neighborhood. i loved it. i think it’s very difficult to find good food and quality in reno these days. i would definitely recommend it to my friends.
jeremy
Said this at 6:36pm:@ Susan
Your IP address puts you in the San Francisco area - not Reno. I have to say I find it totally disappointing if the restaurant is asking people to post shill comments on here. They could always contact the people that had bad experiences at their restaurant and address it personally.
Mike
Said this at 7:03pm:Susan,are you from Reno?
Jeremy good job on the research. I would have been happy to write a good comment if it were true. I can name many local restraunts that are great. Tequela Beach on that night was far from it.
Mike
Said this at 7:11pm:JEREMEY,
Did at little research. Here is a clip from the RGJ.
“Cortina is the latest venture for Italian restaurateur Gianni Chiloiro, born and educated in Italy and a 25-year veteran of restaurant ownership in the San Francisco Bay Area. His vision for Cortina is authentic, fresh food (organic whenever possible) and a warm and friendly dining experience much as you would experience in Italy. I say he has succeeded big time!”
Looks like the owner was or is from San Francisco. So Susan must be friend. OUCH!!!
Kelli
Said this at 9:42pm:I don’t want to dump on this restaurant, but I do want to say, especially if the owner is listening, what a terrible dining experience that was! Seriously, it seems like he’s just out to make a quick buck, not serve good food. Does he think people will keep coming back for over-priced, poor quality food just to see the big tatas on the wait staff? The chicken in my tacos was microwaved and unseasoned. Who would be happy to pay $10 for that? Plus, there has to be lunch specials. People don’t want to pay $10 for lunch. We want small plate and al a carte options too.
Kris
Said this at 5:25pm:I’ve had both lunch and dinner a few times at this restaurant, when it first opened and most recently, last week. The chicken enchiladas and the carne adovada are my favorites. At this point, I am trying to figure out where you folks went to eat!! I’ve had the enchiladas, tacos, soups, salads and burritos. Out of all of that, my only complaint would be that the rice is sometimes not spicy enough. I add pico to it and then it’s fine. I whipped out my handy-dandy to go menu and I’m also wondering where the overpriced comment is coming from?! I’m looking at the menu from nasty Chevy’s to compare prices and 2 steak tacos at Tequila Beach are cheaper than they are at Chevy’s!! These places are comparably priced on most items. (By the way, the menu does tell you that the tacos come with rice and beans. It’s at the top of the page, under the section header.) And there is an a la carte section too. I agree they should add lunch specials and I also wish they would add chimichangas to the menu. I haven’t noticed this place being dirty either and I’ve been there when it’s been both busy and slow. Some of us from the office are hitting happy hour tomorrow so I’ll check that out! I do agree with the comment that some of the wait staff should study their menu more, but I can’t believe you took it there with the bra size comment! (That’s pretty sexist by the by.) I’ll give them another 30 days or so to improve on the ‘knowledge factor’ before I completely condemn them!
Mike
Said this at 9:54am:Kris,
I must disagree on the sexist comment. Giving Wikipedia credit for the folowing cut and paste. They were judged on their ability to do their job. I think Jeremy concluded, whether fairly or not, that if they do not posses the skill, maybe its was for their young good looks. Its not like businesses have not used this before. As far as the food. I will tr it one more time. This would make three from this owner. Everything I said was true to me. I am glad your experience was different, and I hope my experience was not the norm.
“Sexism, a term coined in the late 20th century, refers to the belief or attitude that one gender or sex is inferior to or less valuable than the other. It can also refer to hatred of, or distrust towards, either sex as a whole (see misogyny and misandry), or the application of stereotypes of masculinity in relation to men, or of femininity in relation to women.[1] It is also called male and female chauvinism.
In philosophy, sexist attitudes can be understood or judged on the basis of the essential characteristics of the group to which an individual belongs—in this case, their sexual group, as men or women.”
Kris
Said this at 6:40pm:OK, so ’sexist’ may not have been the appropriate term to classify your comment in regards to the girls’ bra sizes. At any rate, it was way out of line! You obviously need to find a hobby other thank referencing Wikipedia and posting restaurant reviews about every 12 hours! And Jeremy didn’t conclude anything! Read the posts again! You have posted the majority of comments here and they are unfounded. I’ve had about 7 good experiences to your 1 bad experience and I’ve only posted here twice! This one because someone commented that the place was ‘not very clean’ and I happened to be going there again.
At any rate, about 12 of my co-workers accompanied me to Tequila Beach friday night. We had a wonderful time!! We sat in the bar area and Ross - who happens to be male, was our server and did a wonderful job! (I guess that bombs the bra size theory out of the water.) Our drinks were good, our food was fresh and we did not notice anything on the floor or under any of the tables. This place is pretty open and airy. You pass by the open kitchen to get to and from the restrooms. On one such trip, I noticed a rather oversized grill that kitchen staff had an abundance of chicken grilling while I passed by. So much for the microwave theory since it was around 6pm when we were there!
I won’t put much stock into the negative posts on this site anymore as my experiences have completely debunked the opinons posted here. I’m wondering if some of these people may have attempted to get their meal at a reduced price and failed?!! At any rate, my friends and I have had nothing but good food and good times at Tequila Beach and will be going again and again.
Good luck somewhere else.
jeremy
Said this at 8:23pm:Wow. I had no idea that comment would get some much attention.
Anyways - After viewing traffic logs I’d have to say that someone over there at Tequila Beach is aware of this post.
I’m really hoping Kris’ post means that Tequila Beach took the criticism constructively and actually worked on improving their food, menu and service.
I recently moved my office to the Galena/Wedge Parkway area and will be trying Tequila Beach again and see if this holds true - I’ll post a follow up after I try it.
Mike
Said this at 10:15am:Kris,
I did not make the “Bra” comment. I also said I would try it again. Its funny that are you making it personal. It says much more about you than me. I do wish them the best of luck and as hard as it is to hear negative feedback, at least it give them a chance to look at what was said and decide for themselves whether its true or not. Research the RGJ. They did an article recently and there were I think 12 comments and not one was positive of the old or the new food and service.
What I will take from this is that I will be more careful with what I post and make sure it is completely accurate. With Tequila Beach, it was at that time period.
PS. I never asked for a free meal. Also, on a positive note, I did have friends who tried it and they had a better experience. I heard of their experience after I posted last.
Tim
Said this at 10:43am:Ate there Sat. Dec. 6th. Early eve.
Two comments: The menu doesn’t have ingredients listed on the drink menu, and when we asked what was in a specific drink, the Beach Tini, the waitress bocked at us and said, “Oh, I don’t know what’s in any of those drinks.” That should have been our first queu to LEAVE. I’ve never been in a restaurant that they didn’t know what was in a drink, nor couldn’t take 2 seconds to go and ask OR bocked at the diner asking! And for an $8 drink it was very weak and looked more like ‘foamy dish water’ than a quality drink — say like we get at BJs next door!
Secondly, I am now, today, Monday, suffering from a severe case of gastroenteritis. This is the only out-of-home food that I have eaten in the last week, so I’m just guessing that things are not-so-good in the kitchen there, as well. One of the parties at our table ordered the bean and cheese burrito, she’s vegetarian. She took home her left-overs and found ‘meat’ in them the next day when she re-heated them. The chicken enchiladas that I ordered DID look like gray-matter chicken — boiled maybe.
Bad experience. Poor service. Won’t be going back until the next new restaurant with new owners and new managers!
Brooke Nutter
Said this at 7:25pm:We too should have done some research and read these comments before we had the most unfortuneatly experience of eating at Tequila Beach. If you want the short story..RUN…DON’T WALK…AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS MESS AS FAST AS YOU CAN! I often have had good-great dining experiences at Reno eateries but this has got to be the WORST FOOD in Reno.
My husband and I were not impressed from the getgo. I don’t know what the owners are trying to pull with the decorating…a Tuscan themed Mexican Beach maybe? The salsa was ok but the chips were soggy and stale. Strike 1. We both ordered margartias and the waitress brought them and the glasses were smaller than the water glasses! I thought she had brought us more water. I took a sip of mine and couldn’t tell if it was lime flavored water or what. The drinks were VERY weak and awful. It did look like foamy dish water.
My fish tacos were revolting. The fried fish was the size of a french fry, cold and chewy. Some wilted lettuce and sour tomato concoction covered the top. The rice was gross and I didn’t dare touch the beans. I choked it down as fast as I could. My husbands pork dinner looked like dog food. We got the hell out of there as fast as we could.
This place will last as long as Cortinas. GROSS FOOD and overpriced crap. Here’s a tip to the owners: Find another business. Stay out of the restaurant business.
Unhappy
Said this at 7:49pm:We ate there for my twenty first birthday… we had six shots of tequila costing us $89.00, not only was that outrageous but we had to pour two of those shots into my brorther’s margarita because it was aweful. We are pretty sure there wasn’t any alcohol in it at all. What should have been our que to leave was while we were waiting for our seat the owner was telling us what bad reviews he’s gotten and how bad his food sucks and maybe we should go back to Olive Garden. (Which was good advice.) The food was overpriced and under quality. The “Big Time Burrito” was not so “Big Time”. Instead of wasting your time here, maybe you should go downtown to Beto’s, Bertha Miranda’s, or Los Compadre’s. Our prediction: Will be boarded up in one year.
Eric
Said this at 11:52pm:My wife and I ate at Tequila Beach tonight, I wish I would have researched it as well. We had planned to get some wings before catching a movie, however upon arrival, Buffalo Wild Wings was so packed with customers waiting to watch a UFC fight we decided to give Tequila Beach a try. I had eaten here when it was Cortina’s a couple of times and was never impressed. I have to agree with all the negative reviews so far. I ordered steak fajitas and my wife ordered the shrimp salad. My fajitas tasted like a burnt grill. The meat was dry and had almost no flavor, but some awful marinade on it. The beans and rice were okay, but seriously how hard are beans and rice. The chips and salsa wasn’t terrible, but certainly not worth a trip back. My wife’s shrimp salad was also pretty blah. Some mixed baby green and a handful of shrimp is certainly not worth the $12. I typically would not take the time to post a review about a restaurant, but this place really disappointed me. I hope they are able to get their act together. I love supporting local businesses, however this one just doesn’t make the grade.
Lynda
Said this at 3:37pm:Just curious, has any one been to tequilla beach for the Friday night salsa Dancing? fortunately I don’t eat much before dancing. Thanks
Flaco
Said this at 4:48am:I’ve been there twice and the first time was not too long after the place had opened so in some areas I overlooked obvious flaws like servers networking on house time,and the above mentioned comments that are numerous to say the least.On the second trip the server we had seemed to care a little more about his customers and gave a decent effort considering that he was still surrounded by neophytes,and yes the food is mediocre at best and the theme was worn out but this is Reno.That is not a slur against my beautiful town it’s just that chances are if you eat your meal at a mall(albeit a nice one)you are going to eat mall food,pay mall prices, and the staff are either on the next bus out or the ones who do care are over-worked.If the drinks are weak switch to something a monkey can’t screw up…Beer/Wine.I will go a third time because every time someone asked how things were we opened our mouths and told them directly where there was room for improvement,and it makes a difference.One agrees with the author that this place might not make it and that’s the hidden blessing of a weak economy,the good places usually will thrive,and if this place stays the same……Here comes a Chili’s.
Mike
Said this at 5:25pm:I wanted to come back and say that I tried eating there again and it was much better. It is obvious that the staff and the owner are listening to their customers whether on this site or not. In these toughs times the best we can do is all try to work together and hurtful comments are not helpful. Constructive comments are. One has to wonder if this site did not allow its posters to hide behind a vail of cover would they be so bold as to write these things. I live here in Reno and Tequilla beach is a nice place. Not always at the top of its game, but unless you walk a mile in their shoes try to imagine it and be a little nicer. The owner is supplying its employess with jobs, its vendors with pay, and the city with fees. Be constructive or be quite.
God bless
jeremy
Said this at 6:59pm:Mike,
I’m glad to hear you had a better experience at TB. I’m hearing more and more about people having better experiences there.
What ‘vail of cover’ are you referring to? You can see all my personal contact information by doing a small amount of research (a whois search).
Also - if nobody were to critisize any resturaunt we’d have no idea whats good or bad to eat around here? Are you joking? Head over to Yelp! or any other review site and there are plenty of positive and negative reviews.
If I were to walk a mile in their shoes I’d be listening to critisizm and make changes ASAP so I keep myself in business. This website is but a speck in the grand scheme of things and I’m sorry - I’m not going to hold anything back just because we’re all in a crap economy.
Regards,
Jeremy
Mike
Said this at 4:09pm:Jeremy,
The vail of cover was not about you the webmaster. I am reffering to other posters under a first name only.