Chiles galore? Virgin cocktails? Tacos with ketchup? Guácala! If you want to keep the staff happy at a Mexican restaurant, you'll need to keep these orders to yourself.
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00:00Chilis galore, virgin cocktails, tacos with ketchup, guacala. If you want to keep the
00:06staff happy at a Mexican restaurant, you'll need to keep these orders to yourself.
00:12There's a common misconception that all Mexican food is spicy. Sure, Mexico is the birthplace
00:17of domesticated chili peppers, and chilis are used in many of the country's dishes.
00:22However, Mexican cuisine is incredibly diverse and features many dishes that aren't spicy
00:27If the dish is meant to be spicy, you should probably trust the chef. They probably know
00:31just how much heat to add to make it picante yet still palatable. And remember, nobody
00:37likes a show-off.
00:38Miguel, a server at Los Mochajedes restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, told The Takeout that
00:43he always rolls his eyes when customers ask for dishes extra spicy. He said,
00:47"...so many people ask us to add extra chilis, and we warn them that it won't taste good,
00:52but they insist. One time we honestly thought we were going to have to call an ambulance
00:56for a customer who requested habaneros in his guacamole. He was hyperventilating, sweating,
01:01and bright red."
01:02Miguel's advice? If you want to amp up the heat in your dish, consider adding a splash
01:10or two of the spicy salsa or hot sauce that's offered on the side at most Mexican restaurants.
01:15Just don't go overboard.
01:17Many Mexican restaurants will give you an order of complimentary tortilla chips and
01:20salsa after you sit down. Don't forget, though, that this is meant to be a holdover until
01:25your main meal arrives. Your server probably won't mind if you ask for a refill or two,
01:30but many can't stand it when customers ask for a constant flow.
01:34There are several reasons for this. Firstly, many spots make their chips and salsa from
01:38scratch, which requires time, effort, and money. One Mexican restaurant employee on
01:42Reddit said,
01:43"...people ask for extra chips and salsa and don't understand there has to be a limit on
01:47something that is free or we will lose money."
01:49It's also a pain for the server to constantly run back to the kitchen for refills. Do the
01:54staff a favor and dial back on the free chip consumption. If you really can't get enough,
01:58consider ordering something off the menu that includes tortilla chips, such as nachos or
02:02guacamole.
02:04If you've ever made tacos at home, you'll know that part of the fun is constructing
02:07your taco just the way you like it.
02:09Now that's what I call a taco!
02:11You can pile on as much meat as you like, layer the ingredients in a particular order,
02:15and get creative with your toppings. And that's fine for home cooking, but a Mexican restaurant
02:20isn't the place to be experimenting with DIY tacos.
02:23Jose Juan, a server at Puerto Vallarta's Langostinos restaurant and bar, told The Takeout that
02:28his biggest pet peeve is when customers request tacos with everything on the side so that
02:33they can build the taco themselves. He said,
02:36"...I'm talking they want everything separate, the meat, onions, cilantro, tortillas. I mean,
02:40what are you trying to say? Our tacos don't look good?"
02:43Besides the fact that this is an insult to the chef's expertise, it also slows down the
02:47kitchen and front-of-house staff, as they have to set up and serve all those ingredients
02:51separately.
02:53There's something to be said for seeing guacamole prepared right at the table. It's fun to watch
02:57the whole thing come together in the molcajete and know that you're getting guac that's as
03:00fresh as guac can get.
03:02But table-side guacamole is anything but a favorite for the staff members who work at
03:06Mexican restaurants. The most obvious reason servers dislike table-side guacamole is that
03:10it's time-consuming to prepare. First, they have to wheel out all the tools and ingredients,
03:15then they have to prepare the guacamole, often to the customer's exact specifications. Finally,
03:20they have to remove all the detritus, like avocado skins and squashed limes, which can
03:24be pretty messy. One Reddit user said,
03:26"...I used to work at a place that did table-side guac. It was even a problem as a busboy. If
03:31too many people ordered them at once, the insanity spilled over to every member of the
03:35staff. I hated it."
03:37A quesadilla may just be one of the simplest Mexican dishes to make. At its most basic,
03:42it consists of nothing more than a tortilla filled with cheese, folded over and cooked
03:45in a pan or on a flat-top grill. With that in mind, you wouldn't think that this dish
03:50would annoy Mexican restaurant staff. And for the most part, it doesn't, except when
03:54people request quesadillas with no cheese.
03:57The staff at Cuates y Cuetes told The Takeout that this happens more often than you would
04:03think. To be fair, it's not uncommon to find quesadillas sin queso in Mexico City. However,
04:08in most other parts of the country, the queso is what makes the quesadilla a quesadilla.
04:13So it's pretty bizarre to ask for one without cheese. One of the servers at Cuates y Cuetes
04:17told The Takeout,
04:18"...I try to tell people that a quesadilla without cheese is just a taco and that it
04:21will still cost the same regardless of whether it has cheese or not, but they don't care.
04:26It really doesn't make sense to me."
04:27You may not put the staff out too much by asking for a quesadilla without cheese, but
04:31you'll probably get some odd looks.
04:33Aguachile and ceviche are two popular seafood dishes in Mexico, particularly along the West
04:39Coast. Both use raw seafood, such as shrimp or scallops served in a liquid concoction
04:43of lime juice, chilies, and salt. Cucumbers, avocados, and red onions can also be thrown
04:48into the mix. Recipes vary from restaurant to restaurant, but one thing most staff agree
04:53on is that this is one dish you shouldn't try to modify.
04:56The servers at Cuates y Cuetes told The Takeout that customers often ask for aguachile or
05:01ceviche without certain ingredients such as chili, but that's something they just won't
05:05do. One server said,
05:07"...the ingredients in the marinade need time for the flavors to meld together, so we prepare
05:11it ahead of time and then add the shrimp or fish to order. A special order would need
05:15a different marinade made from scratch, and the flavor just wouldn't be the same."
05:19You might find restaurants that will make modifications to these dishes, but the chef
05:22probably won't be thrilled about it.
05:25Nothing hits the spot quite like a good burrito. After all, you can stuff that flour tortilla
05:30with all sorts of tasty things, like meats, veggies, rice, beans, and salsa.
05:34Indeed, it can be tempting to go all out and pile everything in there, but that's where
05:45things can get tricky for the person preparing your burrito. Ask for too many sloppy ingredients,
05:50and it's going to be a nightmare for them to roll.
05:52Reddit is rife, with Chipotle employees airing their grievances about the worst customer
05:57orders, and one of the most common complaints is overly stuffed, wet burritos. One employee
06:02said,
06:03"...last week a guy came in and got a double-wrapped tortilla, then proceeded to ask for extra
06:07everything. I'm talking triple rice, triple beans, double meat barbacoa and chicken, extra
06:13salsa and sour cream, and then gets mad when the food starts to spill out the sides of
06:17the burrito. Burritos aren't supposed to be a liquid mess."
06:22It's easy to see why chilaquiles are a Mexican breakfast staple. Featuring crispy fried tortilla
06:27chips topped with vibrant red or green salsa, crema, and cheese, the dish is filling, flavorful,
06:32and a must on any authentic Mexican restaurant's breakfast menu. Ask for it past noon, though,
06:37and you'll probably get a straight-up no.
06:39The servers at Cuates y Cuetes told The Takeout that one of their pet peeves was customers
06:43ordering breakfast dishes later in the day. One said,
06:46"...most people don't order chilaquiles or huevos rancheros later in the day, so the
06:50kitchen puts away the ingredients for those dishes to make room for the lunch and dinner
06:54dishes. It's just too disruptive to pull everything out again to make one or two breakfast
06:58dishes."
06:59Just like you wouldn't expect Eggs Benedict to be available at most restaurants for dinner,
07:03chilaquiles are typically for breakfast only.
07:06When many people think of margaritas, they think of frozen blended cocktails that are
07:10sweet, colorful, and have the consistency of slush. Frozen cocktails are a mainstay
07:15of all-inclusive resorts, and due to popular demand, they're also available at many Mexican
07:20restaurants. Ask any bartender, though, and they'll probably tell you that frozen drinks
07:24are the bane of their existence.
07:26Bartender Rafael Gloria Santos has worked at numerous bars and resorts across Mexico.
07:31He told The Takeout,
07:32"...no bartender I can respect likes making blended drinks. Blender drinks are time-consuming
07:36to make, require clunky equipment, and usually leave a sticky mess in their wake. Plus, they're
07:41often made with mixers that are packed with sugar and artificial ingredients. If you're
07:45craving a margarita or other tropical-inspired cocktail, do your bartender a favor and order
07:50it on the rocks."
07:52For many people, margaritas are an absolute must with Mexican food.
07:58But what if you don't want a wallop of tequila in the middle of the day, or at any time,
08:02for that matter? A virgin margarita is always an option. Just know, though, that some staff
08:07might roll their eyes at the order. In the words of Jose Juan from Langostinos, just
08:12why?
08:13It's not the lack of booze that bothers many staff. It's that you won't get the same punch
08:17of flavors that the tequila and triple sec bring to the drink. Many say that if you're
08:21not up for the booze, you're better off just ordering lemonade with your meal.
08:24The other thing that perplexes some servers is why you would want a virgin margarita when
08:28there are so many other amazing non-alcoholic Mexican drinks. For example, horchata is a
08:33sweet, creamy beverage made with rice milk that's often flavored with cinnamon, coconut,
08:38or vanilla. Agua fresca is another refreshing drink. It's essentially cool water flavored
08:42with different ingredients like fruit juice, hibiscus flowers, or cucumber.
08:47If you grew up in the United States, you've probably had more than a few so-called Mexican
08:51meals consisting of hard-shell tacos filled with ground beef and toppings. But hard-shell
08:56tacos are a no-go at most traditional Mexican restaurants. That's because tacos in Mexico
09:01are typically made with soft corn or flour tortillas. Unless the restaurant you're at
09:05serves Tacos Dorados, which are fried tacos, you might get some side-eye if you ask for
09:10your tacos crispy.
09:11The history of hard-shell tacos dates back to 1937, when two Mexican-born restaurateurs
09:16began selling them at a cafe in San Bernardino, California. Their tacos were an adaptation
09:22of the traditional Tacos Dorados dish, made with the ingredients they had on hand. When
09:26another restaurant owner named Glenn Bell saw how popular they were, he began selling
09:31them at his eatery across the street. Bell's restaurant would eventually become… well,
09:36you can probably guess.
09:37Yo quiero taco, Bell.
09:43There's no shame in loving hard-shell tacos, of course. But if you ask for them at an authentic
09:48Mexican restaurant, the staff might just point you in the direction of the nearest Taco Bell.
09:53Order tacos at a Mexican restaurant, and you'll likely be offered a variety of colorful condiments
09:58to go with them. At the very least, there'll probably be a bottle of hot sauce on the table.
10:02The one thing you probably won't find, though, is ketchup. You can ask for it, but you may
10:06hear your server mutter guacala, which translates to gross.
10:11According to many Mexicans, ketchup should only ever come near seafood tacos, and even
10:15that's more of a regional thing. A cook on Quora wrote,
10:18"...some restaurants in Sinaloa and Sonora do serve fish tacos, with ketchup or mil islas
10:23on the side. However, ketchup shouldn't be put anywhere near al pastor or carnitas tacos."
10:29Of course, you're free to do whatever you want with your tacos, and if you really want
10:32to, you should feel free to slather on that ketchup. Just don't be surprised if you get
10:36a few weird looks.