Motel Mexicana

Food was nice enough, but the experience as a whole was all a bit lacklustre. I suspect it’s a super fun place to go for a bottomless brunch, but considering we went on taco Tuesday, we were one of only three tables there. Not a fun vibe. The toilets were absolutely grim (one covered in old vomit) and the service was incredibly low energy. I don’t think it deserves the 4.6 it gets on Google - at least not for a food focused dining experience.

Awful Experience at Motel Mexicana We arrived at 6pm with a pre-booked table for 3, only to be told by a confused member of staff that the system had us down for 2. Despite the booking being for three we were squeezed onto a table for two with an extra chair. We ordered two margaritas and a glass of white wine at around 6:05. The food order was taken not long after. The waitress later returned to say there was no white wine available, so we changed to rosé, which arrived within 5 minutes. By 6:45 our food turned up - cold, bland, and not fully like described on the menu - but still no margaritas. On top of this, the table was so small we couldn’t even fit the dishes we’d ordered. We each had the three tacos with a side of chips, but had to quickly lift the tacos off the serving plate and hand it back to the waitress just so the bowl of chips would fit (hence the poor image quality). The food itself was hugely disappointing: the “Baja fish taco” was literally just a fish finger, the corn tortillas were stale and crumbled apart when picked up, and the cheese dip was nothing more than melted plastic cheese. The only thing even remotely enjoyable were the plain, shop-bought nachos served on the side. During the long wait I politely asked multiple staff members about the drinks. Meanwhile, the men behind the bar were laughing and joking with each other while tickets piled up in front of them. The table next to us received several rounds of drinks in the time we waited for just one, but they too were unhappy with their food and had to call over what appeared to be the owner. He showed no interest in their concerns or ours. Around 7pm, nearly an hour after ordering our drinks, a waitress appeared with a glass of white wine - despite not ordering it and us being told earlier there was none - and only then did our margaritas finally arrive. When the neighbouring table asked for the manager, she came over to us too and said she’d amended the bill since she’d heard we hadn’t had a great experience. We attempted to share our experience but she didn’t want to listen. Our bill was cleared and there was nothing to pay, which was generous, but it doesn’t erase how poor the evening was. The issues were never properly addressed, nobody wanted to listen, and the entire service felt chaotic and disorganised. Sadly, despite the gesture of removing the bill, we will not be returning. Cold, flavourless food that bore no resemblance to the menu, a table too small to hold our order, and incredibly slow, confused service made this one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had.

Had a meal at Motel Mexicana and came away with mixed feelings. The food was genuinely pretty good – everything we ordered was tasty and had authentic flavour. The only slight letdown on the food front was that the portion sizes felt a bit on the small side for the price. However, the real disappointment was the drinks. We tried a couple of classic cocktails and neither hit the mark. The frozen margarita was completely overpowered by an excessive amount of lime, and the strawberry daiquiri suffered the same fate, tasting only of mint with no hint of strawberry at all. It seemed like a basic error that was consistent across different drinks. My advice would be to go for the food, but maybe stick to a beer or a soft drink. It's a shame the cocktails let the side down, but if you're there for a tasty bite to eat, it's worth a visit.

Probably one of the best Cocktail bars in town, great choice of cocktails and drinks, friendly and attentive staff who clearly know their stuff,we were there late afternoon mid week so was quite but a great vibe we didn't eat but saw food being served and it looked great!

Definately more of a bar than a restaurant, all though they have a huge selection of food. The food was better than expected but prices a bit high for portion sizes in my opinion. They also charge a 10% service charge which was not clearly stated on the menu.

The food here was decent but lacked the authenticity I was hoping for. The flavors didn’t quite capture the essence of traditional dishes, though the pricing was reasonable and accessible. Overall, an okay experience if you’re looking for something casual, but it might not satisfy those in search of a truly authentic.

We had a fantastic meal here . We ordered a feast of nachos, burritos, quesadillas, empanadas etc - all of it was delicious especially the chilli nachos and chicken quesadillas. 2-4-1 cocktails were great too. Staff were so friendly. Best meal we’ve had out in Newcastle in ages, we will be back.