About
Location :
Added by Jopie, at 14 January 2017
Opening Hours
- Monday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Tuesday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Wednesday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Thursday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
- Friday 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Saturday 12:00 – 9:00 PM
- Sunday 12:00 – 8:00 PM
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13 Reviews
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18 November 2017
The food was terrible. Also, it is NOT great for kids as there is no kids menu. My kids had to order full sized plates, and the prices are high. They did not eat half the meal because they couldn't stomach it, I only ate mine because it cost so much. I didn't bother packing up the kids plates to take home as it would have just stayed in my fridge until I threw it away. I was terribly disappointed with the whole experience in this run down made over house. I ate there 23 years ago and hated it, gave it a second chance and it was worse than I remember, which is likely because I've eaten at good Mexican restaurants.
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07 November 2017
Liked the atmosphere, liked the staff. The owner was helpful and gracious. The mole was good. The rest of the food leaves a lot of room for improvement.
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22 October 2017
Food decent. Really like the decorations, lots of personality. Experience tarnished due to poor service. It was really hot inside and no AC and no fan. Waiter did not anticipate customer needs (cold water not come for a long time after seated despite constantly fanning ourselves with the menu.) Had to ask for water with ice multiple times as each time given small amount of ice and still fanning ourselves. Hopefully service that day was not the norm. Unfortunately will not go back to confirm.
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29 September 2017
Staff members were wonderful, inviting and friendly.
Take a table by the windows, the view is really cool!
Food was fantastic.
Parking is a little limited.response / report this review -
26 September 2017
As a visual statement, Gina's Mexican Cafe is a powerful bold splash of colour in downtown Nanaimo. The building is gorgeous, as is the decor. It is an incredibly busy spot in the downtown scene. There are few parking spots, with more reasonably priced paid parking available across the street. It is suitably loud and vibrant, basically what I would expect in a popular Mexican or TexMex eatery. We had to wait to be seated, and it took quite a while to order and get our food. Given the crowd in there, I have to give them some slack on that point. Our server, who was really nice, did as good a job as she could have been reasonably expected to, given the circumstances. Sadly the food was a bit of a letdown. Maybe my expectations were a little too high. Ottawa is blessed with Mexicali Rosa's and Lone Star Cafe where the mood is vibrant and the food bursting with flavour. I just didn't get that same rush of culinary satisfaction as I did at Baby Salsa, which is sad because I love the mood and presence of being at Gina's they've nailed that part of the experience. The food was somewhat bland in my humble opinion. I'm going to have to go with 3 stars for the fun atmosphere and decor. Hopefully, I can add a star for food with my next visit.
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08 September 2017
The atmosphere is fun and very Mexican. The service was adequate but without gusto. The food was classic heaps of beans, corn and rice with your main drowning in red sauce and cheese, but the prices were over expectations for the quality of the entire experience.
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04 September 2017
Place looks great outside and in. Water served was warm and no ice. Great. Opted for a combo dish since everything else is over 12 bucks. Chicken was pulled and diced but you can tell it was waiting in the fridge for sometime. The salad that was on the side was a mix of kale, baby lettuce, served with shredded cheese and canned diced tomatoes. Nice and sour. The best thing about the dish I got was the cheese quesadilla on the bottom. The two sauces served was pretty sour as well. For the time spent waiting, I thought the tomatoes would be fresh. Not coming back. Overstaffed, slow service. I can see why my mom just makes most of these dishes herself now.
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27 August 2017
Great service and great taste. I had the shrimp enchilada special and it was really good. My wife found the corn a little bland with her tacos. Nice atmosphere.
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18 April 2017
Awesome food. I had the Coyote, the beans are really fantastic. I will definitely eat here again.
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14 April 2017
Great food, great people. Large portion meals. Never had any problems with these folks.
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04 April 2017
Meh. Was ok. Was hoping to be wowed by because of the reviews I read. Enchilada sauces were ok but the fillings were boring. I feel Iike they're trying to save the unimaginative food by throwing a bunch of marble cheese on top of everything. Meals are served with underseasoned rice, bland refried beans and frozen corn (so sad, was hoping for yummy mexican grilled corn). If you're looking for "pub grub" style Mexican food you may enjoy it, the atmosphere is very nice and the margaritas were good, but if you're hoping for authentic Mexican food this is not the place.
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27 January 2017
WOW16 People for dinner for a double birthday NO PROBLEM!!!
Every time we go out with our blended family it can awesome or a nightmare. Food came out promptly, with dishes being dropped one after another. From the first dishes hitting the table till the last it was under 5 mins. Food was hot fresh and up to the same standards as we are accustom to if your were dinner for 2. Bills were perfect no errorsThank you for making a double birthday party go off with out a hitch.response / report this review -
21 January 2017
Good vibes on the hole in the wall Mexican restaurant with very efficient staff.
A word of caution regarding the "complementary" bowl of chips and salsa - only the 1st bowl is free. When our server noticed our bowl was empty she offered a 2nd bowl. We assumed it would be complementary like the 1st as nothing was mentioned to contradict that. Later we received the bill and we were charged. We felt like this should have been communicated before leading us to believe it was on the house. It's not about the cost but rather how we felt we were mislead.
In addition the guacamole was brown and stringy. Very disappointing.response / report this review
