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| - Went here with a small group after a movie. It was only about 9 PM and the place was virtually empty, but that can be overlooked ... after all it was a weeknight at a mall. San Felipes Cantina is a small chain, only 4 locations, and does a good job having the physical appearance of a Mexican beach bar. Which ends up being a little silly when the "view" is the courtyard of a brightly lit mall.
The waitress wasn't great but she was better than the bartender, and especially better than the cook, who she had to apologize for several times for screwing up the most basic food items. Staff training here seems to be bare minimum.
The drinks, at $9, are more reasonable than some places and weren't bad. The salsas tasted fresh and the hot one was quite hot, which I liked.
My friend had the Uno #1 Combo, which at $12 was a little pricey for a standard Mexican combo. I had the San Lucas Bowl, which is listed under salads. It was only $9 but it is definitely not a salad, just a tortilla shell filled with either chicken or beef mixed with taco sauce. I could only take a few bites, the meat was tough, the sauce was unpleasant and the lack of "salad type" variety made it like eating a bowl of chili, but not as good.
At one point in our meal the lights dimmed to almost darkness. The waitress explained that it wasn't because they were closing, it was just automated to do that. So we had to eat the rest of our meal in near darkness. At the same point the music switched from normal restaurant music to something that sounded like it was coming from someone's personal iPod ... very loud and eclectic and I felt someone's personal taste in music was being forced onto the whole restaurant. If we had any intent of sticking around for more drinks, they did a great job of discouraging us.
Tab for two people for dinner and two drinks each was $70, too high for the mediocre quality of the food.
Their phone number best describes what this place's niche is 515-BEER
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