Vallarta Mexican Restaurant

I visited just after lunchtime. The place wasn't busy, only about 10- 12 patrons. I had the tamale plate, with rice, and refried beans, a large bowl of tortillas, and a mild dish of mild sauce. The sauce was good, but coming from NM, it was not spicy as I would have liked. The meal was ample for a take-home second dinner. Service was good, served warm, and pretty fast. Overall food and customer service was very good. The restaurant is located right off McKenzie, with fair parking. The atmosphere was nice with Spanish decorations and Spanish music, which I liked. Parking: Plenty of parking.

Vallarta used to be my family's go-to Mexican restaurant in Baldwin County. We had been eating at Vallarta's for more than 20 years. Their food was always fantastic. Obviously, if we had been going there for 20 years, we felt it was the best. But that's not the case anymore. I don't know what has happened over the past couple of years, but their service and their food have gone downhill. I used to get cravings for their salsa, but they changed the recipe, and it's absolutely terrible. It has some kind of little chunky green things in it, and it is extremely sweet now. Needless to say, since they started to change things, we haven't been back.

Was seated, given a menu, and waited for a server. And waited… And waited... Since the place was almost empty and they seemed to have plenty of staff, I left.

Excellent food and margaritas!

Food was very good and our server was excellent.