Mamarita’s Border Cafe

Horrible place to eat. Very dirty environment, useless staff and there was a hair in both plates of food that we ordered. I would save the trouble and go to any other Mexican restaurant.

The food was mediocre but the restaurant was filthy. Not to mention the dining room (aka non smoking area) was over taken by the horrid smoke coming from the bar!!! This place used to be descent but it has gone wayyyyyyy down hill. I honestly would hate to see the cleanliness, or lack thereof in the kitchen area!!! Will not be back!!!

Summary. So-​so Tex-​Mex. Apparently in the bar if you like to smoke this is the place to go. Meh. Wouldn’t go back.

I have had hot sauces all over. Mamarita’s holy jalapeño is one of the best. Why go to fast food when you have mamarita’s? Very tasty layered taco salad.

This place was terrible and I would never go back. For starters when we were ordering the manager approached our waitress and told her «DONT SERVE THEM BEER». I think they were trying to have everyone go to the bartender for drinks, since her shift just started. First, we never even mentioned alcohol. Second, he could have been a little less rude. We were thinking he could have just asked us if we would mind buying our drinks at the bar. We did not go to the bar /​weren’t drinking in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday. Either way, this place was disgustingly dirty. All the tables were sticky and there was dirty on the floor. We order a fajita plate and fajita nachos and basically just got 2 tacos and a plate of chips and lettuce. We were incredibly disappointed and will never return. Don’t waste your time. Go to Rosa’s, that place is WAY WAY better.

This is my first and last time visiting. I just can’t get past the Horrendous smell that hangs in the air. It’s a combination of dirty musty water and gross carpet. It’s awful and disgusting.

When there for lunch had the chicken tortilla soup pretty good but very small bowl. All in all not bad. But the worst margaritas just ice and triple sec. Stick to the beer.

First time here and had this for dinner. Ordered the carne guisada. Worst guisada I’ve ever had! I couldn’t even get through my whole meal when I finally called it quits! My husband got the fajita enchiladas and could barely finish it as well. Worst tasting mexican food ever! One word disgusting! All the way from the rice to the beans! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Beware.

If it wasn’t for the smoky flavored refried beans (which aren’t bad — just not a Mexican flavor I recognize), I would give it 5 stars, the food really is good!

Opt for the hand made margarita from the bar and a huge plate of nachos then sit back and enjoy the chummy atmosphere.

I have to give this place one star because of their total lack of perception.
I’m Catholic. So are my wife and six (!) children, and so are our friends.
We came here during Lent, on a Friday, and the special was carne guisada. I’m like — really? No fish? At a MEXICAN food place?
Well, they do have fish, or so they say. «Shrimp Tacos». We ordered some and they came with two shrimp. On a tortilla. Two. We asked the manager what was up with the dry, tiny shrimp, because we would be embarrassed to serve such morsels to anyone, and were told that’s how they come.
I asked if they could pull the meat out of my salad and replace it with beans. Y’know — replace the expensive stuff with cheap stuff. Sure, they said — for only a buck fifty. WTH??? Charge MORE for CHEAPER product?
We will have to seriously consider whether the WASP owners are worth our money next time.

So, I really should have looked up reviews before going to this restaurant. I just looked up the prices of the food and figured what the heck!
So, first of all we walked in and the entire restaurant reeked of cigarette smoke. There is a bar separate, but attached, to the restaurant. I’m assuming that ‘s where the cigarette smell came from. But we could not get away from the smell. Even in the outside eating area that is offered. Next, we went up to the counter and ordered our food from a cashier that seemed like he really did not care to be at work. Him and another co-​worker were just kind of laughing and joking around while my husband and I were trying to order. Pretty unprofessional. Next, picking a table… almost ALL of them had trash on them left from previous customers. There was one table outside that had been bussed, so we sat there. We sat there awkwardly until our food was ready. It wasn’t mentioned whether we would need to grab our own food or whether it would be brought to us. I’m not above walking to get my own food. It was just awkward not knowing what to do. And finally… the food. *sigh*. I got a taco salad. Which I assumed would be a safe bet. Nope. The lettuce was withered, yellow and soggy. The ONLY thing that saved this experience for me were the $ 2.50 frozen margaritas. They’re normally $ 3.50, but it was happy hour (4pm to 7pm). My husband ordered the brisket burrito con queso, and he was happy with his meal. Okay, to sum it up. I REALLY like promoting local businesses, because I’m betting someone has put a lot of work into this place at one time. But this place is just not worth going to. The prices are cheap, but you’re really getting what you pay for here. Maybe with a little work this place could be something special. :/

New manager is rude! (Spanish lady) the foods has consistently gone down hill since 34^th location opened. The staff seems lazy and has a dont care attitude. Never seems clean anymore. Used to love this place. Go to the 34^th location for a better experience. They reward the mama ritas frequenter card too!

For the price, this place is about as good as you get for mexican food in lubbock. Bear in mind, this is not a four star restaurant, and if that’s what you’re after i recommend looking elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for good food at a very reasonable price and friendly staff, you’ve found your watering hole. The green chile chicken enchiladas are very tasty, and the 4.99 carne guisada dinner special every friday is about as inexpensive a lunch as you can find. Bar wise, id advise sticking with beer or margaritas on the rocks. Their frozen margaritas are very cheaply priced, but very watered down as well. From reading the reviews here, all the negative ones seem to indicated the reviewer had expectations of a much nicer, higher priced restaurant. I’d absolutely recommend this place for lunch or a late dinner after work or a night out.

I’m still pretty new to Lubbock so I’m still trying out the «local» places. This one fell extremely short of my expectations!
First of all, this is the WORST service I have ever had of any place I have been in the world! I went in with some friends for Friday happy hour and our waitress was clearly in a bitter mood. She didn’t even ask what I wanted to drink! I had to basically grab her as she walked by me for the tenth time. I opted for the margarita since I figured that’s what they were known for and it was AWFUL… tons of salt and watered down mixer.
I set aside my judgements and ordered the mamas nachos which were actually really good. I did have to dig into them with my fingers after I waited 15 minutes for silverware that never arrived.
When it came to another drink, I switched to a Tito’s and tonic and watched the bartender hold the shaker with her fingers inside, pour a well drink, and serve it with lemon. When I took the drink back, she argued with me saying I didn’t know what I was talking about and that she did pour Tito’s.
Our empty glasses were never taken off the table, the waitress acted like she hated life, and although the nachos are good, I’m sure I can find some elsewhere that don’t make me wonder why I ever stopped in that place.

Being new to Lubbock I am trying things that I have been told are good.
THIS IS AN AWFUL PLACE!!!
First let me say that I went on a Sunday afternoon, and sat where I assume is the bar area of this restaurant because we wanted a cocktail and a friend of mine is a smoker.
There was a nice couple sitting at a table and evidently they are regulars. They spoke to us for a couple of minutes. When they left let me just say that there was an awful conversation about them by the staff at the location. I found out that one of them in the conversation was the MANAGER. I was shocked at this because I thought she was a hung over customer or dishwasher or something judging appearance. I was shocked that they would do this in front of other customers first of all, and second that it was regular customers!!!
The food was good I got the brisket nachos after reading the reviews on here. Even with the food being typical TEX-​MEX and having decent flavor it will not be enough to pull the establishment out of this. The salsa bar has good choices as previously stated. Some have a kick. The service was very bad. The beer was not cold, and the drinks were not very tasteful to say the least.
Went to the restroom before leaving and that made the whole experience even worse. The girls that were with us said the women’s restroom was evidently as bad as the men’s. They said the floor was very dirty and the doors on the stalls don’t really lock and the papertowel dispenser did not work.
My advice would be to stay far away from this place. If the manager had not been talking about people and doing her job maybe it could be better.
If you want nachos that are good I think that the service and food and cleanliness would be better at Taco Bell at this point. But I will stay close to campus and go to Chimy’s for sure!!! BETTER NACHOS AND DRINKS!

Thought I’d try a local place close to my hotel in Lubbock rather than the typical On the Border across the street. Boy was that a mistake! The atmosphere was ok… if you are in search of average priced beer at a cheap mexican establishment, but that’s not usually what I seek in a bar, or a mexican restaurant. The bar area seemed to be filled with alot of locals. I sat at the bar and they had traditional domestic beers in bottles, $ 3/​bottle or so.
After I ordered a beer, I was left to wait at the bar for the next 15 minutes before I was offered a dinner menu. After seeing the bartender smoke and then grab olives for martinis, lemons for beer, etc with her bare hands without washing, I was skeptical to order here. Since it was getting late, I thought I’d brave it and order vs starting over at a new place.
Menu was traditional tex mex. Nothing extraordinary — enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, you get the picture. Food came with dirty silverware and seemed to sitting under a heat lamp for some time. Food quality was ok, but I’ve had better at the big chains.
If you’re not a local, atmosphere was sub-​par. If wasn’t concentrating on the hygiene, the only other distraction was a little league game that was all they seemed to be able to pick up. Overall — I’ll be going to the chain establishment next trip to Lubbock!

Think of it as a bar that also happens to serve some Tex-​Mex and you’ll be fine. The salsa’s great, and the beer specials are decent. The problems here aren’t really the food itself, but what you’re getting for the money.
A couple fajita tacos in the fajita dinner with downright anemic portions of meat. A quesadilla that tasted strongly of Velveeta. A tiny dollop of guacamole as an appetizer. It’s pretty noisy in here and there were a bunch of children scampering around in between tables topped with beer buckets. If you’re in the neighborhood, it doesn’t seem like a bad place to stop for a drink. Just don’t ask much more of it.

I used to go here all the time as a kid when they had a game room in the back section. I loved playing TMNT: Turtles in Time. Now they replaced it with a full bar, and some couches.
The Good:
The chips are still great and the salsa selection is unstoppable.
Their strawberry ‘ritas are amazing. I had two margaritas and was feeling it.
I went there again for late-​night drinks with the fam. The bartender and server were awesome and made everyone feel extremely welcome.
The Bad:
Nothing really.
Overall:
I probably won’t try the food here simply because I’m fearful of being disappointed. Now they they opened the bar, they close down the food service around a certain time and keep the bar open until 2am.
I’ll definitely stop by for chips and ‘ritas at least a few times before leaving Lubbock again.

I consider Mamarita’s a place that I need to go once every few months. Just often enough to see if it has improved, but not so often that I get disappointed when I realize that it hasn’t.
The food is decent, the employees are indifferent, the prices are not bad but not worth the food, but the hot sauces are great! Sadly, Mamarita’s isn’t terribly, it is just occasionally good.
I was happy that they returned the breakfast burritos on the menu. A while back i was told that they didn’t have them any longer and I was sad to see the best thing on the menu vanish. The selection of sauces from the condiment bar is nice and I enjoy mixing and matching different sauces together. The Tex-​Mex here is not any better then what you can buy for half the price at Rosa’s (which is hard for me to say since I don’t really like Rosa’s bland Mexican food).