I am late posting this review, but don't want you folks to miss out on a wonderful experience! Ask for Brianne! She is an impeccable server (though she is human folks so cut her some slack if she's busy)!!! I live in Arlington Heights, IL and always visit my family in TN. My sister and I decided to visit the Athens location after a busy day of shopping. Brianne greeted us with a smile and asked what we would like to drink. We both ordered water (dehydrated from all the shopping). She brought us delicious chips and salsa though we did request a spicier salsa, we like it hot! Brianne was not put out by our request and brought the salsa out with a great attitude and a smile. I also ordered a side of Guacamole as an appetizer. I ordered the full order of Nachos for $6.99 thinking it was going to be a puny order! Whoa buddy! It was huge! My sister ordered the half chimichanga (which came with beans and rice)! You must note that we devoured 2, yes 2 baskets of chips before our food came! Brianna brought extra napkins for us, refilled our water and was cheerful, professional and friendly! I do recommend that you give her a raise or promote her! I am a fellow server and know that raises don't usually happen but hang on to this server Monterrey's at all costs! My sister and I tipped Brianna over 100% due to her great attitude, hard work and wonderful smile! I will definitely go to this Monterrey location and hope and pray that she is still there in 2019! Side note: There is a cool fountain outside in the parking lot area! My sister and I each flipped coins in the fountain and made wishes like we were 12 years old! LOVED! LOVED! LOVED this experience! Now I'm hungry again after posting all of these pics! read more

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I want to start off by saying, this place has some of the best Mexican food I've ate. But today was the second time me and my husband have been served a ticket within 5 minutes of getting our food. We went to hang out tonight to eat, have a couple of drinks, and enjoy each other's company after working 24/7 and a few rough weeks for our family. Our server hardly gave us a second to look at the menu, rushing every single thing. Once we got our drinks and cheese dip, we never saw her again until she handed us our ticket which was right after we received our food. My husband and I had both planned on ordering a few more drinks and dessert and hanging out. After we got our ticket I kindly asked to get another drink and instead of making sure we didn't need anything else, she just brought us an updated receipt. All of this to say, LET YOUR CUSTOMERS ENJOY DINNER. stop rushing people out. Our server was the girl with the cast. So please, teach your servers to SERVE. read more

I feel like I got ripped off here. $6.50 for guacamole... tiny bit given. Not even enough for one person. I will spend my money somewhere else from now on. read more

I have not ate at this restaurant, but first impressions count. The restaurant is dirty on the outside (old chewing gum next to the building). Once inside the lobby, some old funky waterfall in the corner. Not to mention, some kids toy machine / electronic car ride. Go thru another door and you are into the restaurant, the air inside is very humid, decor is blah, nothing to brag about. I was checking for a place to hold our club dinner. I asked for a paper menu to take home, but nothing available. They told me to take a photo of their bar code, I could scan this at home or forward the photo for my club members. Turns out, you need to scan the photo, then open an account. It was completely ridiculous, just to look at the menu. This restaurant needs Gordon Ramsey, Hell's Kitchen/ Restaurant Makeover. I would not visit this restaurant until you see some changes, even easy/slight upgrades would be an improvement. Sorry Monterrey, you need to work on your homework. read more

Great food service was great! I had carnitas and margaritas stopped her while traveling

I go every Tuesday for Taco Tuesday and never had a problem until today. I specifically asked for tacos with lettuce, cheese, and Sour Cream only. They came with Grocamole, I ate them anyway. When I left the cashier asked me if everything was ok. I said no. I told her that they were up charging for lettuce and Cheese, They never did that before. I thought a taco came with that. She told me, if you want to you can make your tacos yourself. I won't be back. read more

Once seated we were served chips and salsa the salsa was completely bland no spice at all. Water tasted like dirt ordered our meal and after 30 minutes we went searching for our waitress she was sitting at a table chatting with another guest. The manager stopped us and asked if we needed help. Explained we had been waiting for 30 minutes for our meal and was told the kitchen was backed up and we were 3rd in line. After another 10 minutes we just got up and left. Horrible service. First and last time we will visit this restaurant read more

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! TERRIBLE FOOD! TERRIBLY SERVICE! The waitress finally showed up to take our order, after taking her time disappearing for quite a while. We ate 2 servings of chips/salsa waiting on our food order and when it finally arrived2 of the 6 orders were missing. The waitress apologized that she forgot to put them in. 1 of the orders that she delivered had the wrong food. When she brought the 2 forgotten orders and the right food for the order she brought the wrong food for, we asked for more salsa. Sge disappeared again and never did bring the extra salsa. When we got the check, she tried to charge us for the wrong order that she brought, the right order and nacho's that we never ordered! Three of the plate were supposed to come with rice and beans, 2 had rice only and 1 didn't have rice or beans. How do places like this even stay in business. IF THIS PLACE GETS A GOOD REVIEW SUSPECT IT, ITS PROBALY FROM AN EMPLOYEE! read more

I would not recommend Monterrey's in Athens, what so ever. We(8 of us) went there for the 1st time to have a birthday supper for my husband. The service was horrible, I will say that there were only 3 other tables with people in them when we got there, It took about 10 mins to get our drink order, than about 15-20 mins later we had to ask for chips and salsa, the salsa tasted like marinara sauce, the kids were actually putting hot sauce in it to make it taste better plus she didnt even ask us with we wanted more chips, 1 end of the table asked for more but she didnt bother to ask us at the other end if we wanted more. So as time goes on 1 of my kids had asked for the sausage dip stuff and waited and waited , until she went to the kitchen door and complained she never got it and wanted a new waitress. At this point its well over 30 mins before she even took our order. She didnt even ask us to refill our drinks another waitress came by and asked us 1 time. Lets talk about the food, little one got chicken cheese and rice, it came out with no cheese, so we had to wait for the waitress to slowly come back and ask for cheese for it, my husband & 1 of my kids ordered fajita nachos, the green peppers and onions weren't even cooked at all. I ordered different nachos and literally ate a few bits and thought i was going to be sick. Our waitress didn't even act like she wanted to be there working, she was not friendly at all. It was so disappointing, and we will never go there again. read more

So the good news is, that they honored the free drink voucher that I earned for checking in here. Overall though, I can't say I'm too impressed with this restaurant.. The food was okay. I got the Monterey salad bowl. The chicken, steak and shrimp were fairly decent but the rest of it was mediocre at best. It was kind of soggy, and liquidy at the bottom. The service was okay.. I got my table and food fairly quickly, but it was like when I would ask for something, I was a bother. I was also never asked if I wanted a refill on my coffee, and so never ended up getting anymore. There was one guy that ended up getting a couple things for me, like more salsa, and my to-go box, and he was very helpful. Lastly, the overall atmopshere and vibe of the place is charming, minus the two different Mexican music tracks playing concurrently and clashing terribly with one another. read more

So far, not so good. The salsa is the most bland I've ever had. It tastes like canned tomato sauce. Ordered a side of pico de gallo to perk it up and that didn't even help. Chile's Rellanos was tough. Tasted more like a green pepper than a chile. As a matter of fact, I'm sure it wasn't a chile.No sauce, no flavor, no breading. Couldn't even finish it. Pollo loco was dry; alot of rice and very little chicken. Portions were much smaller than most "Mexican" restaurants. This wasn't comparable to any Mexican food I've ever had. Terrible quality. Actually doesn't even deserve one star. Terribly disappointed! read more

Tried this place 2 times now - no more. The first time, we waited over an hour on our food and it wasn't busy. My food arrived cold, I asked for no onions & got them anyway. I would have sent it back but our waitress never came back - my husband and I both ran out of drinks, never got refilled. She eventually came by, let down the check and kept going. We were wanting an order of flan to go but whatever. We told the lady at the register about it all and comped us some flan. Next visit...same waitress. She should be fired IMO. Took our order, 2 of ours was wrong. Again, she never came back so we just ate it. My dad asked for no sour cream and it was all over, he also asked for beef chimichangas and got chicken. I wanted guacamole which I never got....but this is the kicker - my chile relleno had mozzarella cheese in it!!! yep, that's right. Italian cheese in a Mexican restaurant. I do not like mozzarella cheese, I don't even like pizza. It was disgusting. So I couldnt even eat it. But she never came back to check on us so I couldn't return it. We even had to ask for our check from someone else. This. place. sucks. Gross food and awful service. read more

Get real. This place is disgusting! The only thing worse than the food is the service! The staff barely speak English and are INCREDIBLY slow. I swear I waited 20 minutes just to get my check. The rice and beans that I ordered with my meal had a foul smell and that was an immediate turnoff for me! Enchiladas were dry and didn't have enough sauce on them. The ground hamburger meat looked like it was more filler than actual meat but it tasted better than the rice and beans smelled. The only good thing I can say about my meal was the chips and salsa were great. At least they got that going for them. The chips were fresh and warm and the salsa was a little spicy with some cilantro and not that spaghetti sauce-like salsa that some Mexican restaurants serve. That being said, great salsa could not save this place for me. I will not be back...ever. read more

Every time my wife and I pass through Athens we make a point of eating at this fine Mexican restaurant. They have such a wide selection of dishes, and so far they have all been delicious. For lunch I would recommend their steak tacos accompanied by a cold beer to wash it down. Their other location in town is just as good. read more

Best Mexican Restaurant in town!!! It is quite difficult to describe my favorite dish because all the food is delicious. I would suggest you order a different dish every time. However, you can start with "the specialities of the house" or ask any of the friendly servers for their suggestions. Don't forget to order "cheese dip" for your nachos. You will love it!!! read more

Good food and even better service. Never have to wait long for a table. Everything I've ever gotten here has been good. Chips and salsa are the best in town !!! read more

I got the cheese quesadillas and was very disappointed to a sad looking warm mozzarella tortilla with unfresh veggies on the side. My friends were underwhelmed with their rice and beans as well and couldn't finish their plates. The seating area was nice and our server was attentive but I still left very unimpressed. read more

One of my favorite mexican restaurants. Usually get the polo piccosso but everything i've had here has been good. The salsa is my favorite of any mexican restaurant i've eaten at. Prices are reasonable as well. My only complaint is the service is hit or miss, usually varying from average to poor. The quality of the food makes up for that though. read more

If you can stand the ridiculously loud echo sound the food is ok. Just ok. The other Monterray by the interstate was so much better. Sure miss it. read more

Monterey's is by far the best Mexican restaurant in all of Athens! You will have to try it for yourself to experience the amazing food, as well as the great service! When ever I want Mexican, I know right where to go! read more

Terrible acoustics. Average food. I don't know what has happened but they have seriuosly gone down hill.

Food was alright....could have filled the salsa dish all the way, waitress was good,customer check out can use work...try telling the customers to have a good day and thank you for coming and you will get returns. I may consider el jinette or mexi-wing next time read more