Staff at the Mexican Cafe are a little hit and miss - I've had awful experiences, and fine ones. However, the food and drinks are consistently good. Recommend going during Happy Hour - 5-7pm every day - for cheaper drinks (Fruit Margarita jugs are amazing!) and nachos for only $9, which definitely fill me up. Dessert (if you can fit it in) is reasonable too, and decently sized.

If you're going with a bigger group or later in the evening, particularly on weekends, definitely book or be prepared to sit around for a few drinks before being seated at a table. Entertainment (salsa dancing and music when I've been) is lots of fun! Would love a smoking area though.

Walking into the restaurant, you may be unsure what to expect, but once you get in, you will see that it is an excellent restaurant/cafe.
The atmosphere at Mexican Cafe is electric, the food is amazing, and the staff are very friendly.
Not to mention the price of food and drink is very reasonable.
I will be making the Mexican Cafe restaurant one of my regulars.

Mexican Cafe might be a little overpriced for what it is but the vibe was good, food yummy and drinks strong. I enjoyed it, my wallet didn't.

Worst restaurant I have ever been to. Without fail every time i visit the Mexican Cafe, the staff are rude and the service terrible.
Upon the promise of a "cheap happy hour" I was lured to the Mexican Cafe last Friday to meet some friends.
While normally the complaint of staff here is that you have to eat if you want to stay at a table (extortion much?), the pals had ordered 4 meals and several jugs of cocktails already so I wouldn't have thought there would be any issue. I should have known better...

I arrived to greet the mates, saw that there were no chairs so casually took one from the unoccupied table next to us. The waitress proceeded to tell me that I couldn't have a chair because someone had reserved the table for 25 minutes time. No explaination or promise that i would return the chair well before they arrived would satisfy her and we were told that we would have to leave within 15 minutes to the bar because "they were really busy". I would accept this if we weren't planning on continuing the evening, buying more drinks and food, paying THEIR wages. Spending well over $100 and getting this kind of service is unfathomable. Mexican Cafe may have been an institution in its days but I would rather pay the extra 50 cents for a drink to get a smile and some damn service.

Auckland is in dire need of more quality Mexican places, but this place is the ultimate in the City of Sails. Affordable, fun and vibrant, the food and drinks are great too. A must see for all.

Good atmosphere and great margaritas. However the good news stops there. One member of our group found a "curly" hair in the dip that came with the nachos. Staff apologised and offered replacement dip (no thanks?!) but no compensation was offered. A couple of free margaritas may have helped us forget the situation but obviously they were too tight for that - not good enough guys!

I don't find the "Mexican" food here to be real Mexican food. I have been here on several occasions (due to birthdays, special occasions-not on my choice) and find the food to be quite bland and a bit over priced. The service has never been great either. The last time we went there the waitress couldn't even understand what we were ordering (we ordered directly off their menu) and we had to clarify three times and she still seemed very confused. Thankfully we got the right order but was quite annoying that she didn't even know the menu.
You could have the same quality of Mexican food by buying the Old El Paso taco kits in the supermarket and get the same outcome.

I love this place. They have the best margaritas in town. I am addicted. And happy hour prices are just great and it's always packed around that time.
Great atmosphere, friendly staff and yummy Mexican food. And they have live band playing on Wednesday and Friday nights.
Highly recommend to try it out.