Review La Ribera Mexican Restaurant - Greenville

By any means this is not my first Mexican Cuisine experience. I have frequented Mexican restaurants all over the US and Cozumel. I love the food and normally I love the atmosphere. From the first moment I walked into this restaurant I felt the chill of not being particularly welcome. My wife and I could see all the vacant tables inside the restaurant from where we were standing and with no one in front of us it took them 5 minutes to figure out where we could sit. Following the "come on" statement we were led to what was probably the worst table in the building and had to request being seated somewhere else. After being seated again, someone finally came to the table to ask what we wanted to drink. While waiting for someone to come back and take our orders, we watched three other couples walk in. They were seated at much more accommodating and comfortable tables on the opposite side of the room. After seating the other folks, the person who seated them went into the kitchen and came back out with a gentlemen who sat directly behind me talking loudly in Spanish. He begin bumping the back of my seat till I decided to just sit up on the edge of my seat. At this point we had been sitting a good 10 minutes when the person who seated us walked over to take the orders of the folks that came in 5 and 10 minutes after us. That was enough for us and we excused ourselves. On the way out we noticed we were the only Black couple in the restaurant. At this point I really don't care what anyone may think about my implications here. This was an experience I had never encountered in a restaurant that was supposedly known for its atmosphere and food. Obviously, Black people are NOT welcome in a city that is half Black. The one sure thing about this experience is that I will NEVER recommend this restaurant to anyone and my wife and I will never be seen in there again.

Walked in an ordered 20 meals to go. Cindy was very helpful. 👍 food.

I normally do not write negative reviews as my boyfriend and I are both servers and are very understanding when it comes to eating at restaurants, but there were just so many things that went wrong here. Our server did not introduce herself, cheese dip was forgotten and we received no apology for that, my meal was missing many things that were listed on the menu and a different server had to make multiple trips to bring me everything. Our salsa and waters sat empty for 10-15 minutes and our server was MIA while we watched other servers filling up salsa and drinks for all of their tables constantly. We were pleased with the food and thought it was very good until my boyfriend found what looked like a hair in his burrito. The manager claimed it was from the bag of rice, but it sure did look exactly like a hair, but who knows. They took the burrito off our bill, but we also noticed we were charged almost $2 per water and it was on the receipt as “bottled water.” Not sure if that’s standard here or if our server just charged us for no reason. We had high hopes for this place but unfortunately have no desire to return at all.

Amazing food and atmosphere. Great service and friendly staff. The Chile Relleno were fan-freaking-tastic and the Jimaica aqua fresca was top notch! My wife had the Tacos al pastor and they were mouth watering. This is my new go to for Mexican.

We used to frequent this place weekly and it was always good. Something has changed. The last several times, we have had problems when we ate there. The employees are not happy anymore. Today, I ordered the New Mexican Steak. When it was delivered, it was New Mexican Feast which is several dollars higher. When it was delivered, I told the waitress (different than the one who took our order) that I had ordered the Steak. No apologies. When we got the bill, we were billed for New Mexican Feast. Won't be going back anytime soon...

Food was bland with zero flavor. Cold chicken, and the waitress had dirt under her nails. It was disgusting. Other employees seen playing around and had their fingers and hands all in their faces. The tables were dirty and had residue on them. Out of all the mexican cuisines i’ve tried, Im disappointed. I will never return to this location. Just go to Plaza Azteca!

Authentic Mexican menu and food in a great Spanish style atmosphere. 🌮🇲🇽🌯🫔

I eat from here pretty regularly whether it’s in the restaurant, take out or DoorDash but today when I DoorDashed my food there was a dead bug cooked in it. I am disgusted and after leaving me on hold for several minutes they only offered to replace my plate, if I brought it back to the restaurant. Wasn’t expecting a whole lot and I did not act rude about it but I did expect a manager to speak with me and attempt to make it right or at least sound sorry about the incident instead of only speaking to one girl. I do not plan on ever eating here again. I contacted DoorDash to get a refund but I am disappointed by La Ribera’s lack of professionalism and customers service on top of the nastiness that I was served.

Our go to Mexican restaurant! The best food in town and believe it or not...the best sweet tea!

We lovethis place! They have awesome staff and food! Our little girl loves it as well! She points when we ride by because we l Go there often!

Never before have I drooled thinking about food. Thank you for Taco Tuesday.

Absolutely love this place. We go almost every Taco Tuesday

My husband and I love the daily specials! The restaurant is always clean and the staff are always friendly and efficient.

Love it here! Great food and great service.

Worst experience here ever. Start to finish - horrible. Ordered a cheese dip that we had to track down by asking two servers, while about 8 were huddled at the computers socializing. Needed refills. Couldn’t find our server. Asked two that walked by with no luck. Walked up the large huddle again and finally got more water and milk. Began eating my food. Three bites in and pulled a long, black hair out of my mouth. Couldn’t find our server. Shared with another waitress, who did apologize. Told her I didn’t want anything else in replacement. Waiter came by 5 minutes later. Explained to him what happened. He told me I could have the food recooked. I shared that after chewing on someone else’s hair in my food I didn’t have any appetite left, thank you. Asked if the food could be removed from our bill, and was sarcastically told that the manager had to void the food so he wasn’t sure. Again, we wait. And wait. And wait. Husband left to take our toddler out to the car. Server comes back and asks if I need anything. I tell him I would like my check. He comes back with the check. I attempt to hand him my debit card. He walks away. I wait. And wait. While watching him and a group of waitresses socializing (still) by the computers. I get up to pay at the to go cash registers by the door and am rudely told that the checks are paid at the table. I politely told the woman that I attempted to do so. Finally, my server meets me at the cash register so I can pay. Hands me my receipt to sign and says “I hope your day gets better” - and walks away. I toss my receipt book on the other side of the computer since there is nobody to hand it to. We have been a long time customer. I can assure you we will not be back.

Great cheese dip and sweet tea

I called in an order at 6:25 for a quesadilla and a 2 oz cheese dip. I was told that it would take about 10 minutes for my order. I arrived into La Ribera a few minutes after 6:35, paid for my food, and she told me it would be out shortly. I received my food at 6:50. All the while, two customers had been helped that had more items than I did. I’m sure I was visibly upset because I couldn’t understand why 1 quesadilla would take 25 minutes to make when other customers were being helped with larger orders. I took my food, walked to my car, only to discover my cheese dip wasn’t in the bag. At this point, I was over it. I had already waited 25 minutes for a one item order and they still managed to get it wrong. So, I went back in and got my money back. By the time I left it was 6:55 and I had to clock back in at 7:00 pm. Just a word of advice to the cashiers, be honest about how long an order will take because some people don’t have time to wait 25 minutes for an order. I would like to add the manager was polite enough to offer me the food, I just wouldn’t have had enough time to eat it because my lunch was wasted because I didn’t receive my food in a timely manner. I don’t think I’ll be going back.

Excellent take-out service.