This place is now closed. Service declined over the past few years and they became very stingy with their food. Prices increased and portions decreased.
Mike McKinsey
We love this place. Over the past couple of years, it has become our favorite Mexican Restaurant. The food is always delicious and piping hot. We especially like that seniors can order from the lunch menu all day long.
Natalie Zaker
My husband enjoyed his food. Myself and daughters left us a little disappointed. The recipe and presentation was there but they lacked the love of flavor. The margaritas were amazing!! (try the watermelon) Be very cautious when touching the plates. As a previous server, I know when plates come out they are hot. However, mine left a small blister just trying to move my plate around to cut my food. This meant it was sitting under the heat lamp or in the warming oven too long. :( We were unfamiliar with the area and this restaurant was within walking distance from our hotel and there were not many other Mexican options.
Katherine F.
The worst time I have in this store. The waiter was great but the kitchen and manger on duty was horrible. My food came out wrong and had to be sent back. My son and mother food came out before my daughters food. Then I ask for my food to just be packaged to go Bc my family was done eating before my food was even done being recooked. I got to my hotel to what my dinner and my food was burnt and still wrong. The manger never once came out to check on us. And the whole store maybe had 15 tables set at the time.
Gary stowell
Decent food. Nice atmosphere. Good service. Prices a bit high for Mexican food but no doubt they need to pay for the upscale location and decor.
CG Oway
Waited about 45 minutes for our food. I ordered medium well on the steak and it comes out looking like a burnt hamburger. If you're gonna charge above average make sure you can cook a steak. The chips and salsa were amazing though.
Aurora Collier
Very bland food. Excellent service. Wasn't sure about the stars. It isn't bad. Just...bland. Sharise was excellent. She gets 5 or even 6 stars.
TennesseeGal90
Food: not fresh, pallid, over salted, and strange combinations. Price: very high for the low quality and low nutrition. Service: hostess scowled upon our arrival, made no eye contact as she led us to our table, and acted as if we were an intrusion. We arrived at 5:00 and didn't get our food until 5:45 pm without an apology or explanation from the waiter. Overall, a very expensive and disappointing experience.
Melinda D.
Very good meal. Passing through Knoxville, read the reviews and decided to give it a try. We love Mexican so this was a very quaint restaurant with a good atmosphere. Service was ok, but food was good. If I'm ever in the area again, I'd definitely come back.
Waterfall Chaser
We have been going to Abuelo’s for over 20 years in Texas and over 5 years here at the Turkey Creek location.The service has been horrible over the past year and they can’t keep staff but we have let all that go because it is our favorite Mexican food.But tonight was the final straw that this establishment will never get our business again.We came in, they told us they were closing early but that we could wait 45 for a table and still be able to order.Then a girl came out after we had been there 20 minutes waiting and said the they weren’t taking any more tables and we needed to leave.We asked to speak to the manager and he could have cared less. He just made excuses, he didn’t care at all we had already been waiting and were told to leave.Absolutely a horrible experience.I have never been treated like this honestly anywhere.I know they are short staffed and he tried to blame it on that but they had two servers just sitting at a table just talking away. They also seated two people that came in after us.No one was even hardly there so I don’t buy any of the excuses.I wouldn’t go back, even if it was free.Shame on this establishment for treating loyal customers like this, shortage of servers or not, you can treat people decently .
Great restaurant but seating is now limited to 8 people in a party. Any more guests and you have to sit at different tables. We used to come with our entire family and enjoy birthdays, father's day, etc. Now we have to go to another restaurant for family gathering. We are disappointed in Abuelo's change in seating.
Stephanie King Akers
Delicious! Great food from the tomatillo salsa at the beginning to the flan at the end! I had the tilapia with Guerrero sauce and it was luscious! Enjoyed our service- though there is a sign on the door that they are running slow due to being understaffed, I didn't think it was unreasonable. Overall excellent experience.
Deborah Hibbert
**Update: I was told to send my information to Abuelo's Guest Satisfaction Team and explain the incident, but they never responded back to my email. Just wanted to let people know that just because they state they take this serious they never followed up.My husband and I went here for our 9 year wedding anniversary dinner after finding a babysitter... At 7:45 the management (older lady) went around yelling "Alright people 45 more minutes." We were halfway through our food and felt like we had to leave. We couldn't enjoy our dinner because management wanted to go home. Uncalled for in any business but especially restaurant.
Shonna Cline
I generally love Abuelo's, but the past 2 visits, I've felt like the kitchen staff is using the microwave entirely too much!!! I know when food is microwaved, and it definitely was. Going during lunch time seems to be the best time to go.
Roxanne Bennett
Our waitress was very nice but the food tasted horrible . Except for the sampler appetizer plate & margaritas.The steak tacos tasted like rubber I couldn’t even eat it , it was hard to chew . Low quality meat … not worth the price. I won’t be coming back
This place is now closed. Service declined over the past few years and they became very stingy with their food. Prices increased and portions decreased.
We love this place. Over the past couple of years, it has become our favorite Mexican Restaurant. The food is always delicious and piping hot. We especially like that seniors can order from the lunch menu all day long.
My husband enjoyed his food. Myself and daughters left us a little disappointed. The recipe and presentation was there but they lacked the love of flavor. The margaritas were amazing!! (try the watermelon) Be very cautious when touching the plates. As a previous server, I know when plates come out they are hot. However, mine left a small blister just trying to move my plate around to cut my food. This meant it was sitting under the heat lamp or in the warming oven too long. :( We were unfamiliar with the area and this restaurant was within walking distance from our hotel and there were not many other Mexican options.
The worst time I have in this store. The waiter was great but the kitchen and manger on duty was horrible. My food came out wrong and had to be sent back. My son and mother food came out before my daughters food. Then I ask for my food to just be packaged to go Bc my family was done eating before my food was even done being recooked. I got to my hotel to what my dinner and my food was burnt and still wrong. The manger never once came out to check on us. And the whole store maybe had 15 tables set at the time.
Decent food. Nice atmosphere. Good service. Prices a bit high for Mexican food but no doubt they need to pay for the upscale location and decor.
Waited about 45 minutes for our food. I ordered medium well on the steak and it comes out looking like a burnt hamburger. If you're gonna charge above average make sure you can cook a steak. The chips and salsa were amazing though.
Very bland food. Excellent service. Wasn't sure about the stars. It isn't bad. Just...bland. Sharise was excellent. She gets 5 or even 6 stars.
Food: not fresh, pallid, over salted, and strange combinations. Price: very high for the low quality and low nutrition. Service: hostess scowled upon our arrival, made no eye contact as she led us to our table, and acted as if we were an intrusion. We arrived at 5:00 and didn't get our food until 5:45 pm without an apology or explanation from the waiter. Overall, a very expensive and disappointing experience.
Very good meal. Passing through Knoxville, read the reviews and decided to give it a try. We love Mexican so this was a very quaint restaurant with a good atmosphere. Service was ok, but food was good. If I'm ever in the area again, I'd definitely come back.
We have been going to Abuelo’s for over 20 years in Texas and over 5 years here at the Turkey Creek location.The service has been horrible over the past year and they can’t keep staff but we have let all that go because it is our favorite Mexican food.But tonight was the final straw that this establishment will never get our business again.We came in, they told us they were closing early but that we could wait 45 for a table and still be able to order.Then a girl came out after we had been there 20 minutes waiting and said the they weren’t taking any more tables and we needed to leave.We asked to speak to the manager and he could have cared less. He just made excuses, he didn’t care at all we had already been waiting and were told to leave.Absolutely a horrible experience.I have never been treated like this honestly anywhere.I know they are short staffed and he tried to blame it on that but they had two servers just sitting at a table just talking away. They also seated two people that came in after us.No one was even hardly there so I don’t buy any of the excuses.I wouldn’t go back, even if it was free.Shame on this establishment for treating loyal customers like this, shortage of servers or not, you can treat people decently .
Restaurantji Recommends
Great restaurant but seating is now limited to 8 people in a party. Any more guests and you have to sit at different tables. We used to come with our entire family and enjoy birthdays, father's day, etc. Now we have to go to another restaurant for family gathering. We are disappointed in Abuelo's change in seating.
Delicious! Great food from the tomatillo salsa at the beginning to the flan at the end! I had the tilapia with Guerrero sauce and it was luscious! Enjoyed our service- though there is a sign on the door that they are running slow due to being understaffed, I didn't think it was unreasonable. Overall excellent experience.
**Update: I was told to send my information to Abuelo's Guest Satisfaction Team and explain the incident, but they never responded back to my email. Just wanted to let people know that just because they state they take this serious they never followed up.My husband and I went here for our 9 year wedding anniversary dinner after finding a babysitter... At 7:45 the management (older lady) went around yelling "Alright people 45 more minutes." We were halfway through our food and felt like we had to leave. We couldn't enjoy our dinner because management wanted to go home. Uncalled for in any business but especially restaurant.
I generally love Abuelo's, but the past 2 visits, I've felt like the kitchen staff is using the microwave entirely too much!!! I know when food is microwaved, and it definitely was. Going during lunch time seems to be the best time to go.
Our waitress was very nice but the food tasted horrible . Except for the sampler appetizer plate & margaritas.The steak tacos tasted like rubber I couldn’t even eat it , it was hard to chew . Low quality meat … not worth the price. I won’t be coming back