Santa Fe

Review summary

1. J

   Jason

   Melbourne18 reviews

   4.0

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   A great dining experience in Merimbula - always a must visit when we come to stay. Great food and friendly service. If you can book a window seat you’ll enjoy views over Merimbula Lake.
   

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2. T

   Trudy

   New South Wales1 review

   5.0

   Dined on March 14, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Our night out at Santa Fe was very enjoyable. The service, food & atmosphere was outstanding. The view from the deck whilst enjoying our dinner was breathtaking. We’ll definitely be back for sure! 😊
   

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3. H

   Helena

   Melbourne2 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on February 26, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Service was the stand out, food and drinks were great to!
   

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4. N

   Natalie

   New South Wales1 review

   1.0

   Dined on February 15, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Booked for a birthday celibration and anticipated a great night out. We were looking forward to a nice restraunt quality meal. Unfortunatly it fell short of meeting our expectations. Prices were very high for something I felt I could have just as easily thrown together at home. Very basic ingredients i could have picked up from any supermarket. Meat was dry and lacking flavor and very little provided. Given the extra charge for beef of $4 we would have expected more than a small minute steak cut into strips. Not enough to fill the 4 small tortias provided. Food was very disappointing and service was lacking. Water was requested by us and delivered to table no glass provided. Food came out but no utensils offered. Should have stayed at the club and ordered food there.
   

   Santa FeResponded on February 19, 2025

   Hi Natalie. Your review is no surprise since you ordered a blue margarita and returned a freshly made margarita with quality traditional ingredients in a Margarita glass because “it was not what you had expected”. I suspect given your comments you don’t know too much about what goes into making fresh Mexican food and given your reference to the RSL you were probably expecting a frozen margarita which we don’t sell because they are unauthentic. We were kind enough NOT to charge you for the margarita as you did order and receive it. As for the delay in utensils, we apologise as we had new staff on who are not fully up to speed yet.
   

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5. S

   Sarah

   New South Wales1 review

   5.0

   Dined on February 12, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Awesome staff and amazing food! Our favourite family night out!
   

   Santa FeResponded on February 13, 2025

   Thank you Sarah. We re so pleased you enjoyed your evening at Santa Fe
   

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6. T

   Tracey

   Melbourne1 review

   1.0

   Dined on January 21, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 1

   I called to book a table and was told they were booked, out so I went online and low and behold they had tables available - when we arrived we had to wait about 10 mins as they were confused as to which table was ours - finally got our table and paid $30 for the blandest Mexican bowl I have ever had. the nachos were terrible only served one they were so small and to top it off I am a vegetarian and I asked for a beans mex bowl which was served with beef chilli con carne. When i questioned it they said not it’s just beans I know what meat looks like??? The little waitress was the best part of the night
   

   Santa FeResponded on January 22, 2025

   Hi Tracey. Shocked at your review! Did you send the food back or just put up with something you thought was incorrect? I know we did quite a lot of bean dishes last night. We use Pinto beans, I can assure you,; you would know of it was our beef, and our staff know what our food is. The small Nachos (as you claim) was a normal serve and the person at your table ordered the cheaper Plain Nachos which has basic toppings, no protein. Our menu clearly states everything about the meal. Including suggesting you ask for more spice if that is your choice. As for your booking online, I will take this up with Open Table as we had paused online booking due to be understaffed.
   

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7. S

   Steph

   New South Wales1 review

   3.0

   Dined on January 14, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 1

   Great points - lovely staff, generous meal sizes. Not-so-great - timing, environment, coat We arrived on time and were kept waiting in the entranceway to be seated, for several minutes. We had booked a week earlier! We were then finally seated literally in the entrance. We waited for several minutes before we were given menu’s and then it was a good 10 mins until we were approached to order. Our drinks did not arrive until long after the food, which was so frustrating. The food was delicious and great serving sizes however; expensive for a family meal. We won’t be back as we just didn’t enjoy the environment or sitting in the doorway and generally did not feel it was value for money. Recommend booking early, getting straight on to the drinks order and choosing your seating.
   

   Santa FeResponded on January 16, 2025

   Stephen your review is very disappointing. You booked the back terrace a week ago. At 5pm a major storm hit Merimbula and your table was badly affected. I made the decision to contact you and advise that we could accommodate you inside and as you were a table of 8. You accepted that offer. The entire restaurant inside was booked out so we had a lot to do to accommodate you. As for cost, our average meal cost is $30 pp. Your spend with entrees, meals, 2 rounds of drinks was less than $50pp. For drinks coming out, your first round of drinks may have been a bit slower than normal because you arrived at a peak time. Your review is grossly unfair given the lengths we went to accommodate a you under the circumstances. I will think twice next time someone’s booking is weather affected.
   

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8. B

   Beau

   Melbourne1 review

   2.0

   Dined on January 14, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   The service was amazing. Very tentative staff. Could not rate it highly enough. The food and price of things I would not return or recommend. Whilst I don't mind paying more for a bit more upmarket style of food, the food here was far from it. Several items were out of the packet/container which is quite sad given how much potential they could have if they put some heart and soul into the food they create. Overpriced, bland and out of a packet. Paying $17 for a kids meal i would have thought would be a little more substantial. We recently ate at an Argentinean steak house and paid the same for a 250g steak, chips and salad. I would expect it to be a little bit cheaper considering the costings of the ingredients to plate. (Work in the industry and know the pricings) The plating up was the only good thing about it unfortunately. On another note I'm not against using out of the packet but at least ensure it's up to standard and even put som of your own flair on it. Sorry for the negative feedback. Hopefully these issues can be rectified.
   

   Santa FeResponded on January 24, 2025

   Hi Beau, not sure why you keep saying we serve out of the packet when Everything is prepared freshly in house. We make our sauces, salsas, salads, proteins, corn tortillas and I can’t think of anything that is served out of the packet. You are from the industry so how much do you factor cost of premises and all the attentive staff? Our children’s meals include dessert and colouring in. Until many restaurants we at least welcome children in. The cost of serving a child is the same as an adult.
   

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9. V

   Vanessa

   Melbourne2 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on January 8, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Overall the experience was good. Food was delicious and jalapeno margarita was excellent. The staff were mostly good.
   

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10. J

    Jason

    Victoria2 reviews

    2.0

    Dined on January 3, 2025

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3

    Our meal was ok, but the drink service was extremely poor. We order 4 cocktails, 1 wine, 1 coke and 1 beer, this order took over 45 minutes to arrive. We also ordered 2 "HOT" meals and they had no heat at all. When this was questioned I was given an additional side of their ""HOT" salsa, agian this had no heat. After paying the bill, I spoke with their "cook" who i would assume is the owner and explained that their hot dishes had no heat whatsoever. Her reply was "I don't make the food hot, as Australian's don't like hot meals". I also explained their side dish also had no heat. She was extremely defensive and stated was rude to the staff, which was not the case at all. After she continued with her attitude, the bar gentleman run the bar explained to her that this was not the case and it was another person. He apologise while she was still very defensive and rude with no apology at all. Overall what was ment to be a lovely night out for , turned into a regretful $330. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO ORDER ANY ITEN STATEING "HOT" OR ANY COCKTAILS. We would not return!
    

    Santa FeResponded on January 5, 2025

    Jason, your belligerence spoke volumes on the night as you abused our young staff. Other members of your party were also out of order so I can only assume you perhaps had been drinking before you arrived for your booking. Chilli has many levels. Hot doesn t mean extreme. Maybe in future you could so us to burn the hell out of your tongue to make you happy. As for your perceived delay - you table of 7 in the restaurant for all of 1 hour 13 minutes. Your review is a farce and we are pleased you won’t be returning….for our staffs sake. My husband, co-owner doesn’t like confrontation. Personally I don’t tolerate people who bully my staff. I received two complaints about your table, unfortunately as we were very busy they didn’t tell me straight away….you would not have had dinner!
    

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