Casa Rica

Went here for lunch. Had a groupon ($ 20 lunch for 2) no where on the groupon did it state anything about days or time restrictions, only things about happy hour and specials. Had our waiter tell us the manager won’t accept it on a Sunday at 2. Asked to speak with the manager and she said its only for Monday-​Friday 11 – 2. I asked where on the groupon it stated that and she said it doesn’t state that on the groupon, and they recently changed owners so the new owner decided these rules. What terrible customer service. No wonder we were the only ones in this empty restaurant. As someone who works in a successful restaurant, i know making the customer happy and having them return is the key to making a restaurant successful. Penny pinching is not, first impressions are everything. Good luck to the new owner, we won’t be returning.

I’m a frequent diner at this restaurant. Their food is usually very good, the service has always been mediocre at best. This past Sunday I took my mother here for lunch and the service was poor, the waitstaff was rude, and the food took forever to come out. We ordered queso cheese to eat with our chips before our meal came and they brought it out with the meal. The salsa was definitely watered down. When. We asked the waitress what was holding up our food she told us that we would just have to wait, made no apologies… We noticed other parties that came into the restaurant after us with males in the group were served more quickly and received their meals more quickly as well. This experience couldn’t have been any more unpleasant and we won’t be going back.

Probably the worst and most overpriced meal ever consumed in a restaurant! The enchiladas that 2 of our party ordered were rancid! After they took a bite we smelled them and the cheese smelled old and moldy and made someone gag by just smelling them. Management took a total of $ 5 off the bill of a party of 12 for 2 rancid meals. They also burned our fajitas to where you had to scrape the meat off the pan, rice tasted like rice a roni, floutas were tasteless. The waitress was kind and had a good spirit but we will never be back and never recommend!

Stopped in for brunch here on Sunday after walking through the mall. We stood at the hostess station for 10 – 12 minutes but no one ever acknowledged our existence. The phone nearby rang numerous times but no one came to answer it either. One in our party had to use the ladie’s room while we waited. She came back saying it was disgustingly dirty and one stall was out of service. We left vowing to never return.

Not the best mexican food in town. Been there a couple of times, nothing really stands out. Mostly bland and old tasting food that is very salty. You can’t even order happy hour drinks in the restaurant, only for the bar area.

Had lunch today, never seen Indian and Mexican food together, especially in a Mexican restaurant, the owner is apparently Indian. Gone is a the Lunch Buffet, had it a long time ago and it was nasty. They have three course lunch special offers for $ 6.99 appetizer, main course and dessert. The only nasty thing was the queso for the chips, it was white and watery, weird. Other than that food was really good and the waitress was nice and on her a game.

The food is delicious and prepared by folks that know what they’re doing. The gigante burrito is highly recommended and try the nachos with beef, yum!
The staff was professional but the décor is tacky and stereotypical. Its also in a mall, not a place to go to impress a date but the right place for a few margaritas with friends.
I wish they delivered!

Have eaten at this restaurant about a dozen times over the past 10 years. My wife and I like both Mexican and Indian food and they serve both now. Everything we ordered has been very good but the last couple times the chef was a little skimpy on the Indian food. Was not enough to fill us up so we haven’t gone back. The buffet might be a better option but it’s only offered certain days/​times (like maybe Wednesday or Thursday evening and Sunday morning? not sure). Not many selections in the buffet but what’s there is very good.
Service has always been good. Nothing to complain about. Never had to wait long for a table and the waiter/​waitress usually came back to check on us a few times.

Overall Rating: (1.7 /​5) «Terrible»
Very poor quality food with bad preparation means a meal here is not worth even the average prices listed. The atmosphere is tacky and perplexing due to a strange mix of music and décor, and the service is barely adequate. Worst of all is the management and how they treat customers. Do not expect an apology or to be offered an alternative if you dislike the food (very likely).
Recommended Alternative: Papa Joe’s Mexican Restaurant
Full Review:
Food (1.5 /​5) «Terrible»:
While the food looks appetizing, all of it was very average and often sub-​par, if not inedible. None of the food tasted fresh, and the ingredients all seemed low-​quality and ill-​prepared. The chips were not warm, and a trip to your local grocery store would have yielded better salsa which was bland and runny. The entrees were equally abysmal: the Chile relleno was over-​battered, buried in an obnoxious amount of low-​quality American-​style cheese, mushy, and contained a jalapeño instead of a poblano; the beef and bean burrito was covered in what appeared to be a traditional Mexican sauce, but tasted more like tomato paste and bbq sauce – not in an inventive way either, just awful; and the the vegetable burrito was filled with more rice than vegetables (none of which tasted fresh anyhow). The side of rice was overcooked and bland. The only decent food was the pico de gallo and guac, which was most likely off-​the-​shelf.
Service (1.5 /​5) «Terrible»:
The waitress, while not rude, was very inattentive and did not return to the table except to bring the order. The real problem here though, is the management’s complete disregard for the customer.
We voiced our concern about the quality of food, specifically about the Chile relleno that was nearly inedible. The waitress said that she would have a manager come to the table. After five minutes, the waitress returned without the manager to relay a message to us which was (verbatim): «There is nothing we can do. We have been making food this way for 18 years. Also, the definition of a Chile relleno is cheese with a jalapeño pepper stuck in the middle. There is nothing wrong with the food.»
There are many issues with the way the restaurant and management handled this issue, the least of which is the incorrect definition of a Chile relleno (which is a poblano filled with cheese/​fillings, optionally battered, and fried). We left the management a note indicating that we would never be back.
Value (²⁄₅) «Worse Than Most»:
The prices are close to standard for an authentic-​style Mexican restaurant, but the food is not prepared to meet those standards. They should charge half of what they do for the quality served.
Atmosphere (²⁄₅) «Worse Than Most»:
The décor is very tacky (even for a Mexican place) and the music is a strange mix of Indian, Hispanic, and classical American jazz. Very perplexing and made the experience worse. The place seemed rather dingy and dead.
Scoring Weights:
Food — 50%, Value — 20%, Service — 20%, Atmosphere — 10%. After all, food makes a restaurant – everything else is just the figurative sugar and cherry on top.
Final Ranking:
.8 and .9 is awarded the next level up for final ranking. For example, 3.8 is awarded 4 stars.

I must say the other reviewers were right. Came for lunch. The food was bland. The choices at the buffet were slim pickins! And the chips they put on the table… OMG they were not close to Mexican restaurant quality. They were right out of the Dorito’s bag from the grocery store. Two Indian choices that were totally bland and did not taste like Indian food to me. Hey guys, come on… If you’re gonna have a Mexican/​Indian restaurant, you really need to do better! I really tried to like your place, but you gotta step it up!

Worst indian food ever. yea take adavantage of people in MD who dont know indian food.
The buffet is also a rip off with 4 trays hahaaha!
in their defense the people at my table thought the mexican food was ok so i gave u 2 stars

Had lunch there today and it was awesome! I had the flautas and they were delicious! Crispy and filled with goodness. They came with a little bowl of black beans and they were delightful! The spanish rice was so so but who cares when you have 3 awesome flautas to enjoy. My husband got a taco salad and he loved it… he gobbled it up in no time. Everything was fresh and their salsa is delish! I also had a frozen margarita and it was great too, not too sour and just the right about of tequila.
The waiter was delightful, pleasant and attentive!
A very good experience!

I’ve been to Casa Rico/​Rica (name depends on where you look… but more on that later) a few times since I’ve lived in Carroll County for the past 6 years. For a while they were the only Mexican game in town and they were average. The food was hit or miss but the lunch buffet was actually a pretty fair value. One thing that struck me about the place is that even though it was Mexican, the food seemed to taste like it used some Indian seasonings and the owners appeared to be Indian as well. Anyway, I don’t do Mexican out that much overall so while I haven’t avoided the place but I hadn’t had a reason to go to Casa Rico/​Rica for probably 3 – 4 years.
So recently, Casa Rico/​Rica decided to do a 2 in 1 type restaurant. I’m guessing since Papa Joes as well as 2 new quick service burrito came to town, they were looking to differentiate themselves. So now, you can not only get Mexican but you can get Indian under the Casa India nameplate. This was welcome news to me because the closest Indian to me is in Randallstown or Cockeysville.
My wife and I go to Casa Rico (as suggested on the sign outside the mall) or Casa Rica (as suggested by the menu) /​Casa India on a Friday night. No wait but there seems to be brisk business. The place is not exactly well put together. Most of the restaurant follows the Tex-​Mex motif but they have started to intersperse some South Asian décor and it just makes it look confused. No matter… some of the holes in the wall have the best food.
We sit down and are given the traditional Tex-​Mex menu, an Indian menu and a specials menu. Seems like a lot to digest when ordering. I am set on the Indian food. The menu consists of a decent but not extensive selection of traditional North Indian dishes. You’re not going to get anything exotic (as far as Indian food goes) but the staples that most Americans like to order are here — selections from the tandoor, chicken tikka masala, samosas, vindaloos, breads, and vegetarian entrees. The Tex-​Mex menu has most of the standards but is far more extensive with some interesting items like Tequila Chicken or Shrimp and some Salmon dishes.
My wife and I split an order of the vegetable samosa. There are 2 in the order and they were quite large. The dough was flaky and was crispy but soft enough to cut into without much struggle. The tamarind and mint chutneys brought along with them was pretty mediocre.
For dinner, my wife ordered the combination fajitas and was pleased with them. As we remembered it, it was simply average. Portion size was good, the meat and vegetables were cooked well but overall, nothing to write home about. I wanted to sample some of their Indian dishes so I ordered the chicken tikka masala, saag paneer (aka palak paneer) and onion kulcha. The chicken and saag were entrees and came with rice. The rice was relatively dry and flavorless but a little tikka masala curry on top quickly cured that. The entrees came out in traditional copper pots so +1 for them there. The chicken tikka masala curry was rich but not as flavorful as others I’ve had. It still was well seasoned and tasty. The saag paneer (spinach with cubes of soft cheese) was decidedly bland. It seemed to have very little seasoning. The cheese was soft but a little chewier than I like. However the onion kulcha bread was excellent and paired very well with the saag and tikka.
Overall, the Indian menu was sufficient to differentiate itself a little from all the other hodge podge of sports bar, diner, Tex-​Mex and Italian in Westminster. If I want really good Indian, I’ll head over to Cockeysville for India Palace or Café Spice but for a quick curry fix, Casa India/​Rico/​Rica fits the bill well. I would like to give their buffet a try again during the day time as a Indian/​Mexican mix sounds like it might be good. As for the Mexican, Casa Whatever is probably a notch at or above Don Pablo’s. As long as you set your expectations to be around chain level, you should be alright.

This place is a little of a dive. The place doesn’t look very clean, the buffett looks pretty well, gross, and the food isn’t that good. The only thing good I can say about this place, is that some of the waitress are stunning. Yeah, I know that doesn’t make it a good restaurant, but I couldn’t think of anything positive.

Absolutely the most terrible so called Mexican food that I’ve ever had. The food is bland and the beef taco meet tasted like it was Ortega spice mix. The Waitress seemed too busy, and I’m not sure why since there were only a few other tables. The only bright spot is the hosted girl that asked if we were okay and needed anything. This place needs to be on Restaurant Impossible or Kitchen Nightmares. The staff looked lost and there was clearly no leadership.

GROSS!!! Don’t waste your money! The only reason they got A star is because their salsa is good. Plus i am pretty sure they have been closed down a couple of times due to Health code violations…

I like it here, they have great vegetarian items to choose from, and the prices are reasonable. The little carnivores in my house love the kids menu and free chips that are served when we are seated. It’s close, it’s cheap and it’s pretty good.

All the reviews for this place are pretty old so I’ll do a quick update.
Take that coupon that they put in every newspaper and magazine and recycle it. You’re doing yourself and the earth a favor. Any place that has to offer that many coupons isn’t getting many return customers and that’s because this place is gross. We always take our leftovers home and we left these for the trash. Everything was either bland, slimy or overly salted. Drive down the road to Papa Joe’s if you want Mexican.

With all respect to the staff — it’s really much better for Mexican restaurants to be operated by Mexicans — not by S Asians, as this one is. The ring of authenticity is definintely missing. For a while it was the only «mexican» restaurant in Westminster — but no more. So why would you go there?

Casa Rico has great food and the prices are very cheap. Good margaritas, but my personal favorite is the Sangrita. They keep the chips and salsa coming and the staff is very friendly. I recommend the fajitas and the fajita burrito. Oh, and the portions are huge.
I leave off one star only because there isn’t much ambiance… it is in the Town Mall after all and could probably use some updated décor. However, I come for the food so it doesn’t bother me at all.