Working at a Mexican restaurant comes with its share of challenges. While most people are great customers, certain habits have become so common that staff members across the country are speaking up. From modification requests that make no sense to ordering practices that slow down service, restaurant workers want you to know what’s driving them crazy. These aren’t just minor annoyances—they’re behaviors that affect everything from food quality to wait times for other guests. Here’s what servers, cooks, and managers wish you’d stop doing the next time you order tacos.
Asking for endless refills of free chips and salsa
That basket of complimentary chips arrives at your table within minutes of sitting down, and they’re delicious. The problem starts when customers treat these free appetizers like an all-you-can-eat buffet, requesting refill after refill before their actual meal arrives. Restaurant workers say this has become one of their biggest frustrations, especially during busy lunch and dinner rushes when servers are managing multiple tables at once.
Making fresh chips every day costs restaurants real money in ingredients, oil, and labor. When customers ask for five or six baskets of chips, they’re eating into the restaurant’s already thin profit margins. Some places have started charging after the second refill or making chips and salsa a paid appetizer from the start. Servers suggest enjoying your complimentary basket and maybe one refill, then ordering nachos or guacamole if you’re still hungry. This way, everyone wins—you get more food, and the restaurant stays in business.
Requesting quesadillas without the cheese
The word “quesadilla” literally comes from “queso,” which means cheese in Spanish. Yet servers report that customers regularly order quesadillas without cheese, leaving staff members genuinely confused. In Mexico City, you might find quesadillas without cheese, but in most other parts of Mexico and the United States, the cheese is what defines this dish. Without it, you’re basically just asking for a folded tortilla with filling—which is essentially a taco.
Restaurant workers at multiple establishments say this happens more often than you’d think. They’ll try to explain that removing the cheese doesn’t lower the price and that the dish won’t make sense without it, but customers insist anyway. The kitchen staff finds it particularly baffling since the entire preparation method revolves around melting cheese inside a tortilla. If you’re avoiding dairy, most restaurants offer plenty of other options that don’t require completely changing what makes a dish authentic. Just ask your server for recommendations instead of ordering something and removing its defining ingredient.
Ordering everything extra spicy then complaining
Mexican food doesn’t have to be painfully spicy, despite what many people believe. Chefs carefully balance heat with other seasonings to create complex tastes that don’t burn your mouth off. But some customers seem determined to prove how much heat they can handle, demanding extra spicy preparations even after servers warn them. This creates headaches for everyone involved when the food arrives and turns out to be, well, exactly as spicy as promised.
One server in Puerto Vallarta recalled a customer who insisted on habaneros in his guacamole despite multiple warnings. The guy ended up sweating, turning bright red, and hyperventilating to the point where staff worried they’d need to call an ambulance. Kitchen workers take pride in their spice blends and know exactly how much heat each dish should have. When you demand extra chiles, you’re not just challenging yourself—you’re likely to end up with uneaten food and a ruined meal. Start with the regular preparation, and if it’s not spicy enough, add hot sauce from the table gradually.
Wanting tacos with everything served separately
Building your own tacos at home is fun—you get to arrange everything exactly how you want it. But requesting this same setup at a restaurant creates unnecessary complications for the kitchen and serving staff. Some customers ask for the meat, onions, cilantro, and tortillas all plated separately so they can assemble their own tacos at the table. Servers find this request particularly insulting because it suggests the chef doesn’t know how to properly build a taco.
Beyond the implied criticism, deconstructed tacos require more dishes, more time to plate, and more space on your table. During busy periods, this slows down service for everyone. The kitchen has to break its normal workflow to accommodate what amounts to a DIY meal kit. Unless you’re at Chipotle or another build-your-own concept restaurant, the tacos are designed to be served fully assembled. Trust that the chef knows the right proportions and order of ingredients—that’s literally their job.
Ordering tableside guacamole during the dinner rush
Watching someone prepare fresh guacamole right at your table in a molcajete is admittedly pretty cool. You know it’s fresh, you can customize it to your preferences, and it feels like a special experience. The problem is that making tableside guacamole takes several minutes of your server’s undivided attention. During busy times, this means other customers aren’t getting their drinks refilled, their food is sitting in the kitchen getting cold, or their orders aren’t being taken.
The process involves wheeling out a cart with all the ingredients, mashing avocados, mixing in tomatoes and onions and lime juice, and cleaning up the mess from squeezed limes and avocado skins. When multiple tables request this during peak hours, it creates a bottleneck that affects service throughout the restaurant. Some places have started limiting when tableside guacamole is available or charging premium prices to reflect the labor involved. If you’re dining during a busy Friday night, consider ordering the pre-made version instead. It’s still fresh and delicious, and your server can actually attend to their other responsibilities.
Building burritos with too many wet ingredients
Burritos can hold an impressive amount of stuff, but there’s a limit to how much liquid a flour tortilla can contain before it falls apart. Chipotle workers constantly complain online about customers who want double rice, extra beans, multiple types of meat, plus all the salsas, sour cream, and guacamole crammed into one burrito. The person trying to roll this creation faces an impossible task as ingredients squish out the sides and the tortilla starts tearing.
When you bite into an overstuffed, wet burrito, everything comes oozing out, creating a messy eating experience. Kitchen staff have developed specific techniques for building burritos that hold together and can actually be picked up and eaten like they’re supposed to be. Piling on every wet ingredient destroys this careful construction. If you want that much food, order a burrito bowl instead—you’ll get all the same ingredients without forcing someone to wrap the impossible. Or ask for extra sauce on the side so you can control how much moisture you’re adding.
Modifying aguachile or ceviche preparations
Aguachile and ceviche are traditional seafood dishes featuring raw shrimp or fish marinated in lime juice with chiles and seasonings. The marinade gets prepared ahead of time so the ingredients have a chance to blend together properly. When customers request these dishes without certain ingredients—especially the chiles—it throws off the entire preparation. The kitchen would need to make a completely new marinade from scratch just for one order.
Servers at several restaurants explained that they simply won’t modify these particular dishes because the results wouldn’t taste right. The marinade needs time for everything to meld together, and special orders can’t replicate that process quickly. These are dishes where the recipe matters—you can’t just pick out the onions or hold the cilantro without fundamentally changing what you’re eating. If the traditional preparation doesn’t appeal to you, there are plenty of other menu options that might suit your preferences better. Sometimes the best choice is ordering something different rather than trying to remake a classic dish.
Requesting virgin margaritas at the bar
Not everyone drinks alcohol, and that’s completely fine. The issue with virgin margaritas isn’t about whether you should order them—it’s about where and when. These drinks take just as much time to make as regular margaritas, sometimes longer because bartenders have to adjust the recipe to make it taste good without tequila. During busy bar hours, making multiple blended virgin drinks can seriously slow things down for everyone else waiting.
Bartenders have to clean the blender between different orders to avoid mixing ingredients, which is time-consuming. When several people order virgin margaritas during happy hour, it creates a backup that affects service for customers who ordered simpler drinks. If you want a non-alcoholic option, consider a soda, agua fresca, or horchata during peak times. These drinks are just as refreshing and won’t require the bartender to stop everything else they’re doing. Save the virgin margarita requests for slower periods when the bar staff has more time to devote to preparation.
Ordering breakfast items during dinner service
Chilaquiles and huevos rancheros are delicious Mexican breakfast dishes that many restaurants serve during morning hours. Some customers try ordering these items at dinner time, not realizing that kitchens set up differently for different service periods. Breakfast dishes require specific ingredients and preparation methods that aren’t part of the evening routine. The kitchen might not have the right tortillas, the eggs might not be prepped, or the salsa verde for chilaquiles might not be available.
When you order breakfast items during dinner, it disrupts the kitchen’s workflow and can lead to longer wait times. The cooks have to stop what they’re doing, gather different ingredients, and use different cooking methods than what they’ve set up for evening service. Many restaurants now have specific hours for breakfast items posted on their menus to avoid this problem. The dinner menu typically offers dishes designed for evening service with ingredients that are fresh and ready to go. These evening options often have similar ingredients and seasonings adapted for later meals.
Restaurant workers aren’t trying to make your life difficult—they want you to enjoy great food and have a good time. Understanding what creates problems behind the scenes helps everyone have a better experience. Next time you’re ordering at your favorite Mexican spot, keep these points in mind and you’ll probably notice better service, fresher food, and happier staff members taking care of you.
