Old Town Tortilla Factory

My wife and I decided to try this place after the art walk last Thursday in Scottsdale. It was actually raining and cold, so the great patio was out of the question. Unfotunately, the food was much like the weather on the night we visited, cold. The tortillas were nothing to right home about. We had to wait several minutes for our drinks on a slow night. The waitress was simply a flake. My wife ordered the tortilla soup, and it was not even luke warm, but our waitress was nowhere to be found, so we asked another server to help, and by the way he was great. When the soup returned it wasn't good, but at least hot. The waitress came back and asked if this one was luke war too? We ordered an entree to split, the tacos, we opted for shrimp and chickent. I took a bit of the shrimp and it was completely cold. We sent it back and decided to leave. I flagged down the manager, and told him don't even bother with another order, we just wanted our check. The waitress said sorry, but it was not in her control, oh boy. We left, but the manager did take of the two drinks and the very mediocre soup. I still tipped $5 for some reason, but save your money and time for better food elsewhere in Scottsdale. Try Grimaldi's good pizza and great service. more

This is quite possibly the WORST dining experience in all of Scottsdale/Phoenix. I ingored the negative comments but wish that I had not. We had a group of 11 and there was not one positve comment from anyone. The cheaptest margarita was $8.75 and tasted of water with a lime squeeze. You have to pay $3.99 per order of chips and salsa and the food was bland and hideously overpriced. The patio has great ambience and fabulous real estate but maybe someday they will open up a great restuarant for all to enjoy! Our bill ended up costing literally what we would have paid to go to Olive & Ivy, Taneko, etc. Very disappointing. more

The absolute worst restaurant in Scottsdale. I can't believe I have to give this place 1 star to rate it. It's horrible. Our food came out cold. The first entree and last entree came to our table 25 minutes apart! We timed it. And there was only 5 people in our group--not a huge order. We like to dine together, not 25 minutes apart and on cold food. We politely asked our waiter to re-cook or heat up our food and bring it all out at the same time or at least within a few minutes of each other. The manager didn't like that request. He came out to our table angry (psycho angry--no joke). He griped about how busy they are and if we didn't like it we can leave. So we did. We were shocked. We will never go back there. Worst restaurant experience ever. And the food was ridiculously priced. P.S. Like other people have written--the food truely is very bland. Pros: huge patio Cons: cheap patio furniture, horrible food, service and management more

As an Arizona Native I have heard about the Old Town Tortilla Factory for years, but had never made the journey over to the restaurant until last night. more

From the time we walked into the restaurant we were in heaven. First we started out with margaritas and some shrimp cocktail. Then moved onto the Pork Chop and Margarita Chicken which are always great. Finished off the meal with the chef's banana crisp and a nice cup of coffee! What a experience. It's our favorite spot to eat outside in Scottsdale!! Pros: Staff, Margaritas and the patio Cons: Parking more

I think the owner or manager of this restaurant is good at reviewing his/her own place, as is evident in the next review. I wish we had similar experience. Unfortunately ours was more like most of the other reviewers--awful. I think everything bad I have to say about this place has already been said, so read the other reviews. I wish I had at least one positive thing to say about this place. Unfortunately I don't. Pros: finishing and leaving Cons: everything more

Frankly I don't understand all the negative comments made. We had a very good experience from the time we arrived (Seated immediately) until we left. We had guests from Houston and decided to take them there even with all the bad comments. From the appetizers through dessert, everything was simply great including the service. I had the Pollo Margarita and it was very moist and not rubbery & dry like some said. My wife had the Carne Limon' and was equally impressed with it and the amount she received. One of our guests Michelle had the Old Town Tacos and once again no complaints. A lot of food and very tasty as she put it. Our other gust Rochelle had the Achiote Ribs. The serving was the biggest I have ever seen and I go out to a lot of medium to fancy restaurants. All portions were very large and all came together so that we all could eat together. When it came to dessert we had the ""Home Made Cheesecake"". It was a dessert to die for. Extremely good and again a large portion. One thing I would recccommend is that if you are doing appetizers, is get the Stuffed Quesadila and a half order of the Nachos del Sol (Enough to feed all of us them some. As for all the negetivity, I can only surmise that because of the name people think it is typical Mexican Food. They never claim that it is. What it happens to be is Southwestern Flavors and Specialties and very good might I say. The food is a mixture of the Southwest and some House Specialties. The Specialties even have a star by them saying that the Chef recommends it. Pros: Great food and well worth the price Cons: Haven't found any more

We picked this place on vacation based on other citysearch reviews, including numerous ""Best Of"" awards, and were completely blown away by how much we disliked this place. Pros: Good tortillas and margaritas Cons: Horrendous service and food more

This place is great! Great food, great service. It is pricey, but the portions are so huge. The Old Town Taco plate can feed 2 to 3 people really. Pros: Large Portions Cons: Pricey more

Cute setting, but really disappointing, bland and overpriced food. My husband struck it off our restaurant list. Even my 8 year old son never wanted to go back. Our dinner was $85 for the three of us, with only one beer involved. It was too hot to sit outside, and inside the acoustics were terrible. We couldn't even here each other. Why this place has won New Times awards is a mystery; it certainly takes away from the credibility of the New Times perspective. I would strongly recommend to anyone NOT to go to this restaurant for food. It may be fine for sitting outside on the patio with friends for drinks, especially if you like loud, noisy places. Pros: ambient outdoor setting Cons: terribly overprice and bland food and poor acoustics inside more

What a waste of $$$ and time. The most bland, over-priced ""Mexican"" food I have ever had. It's not even Mexican food. I think one of the other reviewers wrote that Taco Bell's better. I have to agree, and I hate Taco Bell. Also, the patio is huge but the decor is nothing special. The fountain's a bit garish. Maybe people think it's ""cool"" because they have Tiki-flame-things. Whatever, I don't know... What I do know is that I'll never go back! Los Sombreros is 100x's better and has a truly awesome patio. Cons: evrything else more

We recently visited the restaurant to celebrate because of reviews on the patio. Starters were good, chips and salsa, main courses were over priced, bland, potatoes with mushy veggies. My wife ordered the Marisco's?, which were not very good. The rest of the family ate stuffed filet(was not stuffed) and tacos. the shrimp in the tacos were horrible. Back to the birthday girls dinner, she stayed up all last night getting violently ill(and even though it was her birthday, she did not even drink anything alcholic). I called the restaurant the next evening and was connected to the manager, who seamed very non-interested, was quick to say that most food illness do not occur until 24 hours later........nonetheless, not very compassionate, nor caring attitude...will definitely not go back and greatly discourage as well....Not so much for the poor food, but for the poor attitude shared by the 5/7/07 night manager..... Pros: atmosphere Cons: POOR FOOD more

I wish I had read some reviews of this place before taking friends there. The overall operation/ management of this restaurant is terrible. We had an very long wait to be seated (about 45 min). There was a 20 minute delay between the time the first entree was brought to the table and the time the last entree was brought to the table (and there was only 5 people in our group!). We all wanted to eat together, that why you go to a restaurant, right? Well, we waited until the last entree came out and asked out waiter to bring all of our food out together. Since the first two entrees had been sitting on the table for 20 minutes, we asked that they be re-cooked. The manager came out to our table and was very rude. He seemed like a very angry person, in general. We tried politely explaining that we came there to dine together, not watch each other eat 20 minutes apart. It was pointless, the guy is nuts. He kept being rude, so we just left. It was the most awful experience I've had at any restaurant. Pros: big patio Cons: old and boring decor, bad food, poor service, rude manager more

And also a BIG disappointment. I read the reviews of this place before going. Most were positive so we decided to check the place out. Maybe the good cooks and waiters had the night off when we went. I say this because, to be frank, the food sucked and was far too expensive for the low quality. The patio is furnished with cheap lawn chairs and the decoration does look a bit dated. The service was nothing to write home about. I am definitely never spending another dime at this place! Pros: I didn't get sick Cons: everything outside of not getting sick more

Read the other reviews. Can't say I agree with the positive ones. Yes, the patio's huge. But that doesn't make up for the poor food and service and pricing. I'd rather eat at Taco Bell. And I don't like Taco Bell. Pros: big patio Cons: big check for bad food and service more

Blah is the best word I can think of to describe the flavor of the food, service at this restaurant and the decor... And like other reviewers say--way too expensive for the quality. Actually, I wouldn't go back even if the food were free. Pros: I never have to eat there again! Cons: everything! more

My wife and I ate there recently and witnessed the oddest thing we've ever seen in a restaurant, or any business for that matter. First I'll start by reviewing the food. Just like all the other negative reviews indicate--the food is fairly overpriced and pretty bland. No more needs to be said. The odd event occurred at a table next to ours. We overheard the couple return something to the kitchen because it was not properly cooked. The manager(owner?) came out to their table and had a very odd demeanor. The couple was very quiet and seemed polite. When the manager(owner?) came back he set the new plate on the table pretty aggresively and exclaimed ""you're welcome!"" , before the couple had a chance to say anything, and then stormed off while looking over his shoulder, giving the couple a very, very dirty look. He actually had quite crazed look on his face, it was very creepy. The couple ignored him, and did not say a thing or even look at him. The manager(owner) immediately paced back and forth by their table 2 or 3 more times while giving them the same weird look. The couple still ignored him. The manager(owner?) came up to their table on the last pass and exclaimed, ""do you have a problem?!"". We were shocked! We have never seen anyone behave like that in any restaurant or business, ever. The couple simply said ""no, we're done"", and quietly stood up and walked out of the restaurant. The manager(owner) followed them out, yelling something about how busy his restaurant is and how he doesn't care... It seems like the manager(owner) is very emotionally unstable as this whole episode appeared completely unprovoked by the very calm couple. It seemed like the manager(owner?) was trying to pick a fight with the passive couple. It was the most disturbing behavior I have ever witnessed by any owner/employee of any restaurant. We will never return to this restaurant. Cons: mentally disturbed owner, overpriced bland food more

Completely unremarkable and very over-priced food. The food and restaurant are both bland. Don't go there expecting Mexican--that's not what they serve. The atmosphere is nothing special and the decor is a bit dated. The patio is big, but that's about it--go there during the day and you'll see that it's nothing special. They charge $5 for ""flavored"" chips and salsa. We had a hard time finding any ""flavor"" in the chips and the salsa tastes like tomato puree--it is literally the worst salsa we have ever had. If you want good chips, salsa and margaritas go to Salty Senorita. If you want good Mexican in the same price range go to Los Sombreros. If you want good Mexican for less money go to Frank and Lupe's. If you want awful food and service go to Tortilla Factory. Pros: big patio Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE more

I forgot why I hadn't eaten here in the past 4 years... Pros: One-of-a-kind atmosphere Cons: food more

The food was excellant. The service was good. The margueritas were out of this world. All around great place to eat! more