Fred's Mexican Cafe

08/01/11

Innapropriate Conduct

by Jrrrl at Citysearch

Fred’s Corporate Office,

Saturday, July 30th 2011, a group of friends and I attended your establishment to celebrate a birthday. We arrived later in the evening around 9pm. There were approximately 11 people in our party. We stayed several hours and purchased a variety of drinks and appetizers. My girlfriend arrived at about 12:30am and I escorted her out of the restaurant to retrieve her sweatshirt. Along the way back we stopped and I bought an ice cream cone. When we returned to Fred’s, the security guard informed me that I could not bring my ice cream cone inside. I asked if there was a trash can where I could dispose of it. He stated “no” and that I would have to go down the stairs and finish it. I politely said “okay” and began descending the staircase. About half way down another patron who was walking up the stairs, stopped and asked me a question. We exchanged conversation for about a minute. About that time, I had already finished the desert, and walked back up the steps. I got to the door and began to retrieve my identification from my wallet, when the security guard stated “sir you can’t come in now.” I was confused and asked him why. He stated that I did not follow his instructions and because of that, he would have to refuse my entry, on the assumption that I might present a problem once inside.I thought that he might just be joking around, but noticed his serious facial expression. I advised him I did not understand, and I thought I had did what he asked of me. He responded with “no I told you to eat the ice cream cone at the bottom of the stairs, you stood on the stairs half way down.” I told him I didn’t think it would create an issue, and the reason why I stopped was because another subject had started a conversation with me.The guard refused to listen to my explanation and started to look impatient. He told me “look, you aren’t listening to me, you’re NOT coming in.” I then stated “this is just over a simple ice cream cone, and it was a misunderstanding.” The guard then became more stern and asked me to leave the property. I said I will gladly leave but my party was inside and I needed to get a hold of them and inform them of the situation. The battery on my cell phone had died and I was not able to call them. The guard responded with “sorry you’re sh-t out of luck.” I asked my girlfriend, who was standing with me the whole time, if she could go in and tell my friends that I wasn’t allowed in. The guard stepped in and said “no, she’s not coming in either.” I said “why not? She has nothing to do with this.” He stated in an aggressive tone “you heard what I said.”

I said that’s fine, then will you ask one of my friend’s to come out, or have our server advise my friends of the situation. The guard again said no we aren’t going to do that. At that point I felt I had exhausted all of my options and requested to speak with a manager. The guard told me no, and that I would have to deal with him, and only him. I again asked to speak with the manager and again he said no. I explained that I was from out of town and I drove down here with my friends and I would be stranded if I couldn’t get a hold of them. The guard didn’t seem to care and became more agitated. He told me I need to leave immediately because he now considered me to be trespassing. I said fine and began walking toward the stairs. Another security guard approached me from behind and said “lets go, you need to leave.” I was already walking when I felt his forearm or elbow dig into my lower back along the spine. I continued walking while turning my head; I advised him sternly not to touch me. He did it again and kept saying “keep moving.” I advised him I WAS moving and that it was illegal for him to place his hands on me.

04/02/09

Mex on the Beach

by KarinnaZ at Citysearch

Overall cool Mexican place with fun ambiance. Not the best seating, chairs are not very comfortable, nothing posh here. But if you're looking for a typical Beachside Mex place, Fred's is it. Great view of the pier, the sunset, the pacific up on the second story.

The service was awesome, the drinks and food were yummy. The margaritas were great. Great place to wear your flip-flops and beach clothes!

08/26/08

Always a good time, tasty tacos

by Encante9 at Citysearch

I always have a good time at Fred's... Taco Tuesday is fun since the taco's are only $2 and certain beers are cheaper too, on Tuesdays. I love their carnitas and grilled mahi mahi taco's - although they're in a flour tortilla instead of corn... which is my only complaint. Service can be slow when it gets busy, but I'm usually there with a few friends so its not a big deal. Good Margarita's too. Its a great place to go with a group - though sometimes the music is on the loud side.

• Pros: Ambience, View of the beach and pier, good food
• Cons: Service sometimes slow, loud on busy nights, long waits to be seated

07/08/08

Insulted and dissatisfied

by phoenix1182 at Citysearch

I was in Huntington Beach on vacation and stopped into Fred's for a drink and some lunch. After already being served one drink, the server claimed my driver's license was fake and refused to give it back to me. I was livid! I was probably older than he was. Luckily, there were some police in the restaurant and I was able to get it back. I will never go there again!

• Pros: I used to like the food.
• Cons: They were completely rude

12/05/07

Get the steak tacos (or maybe the shrimp)

by stormer21 at Citysearch

Some people don't like the food here, but that's because they are ordering the wrong stuff. Your options are: steak tacos, shrimp tacos, or maybe steak nachos (a bargain because they are HUGE a meal for 2-3 people). You could order something else, but don't. If really want a burrito, get it without the rice. Fred's rice is weird.

And don't forget the CHIPS!! They put some excellent seasoning on them. It's worth going just for the chips.

They are so nice to me there. They are always giving me complimentary dessert. They've changed the Chocolate Diablo, ao it's not as good as it used to be. But it's still really good. The one time I had bad service, they more than made up for it The waitress didn't realize my table was hers, so no one came to serve us and I finally had to ask the hostess what was up. But the manager came over and was extremely apologetic and gave us some free stuff.

Also a great place to watch football on Sunday and Monday nights.