Virgil's Original Taqueria - Raleigh

My once favorite fusion taco spot seems unfortunately diminished from its pre covid iteration. I was much saddened to see them fall victim to the pandemic and shutter but was overjoyed when the Localicon decided to bring it back... Albeit with a stated goal of 'upping the experience level '. Hmm... It 's a taqueria...the fare can only be taken so high without 1) messing the chill, casual, charming ambiance and 2)pricing the menu beyond the substance of the core cuisine (rice and beans used to come with entres... Now they are extra sides. Shrinkflation) You 're not a churrasqueria. It 's tacos, apps and cocktails. My latest experience while on a busy Saturday laid more bare some growing gaps. Service, while friendly and well intended, are inexperienced and inattentive. We took a table on the more 'spartan ' expansion side where we were greated with very loud EDM music blaring to the point of hampering conversation on a 2 top. The almost nonexistent lighting forced us to use phone lights to read the menu. I 'll ignore the fact a post celebratory (of some kind) party of 8 millenials came in and was seated next to us. It happens. In short my dates dish was flat cold inside (theyhaps were still frozen in the middle when dropped) and my tacos were ok but barely warm. They offered to remake hers but she didn 't want to wait further. To their credit the kitchen remade the order anyway. My date said, Thank you, you can box it. After waiting for it and too ring out for awhile, my date went and found our server idle. We rang out and inquired about the box to be told it was sitting in back and she 'd go get it. Not wanting to wait and wonder anymore, we left. They did comp my dates dish. So, bottom line... They don 't do well in a rush and wait staff are inexperienced. If you go I recommend sitting only on the bar side and not going on a weekend.

Our waitress was fantastic! She was very knowledgeable about the drink menu that they had there and checked on us at reasonable times. Me and my boyfriend definitely enjoyed his birthday dinner. Drinks were good and the food was tasty. We really enjoyed the “Pescado” the Mahi Mahi was fresh

Everything was okay. Just okay the food in my opinion was rushed and not as good as it looked. I got the rice and chicken and it was pretty much soup. Not a horrible place but not my first second or third choice either. Our server was great though if that counts for anything.

Reservation at 7:45 7:55pm Ordered food and drinks (drinks arrived quickly) 8:30pm ask server if our chili con queso is coming out anytime soon. Table that arrived 20mins after us got theirs already. Assured it was coming soon. 8:45pm ask server again; chili con queso finally arrives with burn chips 9:00pm first plate of food finally arrives (ordered barbacoa and shrimp tacos); shrimp tacos no where to be found. Another table sat after us got their tacos within 10 mins or so. 9:05pm ask where the tacos are. Get told again they are almost ready by the manager, who was quite annoyed with me for inquiring about my meal. Tell server that I am paying and leaving. Quite possibly one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in Raleigh. Their kitchen is understaffed and not running properly. I’d avoid Virgil’s and go somewhere else.

The service was terrible. The waitress never checked on us after we got our drinks. The apps took 40 mins to arrive and then our meal came immediately after. The table was never cleared. And everything was so spicy we could barely eat it. The menu didn’t dictate what was hot to the extent they were spicy.