Eugene S.
Yelp
ITP joints that have service and good food are a dime a dozen so when you find them, you have to give them the props.
I came here with a few friends one night and always saw this place but never had the opportunity till now. Since our party had reservations, it was done family style which I'm not mad at but more on the food later.
Agave is a tex-mex restaurant that borders more on the Mexican in terms of flavors. There's smatterings of southern style cooking but for most of the food, it leans heavily on actual Mexican influences in terms of spices, cooking methods, and presentation which I appreciated.
The restaurant interior is slightly confusing as it's split up into three sections inside itself. There's a bar section with some table dining, there's a second section of a dining area, and the third section which seems like it's reservation only which was an interesting layout. But the place as a whole is dimly lit yet active in terms of how they handle service.
Service here was fantastic! Our server was pleasant, professional, friendly, relatable, prompt, and efficient.
So now let us talk about the food.
The way our dining experience was was family style so it will be different from the normal dining experience of others so based solely on the food we got for our 4 course family style dining experience.
The red hominy pork posole is phenomenal. I've never had hominy that wasn't in its grits form so this was different but the flavor of that soup was deep, rich, savory, flavorful, and definitely a comfort food.
The salad I wasn't too much of a fan of due to the beans and the corn but it had a light crisp flavor to it and found that enjoyable.
I enjoyed the smoked chicken quesadilla. The chicken was moist, the cheeses inside the tortilla didn't overpower anything, it was just a nice balance in flavor.
We were then served the courses. Fried chicken, a barbacoa taco, and a veggie pasta. The fried chicken was cut into strips which I found odd but again, it was a flavorful homely comfort food a la Southern American cooking. The barbacoa taco wasn't as enjoyable as the meat was dry but the spices in the taco definitely had a kick to it. If the meat was a bit more tender, it would've been a better dish in my opinion. The veggie pasta I found to be delightful. Again, savory, flavorful, and enjoyable.
The dessert was a pumpkin pecan pie which was scrumptious! Sweet, a balance of pecan and pumpkin which held this delightful dance that was such a fantastic marriage of sweetness that topped off the dinner.
Agave was great and I definitely recommend this place.