Stephany T.
Yelp
This restaurant has so much potential, but misses the mark.
We started with cocktails, which were fine, but not remarkable. Fist of all, the restaurant is named Alce Tequileria, however, once you enter, you'll forget all about the tequila.... It mysteriously has no extraordinary presence at this establishment.
To begin with, I ordered the Lobo cocktail, which came with a leather thin dehydrated slice of pineapple. Absent that embellishment, the drink would have been on par with what you'd expect at a lower-end chain restaurant. Glasses were unremarkable. The drink texture was homogeneous- no identifiable flavor notes or textures.
The hostesses were snobby and aloof. The taller one actually plopped our appetizer down and would not even look at us. When we said "thank you" she said "yeah" and spun around an walked off. Delightful.
The waiter was a step above that, but not much -- stiff, unfriendly, unwelcoming. No chit chat (we were his only table) no recommendations, no attempts to upswell. We started with the chipotle hummus, at $18. The presentation was nice, but given that it was a composition of sliced crudités (a pile of unevenly cut carrots soaked in vinegar and a pile of oddly dry thick cucumbers wedges) along with a whole bulb of roasted garlic and a few slices of toasted naan, it felt underwhelming given the price. Frankly, it felt like the sort of cheep munchy that the establishment would have provided gratis to imbibing patrons.
For my entree, I ordered the Mexican "stuffed" prawns (rellenos) at $32. When the dish was served, I began the hunt for a whopping 4 medium-sized prawns -- unremarkable in size, significantly overcooked and swimming in a mess of red unrecognizable vegetative mush. The flavor was pleasant and the taste was not unpleasant, but the texture was off; the dish was lacking contrast in both texture and flavor notes. Buried in the bottom of the mush was a small green pepper filled with a gooey melted mixture that appeared to be cream cheese. The dish was labeled "rellenos", which conveyed an impression of something being "stuffed" (usually peppers) however, in this case, the lone stuffed pepper was filled not with shrimp, but with a white homogeneous glop buried at the bottom of the dish. It was odd.
This plate could have been so much more, but left me dissatisfied.
We ordered a bottle of wine and sat for a while and chatted. We noticed that most patrons ordered a single shared appetizer while nursing a lone cocktail for over two hours. We did not see s single other dinner ordering a complete meal, or even a second round of drinks.
Two interesting notes about the place - the busboy, Luis, was very friendly and essentially salvaged our experience. Additionally, the ladies' restroom is decorated with black walls and massive (hand painted?) peonies, which were lovely and memorable. A large mirror with adequate lighting would have been helpful... I don't know why most ladies' rooms are kept so dark it's nearly impossible to reapply lipstick.
In sum, this restaurant has massive potential, but falls short on many levels. I give this restaurant three "mehs".along with some hearty encouragement to send you hostesses to charm school, as they are severely lacking any of their own.
