Daniel B.
Yelp
I had a good experience at Antiguo Lobo Mexicano & Agave Bar in downtown Chamblee. Simply put, this place has good food, good drinks, good service, and a fun vibe.
Antiguo Lobo opened in July 2021. It's from the same family behind a bunch of Mexican restaurants in metro Atlanta over the past several decades including the Monterrey and El Ranchero restaurants. Antiguo Lobo is Spanish for ancient wolf.
The restaurant doesn't have dedicated parking. My friends and I parked for free on the street. A couple of us parked around the corner on Chamblee Dunwoody Way. Another parked on Peachtree Road. The Southbound lot across the street is off-limits to Antiguo customers.
This place is popular. I don't think they generally take reservations. It's first come, first served. However, during our visit, I saw them combine two tables in the back and put "Reserved" signs on them. Maybe you can make a reservation if you have a large group. The tables are small here.
We visited on a Thursday night for dinner. It was busy and at one point, the dining room was completely packed. The atmosphere was fun and lively. It was loud, but not too loud. This isn't a big place. The bar and dining room are colorfully decorated with neat artwork and fixtures and cool ambient lighting. To me, it's a well-done, modern version of a casual Mexican restaurant.
The food and drink menus offered a nice variety while at the same time were relatively streamlined. Along with an assortment of tacos and burritos, Antiguo also featured small and large plates with items such as Esquites (Mexican street corn, $9) and Cochinita (pibil, Yucatan-style slow-roasted pork, $18). Drinks included cocktails (margaritas, mostly $9-12 each) and beer.
$10-13 lunch specials are available Monday-Friday, 11:30am-2:30pm.
Three of us split an order of the Steak Nachos ($14) and the Molcajete El Monstruo ($40) and it was more than enough food. The portion sizes were large and filling. The Steak Nachos were delicious. You can ask for the steak to be cooked to a certain temperature. We asked for our steak to be rarer because the last time one of my friends had this dish, the steak was too well-done and tough for their liking. It turned out great. The strips of steak were savory and tender. There was plenty of steak along with queso, guac, crema, pico de gallo, lettuce, and tomato. Overall, this dish was fresh, flavorful, and satisfying.
The Molcajete El Monstruo was perfect for sharing. I've ordered molcajetes at various Mexican restaurants over the years. They're all a little different. What made Antiguo's molcajete unique to me was its relatively-compact presentation (but still, a lot of food) and the large amount of tomatillo cream salsa in the molcajete itself (it looked like a soup). Maybe the compact presentation is due to Antiguo's smaller table sizes. I'm used to molcajete spreads taking up a lot more room.
Antiguo's molcajete came with strips of steak, grilled chicken, and grilled queso fresco plus grilled shrimp and slices of tomato draped around the edges of the molcajete. Corn tortillas, wrapped in foil, were underneath the molcajete with a plate of rice, refried black beans, and chorizo on the side. This dish also came with green onion and nopal (cactus). Everything was delicious. Like the steak that came with the nachos, the molcajete steak was tender. The chicken could've been more tender, but it wasn't bad. I think they used breast. Decent smoky flavor. The tomatillo cream salsa went well on everything. My favorite part was the chorizo (flavorful) and I also really enjoyed the rice and beans (appetizing). Overall, this was just a solid-quality molcajete.
One thing they could do is throw in more tortillas with the molcajete. I think there were only four. We went through them quickly and had to order more ($2.50, I believe for four as well). You have the choice of corn or flour. We ordered more corn.
The complimentary chips and salsa were really good. They have a refreshing and mild-tasting salsa that's just the right balance of chunky and runny. The chips were fresh and medium thickness, so not too hard and crunchy and not too delicate either.
I ordered a house margarita, La Loba ($9), and I loved it. It was nice and strong, but it didn't taste that way. It was ice cold, refreshing, and hit the spot. La Loba is made with el Jimador Tequila, lime, agave, and Combier liqueur with a Colima Sea Salt rim. It was a really tasty margarita and I was very happy with it.
One of my buddies got a Dos Esquis Ambar Especial draft beer ($6). When we visited, Antiguo had six beers on draft including a couple local brews from Contrast Artisan Ales (Chamblee) and Tucker Brewing Company.
Service was great. Our server was Jimena and she was terrific. So was everyone else we interacted with. One of the staff noticed my friend didn't have a place to put her purse and my rain jacket. He grabbed a rack for us and brought it to our table.