Liz L.
Yelp
We so enjoy City Walk that we decided to go back on a cold and windy afternoon this weekend. After the shock (again) of the $35 parking fee, we found a space very close to the escalator and were on the concourse in minutes.
Looking at the many possible places to chose from (and there are some big and yet unusual eating spots, like Bubba Gump and the Chocolate Emporium) we settled on Antojitos -- I had been considering it for awhile.
Let's start with the good: it's clean, beautifully decorated, creates a fiesta atmosphere with little thoughtful touches and folkloric elements everywhere you look, it's big, there are many places to sit, and the food is actually very good quality. It smelled good inside, fresh and foody -- that was good.
Being vegetarians, much less vegans, limits what one can have. One thing we discovered is that all the rice, all of it, has chicken broth. Why? I have a suggestion for the owners: serve ALL the rice withOUT chicken or any other kind of animal fluids in it. Believe me when I tell them, there is delicious award-winning rice all over the world that does not have animals in it. Think about it, por favor.
The service was great. The receptionist was a bit chilly but our server, Virginia, was very efficient, helpful, friendly, and concerned about us having everything we needed and that we were enjoying the experience. We did for the most part.
Here is something a bit strange: we were given no spoons. Every dish we had could have used a spoon and some required it. We had already asked Virginia for other things so we thought we would just go to the bar and quickly get ONE spoon. Nope! They had to request one (and only one) be brought to us from somewhere else. what the ... ??
Also, the napkins -- they generously gave us four each, black soft paper napkins that went with the vibe. However, don't dare use them on your clothes should you drop something on them, why? They left a black smudge wherever the napkins were used. I still don't know if we can get it out of the fabric.
The portions are good; the flavorings are inventive and tasty; the tables are comfortable. However, the place is all hard surfaces and very echoic -- we had to shout to hear over the clatter.
Virginia brought us containers for leftovers, including some for the sauces we ordered, and a crisp, clean, roomy shopping bag. Nice.
All in all, it was an enjoyable experience. I think it could use some tweaks (spoons -- be generous with them), truly vegetarian options with no hidden animals in the ones that seem vegetarian, some sound attenuation maybe on the ceilings (they could hang colorful absorptive baffles, for example), napkins that don't shed dye on customer's clothing (!!), and maybe validate some of the parking? Like, a few dollars off or something?
Just a thought ... curious to see what you all think.