Julian J.
Yelp
Aracely Lounge, welcome to the neighborhood! I'd say that my overall take on this new restaurant is that the food is good, the aesthetic is nice, but the service and maintenance of the restaurant needs some real improvement. Here's what I mean:
We came by for Saturday brunch and were immediately greeted with so many menus it could create diagnosable anxiety. That includes the fact that the menus were poorly printed on reused paper (fine) that had food stains from the table before me (not fine).
When we were seated, I was brought to their velvet couch that had food crumbs strewn across the seat I had to brush them off. The couch, was cute though!
When the server came, it was very transactional. No welcome, no introduction, no explanation of the menu. Understandable, as he was the only server working the entire restaurant it seemed.
When it came to the food. Very amazing menu options! I was really very impressed with the unique food and drink options they'd offered. Everything sounded so tasty. Ordered The Valley Spritzer. Garnish on it was boring but the drink was very nice. Not too aperol forward, which I appreciated. The orange juice, disappointing but since they offer fresh squeezed as an option it was likely just a bitter orange.
When it came to the food, we ordered the chilaquiles, which was good. I really appreciate when there's still a crunch to the chips underneath all the yum yums. The French toast was by far my favorite. So unique. So delicious.
On to the negatives. Ordered their brunch special of a prosciutto and egg crepe. It came out looking like a heaping mess. The crepe was undercooked and there really was no flavor to it. The concept of it is incredible, unfortunately it was a miss.
Also ordered the empanada of the day. When asked, I was told it was just beef. When it came out it was over cooked and it reflected in its flavor because it was incredibly dry and disappointing.
For the aesthetic of the restaurant. I think it's really beautiful. They also have a large backyard which I think is great for large parties. Hopefully they bring some entertainment like a drag brunch because of how large it is. On the inside however. Really such a shame to see food mushed on the ground, what I thought was a dead cockroach (likely a smushed potato) underneath a booth, dust mites piling up, broken baseboards, dirty (blackened) table bases, missing outlet covers, dirty window sills, and cleaning products piled behind the entrance to the bar. And that's only what I could see from where I was seated.
To me this restaurant has really strong potential to become great. Definitely a place I'd come back to to see what improvements they make.