Mark T.
Yelp
Imagine if you will: your neighborhood taco joint. Yes, there are better spots out there... But this one's around the corner, it's cheap, and it's just fine for the taco craving you sometimes get. You don't necessarily recommend it to a friend, unless they've moved into your building.
Now, imagine that same taco joint tried to go upscale. "Tried" being the operative term. Atmosphere, service, and price? Check check and double check. Quality?... Best I can do is points for effort.
I had the opportunity to try: Brisket Tacos, Bass Ceviche, [Regular] Margarita, Cadillac Margarita, and a couple of their salsas (habanero, guajillo, and verde).
The Margarita and Cadillac Margarita: both of these were extremely solid as far as margaritas go. The regular margarita was fairly balanced, not too sweet, a had a little bit of booziness. Pretty much a standard house Marg. The Cadillac had slightly better tequila, a bit more sweetness, and a bit more perceptible booziness. It was slightly more enjoyable, but I'm not sure if it was five dollars nicer. Tequila aficionados, feel free to disagree with me.
The ceviche was good. The fish was of high quality, the sauce/base had a very light, pleasant creaminess and savoriness. Bits of pineapple were a nice touch, but they seem to get lost as the flavor was muted. As for the dill, I could take it or leave it.
The ceviche came with their chips. While I definitely appreciate they were not out of a bag and were not overly greasy, a little more salt would have been lovely.
This gives an excellent segue into the salsas I was able to try. We can chalk some of my experience up to my fire-tempered taste buds, but even among these three I found them bland. They seem to lack spice or excitement. They were wet 'somethings' with a faint whisper of heat and different degrees of acidity.
Then there are the tacos. These were a fork and knife affair as they were loaded with proteins and also very wet. Eating these by hand is an almost guaranteed visit to the dry cleaners. The flavors were pretty good! The meat was tender, savory, and had a subtle char. Meanwhile the veggies did a good job rounding the tacos out. While fine on their own, I still desired some kind of oomph, or something to elevate them a little bit further.
Before moving on, I'd like to give a shout out to the service. It was very friendly, speedy, and superbly attentive.
I love great service and I love an inviting atmosphere. However, when I'm dropping $90 after tip on dinner for just me, I would hope there's be something to warrant a return trip. Alas, this was missing. At the end of the day, it comes down to value and price.
Other than desiring little bit more boldness I don't have any substantive complaints about the food, Still, I felt the value was slightly lacking. It is an improvement from the aforementioned neighborhood taco joint, yet, we are talking about a modest increase in quality in exchange for an almost doubling in cost.