Liz R.
Yelp
I so badly wanted and just knew that I was going to be writing THE review for this restaurant based off of the menu I saw and the concept which inspired me making the reservation in the first place (I actually had a reservation for a totally different restaurant and canceled it to make a reservation here just because I was that intrigued) .
So let's get into it:
Upon walking up the outside area was POPPING! I mean standing room only and folks chatting with their cocktails so at this point we were still like, JACKPOT! Gave the hostess my name for the reservation and she proceeded to tell me there was no reservation for me. I had her check my shortened name, gave my last name again, and as she stated earlier, no reservation for me. She proceeded to tell another hostess to seat us in the last table that was outside in that "popping" area and literally surrounded by swarms of people .... as we hesitantly walked with the other hostess and made it to that table, we discovered that the table wasn't bussed and had to stand there for about a minute until the original hostess came back screaming my full name stating that she found my reservation (which I knew was there), so she then proceeded to seat us inside as that was what was mentioned in my reservation. Sigh.
Once seated it was also very lively and we could immediately tell that they just might be short staffed as we literally waited over 7 minutes for our server to greet us (mind you the place is SMALL). We immediately ordered cocktails- which they have a nice selection inspired by Mexico City - and additionally ordered appetizers. Our chips and salsa (which are not complimentary) and guacamole arrived promptly (before our cocktails) yet while the chips came in a cute bag, there were four of us and those chips were only enough to feed a small child (plus there were supposed to be 2 bags given that we ordered chips and salsa AND chips and guacamole). Both the guacamole and salsas were very tasty and the touch of pepinos and cheese on top of the guacamole was a nice touch.
Our cocktails finally arrived after a while and first impression solely based upon presentation they were fun and made us want to immediately :: CHEERS:: and get right into sipping. Taste wise they were also very delicious and packed the right punch, however, one of my friends has a serious kiwi allergy, and he began to have a slow reaction to his cocktail and upon inspection we discovered that while his cocktail didn't have kiwi in it, there were others on the menu that were made with kiwi and his cocktail may have been mixed in a shaker or with a spoon that wasn't thoroughly washed prior to his cocktail being made.
The wings we ordered finally arrived and they were tasty however cooked a little too over making them a bit hard. Oh, and at this time we were still waiting on the water we asked for and our mouths were a little firey from the hot salsa so we had to ask again.
Entrees arrived and while presentation is a 5 star thing, the plates / bowls / dishes they present some items in are not functional for ease of truly eating the food. My friend's salad was beautifully presented yet the bowl was the size of a traditional cereal bowl ... and his salad was overflowing and he had to carefully maneuver around the salad so that it wouldn't spill onto the table. He also ordered his steak on his salad cooked medium well and it arrived medium and on the cusp of medium rare so he had to send it back to be cooked a literally longer. I ordered the quesabirria (Birria style quesadilla) and again, presentation wise it was gorgeous, however, I wasn't sure if I was accidentally given Birria Tacos because, well, they were presented as Birria Tacos and not anything like a Birria Quesadilla should be. I asked the server just to be sure and she assured me they were not tacos (even though they looked like tacos). I was excited to dive in eating them because they looked delicious so that's what I did .... SIGH ... BLAND! How in the world were Birria Tacos bland??? I actually discovered how ... because I of course added on a side of the Birria consome to dip them in (which is $4 extra when traditionally Birria is always accompanied by the consome) and the consome was BLAND! I mean needed salt badly and any and every other seasoning. My other friends ordered what would be equivalent of chicken mole enchiladas and one loved his and devoured them and the other not so much ... only ate half and said he really didn't like them.
I think you're getting the gist as to why this wasn't the 5 star experience I had hoped it would be, and the last piece that solidified my review rating was the fact that our server was MIA half the time and we had to keep "bothering" another server for our needs.