el gaucho inca

good argentinia & peru fare. well i was in a carnivore mood. i needed meat. beef to be exact. i had been eyeing el gaucho inca restaurant for the pass years or so. so ....i made the 10 mile trip and gave it a try.
as most eateries in swfl it was in a small mall. i got there at lunch time but i needed a bigger meal not lunch time fare.

i perused the menu. most lunch time items were under 10 bucks with no substitutions allowed. my waiter was very pleasant and helpful.
el gaucho offers peru & argentina items.

i ordered the 12 oz rib eye , $21.00 , medium rare of course( any thing cooked more you are a barbarian) with the chimichurri on the side. chimichurri is a olive oil base condiment of argentina, sorta of italian salad dressing, for you non international awareness folks. it was good but i prefer my american style beef just salt and pepper. thesteakwas a bit sliced thin but the cook did a wonderful job of preparing it to medium rare. the side veggie were a mix of mushrooms,peppers, green onion, & onions . i could have had more veggies less onions.
i was also given some toasted bread with a spicy sauce from peru. i really liked this.
over all good food -good experience. but if you need real american steak. i suggest connor's in fort myers or bern's in tampa..
have fork will travel. rholland63.yelp.com rholland63.blogger.com.

i wanted to lick my plate. but my wife wouldn't let me. i had flanksteakchimichurri with grilled vegtables. my wife had fillet mignon with grilled tomatoes & onions with rice and french fries which she soaked in the juice on her plate....so she didn't need to lick her plate. this was our second visit. we will be back!!


-----26 nov, 2014-----

bistec lunch $9.95. for a side i had peppers and onions and mushrooms. wow.,delicious! we will be back for dinner soon.


-----26 nov, 2014-----

filet mignon lunch $9.99. delicious tender cooked with tomatoes &onion & spices

best picanha skirtsteakin swf!. south americans really know how to grill steaks. the picanha skirtsteakwas delicious and the parmesan scallops were the perfect start to our meal. or waitress was courteous and described the various dishes in great detail. we also loved the cozy atmosphere. it took a while to get our bill. we've since learned that it is customary to ask for your bill in south american countries. we'll try that next time!

oh, no! :(. what had been a most wonderful experience hitherto was all but crushed by our experience there at about 830 pm on a saturday night in early december.

the good, the bad and the ugly:

good:
+ skirt steak, every way i ever had it before at el gaucho inca was superb.
+the silverware was clean as were the napkins.

bad:
-provoleta. without any question, it was clearly microwaved, for far too long...stuck to the side of the bowl and was essentially unservable.
-simple ravioli, perhaps one of the easiest staples of any restaurant that serves italian fare, was served barely warm.
-this really should make the ugly department, but i'll be civil........ my salad, as a side, which consisted mainly of carrots, was served to me on the same plate as my skirt steak!!!!????!!!!????!!!!???? look, i get it, the waitress told us they had been slammed just before we arrived (which is why i go to good restaurants late sometimes), and it genuinely seemed like they were unwinding and basically "done working for the evening." loud music from employee cell phones (or at least from the bar) was more dominant than anything else in the dining area at times! no harp is ok, no violin is ok....nobody managing the restaurant where two people are dropping sixty-plus dollars is just plain sorry. afterall, skirtsteakis truly still an inexpensive cut of meat to obtain, and ravioli...well, you get it by now. no value whatsoever for the food this evening.

the ugly:
no plates on the table when the fonduta arrived...we had to ask for them. salad served on same plate as a steak??? when we informed the wait staff that the ravioli was a little cold when served (which she asked how eeverything was), she said to us, "did you tell your server?" we said "no", basically trying to get out of here after she informed us and the single patron next to us that they were closing and that we had five minutes! she then went out of her way to tell us we should have told someone.... that's when i took the check back and a couple dollrs came off the tip.

all in all, they were done working for the evening just as we were walking in....a real shame, because this place had always been delightful up until last eve....

like dining in south america. had a perfectsteakin a fun setting. great relaxing weekend in ft meyers highlighted by a very pleasant meal

el gaucho inca monday - thursday dinner special. we just returned from dinner at el gaucho inca. the meal was sensational and an incredible value. for starters, we had a sauce served with our broiled bread slices (just to add that delightful crustiness), and the sauce was made of mint, jalapeno, and pepper - guessing a mayonnaise base, but it did not taste anything like mayonnaise. the bread and dipping sauce was so unusual and so tasty. next, we had the dinner special that included a free bottle of high quality malbec wine. two had steaks, which were done perfectly; one had the fish with a cheese sauce (not part of the special). i never saw mixed vegetables that were sauteed as beautifully done as the ones served with thesteaktonight - a variety of peppers, mushrooms, and onions. the fish was delightful, very mild, with cheese sauce and rice that was not sticky, but cooked to perfection.

excellent food and service. we went on a sunday evening to el gaucho inca for dinner. we shared the mixed grill for 2 and a picanhasteak(we were 3 persons). the food was excellent, the service was great. i hope this place stays but i have no doupt as it was crowded. only 1 table was free after we were seated.

there's a reeason why its empty. we really wanted to like this restaurant. the seafood was chewy and poorly cooked. my date had asteakthat was equally as poor. the service was horrible.

the restaurant itself is very well appointed, the staff was very knowledgeable, and the food was amazing. we went with a party of eight and every single one of us was pleased with our meal. one person in our party mistakenly ordered what she thought was something else, once our waiter was informed he took it away immediately and encouraged her to order something she wanted. her new meal was brought out quite promptly. of course, she was not charged for first plate and enjoyed her new meal very much. my husband and i started with two empanadas and shared asteakand chicken meal with two sides, we were completely full and we are big eaters. i will definitely return and recommend to others. our check came to around $37, although no drinks or dessert.

big disapointment. his place was well reviewed, so we went there. they were very friendly, but at 5 pm on saturday, no customers were there. maybe now i know why. we ordered a ton (what we thought was a ton) of food from cerviche, to asado and on and on. we also bought a number of things from their little store area including various crackers, alphajores and chimmichurra and more.

i would think, given that we were the only customers and were buying food for an argentinian dinner, that they would have given good size portions, but that was not the case. i kid you not, each order of asado had exactly 6 french fries included. yes they weresteakfries, but it was still a ridiculous serving, given the cost of potatoes. we also got three very ordinary ribs, but they weren't bad. none of the food was actually bad except for the food we bought from the store area. it was pretty much all stale except for the chimmichurri. we ended up throwing most of it out.

we had been very excited to go because of the reviews and the fact that it was my argentinian friend's birthday. it turned out to be a big disappointment. one thing that was not authentic was the grilled cheese. it was probably mexican cheese. between the small portions and the mediocre food, we won't be back. we wanted to not have to go clear to martin fierro, because it looks like this one missed by a mile. martin's is definitely worth the drive.

personally, if i had a restaurant that was empty, i would try to wow the socks off any customer who did come in. 6 french fries does not really get it.

what i wished for. i finally found good food, good service, good value, and even ambiance, all in one place. el gaucho inca is in a half-occupied strip mall, but once you find it, you're in heaven. lovely inside, good menu, great prices, good service, fantastic food. we had a spectacular empanada (even though it was fried). the skirtsteakfor $16 or so was better than the $45 ny strip i had the week before at a fancy restaurant. the seafood ceviche in lime juice was a delight for the brave souls who love shellfish. this place is a score. no reservations.