my husband and i came here kicking of arizona restaurant week 2015!
naturally, i ordered a margarita as i was ready for a fiesta! it came to the table in a regular bar glass. yea--i guess this is the scottsdale snob in me talking, but i'm gonna need my margarita in a margarita glass for that "southwestern experience" that the website boasts. i mean, even "manuel's place" off of interstate 65 in northwest indiana serves their margaritas in straight-up margarita goblets. it tasted like a mix--sour and stale, which is super disappointing to me. i actually added water to it to lessen the bite.
in true restaurant week fashion, the first course was appetizers! mini corn quesadillas andgreenchili mac and cheese. the quesadilla's filling (corn, black beans, and spinach) was mediocre but we did appreciate that it was made with an authentic tortilla and the salsas that came on the side were legit. thegreenchili mac was great. it had that excellentgreenchili flavor we expected and was perfectly cheesy. yet, some sort of texture differential would have kicked it up a notch--perhaps a more 'al dente' pasta? or how do you say bacon in spanish?
the mains. carne asada for my husband and red snapper for me. sigh. i should've known better than to order fish at a place that has sugar packets on the table and is decorated with fake plants (wow, i think i just truly out-snobbed myself.) the vegetables were nicely cooked and the sauce was tasty; however, when i got a bite of fish alone, i was disappointed with the lack of flavor. i then had to work hard to make sure i had the perfect amount of fish, veggies and sauce in each bite.
dessert was awesome (when is it not?), but still on the "safe" side. apple cobbler and croissant bread pudding. nothing innovative or envelope pushing. guess a girl's gotta go to costco to get a churro.
the service was unhelpful and did not create a "warm" feel. we were seated for a good ten minutes before we were greeted (it wasn't even busy, too). our server communicated with us at a minimum, which was unfortunate, because we are cool people (obviously--don't you read my blog?) one of the staff members dropped and broke some glassware at the table next to us, which is easily forgiven, yet does not add to the experience.
this place is nowhere near our neighborhood (i mean, it's practically the west side..) and the only reason we came in the first place was because my husband won a gift certificate in a raffle at a golf outing. will we be back? not a chance. bottom line: unsophisticated and far from unique. 2 stars because we did clean our plates with the appetizer and dessert courses--which actually isn't saying much. want a seriously mind blowing "southwestern experience?" try the mission in scottsdale.