| rev:text
| - Canyon Cafe has the potential to be an idyllic restaurant, but falls short on nearly all aspects one desires in a dining experience. I want this place to succeed, I really do, but based upon a couple of my experiences here it seems they themselves do not want to succeed.
Canyon Cafe has a really nice location in downtown Phoenix at the Arizona Center. One of its main selling points is the huge shaded patio overlooking the Arizona Center courtyard with tall palm trees and soothing waterfalls. They have some of the best margaritas I've ever tasted. The food is mediocre.
My first three times here last winter were great. Canyon Cafe was one of my first restaurant experiences in Phoenix, as I had just accepted my first big boy job and had relocated from Pennsylvania. I was in love with the new climate and the countless varieties of margaritas. The food was so-so, but the atmosphere and service received were wonderful. My server was the older lady with shorter gray hair--perfect!
My fourth time was on a Friday night, and we arrived to a surprisingly empty restaurant around 8:30 for dinner. The chile-rubbed sirloin left a lot to be desired, but the Orange Beso margaritas were its saving grace. I really love these margaritas, and I highly recommend this place for margaritas, and margaritas only, but only if you want to stop drinking them by 10pm on a Friday night. I didn't know they closed at 10pm on a Friday night until the server presented me the check at 10pm saying that they close at 10pm on Friday nights. Seriously? I'm not one to consciously stay past closing time, but giving one of your few remaining repeat customers the proverbial 'foot in the ass' is probably a big reason as to why you have no one in your restaurant on a Friday night. That, and you don't have a HH to lure customers in earlier in the evening. Get with the program.
In the spirit of redemption, I came here solo for a late lunch yesterday. The place was nearly empty, but that's to be expected at 4pm on a weekday. I picked a nice patio table overlooking the courtyard on an absolutely beautiful 80 degree day. I sipped on my Blue Moon margarita, wayfarers on, giving thanks I wasn't in the torrent of shit that was unloading on the east coast. I ordered the Salmon Caesar Salad and went back to sipping and basking. Five minutes later my waitress returns asking me what I ordered. Sip.
This particular Caesar salad has apple and pear slices in it, which sounded deliciously refreshing. I was let down when the bowl arrived and the pieces were about the width of a toothpick. The salad and dressing were great, but the salmon tasted too fishy, leading me to believe it was old.
I'm about halfway finished with my margarita when my server drops the check, not even asking me if i'd like another margarita. There are literally three tables in the entire restaurant and I feel like I'm being rushed out again. I don't touch the check, but proceed to sip, people watch, and check my phone to see how the market did. Ten minutes later she opens the check presenter that's on my table,
"Oh, you're not finished?"
No.
"Just enjoying the weather?"
..........
I think I'm finished now. I'm finished with this restaurant. This place is a headache. Also check out their website. It looks like something I could have created using Visual Basic in high school. This place reeks of complacency. 2 stars only because of the margaritas.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)