I've been here two times and had two very different experiences. The first time we went was amazing. The food, the ambiance, the drinks and the server were all awesome. He made excellent suggestions, was totally on top of everything and really added to the meal. All of the food we ordered was also great. The cauliflower was definitely the star! We ate tapas style and each dish was better than the last one! After we left we thought we found our new go-to spot in Phoenix. Everything was 5/5.
We had such a good meal at Ocotillo that we decided to take some out of town friends there this past weekend to showcase what Phoenix has to offer. I don't know if the restaurant was having an off night or what, but it was a totally different experience. First off, I made a reservation and it still took the hostess a solid 20 minutes to seat us. That wasn't a big deal but just a little odd. The waiter who greeted us decided to take one person's drink order, take our food order and then leave. He then came back around 15 minutes later for the remaining drink orders. Also a little odd. We then proceeded to get our food "coursed" out over the next 2 hours. You read that correctly, we got our main dishes 2 hours after we sat down. We all enjoyed our small plates but it was pretty awkward waiting about 45 minutes in between our multiple courses. It got to the point where we were tempted to cancel our main dishes because they took forever. They came out ice cold and we just asked for them to box them up. The waiter could tell that he messed up because he brought out two complementary desserts to make up for it. That was a nice touch, but the service was 1/5.
Overall I need to drop Ocotillo to 3 overall stars. The ambiance and food were on point both times. Just the lack of service makes me second guess if this is where I'd want to go for an expensive meal or take friends to showcase the great food scene in town.