| rev:text
| - My wife and I were in the mood for a little Mexican dining tonight, so we decided to give Blanco a try.
Blanco had everything going for it when we got there. We found a parking space right upon driving in, we were seated in a big semicircular booth that offered a great view for people watching, and we were intrigued by the menu.
We really enjoyed the atmosphere here. The modern, tres chic feel was counterbalanced by the whitewashed wood in the ceiling giving the place an ambiance that was part beach, part Scottsdale.
As others have said, the food is quite good. The slightly-sweet-yet-spicy salsa that arrives with a bowl of freshly fried tortilla chips was very good (and slightly reminiscent of what On The Border used to serve, just not that sweet). We opted for margaritas (she had the blood orange version while I stuck with a traditional blended marg) which we both agreed were flavorful without being overloaded with tequila.
In particular, we really liked the braised short rib. We got it on the cheesy tortilla item (think 12" tortilla made into a Mexican pizza) and it was accompanied by avocado and some other veggies and was delicious.
We also ordered the carnitas tacos which they offered to split for us (giving each of us our own rice, beans, and one taco). The pork was tender and not fatty (a gripe I often have of Chipotle and the like) and the tacos were very good when accompanied by a little guacamole and sour cream.
So why only three stars? There were a few things dragging down Blanco for us. They include:
1. SLOOOOW Service - judging from other reviews, it doesn't sound as if this is always a problem, but everything moved slowly for us when we were there (drinks took over 10 minutes to arrive after ordering, food took almost 30 minutes). I know when the service could be better as I start getting Antsy waiting for stuff after a certain point and that happened when we were at Blanco.
2. Warm, not hot, food - The manager asked us how everything was and we commented that our pizza wasn't very hot when it arrived at our table. I'll give him credit for marching back over to the open kitchen and sharing his thoughts on the matter with the staff, but I would have expected hot food. My guess is that the slow service may have had something to do with this.
3. Overall food prep - there were just a few things that could be improved. For example, using two tortillas per soft tacos would keep them together a bit more. Leaving the Pico de Gallo on the side would keep people (like my wife) who don't eat it from having to scrape it off.
One note on the Guacamole - there are two sizes (an appetizer size for $9 and a side item size for $5). We opted for the smaller size and they brought it out with our chips. There was PLENTY for using before and with dinner for two people so consider this option if you want to save $4.
We'll give Blanco another try in the future - it has all the right elements to earn four stars from us...next time they just have to deliver on them.
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