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| - I'm originally from Texas, and am always on the lookout for good Mexican food away from home. I came to Verde because it had been recommended by some friends. They had come recently for dinner, and apparently loved it. I came for lunch, early in the lunch hour. Unfortunately, I was unpleasantly disappointed.
The decor is on the smallish side, but laid back, colorful, and fun. I have no trouble believing that someone could have a wonderful experience at dinner here, with friends to talk and laugh with, to distract one from the bland tastelessness of the food. When I came there were very few patrons there, so the wait staff was very friendly and not rushed, but also not very prompt in dealing with me -- a minor flaw, easily overlooked.
Not as easy to overlook was the lack of traditional free chips and salsa -- I understand the owners may need to generate revenue to stay in business, but why can every other Mexican restaurant in the USA manage it and they can't?
I ordered the guacamole as an appetizer -- it was too cold (the avocados must have just come out of the fridge), and very bland (there were obvious chunks of tomatoes/spices/etc. , but even then it frequently seemed to taste as if I was biting into a whole avacado). I do not know how they managed that trick, to make it look like guacamole but taste like pure avacado. Despite how hungry I was, I couldn't eat much.
I then ordered the shrimp burrito -- again, not so great. It looked good and was prepared pretty well, but not as flavorful as it should have been.
The saving grace was dessert -- the mango sorbet. Slightly icy, but overall pretty creamy, with a wonderful light mango taste suffused with some spices, resulting in a wonderful flavor.
All in all, I recommend going there with friends and not expect too much from the food itself. I will probably stick to other places myself (like Emiliano's in Cranberry).
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