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| - We were excited to check out this new restaurant! We were left extremely underwhelmed. We sat in the bar to watch MNF. It would have been nice to be able to hear the game over the discordant pop rock music at a mexican establishment but I understand that you are not a "sports bar". It was Monday night and with the exception of a large group of blue hairs celebrating secretary's day the place was empty. The bar area managed to fill up, because the Cardinals were on tv and it seemed as thought the high tops and patio were busy as well.
Our bartender Amanda was very polite and eager to up sell us their flavored tequilas and specialty cocktails. You can tell she was a little wet behind the ears but she was doing her best nothing a little training and experience can't fix. The wait time to receive a cocktail was excruciatingly long though being a former bartender I understand the complexity that new bars go though to develop new and unique cocktails. We ordered the pumpkin margarita. I applaud the attempt but personally it tasted like puréed baby food.
I was feeling very open minded and wanted to experience as much as I could that TQLA had to offer so we ordered the salsa trio and chicken tortilla soup.
Queso dip: cold
Habanero dip: sweet with a swift kick afterwards: not bad
Guacamole: good: but was gone after 2 bites. I guess they feel if they place the guacamole on a bed of green shredded lettuce it will look like there is more than delivered. Fail
Chicken tortilla soup: Thick tomato soup with dry dark meat chicken chunks. Maybe it is just me but I prefer a more broth based ck tort soup and juicy white/dark meat chicken. Bleh: Amanda offered to remove it off our bill but I insisted on finishing mine because I was hungry. My GF pushed hers to the side; DNF.
Meanwhile; whilst experience our starters we managed without any silverware or napkins and at this point Amanda being the only bartender on managed to become flooded with specialty cocktails in the well; thus not being able to properly oversee her patrons at the bar. Needles to say our drinks were empty, our plates, monkey dishes, empty bowl of chips, 2 cups of bland tortilla soup, saucers and wrinkled up black beverage napkins (used in the place of the real ones) were all tattering on the edge of the bar eagerly anticipating a bus boy to remove them.
Onto the Entrees:
I ordered the carne Asada steak. My girlfriend tried the habanero chicken platter. They were delivered by TQLA manager "Joe". Whom decidedly pulled himself from enjoying the football game to expedite some food. He crept up behind us and shuffled the entree platters in front of our faces after we spread our dirty dishes closer to the edge of the bar and politely stacked them for our ficticious busboy/girl to remove them properly. Now in my history with management; a decent manager would offer to remove the collection of dishes but instead he decided to ask us if we needed anything else since the look on our faces was disgust. Instead we opted to inform Joe that we would enjoy our meal a little better with silverware and napkins. He acknowledged that was a novel concept and proceeded to fetch us a pair. Joe wasn't six steps away before he was interrupted by a member of the waitstaff who informed him that what she needed was more important than delivering two setups to some first time customers so they could enjoy their ever increasingly cold food. At this point my girlfriends temper got the best of her and she jumped up and retrieved her own silverware off of a table in front of Joe and eager waitress to salvage any heat that might have been left in our entrees.
We dig in:
Carne Asada: was tender but lacking the Wow factor.
Habanero Chicken: Tasted like a chicken breast smothered in their warm fire roasted salsa... What happened to the habaneros? Where is the heat...? Bland
I hope they get better: but until then Nandos all the way. Never saw Joe touch any tables, never offered to help out a bartender who was swimming laps in an Olympic size pool. Occasionally the wait staff would come behind the bar and help out. This is about the time that our appetizers, chips, soups, and entrees were all removed from the bartop. FYI Joe, the hostess stand can hold itself up on its own. You don't have to stand there and hold it up. Keep an eye on your staff and customers and offer help where they need it so people will be happy to come back and give you a second shot.
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