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| - The Good - Our server, Emily, was very sweet and fairly attentive considering how many tables she had on a Sunday night. Their chips and salsa were fantastic. Their green salsa is out of this world. It's a really good thing I really liked the chips and salsa and was able to chow down, because dinner...
The Bad - Two things
One - I ran into something at Abuelo's that I've run into at a Chili's and I've learned a couple other chains are starting to do...Applebee's is the one I recall a friend mentioning. There was a digital screen on our table! At my Chili's experience, I learned that one thing they do with these screens is make available the specialty menus - vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, etc. Ok, fine. I didn't ask Emily to pull up a veggie menu on the screen because, frankly, I wanted nothing to do with it! The first thing we did was put our screen face down on the table. It was impossible not to see the screens on other tables as they flashed through quizzes, games, information about the restaurant's history, etc. I can only guess that Abuelo's is trying to get families to all interact with the screen so people all don't all pull out their cell phones while waiting for their food to come out...I HOPE that's their goal, anyway. The presence of these things just depressed and sickened me. Do Americans really need this sort of stimulation? What has happened to the art of dinner conversation and coming together to talk about our days? Abuelo's, why are you adding in more digitainment to distract those of us actively trying to - for example - teach our children that dinner-time is a time to put AWAY the electronics in order to enjoy one another's company? Ugh! Yuck! Why?
Two - As a vegetarian, I'm used to ending up with black beans and some other rice substituted for the usual rice. I'm not used to the beans being so salty they can't be eaten. I also think they would have been better trying for maybe a little salad instead of their "specialty cilantro rice". It was literally white rice cooked with cilantro and I think that was IT. No seasonings to speak of. Bland, bland, bland! I got the avocado and the spinach enchiladas per the server's suggestion. They were in some sort of crepe wrapping and tasty enough, but honestly...for the price it seemed like they should have doubled the number of enchiladas. It really wasn't much food once you factor in the rice and beans I couldn't get myself to eat. (I brought them home to have someone else taste test just to make sure I wasn't being too picky...sorry Abuelo's...it wasn't me!)
Abuelo's was a HUGE disappointment. Thankfully, I had great company? Truly, I can see the potential of this place. It could have fantastic. They claim to be old-fashioned Mexican food and the presence of lard in the refried beans and the use of chicken stock in the rice backs that claim up! They've got a HUGE menu. I think that if a bit more thought were put into vegetarian options and those darn screens went away, my review of this place would improve dramatically. The whole feel of the place would be different!
Last note about those screens - apparently they can be used to pay for one's bill. As someone who's lived in Silicon Valley and hung out with many, many, a computer expert...when it comes time to pay your bill, please RUN from these wireless terminals. Keep your credit card info safe. Have the restaurant run your card the old-fashioned way!
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