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| - Wow, this place has mixed reviews. And you are about to see another one.
Let's start with the first impression. I love the ambiance; the mexican tile and the porch and all of it just works for me. I was excited for what was to come!
That excitement was dulled a bit by the LOOOOONNGG wait for service. I have only been there twice: once in the earlier evening hours on a weekday, and once on a Saturday around 2pm. Both times I was with a group of 6-8 people, so I was chatting and it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but if I had had a margarita in my hand it would have been much better.
Once the margarita came, I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I had plowed almost through it before my food came (and I was taking tiny little sips). This is a great way to make customers order more drinks, but NOT a good way to keep them happy.
I ordered the combo beef & chicken fajita quesadilla. I LOVED it. I dreamed about it later. I should explain; I'm kind of a mexican food wimp and I don't like super-spicy (and my experience in Phoenix was that lots of mexican food was super-spicy), but this was just flavorful. I know, it's a really gringo kind of meal, but I loved it. The chips and salsa and guacamole were great too.
Now we have ambiance, food and drinks on the positive side and service on the negative. The thing is, the service problem kept recurring like a bad chorus in a song. Every time I thought, "This food is so good I've almost forgiven them," the server would disappear again. So, I just don't know how I feel about them.
I guess, if I'm ever around there again, I might sit at the bar and have a margarita..or I would go when I wasn't very hungry, or I would order takeout. And if you feel oddly dissatisfied with this review, you'll know exactly how I feel about El Encanto Dos.
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