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| - Heading there tomorrow with a band-mate for lunch. Already anticipating which tacos I'll choose. I may have reviewed this place already but I can't remember. Because the neggy reviews are bugging me, I'll just write another one!
My wife and I typically go here mid-afternoon, post-lunch rush. The atmosphere is more relaxed and less loud and hectic, but the service is always prompt, unlike a lot of places that ignore off-hour customers while they do their side work. Because it's daytime, the place is flooded with light from the sky-light in the dining room, so I can't speak to it being "dark and dingy." I will say there are often two different sources of music, coming from both the bar and in the dining room, which can be a little disturbing until we ask them to turn it down a bit, which they always do without attitude.
And describing the outside as "ghetto" is truly strange to me. It is an old brick business building, well-taken care of, with a bright, colorful sign for the restaurant in front. If you entered in back, by the kitchen, yeah, it looks like the back of a restaurant. Surprise, it looks dirty - they intend for you to come in the front entrance. We go in through the back because it's right by the disabled parking spot for my wife, but I don't hold that against them. If you enter any restaurant by the back entrance, it will be dirty and gross, or perhaps "ghetto" as someone has characterized it. I will withhold comment on use of the term "ghetto" and what it may or may not say about the attitude of certain other reviewers here.
As far as servers and staff having piercings and colored hair: I know this kind of thing freaks some people out. Apparently, it freaks some of them out to the point of calling the staff "trolls." I wouldn't describe the staff as "trolls" exactly, more like
'young alt East-Sider types". If that look is too weird for you, you might consider any one of the fine shopping-mall chain restaurants farther out of town. Oh, and a lot of the BOH staff is from south of the border - just a friendly warning!
The food: we have been eating here since they opened (2006? 2007?) and we have NEVER had a meal that was anything short of pretty good. Sometimes it's OK-good, other times it's SUPER-good, mostly it's pretty good food. I will also say that it can be a bit pricey, which is why we mainly stick to the tacos. We have had the fajitas a few times, which were quite good, and a chimichanga once, also tasty. It is pricier than a cheapo taco stand, but you're getting a full-service restaurant, with an extensive bar, not a taco in a slip of paper that you have to shove down your throat while you dodge traffic crossing the street back to your office.
I will stipulate that they seemed to go through a bit of a rough period a couple-few years ago, and the food quality and choices did drop somewhat to our disappointment. However, based on several visits last year and this, that issue was long-since resolved, and we enjoy their offerings as much as we did when they opened.
Also, I have seen a lot of reviewers ding them for not being "authentic". First, they are a self-described "Tex-Mex" joint, as one might find in Austin Texas (the model they follow), not straight-up Mexican food. Tex-Mex is its own thing, with a history and a legit place in the food universe. Take them for what they are, not what you think they should have been. Plus, no Mexican restaurant in the USA is really "authentic" because they all get adjusted to meet gringo tastes and requirements in some way. Maybe a food truck might qualify, but then you should go track one of them down anyway.
Judging by the many owner-responses to bad reviews (one even offering a tasting!) it seems like they take their business and food seriously, and really care what people think of them. I read a lot of yelp reviews, and I hardly see any other joint respond this much and so well to criticism. Perhaps people happened to visit on a really bad off-night (it can happen) but give them credit for taking the time and care to look after their place so well.
By the way, the salsa bar IS great.
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