| rev:text
| - Several months ago, I wrote a review of the original Carlos O'Brien's location on Northern and gave them a solid three stars. While I don't really consider Carlos to be any better or worse than most run-of-the-mill Mexican restaurants in Phoenix, I do feel that their product is at least consistent.
Honestly, I don't know what it is, but there's just something about this location that I don't like. Maybe it's the stark contrast in design to Northern. This location, situated just off Scottsdale/101, is modern, sleek, and bathed in some kind of weird red-light. I'm sure it's a wise aesthetics choice, as the setup fits in well with this area. And it's not necessarily that the location on Northern is better, it's just different - with all of its bizarre levels, separate rooms, and historic feel. It has been there since the 80s and I'm still trying to figure what used to be there - if anything.
Okay. The food, for the most part, should be exactly the same, right?
I'm not so sure. My default choice at Carlos is their Chimi con Queso, which is a chimichanga covered in a decent queso sauce. I usually substitute chicken out for shredded beef. It's never been anything I'd call amazing, but it's at least respectable. However, when I first tried it here, something seemed off. I couldn't put my finger on it. The cheese didn't look (or taste) the same, which I later confirmed by comparing my old Yelp photos. During a recent visit, my girlfriend ordered it and complained that the queso made the crispy tortilla very soggy and mushy, which I don't recall ever happening to me in the past. What's going on here?
Recently, I tried their "Little Bit of Everything," which is a platter that includes a boatload of stuff, including a couple of mini-chimis with beef, flautas, a bean tostada, taco, a green tamale, and ultra-bland rice. Buried amongst the pile of mush, I also discovered some well-hidden beans. Hell, half the stuff I couldn't even identify. Additionally, my incredibly Mexican girlfriend couldn't even identify one item, picking it up and asking: "What the hell is this thing?"
When done right, I'm a big fan of platters, but to me, this just comes off as a total hodge-podge of junk that all blends in together (and not in a good way). I got bored with it pretty quickly.
Carlos does have a great dessert in their Galleta Grande, which is similar to the soft-baked Pizookies you'd find at places like Oreganos and BJ's Brewery. Although we skipped it on our most recent visit, I would at least hope it's identical to what you'd find at their other location. Someone should try it and report back.
On a positive, I love their Spanish version posters of popular American classic films. And unlike most places, these are authentic posters, not reprints. The owner clearly knows what's up!
If you like eating heavy Mexican food in massive quantities, with little regard to presentation or depth, I'm sure you can appreciate this place. And I'll admit, If I'm hungry enough, I'll eat it - but I would never consider Carlos to be a top choice.
Sorry!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)