| rev:text
| - Perusing the menu of this upscale Mexican restaurant in the Scottsdale Quarter I was initially impressed by the variety and selection of ingredients. I was then highly amused when I read the description around the ceviche indicating it was made with fresh sashimi grade "local fish". We live in the desert. A big one. If they are using fresh "local" fish it would have to be from Tempe Town Lake or the Arizona Canal. And I dunno about you, but I ain't eating that - cooked even. I did find out later the company originates out of California and it appears they just reprinted the menus and/or got a bulk deal and didn't update it for the Scottsdale location. Detail oriented.
The menu does offer lots of hearty brunch options and a wide variety of 'specialty' tacos. The waitress initially brought out some large corn chip type things, dusted with paprika and several accoutrements. I don't eat corn, but tried a couple of the items that came along with the chips (because for some reason she really talked this stuff up, like as in one of those awkward "why is my waitress still talking" kind of talked it up. There was nothing worth having talked my ear off about. Anyway, when she stopped talking, she walked away, without taking a drink order. When I did finally see her again, I ordered a mimosa, which showed up quite some time later. The bar was dead and the restaurant wasn't that full, so I am not really sure what could take so long about putting orange juice and bubbly wine in a glass. I can forgive a lot if someone keeps my cocktail full; this continued to be a challenge throughout lunch.
When the gal came back to ask for our orders and whether we had questions, I had two. One, are the tacos all on corn, or can they be made on flour; and, which items on the menu have a little bit of a kick or heat to them. The first question was responded to with, "No. Traditionally Mexican tacos are made on corn tortillas," which was put to me in the same tone of voice my mother uses when she can't believe what just came out of my mouth.
BEGIN RANT:
"Traditionally" not ALL tacos are made on corn tortillas. In Oaxaca, in Central Mexico, yes, but in Sonora or down the Baja the locals very often utilize flour tortillas. This place professes to be all about Baja style food and in all my times up and down in the region I have actually never had one Mexican, in a restaurant, in a road side stand or otherwise, tell me they couldn't make whatever I asked for on a flour tortilla. Anyway, a simple "No, I'm sorry, we don't use flour tortillas," or "No. But let me suggest..." would have sufficed, rather than providing me with a snotty response as to why this "authentic Mexican cantina" located in one of the most affluent shopping centers in all of Scottsdale, without one non-white person to be seen, can't be bothered with catering to the masses. I am pretty sure 98% of my annoyance here was in the delivery. If you don't like being nice to people, you probably shouldn't be working for tips.
END RANT.
My next question, as to whether any items on the menu had green chiles or any heat behind them and the waitress pointed out a taco (see above) I had already indicated I wasn't interested in and then reminded me about the weak sauce on the table that had come out with the much hyped corn ships. I asked her again later if they had anything hotter (yes I am one of those people) and she mumbled something and pointed to this stuff on the table AND WALKED AWAY, again without offering another option or suggestion.
I gave up on the Mexican food and ordered a crab cakes benedict off the brunch menu. The good news here is that the crab cakes were amazing, and the eggs cooked perfectly. And you know, authentic Mexican restaurants are known for their crab cakes benedict. They pair this (I guess to Mexican it up) with refried black beans, but they made absolutely no sense with the dish as a whole, and weren't very flavorful. I left them on the plate virtually untouched, along with the (very Mexican) fried bacon laid on top of them. My lunch date ordered a couple of the $7-8 individual tacos. He was happy and they had good flavor and nice elements. So that's all swell. I just don't get the price. I have no problem with expense, if the purchase is worth it. I think my breakfast was $18, but for crab cakes benedict, which is on par with what I would expect.
I realize most of this review has to do with service, but overall our waitress was not only unprofessional and not helpful, but she was kind of rude. Maybe she should spend a little time working in an actual "authentic" Mexican cantina, where they would expect that she provide better customer service for a $1 taco than we received here for a $60 lunch.
|
![[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)