I arrived on a Wednesday evening just after 5pm. A polite and eager young man greeted my party and showed us to the our seats. Good start, but from there the service was just below par, and that was only because that eager young man was also our busboy. Without him, I would have asked to see the manager. The server had forgotten part of my order and brought it half way through the meal and never even apologized. At one point our server was sighted using a laptop. I'm not sure what she was doing, but I highly doubt it was work related. It was not slow enough in the restaurant for her to be doing anything but her job. Well enough about the service, what about the food...
Hmm, let me first say there is another Mexican restaurant just down the street, that is a bit more expensive perhaps $12-$15 instead of the $9-$11 at Miguel's.
The complimentary chips were fresh, thin, not greasy and were accompanied by a mild no thrills tomato dipping sauce. Personally I'm not sure what the sauce would be called, but I like a chip accompaniment to be made with fresh tomato chunks and cilantro. But since the chips were so thin, they would have never have held up to anything that heavy anyway, so good match.
The main course was their lead spacial, which consisted of a chili relleno, taco and cheese enchilada. Deep breath, where to begin... well the beans were rather soupy but tasted ok. Nothing to write home about, and perhaps not as good as some canned refried beans that I have had. Is it me or do many places use instant rice? That irks me, instant rice is just not what I expect when I eat out. I could be wrong, but rice that is cut down the middle is a sign of being instant isn't it? Well anyway the chili rellaeno was battered in the traditional egg coating, but it was so thick as to make the egg rubbery. Yuck.. A rubbery egg made any attempt to eat the insides a lost cause. The taco was different and creative. I believe it had been grilled after it was put together. Too bad that was done just a few seconds too long as there was a hint of burned tortilla. The taco insides had a nice ground beef mixture with a bit of chopped lettuce and cheese. It was a bit dry and really could have used some sour cream or fresh salsa. The cheese enchilada was a non event, beyond that it was like eating plain cheese. As all of the items on the plate merged into one conglomerate, I could not tell if there was any special sauce just for the enchilada.
My visit could have been a fluke, but I suspect that my experience was the norm. Why then would I give it two stars? I am very harsh, but in my opinion the food might have been tolerable to someone and the service wasn't disrespectful.
For my money, spend a few more bucks and I do mean only perhaps three dollars per plate and get a far superior meal. I don't name competitors in my critiques, but it will be worth your time if you look for a Mexican restaurant at 1601 S. Virginia. If your trying to stay in the same budget $9-$11, try a Mexican restaurant at 4997 Longley.
Pros: Fun atmosphere - festive decorations
Cons: several (see details)
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