A new Mexican restaurant opened on Sam Houston Avenue during the summer. If you haven’t heard much about Caf? Azteca, it’s youth shows but each experience gets better.
It’s in the same building where New York Joe’s used to be. The building is now painted orange, creating a rustic atmosphere. When entering the restaurant, there is a couch on the left facing a pool table designed for customers. There are small tables all throughout the restaurant and small booths aligning the inside perimeter. When you walk into the restaurant, there is a small podium for the hostess to stand waiting to greet customers. However, during my last visit, there was no one there. A few seconds in, a young teenage girl walked towards us, grabbed a few menus, and gestured us to choose our own spot.
Considering that there are absolutely no other customers there, we were free to choose whichever seat we wanted. Each employee was friendly but very inexperienced. The friendly atmosphere showed the restaurant is trying, but the quality of the overall experience didn’t reflect their efforts.
Ashton Enzinna who went along with me agreed.
“Everyone was nice but the staff seemed undertrained and awkward,” she said.
This was my second time at the restaurant and it was definitely a better experience from the first. They’ve clearly grown. The waitress seemed to know more about the food this time around, however, during both visits, the staff seemed inexperienced with the bar.
They had trouble making a margarita, having different members behind the bar helping each other out. The end result was a margarita with way too much mix and not enough alcohol, making it entirely too sweet. I thought that eating a few chips will cancel out the margarita, but soon came to the realization that the chips were stale. This wouldn’t be too bad if we hadn’t just ordered a large queso.
For my main course, I ordered a plate called “Taco Loco,” which ended up being a giant fried tortilla with lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes. It was greasy, pouring out grease each time I would pick it up. In the beginning it wasn’t too bad, but near the end of the meal, all I could really taste was the oil, making it unpleasant.
AnchorCasa Azteca needs work if it wants to make it, training its staff and having a bit more organization. It’s cheap, perfect for a college student on a budget who doesn’t mind mediocre food.