Driving down Avenida Industrialización in one of the most beautiful colonias in Querétaro, you are greeted by the beautiful and tranquil scenery, and by the flourishing of new restaurants and businesses along the avenue. The Valet Parking staff greets you as you enter Almozero, typically a sign that points to luxury and status in the restaurant world in México.
Once you walk in to the restaurant, you feel as if you have walked into a glorified El Portón: the bright open kitchen with cool lighting and numerous sightings of clay cazuelas, Mexican decor replicated platitudinously throughout the restaurant, and a menu comprising of traditional Mexican breakfast dishes. It was here where we realized we were eating at a chain restaurant instead of a newcomer to Querétaro, as opposed to what we initially thought, and the corporate-designed décor started to make more sense.
The Puebla-based chain proposes a traditional Mexican themed menu, that even features atole in their drinks menu, catered to families, where people are able to reconnect with their roots time and time again. Though appealing it may sound, there are many issues with food and, especially, service. Soon after we took a seat, we saw churros and coffee on the table, and after some time the chilaquiles we ordered were set before us. Once the chilaquiles arrived, our server disappeared into the background, never to make another appearance. We began to taste our chilaquiles with no bolillo in sight. While the red salsa was good, the green salsa was bland; the refried beans tasted like yummy La Sierra canned beans. The cecina ordered with the chilaquiles were the highlight of our meal, soft and salty, it was a good accompaniment to the chilaquiles.
While the food is acceptable, the service is not. A small group of teenage servers, easily lost among the diners because of their very lax clothing, seemingly moving in confusion, are the onces in charge of service. They seem to attend to each others jokes and gossip instead of the needs of the patron's. At the end of our meal, we had to break apart the cluster that our teen servers had formed to get the check. Twice.
When good ideas materialize into good restaurants it's a great thing to savor, though for now, we did not leave with a satisfying aftertaste. read more