I wanted to love Ancho & Agave so much, but unfortunately we did not have the best experience in our inaugural visit.
The decor is amazing with bright teal blues, rustic wood, and super cool, industrial style lighting, so that was a nice introduction when we walked in.
We started with the complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were very hard, like tooth-chippingly hard, but the salsa was super good.
Next we ordered our drinks. I got a Dos Equis, and it was nice and cold. But our server told my husband they didn't have any soda due to the supplier losing power. When he asked what else they had that was non alcoholic, she only mentioned agua frescas, only for us to later see a table full of Jaritos (....sodas). So that was disappointing.
The aqua fresca he received was pretty good but a little bit bland in flavor. When I hear blueberry and lemon, I definitely think flavorful, and not bland.
Speaking of our server, she was also very dismissive, as she had a large table she was working too, and was focusing on them way more than our little two person table.
The water we got on the side was tap water and it was served warm, which was not ideal. When we asked for ice waters they never came (and they definitely had ice because my husband's agua freca came with ice!)
For our starters, we tried the Taquitos, and they were great and super flavorful. They were almost the size of a full meal if you order them for yourself and not as an app.
The Queso dip was tasty but we were supposed to use the same chips we got for the salsa, so they were also very hard. We ended up dipping our taquitos in it instead, and that was amazing.
With the Taquitos and Queso being so heavy, my husband only ordered sides for his meal. The Esquites (corn) he got were delicious, but the cilantro lime rice was flavorless and very very dry. I almost choked when I tried a bite of his rice.
I had three Street Tacos for my entree. The Chicken Asada was great, with juicy chicken and sweet corn. The Barbacoa had meat that was good but a little dry overall. And the Gringo had pretty bland beef with a giant golf ball sized chunk in the middle that I gagged on. 1 out of 3 is not a great ratio.
So with subpar service and so-so food, the cool decor and ambiance doesn't save this one, unfortunately.
I may be back to try it one more time and give it another chance, but for this first visit, there was a lot left to be desired. read more