Last night was my 2nd visit to ceviche. The first time I went for lunch with a friend and last night I went for date-night with my guy. The lunch experience was what encouraged me to go back; I can't say that date night lived up to the expectation.
Start with the good:
Our dinners were good. I had the shrimp quesadilla, my date had the fish tacos. Both were good and well seasoned. The salsa was excellent - you could taste the tomato and the pepper and you could taste the spice without it being overwhelmingly hot. I don't know if the chips are made in house, but they were also good - substantial corn tortilla chips that complimented the salsa.
Now for the much longer bad:
The ceviche - the item that the restaurant was named for - was completely underwhelming. We chose the 3 item "to share" version. They were out of grouper (early on a Friday night?), so we ordered the shrimp, scallop, and tilapia. When it came out, it was the 3 types of seafood (all pale colored) on a white plate with a little dab of tomato pico on top, swimming in lime juice. Visually it was totally unappealing, but we cut up the shrimp (which came whole), mixed it all together, and plowed on. The pico was bland, there were no spices to speak of, and it was overwhelmingly lime and nothing else. We added a few dollops of the excellent salsa and that improved it immeasurably. It also didn't come with any chips, although the person who delivered the plate said he'd bring us crackers if we wanted them.
My drink - I ordered a Texas style margarita, rocks, salt. I was asked if I wanted middle-shelf tequila or top-shelf (not a question I've been asked before). I chose "middle-shelf". What I got was incredibly strong and alcohol tasting - not tasting like tequila, just alcohol. Underneath the alcohol taste it tasted like a bottled mix; that chemical aftertaste. And there was no salt.
But the service was what knocked this down from a 2* to a 1* review.
Our waitress seemed impatient to take our orders and then disappeared for the greater part of the middle of our service, not reappearing until it was time for the bill.
When our ceviche was brought out, the server knocked my fork from the table onto the ground (we were outside). Understandable in a crowded busy restaurant and we don't fault him for knocking it off. But ... he picked it up and walked away. We sat there for nearly 5 mins before we finally signaled another server (ours had disappeared at that point) and asked for a replacement fork so I could eat.
My date finished his beer and had to flag someone down to order another. I was never asked if I wanted another margarita (although I would have said no) but I would have liked to have had my water glass refilled or to get a slice of lime or lemon with it.
Empty plates, beer bottles, and glasses were never removed from our (extremely small) 2-top until or unless we waved someone down and asked them to clear plates to make more room.
The person who served our order repeatedly tried to give our food to the table next to us (who were obviously through with their meals and waiting on a check).
I asked for refried beans with my quesadilla and was served black beans. They were good, but not what I ordered.
At no time were we asked if our food was ok or if we wanted/needed anything else. When we finished our meals, we sat and talked and waited and waited and finally our original waitress showed up and left our check. We weren't asked if we wanted dessert or coffee or anything, although she did ask if I wanted a box for my leftovers.
Finally, the last point: The restaurant is small and, as expected on a Friday night, extremely crowded. The tables outside are not arranged in a way to leave a path for people entering or leaving the restaurant. Our table was right next to the only somewhat open path to the door and constantly throughout the evening my chair was bumped, my shoulder was bumped, I had to shift to avoid being hit by handbags or waitstaff carrying plates, and people were standing around waiting for their tables to be ready just looming over our table. I do understand that the small restaurants and community are part of the charm of downtown Roswell, but honestly, this restaurant needs to sacrifice an outdoor table or two in order to make sure people can get in and out and the staff can move around without beating up the guests.
I don't give bad reviews lightly. Unfortunately the combination of the very poor service and underwhelming quality of the signature item just couldn't save this one for me. read more