We stopped in Cafe Sabor one of the nights we were in Cedar City with some friends for dinner. A…read morepair of us, including me, ordered the Taco "Twosday" special for $25 for two people. It came with six tacos, or three each, and rice and beans with two beverages, not to mention unlimited chips and salsa. It was a pretty good deal on the surface.
However, it would have been a good deal if the execution of the food would have been better. Do understand, I am Mexican-American and born and raised in San Diego, California. As a result, what I am saying, I do know a little about tacos, rice, beans, salsa, etc., would be an understatement. I am not bragging in any way, but making it clear, that I have been immersive in Mexican food and its cooking process since I was a toddler.
I want to start by saying that the tortillas chips were pretty good. Some were a little stale but most were crispy and had a good seasoning on them. The salsa that accompanied them was okay. It had more of a Tex Mex appeal given the high content of cumin in the sauce.
I was not pleased with the corn tortillas that they make and used of the tacos. They were bland in flavor and broke apart easily. I could not hold the tacos, like a taco, because the corn tortilla would break a part. Regarding the tacos, I ordered two Baja Fish and one Chicken al Pastor.
I asked for the mahi mahi to be grilled. However, instead of receiving a slice filete in each taco, I received bites and small pieces of fish. I was shocked and could not understand why they would serve a taco in this manner. There was barely any fish in each taco and pieces of fish were bland. They also need to work on their pico de gallo, too. The tomato pieces were two large, the lime juice was either barely used or missing. It looked like it and tasted as if it were haphazardly put together.
The chicken al pastor taco was interesting. Although, al pastor is traditionally made with pork, I commend them for their creativity and use of chicken. Unfortunately, the chicken was not properly marinated for a purposeful amount of time, and it did not come close to the flavor of dried guajillo chiles, herb and spices that it comes with. I did not expect perfection, but something close. This sauce was way off and just pouring the sauce onto the chicken, will never cut it.
The beans were actually pretty good and were my favorite item I ate with the tortilla chips, but the rice was a different story. The rice kernels were burnt and many of them were hard, not to mention flavorless. When I inquired about the quality of the rice, after a few minutes, the young man who served us returned and stated that it was the rice from the bottom of the pot that had burnt. My question to whom it may concern is: first of all, why in the world did they serve it to a customer? And, why did they not offer a new serving of the rice? The server just stated the facts and walked away. I was dumb founded. Even the couple we were with stated to him directly, "we need to get him a new plate of rice." It never came and was never offered. This was very disappointing.
The hospitality was friendly and welcoming, but I question the service, especially when it came to the rice incident. Just a new plate of rice would have solved the issue. The eatery offers a lot of inside seating and daily specials, not to mention plenty of parking.