I was in town from Denver visiting for my nephew's graduation. We had reservations for a Friday…read moreevening.
When we walked onto the patio and took in those sweeping views of the Sandias, I was ready to love this place. Los Poblanos has all the ingredients of a truly special dining experience: a gorgeous setting, a thoughtful farm-to-table ethos, and a menu that promises something above the ordinary. Which is exactly why the evening's annoying missteps were so disappointing.
Service was well intentioned but unpolished. Our waiter seemed overwhelmed and, at times, unfamiliar with the menu -- a problem when guests are asking genuine questions about the food and wine. We ordered bread which came before our drinks were served. Wine service was inconsistent. I ordered an Albariño by the glass - 6 oz. My sister ordered the Cabernet listed on the menu as a recommended pairing for her entrée, priced at $11. After we placed our drink orders, the waiter returned to inform her that the menu price was incorrect -- the wine was actually $18. She agreed to proceed. He then asked whether she wanted "a half glass or a full glass," which is an oddly imprecise question at a restaurant whose menu specifies pours in 3, 6, and 9 oz increments. She said half glass. What arrived was 3 oz of wine in a small serving carafe, which the waiter simply poured into her glass -- no bottle presented, no taste offered. My own Albariño, by contrast, was brought to the table in the bottle with a proper taste before pouring. The disparity in service between the two of us was striking. A simple, clear statement -- "3 oz of this wine is $18, not $11; would you still like it?" -- would have resolved everything cleanly. Instead, the vague "half or full glass" framing left my sister without the information she needed to make an informed choice. For what it's worth, the wine itself was extraordinarily tannic -- borderline undrinkable -- and I would have sent it back. My nephew ordered a top shelf whiskey. The waiter told him "we don't have that". My nephew said "it's on your menu" to which the waiter responded "oh, let me check on that". There seemed to be too many instances of the waiter running back to the bar to check on stuff. Anyway, it was available. The waiter apologized.
We ordered the bread which was served before our drinks arrived.
Food took about an hour which is fine - I don't have an issue with that but during that time we never saw the waiter again.
I ordered the soup of the day - potato and leek which was delicious. Followed by the blackberry salad, which was my main course. Both arrived simultaneously, with the salad placed in front of me and the soup set to the side as an afterthought. At a restaurant at this price point, the expectation that soup precedes salad is not an eccentricity -- it is simply correct service. When I expressed my surprise, the servers seemed genuinely puzzled, which suggests this may be a training gap rather than an isolated incident.
As for the salad itself -- it was pleasant, but pleasant is not enough here. The blackberry salad was the kind of thing you might enjoy at a well-run casual chain: competently assembled, inoffensive, and forgettable. At a farm-to-table restaurant with access to exceptional local ingredients, I expect the plate to reflect that -- more intentional presentation, more layered flavors, something that is more elevated than what was presented. This one didn't. The gap between the setting and what landed on the table was wider than it should have been.
My sister and nephews ordered the filet mignon and rib eye. Both arrived pre-sliced -- a presentation trend that has made its way into fine dining, though one that divides opinion. My concern, beyond personal preference, is practical: sliced meat loses heat faster, and at roughly $80 per entrée, guests should receive their steak in the condition that best showcases it. The quality was good, not exceptional.
Los Poblanos is a restaurant with genuine promise and a setting that few can match. The concept is right; the execution needs work. The issues I encountered -- inconsistent wine service, course sequencing, and a discombobulated waiter-- are not kitchen problems. They are fixable. I hope the restaurant takes that seriously, because the bones here are excellent and the experience should be too.
