Aqui Mexican Cafe

09/19/09

Great food, excellent service and terrific value

by Rally200 at Citysearch

Chicken enchiladas were great. The side of mash potatoes with cheese and vegetables melted in them were amazing. When they ran out of their cinnamon brownie dessert, we were given their tres leches, it was one of the best I have ever had. Nice atmosphere in a colorful Portland neighborhood that is not far from downtown. I would definitely make time for this restaurant on my next trip to Portland.

• Pros: fresh ingredients, friendly service, good atmosphere
• Cons: None really, maybe chips and salsa should be free

04/27/09

Average food, bad service.

by lcpio2010 at Citysearch

The restaurant itself is cool. They have a lot of neat lights and decorations and the outdoor covered patio with warmers looked like it would be a fun place to chill with some friends over drinks when the weather is warmer. The menu seemed promising; lots of options, many of them interesting. We had the sopas to start and they were pretty good. I ordered a chicken burrito and was not impressed, although I have to give them credit for putting lots and lots and lots of chicken, rice, and beans in it...it was filled really full. The chicken was excellent...cooked well, good spices and it seemed like good quality meat. The beans and rice in the burrito were bland...but hey, it is beans and rice so I wasn't expecting much. What I was expecting however was that it would come with more than 10 chips, a tablespoon of sour cream and a little cup of pico de gallo. Now I understand that many places don't put much in their burritos, but some lettuce, cheese and sauce (without having to pay extra!) would have been nice. Overall, the burrito was pretty flavorless, although the chicken was good and the chips were excellent and the pico was fresh. My friends said that their food was alright.

Now...the service. As a server myself, I know what good service is, I know what bad service is, and I definitely know what "I don't give a f***" bad service is and the two guys working the tables tonight fell into the last category. I had read reviews that said the service here was "laid-back," and I can deal with that, especially since I am young and like talking with my friends, rather than having someone hover over my shoulder and check on me every 3 minutes. But this was not laid-back, it was just bad. The restaurant was more than half empty so they couldn't use the "busy" excuse. Our server kept interrupting our conversation every time he came to the table. He didn't even wait a few seconds for a break but instead just cut right in. Each and every time...never failed. Rude. The Coca-Cola I ordered was almost all ice, super watered down and had margarita salt in the bottom...gross. Unless this is some "new-age" thing I'm not aware about, I'm pretty sure people do not put margarita salt in Coca-Cola. And, since he filled the drinks, it is not difficult to find a clean cup or to put more pop than ice in it. The timing between the appetizer and the orders was not spaced out enough, as we were not finished and our food came. As a server, I can tell you that timing can be difficult, but ONLY when it is busy. Otherwise, it is pretty damn easy (especially with Mexican food which cooks pretty fast and can be thrown together quickly) to time stuff right (and even more so when you can see the table from where you pick up the food since the restaurant is so small). The other guy who brought our food out was constantly scowling and just looked not happy to be there; and our server never smiled and was actually kind of a d-bag. He seemed more concerned with chatting with his friends who had come in to the restaurant than actually serving his tables. The table next to us had to ask him about 3 times for water. The kicker though was when he started complaining about the tip we left him...while standing about 10 feet away. Helpful hint: if you want to complain about your patrons, do it when they are not SITTING RIGHT THERE. Mind you, I know that getting a bad tip is no fun...IF you worked for it. But bad, careless, rude service coupled with mediocre food does NOT deserve a good tip (hence why I left you a bad tip). To hear you complaining about it afterwards doesn't make me feel bad or embarrassed...it just makes me glad I didn't leave you more (which I almost did and am SO glad I didn't). Needless to say, I will not be returning. I would have given Aqui 3 stars had the service been better; it got 2 only because the food was ok.

• Pros: Funky atmosphere, good chips.
• Cons: Bad service. Bad service. Bad service.

04/18/09

The best Mexican food in Portland

by IM4OSU at Citysearch

I have visited various Mexican food restaurants around Portland, and not one comes close to comparison as Aqui. Not surprised it has ranked so high on the Best of Citysearch in the past.

• Pros: Atmoshphere, food, service
• Cons: None