Amarillo, Helsinki — Restaurant in Helsinki sub-region

I had booked a table for friend's birthday, we arrived there and was greeted by friendly staff who directed us to our table. It was decorated with balloons and serpentine, we hadn't expected it at all so it was really nice!

The soft drinks we ordered were huge like 1 liter. I got small drink and in any other restaurant that would have probably been the bigger drink so I guess that's a plus. But the cost was also 5€ just for the small one. We ordered, got our food fairly fast and everyone liked their dishes. Unfortunately I can't say the same. I ordered melted cheese&bacon burger, which seemed to be the most appealing option of the burgers. In reality it was nothing like that. I asked the meat to be well done, but it was still bit red. It tasted and looked like dog food, not like a real burger patty at all. The burger also had crème fraîche which I did not like at all. Bacon was super hard and dry, which I had to leave to the plate. Just overall one of the worst burgers I've had. Fries were good though. Clearly the state of burgers have went downhill since I last visited in 2015. And prices instead have gone up the roof.

Anyway after we had eaten, the waitress came back with a brownie which even had a little candle on it and asked who was the birthday girl. We were completely taken aback, what a nice surprise! She also brought 4 spoons so that we could share it together. The brownie had vanilla ice cream on top and on the sides whipped cream which tasted like passion fruit. Really good! After that we ordered drinks. I had strawberry margarita and it was just like I remembered, also nicely decorated with little umbrella and lime!

So with that I can say the service and atmosphere were amazing but unfortunately the food gets 2 stars from me, only 1 if it wasn't for the brownie. I might give it another try and order something else instead...

The food was average at best. Prices seem to be on the higher end of the spectrum, especially since this is a chain restaurant.

What annoyed me the most is their menus. They have one online, one for food on the table before you order and a smaller (very confusing) "bar snack" menu they leave on the table which does not include desserts. None of the menus feature all of their dishes and drinks and some things are on their website, but not on the printed menu. Some are missing completely, like ciders.

There are also items on the menu you need to "ask more about", like their house burger and beer pint. The 0,6l beer pint honestly sounds and seems like a turist trap they have in some tourist locations, as when asked, it was just regular KOFF and according to the waitress would have been 12€(!!!).

I ordered my House Burger medium, but it came as medium rare borderline bleu. Ate it anyways. The House Burger with american style fries sounded better when described by the waitress. It was just a burger with some mayo that had overcooked pieces of chorizo mixed into it and the "American Style Fries" were a sad pile of soggy fries with some nacho cheese and bits of bacon and slices of chili on top.

The frozen strawberry margaritas were excellent and since they take the printed menu away when ordering, the only easy to order "dessert" after the meal thanks to the...

We visited Amarillo on 2 March 2024. The interior is pleasant. I have no idea how they managed to make the nachos (in crispy chicken nachos dish) so soggy, no crunch at all, we didn’t eat them. The crispy chicken that came with them was crispy indeed but it was mostly batter and air inside, barely any chicken was to be found…The burgers were fine - we have had better, we have had worse.

The brownie was ridiculously small. Probably 2x4cm, smaller than the iceball it comes with. We laughed  out loud when they served it. It was that ridiculous. The brownie itself was dry but at least the ice cream was very delicious and the presentation was pretty. Maybe we were unlucky because in the photos on google maps the brownie looked a bit more… normal with regards to its size.

The service was slow, we could not get the waiters’ attention easily. To be fair it was very busy and once the service finally came to our table, they were friendly and helpful.

Overall we had a great time because we could enjoy the company of our friends, it was warm inside, the atmosphere was nice and Amarillo made us laugh so much with the brownies… but for sure we are not visiting next time we are...