Puerto Nuevo Freshmex And Seafood — Restaurant in Elizabethton

We needed a change. We are town residents and we have gone by this place since it opened... And because we always have a favorite Mexican restaurant we've never really cared to try another. But tonight wanting to just see different things we decided let's give it a go and I have to say I'm sorry we put it off so long.

All decent restaurants start off with tortilla chips and I have yet to have any as thin and crisp and hot as the ones that were put on our table. I love a snap and they are super crunchy. The table starts off with a bean queso dip instead of the traditional salsa but they do have a salsa bar with wonderful selections. I tried three of them and my husband tried just the standard salsa and they were delicious and very fresh.

I ordered a house margarita that for the 6.25 price was a piece of art. It was made with cuervo, and had blackberries blueberries strawberry slices and a orchid floating in it. I did not expect that kind of artistry! And it was fantastic.

I ordered a chicken with chorizo dish, churrepollo (sp?). The chicken was exceptionally thin and grilled and very tender with the most non-greasy chorizo placed on top. They use that melted white cheese which unless of a fan of as I am shredded, nonetheless it was perfect. This was served with Spanish rice that has pieces of carrot corn and peas in it. Definitely a level up for plain old rice.

My husband tried the fajita baked potato which was the special for the evening and he got it with chicken. The potato wedges were absolutely piled on with chicken and fajita fixings. And it was delectable.

For the mid price range, we both were stopped and brought home half of our abundant plates.

There were an enormous amount of service staff. We had a lovely young lady, Cheyenne, and she was exceptionally attentive. There was even a house manager who came around twice to make sure everything was good. Apparently running a very top-notch restaurant.

I'm going to suggest if you're within the area it's worth the drive. In nice weather they have an outside sitting area and it's...

The positive…the food runner carried 4 dishes well The negative..*server approached table no greeting just “ready to order?” *was never told there was self serve salsa bar accidentally found it in my look around the dining room The positive..our iced waters were cold and refreshing The negative..*fajitas were served on a warm plate rather than a sizzling platter with the absentee server we had to track down another person to order additional tortillas while the food just got colder and yes we could have asked for it to be warmed up but why take the chance on the wait time *after our food was timely delivered server came by and dropped the check no thank you no here pay this… *never saw our server again The positive..air was breathable Okay summary..we’d waited for the restaurant to go through growing pains then stopped there today. I found service to be completely unacceptable for a non fast food restaurant. I have trained front of house staff (Il Mulino, Flemmings, Roy’s Steakhouse, Outback, Carrabbas). Servers identified themselves after a welcome greeting. IF for any reason your server was leaving the dining room or the premises (cut from shift or personal reason) another server in the same area was introduced and guests were advised if there was anything they needed this server would be happy to assist. Having the check dropped right after the food let me know we weren’t having coffee and the Tres Leches Cake the table tent advertised as not to be missed. No to go container so possibly I should have brought ziplock bags instead of going to the hostess desk to ask for some. We did eventually find out our server had gone on a “lunch break” (they opened a mere hour prior so go figure) The positive..we will let others enjoy this establishment and patronize...

Went the Friday of opening week. At first, I was nervous about the wait time because the parking lot was completely full & people were standing outside, waiting for a table. My friends & I opted to be seated on the patio & we were surprised to be seated within 20 minutes on such a busy night. Our server was great. With that being said, it was their first week opening & I don’t believe they were even fully staffed yet, so I was expecting terrible service. Our drinks may have been low a couple of times but we certainly did not complain because we understood it was their first week & they were completely full! It took a little bit of time to get our food but again, it was their first week opening, so we expected that. Good company & a great atmosphere made the wait seem shorter. The food was excellent & portions were a very good size! The prices were slightly higher than other local Mexican restaurants but I’m willing to pay more for quality. My only complaint was that they were out of the mango salsa on the salsa bar BUT I’ll bet if I had asked, they would’ve replenished it, so that’s on me. 😂 Overall, great place & looking forward to going back regularly. Ignore the derogatory reviews & just give them a try! Remember, they’re working their butts off with large demanding crowds & more than likely, they’re still a little understaffed, like many other restaurants in our area. Just enjoy the chips, dip & salsa…your amazing food...