Damacios — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I am not normally moved to do a review, but Damacios left such an impression that I feel I must speak up. First of all, this is NOT a Tapas place. The menu is just a mishmash of appetizers from different cuisines, which I suppose is the spirit of tapas, but if you are looking for actual Spanish dishes (Membrillo, Croquetas, Queso Manchego, Paella, etc.), you will NOT find them here. Go to Mas or Debajo instead.

I'll start with the ambiance: everything is painted black and lit with purple lighting, which is a little weird, but I didn't hate it. The decor was a little tacky, and some of the light fixtures were broken. The patio ground was also very uneven and could pose a challenge for those with walkers/ assistive devices. The music was very dancy, which I felt clashed with the "elegant" vibe they were going for. It is also on Central and 8th, so on the patio, you are treated to all of the bros with their illegally loud exhausts revving their engines or rattling the windows with their subwoofers, but that isn't really the fault of the restaurant.

I ordered a Manhattan and it was watery and bland. I do not think $12-$15 is unreasonable for a cocktail, but it should be very good at that price. This will become a theme.

The service was excellent. Allan, our waiter, was very attentive and helpful. The food also came out in a reasonable time. When it arrived, however, it was disappointing.

We ordered a Margherita flatbread, which appeared to have been smeared with Ragu pasta sauce and had a few slices of tomato and mozzarella placed on top. It was lukewarm and looked like it had been put stuck under the broiler for about 30 seconds before being served. The charcuterie board was enormous, which I appreciate, but for the price ($25), I would rather Damacios source higher quality ingredients and maybe not serve as much of them. The overall quality felt like something I could have gotten at Smith's. There also wasn't much variety: two meats, two cheeses, some crostinis, grapes, olives, blueberries, and that was it. Where are the almonds? Also, the grapes had seeds in them, and one of the dips was this jelly that tasted exactly like barbecue sauce (???). I'm not a chef, but barbecue sauce does NOT belong on a charcuterie board.

The beet salad was nice, but I'm not sure what about it cost $15. Is there a shortage of arugula? They were not very generous with the cheese and candied walnuts, so I know that wasn't it.

The dessert was very good and was the best part of the meal by far. Good presentation and delicious. 5/5.

I really wanted to like Damacio's; they have a very earnest and friendly vibe that makes it hard to give them a bad review, and honestly if the prices weren't so high, I wouldn't have cared as much. But the owners seem to think that simply raising the prices of your food makes you "upscale". I'm sorry, but there's a little more to it than that. They really need to improve the quailty of their ingredients and the execution of their dishes. We were there on a Saturday night, in a prime downtown location, and the dining room was practically empty. I think that...

I was excited to try this place and add it to my go to brunch spots here in abq, unfortunately this will be my first and last time coming here. This restaurant sits on the corner of the street and has plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. There were two private parties going on when my party arrived (Saturday) so we were unable to dine outside. The menu is limited for brunch along with several drink options. I ordered the loaded potatoes, opened faced breakfast sandwich, and the French toast. The breakfast potatoes were so so salty I couldn't even finish the meal bc of the saltiness. After informing the waitress of this, she apologized and asked me if I wanted to order something else. I decided to order the huevos rancheros cupcakes instead which were decent but they over salted the black beans and added the same salty potatoes to this dish as well. Even after the waitress told the cook about the salty potatoes from my first order they still added the same potatoes to my second order!!!! She mentioned they make them in batches so the next one wouldn't be as salty...no thought process there whatsoever. The only saving grace was the French toast with ice cream, very delicious but it would have been nice if they had added a few pieces of bacon because I felt like I had dessert for breakfast while everything else was so disappointing. I was told that the open faced breakfast sandwich was just okay (bread barely toasted) and it also came with the same overly salted potatoes. Again the staff was very nice and attentive, presentation of the food wasn't anything to write home about, and there is a convenient parking lot nearby, but this was not enough for a...

I have been to Damacio’s 3 times. The first 2 times it was good. Food was okay, atmosphere outside was nice and pretty although prices were a little high, but for good brunch food and cute drinks it’s okay. But the 3rd time we went was for their “Cinco de Mayo fiesta” they had been advertising on FB & Instagram for 2 weeks that was May 4th from 10am-5pm. First off we had reservations 11:30am and when I asked our server for the taco/ cinco de mayo menu she says “we don’t have that” so I asked why it was posted online and she says “let me see if we are doing that” ummm what? That’s the whole reason we came. Then she comes back and says the meat for the tacos isn’t ready so we can’t order anything from the specials…. So we just order regular brunch food. Then 15 mins after we order she comes back and says oh now we can order tacos…. But at this point, why? We already ordered brunch… the we get our food and I’m 2 bites into my avocado toast and there’s a huge black hair mixed in the avocado. 🤢I understand mistakes happen, but this was bad. I sent it back and just shared my husband’s meal with him. Then we get the ticket and it’s $80+ for 1 entree and 1 mimosa bucket 🫣 and she said she took off the entree that had with the hair in it. Idk what was going on bc 2 weeks ago we got the same mimosa bucket, 2 entrees and an appetizer and it was only $70. Either way it was all a strange interaction considering they advertised this huge Cinco de Mayo celebration then didn’t even offer the main food option and hour 1/2 after the start time.. There’s so many brunch options in the area, I’ll probably try somewhere...