Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ — Restaurant in Alexandria

We loved this place when it opened and we went weekly all last year. But they completely changed the menu for the Del Ray location when they opened their Mosaic location and it’s not the same. What really irks me is that they still use photos from their old menu in all of their marketing when it doesn’t match what they’re serving. The menu changes really don’t mesh with the outdoor vibe of the Del Ray location and it really takes away from the experience.

The combo plates and smaller tacos on the old menu were the perfect for sharing and trying a bunch of everything. They also had some great menu items they removed, including the mac and cheese that was mentioned by WaPo as one of the best in the city.

Now, instead of getting a combo platter and selecting sides that come on a platter you have to choose one meat and it comes on a personal plate with rice and beans, as if it’s a sit down Tex Mex restaurant instead of something unique. We already have four of those within walking distance of the Del Ray spot. Another change they made is that when you order a taco, you get one larger taco instead of two smaller tacos that can be shared. The menu doesn’t specify that, and we were expecting something different because we were used to the old menu. I ordered the fish taco, which sounded great, but was really bland.

The changes are a real disappointment. I used to love recommending this place to friends, and the meat is still great, but I feel like this place has lost what made it special wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to eat here.

Editing to adjust this downward. We tried to give this place a few more chances over the summer and after last night we are not coming back. Start to finish, it was a really awful experience. We waited at an empty hostess stand for several minutes before we saw anyone and then sat at our table for fifteen minutes before anyone showed up. We never got water. Only two of the five items we ordered came out correctly. The food was cold and honestly just kind of gross. We saw our server twice the entire time we were there and watched someone who ordered takeout return their order because half of it was missing. Whoever is running this place just doesn’t care about it anymore. It’s really sad. We used to love it here but...

My husband and I stopped in here for dinner walking home on a nice spring evening. The outdoor atmosphere is great for this weather. However, unfortunately the rest of the experience was one of the worst experiences we’ve had at a restaurant—perhaps this is not the typical experience at this place. The manager said she was new, as was our server. Both had only been there a couple days. Everyone was very friendly, and I think the poor service was probably due to a lack of experience in the service industry. Multiple members of the staff, including the manager, did not know the menu well but gave us some recommendations. We ordered the chicken enchiladas based on a recommendation, and they were not good. I’m not very picky with food, but they were nothing special and they were served room temperature. It was a very small portion for the price. We also got the trio of salsa, guac, and queso, which were all poor. The salsa just tasted like olive oil—it was by far the worst salsa we’ve ever had. It tasted more like pesto than salsa—totally bizarre. The queso just tasted like cheap nacho cheese, and the guacamole was the most decent of the three but overly tart because of too much lime juice. And this trio cost $18. Again, w both love these types of dips and are not that picky—these were just bad. We never saw a server once our food was delivered and waited and waited for the check while the manager and one of the servers sat looking at their phones in the back of the patio. We finally flagged someone down and paid for a $40+ meal that was unfortunately just not good—quite bad especially for the price. I’m not sure if we were steered wrong and maybe the barbecue here is much better, but I would not return or recommend HiFi to others based...

The host Markayla was sooo nice and accommodating. The 2 hours that my friend and I were there we saw her cleaning tables, seating people, checking on everyone, and more. Also server Alex was amazing!

Our issue was with the general manager working tonight (4/25). From the moment we got there, she was very hostile. We noticed she was giving the host a hard time regarding seating people. She was very loudly suggesting that people should just sit at the bar because the bar had the same menu and the same drinks. She told the host to just sit people there regardless like she did not have an option. Although no one in the waiting area wanted to sit there she continued to speak loudly about it which made us uncomfortable.

Later in the evening, it began to rain and my friend went to ask the host if we could move to under an empty cabana because our food and drinks were getting soaked. The host was accommodating us but the General manager had an issue and wanted the host to sit reservations there. (Even though there was plenty of other seating). The hostess explained that she had sat everyone who had a reservation so far and that no one had requested a cabana so she thought it would be okay to move us over. This general manager continued to give the host a very hard time (in front of customers) and yelled at her later on. The general manager complained about how the host needs to follow what she says because these customers could write a bad review and it would fall on her.

This GM was more concerned about good reviews and getting in and out instead of treating her staff with respect and kindness but also making sure that her customers were satisfied and happy. This was our first time coming to this place and most...