Suerte — Restaurant in Austin

I’m sorry to say, but I think Suerte is massively overrated. I’ve heard so many articles and lists calling this restaurant one of the best in Austin, and if you feel that way, I think you haven’t been to enough restaurants in this city.

Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, it just wasn’t great. We were excited to try this place after hearing the hype for so long, but the overall experience and the food itself was simply okay.

Let me start with the dishes themselves: while tasty, the flavors felt very repetitive. There’s only so much spicy citrus and smoky meat a meal can take without getting tiresome. There is so much variety in true Mexican cuisine that it felt boring to be having the same recurring flavors in multiple dishes. Not only that, but there’s a real heaviness to the food- for example, in both Botanas dishes we ordered (Refried Lentils and Tuna Tiradito), the chip to non-chip ratio was way too heavily in favor of the chip. Even though we didn’t finish them, it gives the same feeling as when you fill up on too much bread or chips and salsa at the beginning of a meal at a less fancy restaurant. I don’t have a sensitive palate by any means, but that chip-overload combined with the rich flavors in the other dishes led to an upset stomach. My husband and I are both big eaters, but we ended up packing up most of our main dish (Barbacoa) because we couldn’t take any more.

While the service was overall good, there were a couple of things that bugged me. The pacing of the meal was strange: the Botanas came out surprisingly fast, even before our drinks. After that we waited, and waited, for the other dishes, at a pace that felt slow in comparison to the quickness of the first two plates. Weirdly, the vegetables we ordered came as their own course, not as an accompaniment to the Barbacoa. As mentioned, by the time the Barbacoa came, we were overly full and had been waiting so long that we didn’t really feel like eating anymore.

This is going to sound very nitpicky and Karen of me, but another thing that bugged me was a quarter-sized chip in my plate. I have stone plates at home so I know firsthand how fragile they can be, but when customers are paying $50-$100 per person to eat at your restaurant, you should probably take any plates with noticeable defects out of rotation.

My final critique is on the cocktails. Like the whole experience, they were just… fine. To me a tasty cocktail can really enhance a meal; if a restaurant has a good drink menu we’ll probably end up ordering more than one. We ordered the Yaupon Spritz and the Strawberry Batida and neither of us felt like ordering another, I didn’t even finish the Spritz. Once again, good, not great!

To those looking for elevated Mexican cuisine in Austin, I’d point you in the direction of ATX Cocina or...

My husband and I came here for a "pre-lunch." We had lunch plans booked already but once we got an opening here we knew we couldn't say no as this place gets a lot of hype - and boy, is it worth it!

We had a waiter that was unreal. I can't recall his name but he knew everything about everything. Super friendly and great for suggesting items! He helped make the experience that much better :)

We started with green tea and a margarita. The margarita was easily the best we'd ever had. It was so smooth and refreshing and just by looking at it I feel you can tell it is something you gotta try! We were recommended to try to suadero tacos and then we also got the barabacoa.

The suadero tacos were easily the best tacos we had both ever eaten. They don't look like much and they are teeny tiny (size of my palm) but they were so flavourful. The tortillas are made fresh at the restaurant and they are unlike any tortilla I've ever had - in my opinion I felt they were like a crepe mixed with a tortilla. Just delicious! The avocado cream, onions were minimal toppings to put on but were perfect for adding flavour without overpowering the star, the meat. The meat falls apart in your mouth, is so juicy and tender. Just a breath taking dish. We then had the barbacoa. I can appreciate the meal but it's goat meat and I don't care for it. I must say this was the best goat meat I had tried but there's a certain taste with goat meat that if you've had it - you know what I am talking about. Luckily, this plate came with items for us to make our own tacos and by doing so I was able to minimize that signature taste. Again, the meat was flakey and full of flavour. The accompaniments were perfect. The pickled items were a great addition to the tacos! We loved the make your own portion to this. Awesome bite that even I appreciated having not liked goat meat I still ate two tacos myself so that is saying a lot.

Overall, a wonderful experience and we tried a few of the Tex-Mex spots but nothing was like this one. This felt authentic and real. Side note, the restaurant inside is stunning and the patio is small where we ate but intimate! The bathrooms are beautiful and very clean. I think everyone should make this trip - albeit out of the way if you are visiting - it is well worth...

Arrived for Sunday brunch, 45 minute wait for 3, expected. When time to sit, there was a table of 4 available and a high top for The Hostess was sitting us at the high top. One guest was needing back support and was requesting a chair that had support. The hostess said in order to sit at an actual table there would be an additional wait of 45 minutes. We as guest had to find a solution of switching chairs from bar that had a little more support. Highly frustrating when this could've been avoided by hostess earlier asking if we prefer a table. Service- there is a vibe in the restaurant of Sante Fe coolness. But service is below average. from the Waitress placing drink orders to food orders and genuinely checking in on the table, service was inattentive and slow. Several attempts were made for assistance and she ignored the table. Many servers crowded bar service area (no break area). I observed 5-6 mins beverage break and chat while we waited. Environment-Open kitchen is not the best when there isn't alot of space. Dirty dishes being brought through cooking area. Hostess coming through kitchen rolling someone's luggage that was being held to front. Uncovered baked goods waist level at the entrance of kitchen where everyone passes in/out. This is what we saw in the 2 plus hours being there. Food- we were explained how the menu worked. Portions, sizes, which is family style like. We chose an appetizer of lentils which was very delicious. For mains to share we had the hash, steak and eggs and barbacoa. Salsas were delicious (spicy and yummy) with the barbacoa, hash with egg perfect yolk. Tortillas were really too thick and couldn't be eaten as a taco. Too overpowering. The table opted to eat dishes without tortillas or with leftover chip from lentil appetizer. Unfortunately steak was under cooked and was inedible. We let the Waitress know and said that we did not enjoy the dish. Instead of removing the dish, she had the kitchen regrill the already sliced steak and served to our table again. This was not asked for. After this we ordered the donut and our check. Another Waitress delivered the donut to the wrong table and no check. We were exhausted by the end of the meal and sadly just not an experience worth...