Puerta — Restaurant in Charlotte

Atmosphere: The first thing to note is that the ambiance is stellar here. It has a great atmosphere for a date night or for grabbing a drink. It's clearly a deliberately designed space that has a unique feel - unlike so many other restaurants in Charlotte that feel like they consulted the same design group and overall feel generically "nice." The music was a little loud and bass-y, but it created a lively atmosphere - this will suit some better than others.

Drinks: We ordered a cocktail apiece. I got a modification, requesting mezcal instead of tequila. This may have been a mistake. My cocktail was out of balance and didn't gel. I can't fault the bar because I didn't try it the way they intended, but it still felt to me like they went heavy on the liqueurs, throwing the balance out of whack. My girlfriend got their take on an old fashioned and it was delicious. The orange jumped from the glass wonderfully.

I also really appreciate that they're going beyond the standard fare with their agave selection. Not only do they have brands you may not see elsewhere, but they're moving beyond just tequila and mezcal. They have a limited Raicilla offering. I hope they will bring in some Bacanora and Sotol (not an agave spirit) in the future, as these are lacking in the area. But NC ABC stinks, so I'm amazed they were able to get even what they offer now.

Food (the bad): Here's where things start to break down a bit, sadly. Off the jump, the food is simply tremendously overpriced for what it is. $6 for a taco isn't outrageous on the surface, but they weren't very good. I tried the barbacoa and the al pastor. Neither had terribly much flavor and both are completely forgettable. I was intrigued that the barbacoa was listed as coming topped with a bone marrow slaw. Either the kitchen forgot to include it, or it was unnoticeable as a component.

While tacos are $6, they offer a 3 tacos for $21 "deal." I was confused. The difference is it comes with rice and beans. We shared the extra taco to take advantage of the "deal." DO NOT take this option. You are much better off getting 3 tacos for $18 and saving yourself 3 bucks. The rice and beans were flavorless. What's more, it was probably about 2 tablespoons of rice (before cooking) and a half cup of beans. If they wanted to make this a deal, with that portion size, it should be free. It really, really felt like a waste of money and a terrible promotion. "Fool me once..." is a bad strategy for a restaurant to employ if they want repeat guests.

Food (the good): The appetizers were excellent. We shared guacamole and empanadas. The guac was undeniably a small portion for $8, but it wasn't outrageous. It could be shared between 2 people with each getting a good taste for it, but I wouldn't share with any more. The large house made chips (of which you get 4) that accompany the guacamole are outstanding.

The empanadas were the star of the night. These are the only thing I tried that would actually entice me to come back. We shared the lamb empanadas (2 for $14). The combination and flavors and textures was magical.

Service: Our server was extremely friendly. She made a few mistakes, but was quick to correct them and responded more than appropriately. Overall, these mistakes didn't negatively affect the experience at all because she was both gracious and professional. Unfortunately, the manager was nearby and we could hear our server getting chewed out for an honest mistake. Furthermore, the manager was out on the floor the whole meal with a scowl and noticeable negative energy. Maybe she was having a bad night, and this should be forgiven, but it impacted...

8/29/25 update - decided to give this place another try after we saw that street tacos had been added back to the menu. Somehow, we left with an even worse taste in our mouth than last time.

Service - we walked in right at 5 (me + my husband plus our little one in a stroller since we walked). We were the second group in the door and were told that there wasn’t anything available in the dining room and that they didn’t have any high chairs. After it felt like everyone on staff was discussing where to put us (god forbid we bring a well-behaved child!), they told us the only option would be to sit in the bar area. It was extremely loud and seemed to be the hangout area for the staff? It honestly felt like we were in the staff break room. I also got the vibe that strollers are very much not welcome after a comment from one of the staff members that it would be “in the middle” (??), which is frustrating since it’s surrounded by neighborhoods full of families. If you don’t want kids at your restaurant, that’s fine but that should be made clear - being rude and unwelcoming to your customers is not the solution.

Food - we were so excited to see tacos back on the menu but, simply put, they were not good. The tortillas were so hard they were difficult to bite into, and they lacked much flavor at all. These are definitely far from the a la carte tacos on the OG menu.

All said and done, we spent $100 on mediocre at best food all while feeling like we weren’t welcome to eat there. We’ll be down the street at Que Onda next time!

*****^

We just moved to the neighborhood and were so excited to be able to walk to one of our favorite spots in town. After the menu change, I don’t think we’ll be going back.

It feels like we spent twice the money and got half the food. And we were shocked to see tacos gone - we would never even consider spending $150 for tacos “for the table.” Apps were ok but not worth the higher price tags.

The pros: drinks were delicious as always and our server was amazing and so sweet to our little one, who we brought along.

Sad to see one of our favorite spots in town change so much...

edit Wonderful customer service after review. Manager was very responsive. Food is still delicious. Hopefully a bit more support for service is in the works.

I want to start of by saying our server Chase( I think that's what his name was) is polite and tried hard to deal with the tables he had. We saw his efforts. My 3 stars comes more so with the front girls who DID NOT tell me I would be charged a hefty $25 to store my cake in the fridge. Or the fact that absolutely no one helped chase to move umbrellas around in order for my table of 7 to have more that one miserable umbrella that only shades 2 people. While tables at the opposite end with only 2-4 people has up to 3 umbrellas for that one table. The people who arranged that need a bit more common sense when setting up tables and umbrellas. Better yet the company itself needs to invest in more shade and rain covering for patio seating. Our food took for ever to come out. Not to mention it took a while for our server to get to us often because he seemed so slammed with minimal help from a manager or support staff. Food was great although I don't recommend the tacos. Tacos are a street food and should remain as street food not upscale dining food. I do think they need to broaden their menu. I am disappointed they do not have an actual Mexican chef but it's refreshing to taste the authenticity of the dishes flavors. Dishes it's self might not be authentic but the flavors are there. Back to the cake. I mentioned the cake situation and absolutely no did anything about it. The fact that I wasn't warned about a fee ...they should have taken it off. We waited form out CC to come back for 30 mins... By the time our receipts came back we saw absolutely no one. They didn't offer to remove the fee. If I knew about it I would have never brought my cake. I could understand a cork fee for wine since they sell wine...but they don't sell cake there... It's not something offered so why charge me... I probably will never go back. I still prefer to support local Latin own business and nickel and filing your customers just isn't my thing. I could understand $5 cake fee but...