Brazos Taco Bar — Restaurant in Charlottesville

We really enjoyed the food, but the service left a lot to be desired. We were seated (at a table where we were warned there was a large crack, so not to lean on it or we might get hurt, which...sure). There's a napkin dispenser on the table that reads, "Order and Pay by Phone" with a table number, so we assumed that we should "order and pay by phone." This was a mistake. The waitress reprimanded us for ordering already and made it really clear that she was upset at us. Repeatedly. She said they had table service and we should have waited, and now we would confuse them. She made us give her our drink orders rather than put them in the app, so we now had half our orders on the app and half in person. She never came back--other people brought our food and no one ever asked about refills/if our orders were correct, so we didn't actually get that table service.

The food WAS awesome and came out really quickly. But when it came time to leave, we asked the hostess how we should pay for our drinks, since we'd already paid for the tacos on the app. We were treated to another lecture about how confusing it was that we ordered on the app. She also didn't really answer the question, so we were left pretty confused, too. It would have been totally fine if there had been mistakes or if it had taken longer because we used the app--it really does sound like a confusing system!!--but I went to dinner to have fun with my friends, not to be lectured for following the restaurant's own instructions. Pretty frustrating...

Coming in from Texas, this is pretty true to home! Not much heat to it, but Virginia tastebuds are different.

The brussel sprouts look like a local twist, but they were absolutely delicious.

For tacos, I got the pollo rostizado, the woody, and the blackened shrimp tacos. Corn tortillas. The blackened shrimp was just solid, flavors were on-point and it tasted like home. The woody had a good balance of spices and flavor, really enjoyed it. The pollo rostizado felt like it was missing something, but I got the tacos without cilantro, so that may have been it. I dipped the edge of the taco into some honey-jefe sauce and that fixed it right up.

For terminology, the avo verde is their house avocado sauce (pretty good), and the honey-jefe is a 50/50 mix of honey and a spicy house sauce. Really, really good, might take the honey jefe back home for my own cooking. Just delicious. Fair warning, it's got a bit of a kick, so if you're dipping stuff in it, start small. A little goes a long way.

The tres leches dessert was quite good (stole some from Dad), and the Mexican chocolate creme bruleé was lovely, though maybe a bit too much dessert for me. If you get it, be careful of the top of the mug - the rim was still hot from when they'd torched it.

Update, the creme bruleé was definitely too rich for me, had some short-term stomach trouble. That's what I get for eating a two-person dessert...

My husband and I eat here probably once a week - it's convenient, quick, and well-priced. The only thing that kept us from going to Brazo's frequently for a while was the weird chips they had at the older location and when this one opened, BUT I'm happy to say they now have delicious, thin, crispy chips that seem homemade. So 100% get the chips and guac when you go - it's worth it!

The pollo rostizado was my favorite taco at the IX park location for a long time, it was simple, predictable, and delicious. They unfortunately changed the chicken recently to shredded chicken with kind of an orange hue instead of small chicken chunks with cilantro and onions, and it honestly threw off the whole taco :( I would love if y'all would change my favorite taco back to it's former state! (That said, I've shifted at least temporarily to the carnitas taco and Austin Morning taco - I mean, eggs, mashed potatoes and brisket IN A TACO?! Yes. Amazing.)

Anywho, GREAT atmosphere, clean, bright, and the manager is super sweet; she remembers us and says hi personally every time we're there!

ALSO, OMG THE MARGS,...