Azteca Southwest Grill — Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene

Azteca is seriously an awesome Mexican restaurant!! Ofcourse we have all endured A LOT during this covid experience and the lockdowns. Here in Coeur D Alene we have a beautiful and centrally located shopping center with a regal cinema situated directly next to Azteca. Now due to covid the cinema is closed currently, but when they reopen, there's nothing better than a good Mexican meal at Azteca and a movie. In the meanwhile, check out Azteca because they have the BEST chips and salsa here in Coeur D Alene, hands down. They are attentive, they refill your chips and salsa accordingly and quickly and the atmosphere is a quaint and comfortable Southern Mexican designed interior with a large statue of a mule sitting in the waiting area. I bring my kids here regularly, we love to try different items, but there are a few staples that my family absolutley loves. The Carne Asada is cooked to perfection with tender skirt steak marinated to draw the juices from the steak to your tongue the moment it hits your mouth. It is a large platter with plenty of sides and a sweet dessert of a corn tamale-like treat on the plate. My personal favorite is the Chicken enchiladas in the three pepper sauce which is reminiscent of a cheesy peppery sauce which accompanies these enchiladas exquisitely! The service is great, the salsa isn't a runny, thin, watered down concoction of tomatoes like so many places bring to your table, but is rather the quintessential salsa for dipping and scooping with an awesome combination of cilantro and garlic bringing your chip back for more and more everytime. I'd you're a double-dipper, no problem, they bring you two large bowls of salsa for every huge basket of chips. There are some really neat drink selections as well including virgin margaritas and a delicious horchata which my kiddos and I just Love.

Either before you dine or after(if you dont need a wheel narrow to move after the large portions, haha), check out the local shops literally within 15 seconds walking distance of Azteca in the shopping complex including Zumiez, a Coldstone Creamery and many other local small businesses for travelers and locals alike to enjoy. Bring the whole family as this is definitely a family spot to spend an evening not having to cook but loving...

Beyond disappointment. This was once my favorite go to food choices, however it has slowly dwindled to a last resort, and after last evenings experience, is sadly being removed from any future consideration.

Worst service ever experienced at this location. It took almost an hour to get the food, while watching tables that came in after get theirs in a timely manner (looking hot and fresh). When ours arrived, the beans had a crusted layer on top (any food service worker knows that is reflection of food sitting too long), and everything was just below luke warm in temperature. When the supervisor was made aware and asked to tend to the quality issue, it was clearly an inconvenience, she definitely was put out by being requested to do the job she clocked in for that day to represent. To make matters worse, my evening was spent with very antagonizing tummy trauma, which started before even leaving the restaurant at Riverstone location. -Imagine every movie where someone intentionally drops something into someone's food to make them ill- that bubbling noise is real!! and I experienced it from prior to leaving this Azteca, all the way through last night, and am still feeling unsettled this morning. Less than pleasant or positive.

Feeling a little heart broken over the whole thing, as I again state, this truly was once one of my favorite businesses to support.

Poor reviews are my least favorite to write, however this is awful enough that if I am able to prevent someone else from feeling ill, I have obligation to help stop someone else from...

My wife and I went here for Cinco de Mayo. We arrived early, so they weren't very crowded when we arrived. It was a nice day outside, and I asked that we be seated on the patio. The hostess seemed confused, and eventually sat us in the bar area. We were there for a few minutes, and I decided to again ask for the patio since there were clearly 5 available spots outside. I approached the hostess again and asked her if we could sit outside. She responded that it wasn't in their server rotation for when we arrived, but was able to move us outside after all. We moved and waited for a while for our server. No silverware, no waters. Chips and salsa came out rather quickly though, so kudos to the chip guy! Our server arrived and took our order. We ordered a quesadilla from the appetizer menu and two margheritas. When the drinks came, we laughed, because it was comical. The margheritas were served in clear plastic solo cups. Certainly not what I was expecting. The food arrived pretty quickly, and it was good. The server still never provided us with any silverware, plates or napkins, so we had to eat it with our hands. We would have loved to stay and enjoy some more food and drinks, but the service was pretty lame and the fact that they were serving the drinks in plastic solo cups was just weird. We left and found a better place. Still, two margheritas with an appetizer was over $30. I wonder if they charge extra for silverware, napkins and water?! Won't be going back, there are much better...