Coa Agaveria y Cocina — Restaurant in Columbia

We tried to make a reservation in advance, but online it is only possible for parties of 10 or more. So we waited until the restaurant opened at 4 pm and called. On the phone, after asking how many we were and what time we would like to come, we said four people at 6:30 pm. The answer was just come by, it is fine, we are not too busy today. Luckily, we arrived at 6 pm, because when we got there they told us there was only one table left, otherwise it would be a 30 minute wait. When we asked why reservations are not possible in general, they explained it is because of too many cancellations. Other restaurants deal with that as well and still make it work. You could always reserve part of the dining room and keep some tables for walk ins, and then release the tables if someone does not show up. Hard to understand. Our server Gonzalo was absolutely fantastic, super helpful, friendly, and always smiling. Thank you! As for the food, I had the milanesa and was really disappointed. There was no seasoning, way more breading than meat, and the whole thing was dry and flavorless. I even ordered guacamole just to dip the meat in so I could eat it. The arugula salad also came with cilantro, which was not listed on the menu. That should definitely be mentioned, because for people like me cilantro tastes like soap and it ruined the dish. We told Gonzalo and he immediately brought us a new one without cilantro. Thanks again Gonzalo. We also had quesadillas. They were okay but nothing special. It is important to know that here they are made with taco shells. The combination of ingredients was unusual, and I would have preferred the cheese and meat together inside the shell. In our case, the cheese was only at the bottom and the meat was on top, so there was never really the taste of cheese and meat combined in one bite. Parking is tricky too, but that is not the restaurant’s fault. Just a heads up for anyone reading this, the lot right next door requires payment even on weekends after 6 pm, otherwise you will get a 70 dollar ticket. Bottom line, the atmosphere is great, service is outstanding, but the kitchen needs to step it up, at least when it comes to my dishes. I have heard the poblano is excellent, even the table next to us said so, so maybe we will give it another try and order something...

This was the best Mezcal old-fashioned I have ever had in my entire life. And I’ve had a lot of Mezcal old-fashioneds. In a lot of countries. It’s my signature drink.

Outstanding drinks, food and service with only two small areas of improvement that I will list at the end.

First, everything from the bar looked really interesting; keep in mind that they’re using agave in a lot of the drinks, which adds complexity and wonderful flavor. And, of course, Mezcal lends a smokiness to all of that. I had the oaxaquena which was so fresh; the lime really sparkled. And the aforementioned Mezcal old-fashioned. Both wonderful.

Our server Natalie was cheerful and attentive. Thanks Natalie!

The guacamole, although it looked like a small portion, was really quite generous. Perhaps it’s the bowl they served it in. And the chips and salsa were generous and fresh and flowing.

The fried yuca was not stringy. Sometimes it can be a bit stringy and hard. Not so here. My husband’s Carnitas, although again, initially looked like a small portion, really was chock-full of tasty meat. He brought home leftovers. Maybe it’s the bowls/plates that they are using that make it look like a small portion?

I had the tacos camarón and the tacos pibil. We cook pibil at home. This was a wonderful interpretation.

So what are my complaints? They really should have some sort of soda water from the bar tap, like a bar soda water gun. Instead we had a topo Chico, and it was $4.50, which was fairly expensive, especially knowing how much they cost in other countries!

They should have someone at the front of House speaking Spanish. It would be nice to be greeted by somebody who spoke Spanish when I was speaking Spanish asking for a table. Everything else is so authentic, that I was hoping there would be a few Spanish speakers for me. But it’s OK. Just something to consider in the future. But absolutely adding some fresh accessible free seltzer water would...

I wish I could give this restaurant more stars because the food was actually good, but how me and my friend were treated in my opinion was horrible. Me and my girlfriend finally had some time to meet and catch up, so we decided to visit this restaurant on Friday. We arrived around 6 pm. We got seated right away, as there was no wait. When our server came she wasn’t aware of the happy hour. We asked her about it and first she stated that there was no happy hour on Fridays. We had to tell her that we saw online the happy hours were from Monday through Friday from 5pm till 7pm. She went and checked, and it turned out we were right, which is fine, this didn’t really bother us. Per our receipt our server put our food order in at 6:08pm. Everything came out good, but as soon as we were done eating, our server came and asked us if we are done ordering, because if yes, she wanted to ask us to move to some type of cocktail area because apparently the wait time if long and they need the table. This was not even an hour after she put our food order in. We still had some chips and salsa in front of us that we were snacking on, while we were chatting. I never had been asked to leave so other people can have my table. I don’t think this treatment was okay, we weren’t there for a long time, barely an hour, because per our receipt, we paid at 7:07pm. I’m very disappointed how we were treated, it ruined our entire night. We were so dumbfounded we didn’t even know what to say, so we just paid and left. I’m not for confrontation, but I wish I didn’t tip her the 20%, because I literally felt like our serves didn’t want to be there, but since she had to she just wanted to make the most amount of money. She wanted us out as soon as she was done making money off of us. Terrible service. Very...