Maíz y Agave — Restaurant in Coral Gables

My experience at Maiz y Agave: I was eagerly planning to visit this restaurant for many reasons, first because I am a chef and I like to try and discover new places, second because I love Mexican food so much.

When we arrived; we could see that the restaurant was very full, and even though we didn’t have a reservation it was not difficult to find a table, the atmosphere and the decoration seemed spectacular to me and even more so because it was December and bringing the tradition of the Christmas posadas to Miami.

But anyway, let's move on to the most important thing; once at the table we were served by Enrique "Kike" Q, as a person who works in the restaurant industry, the service of this waiter is the worst that has ever served me, rude and arrogant; my friends and I looked at the drinks menu and when we said what to drink and he finally came with the drinks he literally threw our glasses on the table in a rude and disrespectful way; I know that in this business it is understandable that not every day is a good day and sometimes we are not in a good mood, but I consider that customer service is essential. But I suggest that if you are not nice to people, look for another job because you are in the wrong one.

The bad attitude of the waiter already ruined our night, but we decided to give him one more chance. My friend asked him about some dishes and which one he suggested; my friend specifically asked him "What is chamorro" and the waiter answered it is pork meat and I immediately looked at him with an expression without saying what!!! ( because I’m a chef and I know Chamorro is beef) Then finally my friend opted for the Shredded Pork Loin because he loves pork.

As a chef I was anxiously awaiting the food, when it arrived; I consider the food to be overrated, on the one hand on the other the "shredded pork loin" turned out to be three medallions of pork that were quite dry and had little flavor with a gravy-type "sauce" which was ok I never see the the “shredded lomo”. My other friend ordered a codfish (Bacalao) with mashed potatoe as a side; the fish tasted great but the portion of mashed potatoes was disappointing, it was about 1-2oz of puree literally served in a black ramekin. I ordered a short rib in black mole, the texture of the meat was very good. The plates were not that hot which disappointed me a little.

Finally we ordered three desserts: To start they brought us a dessert that was not there, Estefi the girl who is in charge of the "reviews" came to ask how everything was and although my friend told her everything was "ok" I told her the truth the experience was not good, I told her my friend is a waiter, I am a chef and we work in hospitality; finally the desserts arrived and although I wanted to give her my opinion the girl left me talking to myself and I did not see her again. Well, I will tell you about the desserts we ordered a tres leches, nothing out of this world, very basic and a little dry; Creamy mamey cake 6/10 I thought that since it had an exotic flavor like mamey it would be something much better. The churros saved the night, really.

In my opinion, it is a very overrated restaurant. Prices for what we ate are excessively expensive, but I understand because it is the holiday season. Terrible customer service. Excellent atmosphere.

Would I go back? I...

We arrived on Friday evening around 6:45pm, and as anticipated this place was packed! We were told that the rooftop was at capacity and it would be a while before we could head up there so they asked us to wait at the bar downstairs and we were happy to do so. We asked to have our name added to a list for a dinner table, we did not mind if it was on the second or third floor dining areas. Where we could be seated the quickest for dinner is what we preferred (since we had saved our appetite all day for this place).

Once we entered the bar area downstairs to wait for a chance to head up to the rooftop, we found it was also… packed. There were no tables or bar seats available and barely any standing room at all. Truthfully, it was uncomfortable. Eventually, Livan came over to us and apologized for the tight space but offered to take our order while we stood and waited so we wouldn’t be empty handed. A cocktail would definitely help at this point. I had the Mojito Bochero (a delicious frozen mojito made with coconut water, sparkling wine and MEZCAL) and my friend had a Coconut Margarita (she doesn’t even drink tequila and she had 3 of these because they were so good!!!).

Soon after getting our drinks we closed the tab to see if it would be ok to head upstairs and once we got up there, again there were still nowhere available for us to sit and enjoy our drinks or even order more.

By now I was ready to go and enjoy dinner and drinks somewhere else. There’s plenty of places to choose from on Miracle Mile. The only reason we stayed was because my friend’s mom was joining us and she swore she had a much better experience the week before.

We headed back downstairs and hoped that maybe this time we would find seats at first floor bar. The room had mostly cleared out and was way less crowded. Eventually a group of three were leaving and donated their seats to us. Finally we were able to order some food and more drinks.

At this point being able to put our order in took forever, but the food arrived really quickly which was great. Unfortunately as the food arrived we had no napkins, sharing plates, or utensils to eat with. Once that was situated we could enjoy our light bites.

The chips and guacamole was OK at best. Not seasoned very well and extremely lime-y and … kinda warm. Suspiciously warm. However the tortilla chips tasted fresh.

The carne asada tacos were a hit! The meat was cooked at a perfect medium, seasoned to perfection, and extremely flavorful. I could’ve had 5 more orders of this had I been able to order more food in a timely manner.

The esquite was no good—lacked flavor and the texture of the corn was extremely chalky.

The highlight of our night were the mariachis that came and sang to us. Beautiful experience!

For a couple of drinks, 3 food menu items, and a bunch of bugs flying around our faces (by the bar garnishes off to the corner), we spent about $200… we go out to eat 3-5 times a week and we had Maiz y Agave on our calendar for a while as we were so excited to try but this entire experience lagged, lacked consistency and was a total rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. We probably won’t be back.

(The kicker? As we paid our tab we got the text the the table was ready for us… at 10 pm. Over 3 hours later… friends, Bodega is a short walk...

As I made my way into the restaurant, the welcoming decor at the entrance promised an above average experienced. And although the details of the Menu enticed you to try all it has to offer, the presentation of the food was very, very disappointing. The Queso Fundido as appetizer had a small amount of chorizo that taste like it had NO meat at all. I was expecting for the flavor combination to dance in my tongue, and although the white Queso was taste, the dish at $14 was just a big piece of cheese w/ 4 small flour tortillas. And if asked for more tortillas, there was an additional charge, not worthed. The Trio of Tacos w/ Carne Asada was another huge disappointment. They were supposed to come with onions and Guacamole, and at $28, the 3 mini tacos w/ dots of Guacamole cream and may be a leaf of cilantro here and there, were an overprice Taquito con Carne. The Mahi Ceviche was served on a nice deep dish, with the side of nice Maracuya sauce. But it came with literally 3 small Plantain Chips. I dared asked for more Plantains, and was charged additionally. The Ceviche was $28, so you would think at that price, they could add more Plantain chips at no additional charge to the eater. The Maracuya sauce was not worth the price. And the fish was cut in such small pieces that it was hard to tell it was fresh. As far as Service goes, for 20% Service Charge fee INCLUDED, I would expect for the Waiter to provide me with the necessary utensils for eating the dishes, or asked to refill my water, or offer suggestions on the food, or ask and offer options for desserts. But no, there were 2 Waiters coming and just try to upsell the cocktails. The drinks were ok, but they didn't taste great or strong enough for $18 each. I loved the fact that they have the waiters dressed up traditionally, but the experience did not reflect the traditional Mexican cuisine flavors, nor the quantities. There were no complex elaborations nor dishes presented in a singular manner. It is basically an over-priced Mexican wanna restaurant that believes people are not educated or traveled enough to know what Mexican food is supposed to look and taste liked. They have a nice location in Coral Gables, too bad the concept falls short of the expectations of an...