Rustico Fine Mexican Cuisine — Restaurant in Denison

While in Denison for one evening we wanted to patronize a locally-owned restaurant with good ratings. Research uncovered a couple of candidates, but we chose Rustico because site-made Mexican food sounded really good.

Overall, this restaurant was a good choice; it's a place we'd certainly return to. That said we would definitely choose a few different items next time.

I think this location was once a small supermarket. It has lots of room inside for booths and tables. During our visit they easily accommodated couples and large families. (Their parking lot is a different matter; many customers had to use on-street parking.)

Outside the place looks like a former grocery store. Apparently no a lot of work or thought went into the decor. Inside is a different matter. It's quite nice, with interesting lighting, art, and display pieces.

The owner enthusiastically greeted us then took us to a booth near the entrance. It's clear he's quite proud of his "baby," an attitude I appreciate. We quickly received a basket of delicious tortilla chips and a bowl of a-little-spicy-but-very-tasty red salsa.

Jessie, our server showed up soon afterward, she proved very patient as we asked lots of questions about menu options. I eventually settled on Poblano Chicken Enchiladas while my wife selected the Main Street Special. We also ordered a bowl of queso blanco as an appetizer.

Like the chips and salsa the queso was really tasty, and plentiful, too. We really enjoyed it when topped with salsa. A definite "win."

Both entrees looked stunning...beautifully and imaginatively plated. All main dishes and sides were hot, apparently direct from the oven or grill. Unfortunately, this is the part where my review falls down a bit.

I'll be the first to say that people prefer different types of food, different levels of seasoning, etc. Other people might not appreciate foods we really enjoy.

That said, I found the chicken enchiladas really bland...even when covered with their poblano sauce. I mentioned this to Jessie, and she suggested a remedy: try them topped with tomatillo sauce. I'm pleased to say this solution made the enchiladas more palatable, but they still weren't my favorites. However, the rice and beans I received were really good.

My wife also found a few items not as pleasant as others. Her entree came with a cheese enchilada, a "beef" taco, a chicken taco, one tamale, rice and beans. She agreed the chicken in her taco lacked flavor. But she loved the cheese enchilada! I tried a bite and thought it was the best thing we received. It was especially tasty when topped with tomatillo sauce.

She took the "beef" taco and tamale as leftovers. A few days later she discovered the "beef" taco contained a noticeable number of fillers. (That's why I set the word beef in parenthesis throughout this review.) She's not eaten the tamale yet.

The bottom line: We consider this a solid four-star restaurant. Had we'd ordered differently it might have been a five-star eatery. I wouldn't hesitate to return or encourage others to try the place, and actually hope to have a occasion to...

Rustico Restaurant

Walked in on a Tuesday night about 6:30 pm. We're immediately seated. Upon walking in for the first time, I noticed how large and interesting the place was. The atmosphere is pretty awesome! The decor, on point! Asked about the drink specials and our server Kaytlin told us about the $3 small margarita special for Tuesdays. We ordered a pair. Good, a little orangy but not bad enough to stop us from a second. Ordered the stuffed jalapeños. Stuffed with chicken and cheese and served with a mango tomato relish. Very good! For the main dish, we decided to go with the "Habanero Shrimp" Bacon Wrapped shrimp with Habanero-Mango Sauce, herb vegetables and Poblano rice. Upon arrival, everything looked great! Until we bit in...the sauce is an avocado sauce. No hint of Habanero OR Mango at all...so we asked the server who said, "let me check" she came back and informed us that the "mango" part was a typo. I said, fair enough, but I still taste nothing Habanero either...she left and the Owner came by the table. He proceeded to tell us about the typo on the menu and that Mango, just wasn't a part of that entree. I then asked about the Habanero, he stated that it was a slivered cut of the pepper that was inserted into the shrimp, prior to the bacon wrap. I said I wasn't so sure about that, but he persisted. So the wife and I each unwrapped a shrimp. No Habanero, no slit, no nothing but shrimp. He went on and on about how we had just "helped the restaurant" and allowed him to train and discipline his staff. He was adamant that he told them, and that they were remaking it, and doing it right! Great! We ordered another margarita while waiting....about 45 minutes went by. We finally asked Kaytlin about our food, and she informed us, they weren't making anything and the owner had left. That was all he told her. Was to take off our entree and that was it....we were sharing this one meal after an appetizer. I guess, that was it. We weren't even getting to eat. I wasn't happy, but what could we do at that point. She explained the kitchen was closing. The service was great! Well, with the exception that the margarita "special" wasn't a special @$3 at all. Apparently it had changed without our servers knowing to $4.25 and the owner was no where to be found to even correct that. All in all, we'll probably give them one more shot to see what it's all about. A really nice place, but need to get...

My girlfriend and I wanted to try something new so why not one of the newest restaurants in the area! So lets start with the appetizer and drinks. We had some chips salsa, and queso. The queso was not very good at all. Had no flavor and was just essentially white Velveeta melted. Some rotel or jalapenos could have really helped. She ordered the Rustico margarita and I ordered the dizzy blonde from Ivanhoe Brewery. Our server had no clue what beers were on tap and on the menu it just showed a couple of beers being from a company I am not a fan of. So when I asked she said oh we have this dizzy girl beer from the brewery down the street. Being a fan of Ivanhoe and familiar with their beers I ordered it. The beer was good and cold. Thumbs up there. My girlfriends margarita was just about one of the worst margaritas I have ever had. DO NOT waste 8$ on the margaritas at this place. They were premixed and watered down. Pretty much tasted like a melted rita on the rocks that had tequila poured on top of it. One weird thing I need to mention is we had a server and she was taking care of us. But a completely different server came over and tried to take our order then 2 minutes later our original server came over to take our order. This happened multiple times. We were a bit confused as to who was actually our server.

Now to the dinner part. We ordered the combination fajitas to split. Have you ever ordered fajitas where they are not sizzling when they get to your table ? Yea me either. They were warm at least but not the sizzling surprise everyone waits for when they order fajitas. Not to mention we received no plates or tortillas with our meal. By the time we got them the sizzle would have been gone anyways. The chicken was very bland and a little dry. Now let me get to the good part. The beef fajitas. They are the only reason this is not a 1 star review. They were some of the best beef fajitas I have ever had. So tender juicy and flavorful. The tortillas were good as well.

Overall I think this place is just an overpriced Jalapeno Tree or El Chico. The food was not good(excluding the beef fajitas), the service was pretty bad, and the margaritas worst of all. I will not be...