Anson 11 — Restaurant in El Paso

Ok. If there was an option to give it 2.5 stars I would. But I chose 2 over 3 because of the following reasons.

I try to manage expectations after being in El Paso for a few years. Nothing wrong with the city it's just a uniqueness you have to get accustomed to. Sometimes I am very happy with places but this time I was not. The ambiance of the resturant for an "upper scale" dining experience just wasn't there. I felt like I was eating at an Applebee's or a Outback not how it is described online.

When I got out I understand that I'm not paying just for the food but also for the experience (and the fact that I don't have to cook for myself). I'm a foodie (not just the eating but to enjoy the food as well). I believe this is the first time in my life that I only ate 1/4 of my burger. It came with truffle fries, which were not truffle fries as I know them. More like fries lightly dipped in truffle based oil. The tacos were ok. Just the mayonnaise on top was unexpected and I believe threw off the flavor.

I have no problem the staff feel relaxed and not running around all over the place but when we went this place it was almost completely empty. However we watches as two other couples that had been there for about 15-20 minutes had not even been asked what they wanted. Mind you at this time there were 2 or more servers and only about 8-10 customers here.

The price was reasonable (in comparison with similar "upscale dining" experiences). The rating of $$$$ was not appropriate it's more like $$$ or $$. I think I spend more going to Ihop or Cracker barrel with my family of 4.

Thank you for validating the parking ticket as parking is hard to come by. However validation did not work when I went to turn it in and leave. Luckily worker let us out free. Maybe it was a glitch.

Recommendations: Offer an experience that is different from other resturants around. Revamp menu to dishes that are more manageable in preparation. Cater to you customers as soon as they come in until they are out the door. Usually with increased price people expect increased quality. Please work on that. May go back as i like to give second chances but may end up going to Cafe...

Overall, a very disappointing night for what should be a fine dining restaurant. We reserved our 4 course Valentines Day dinner 2 weeks out for a 7 pm reservation but when we arrived we weren’t seated until 7:15. Our first interaction with a server didn’t happen for another 10 minutes until they finally asked if we preferred water or sparkling water, to which we responded sparking and they delivered regular. After about 45 minutes someone dropped off two glasses of white wine with no explanation of what type, where it comes from, or even the name. It wasn’t until I inquired about the wine did someone tell me what it was and that is was supposed to pair well with the first two courses. Well, 10-20 minutes later, the first course arrived. With all the time between the courses we started to take notice of the other guests, who could be seen talking to managers about their dissatisfaction with the evening. One couple even left after the first course because it had been over an hour since they were seated. It wasn’t until 2 hours into our evening that I finally addressed our concerns with our server because we still hadn’t received our main course. His reply was mumbled apologies and his attempt to fix it by giving us another glass of red wine for free (again with no explanation of its name, type or source). Overall, the food was sub par for a fine dining experience. It wasn’t horrible but maybe the bad taste from the horrible service was ruining my palate. The portions were extremely small for $80 per person. We could have gone to Ruth Chris’s for the same amount and received twice the portions and and infinitely better staff at what fine dining should consist of. We ended our Valentine’s Day evening by actually walking down the street to get pizza from the Pizza Joint because we were left still hungry. I would not recommend Anson 11 to friends or family...

It is hard for me to leave five stars unless everything from top to bottom was perfect. Well... see how many stars I left?

I've been here a few times for lunch or dinner and most often by myself. There was an event in the area last night and it was very busy. The wait was about an hour but my friends and I waited patiently with our drinks in the waiting area which was actually quite nice and out of site from the rest of the patrons. It was rather quiet and just very homely-feeling which I loved. The hostess came back and let us know that we would have a table in about five minutes and sure enough came back to grab us. We did not need to pester or check on the list to see where we were at. That was really nice.

Once seated... Our server was very professional and personable. We absolutely enjoyed the excellent service provided and the food was a knockout! Hats off to the Chef. Thanks for turning my friend into another bacon lover! They insisted that she try the food the way it was intended to be made which is par for any chef and I can only agree. They also offered to remake it without if she didn't like it. Well. The look on her face upon first bite said it all. Bravo! Everyone was very pleased and it really helped make the night perfect.

I think that was the best visit I've had at Anson 11 to date. The other times were still great. But last night was incredibly awesome especially given the fact that they were absolutely slammed. Food quality tends to suffer when a kitchen is over-worked. Food came out much faster than I even expected and like I said, it was all amazing. Not one single thing out of place.

And this is to the Chef: Please, please, please... Keep the Mac 'n cheese on the menu! Like, forever. :)

So, once again... Thank you all for the wonderful evening! Keep it up. We...