Tres Chiles Picosos — Restaurant in Eureka

If Google allowed one word reviews, Mediocre would suffice, but since they do not I will endeavor a frank accounting of my experience.

First the good: the space is well renovated and has a contemporary atmosphere, their is an obvious effort towards good customer service.

The Bad: the food, I cannot understand why good Mexican cuisine is so hard to come by in Humboldt county, but this place is no exception. The plating extends creativity into the realm of deception. My three Al Pastor tacos, rice and beans were served on a roughly 20 x 20-inch, platter, giving the impression of an ample portion. My smear of refried beans was probably an eighth of an inch thick; probably a quarter cup in total. Aside from being deceptive, the excessive surface area allows the food to cool rapidly.

Speaking of low temperatures, the doubled guerrero corn tortillas that formed the base of my tacos, had not seen a Comal in their brief existence, nor would they. If you've ever heated a stack of tortillas in the microwave, wrapped in damp paper towel for speed and convenience, then the ones I received were the top and bottom of the stack that aren't heated properly and tend to curl at the edges; essentially still raw.

The meat was OK, but I can do significantly better at home with Winco or Safeway's preseasoned Al- Pastoresque meat, let alone doing my own marinade or any decent recipe.

The rice was overcooked, dry, and bland, however it was warm. There is also an ample amount of festivly arranged lettuce. The salsa looks better then it tastes and is in short supply; as if they know you're not going to ask for more.

My daughter ordered the ground beef flautas, (no self respecting Mexican restaurant should offer anything with ground beef, but I digress) crispy, mostly tortilla and half the length of what I would consider standard, about three inches.

In short, substandard fare cleverly masquerading as...

For the price, the food should have been delicious, but it was just okay. I probably won't go here again unless someone else really wants to go.

Chips and salsa are free with purchase of entrée. I was told by a friend it took a long time to get theirs, so with the drink order I said we were getting entrées and asked for chips and salsa. The chips were crunchy, thin, and not greasy. They didn't really have any flavor. I liked the chunky salsa but the two friends with me didn't care for it. I liked the salsa better than the chips.

I liked the small water glasses and that the pitcher was left at the table.

I got the burrito and it was just beans in a tortilla with cheese on top. The frozen bean and cheese burritos we make at home taste the same and are $1 instead of $10. I liked the cilantro rice. It would have been nice to have double the rice instead of a side of beans. Even better would have been tomatoes or onions, or pico de gallo, or guacamole,however, that costs a few dollars extra after an already pricy burrito. I was interested in some of the other menu items, e.g. fajitas, smothered burrito, but they were even more expensive.

The vegetable burritos are not my style, they have broccoli, zucchini, baby corn, etc. For a vegetable burrito I'd rather have tomatoes, onions, green peppers, potatoes, beans, etc., not salad vegetables.

The atmosphere is nice for a sit down meal. The restaurant was pretty busy. Service was slow, so if you have plans afterwards you might want to mention it to the host or...

I've been here a few times as I'm staying in the hotel right behind the restaurant. Today, my experience will not allow me to spend another dime at this place. Food and waitresses were excellent. But the bartender was completely rude and nasty. We order drinks, that were not to our liking. We told the waitress, she told the bartender, and the next moment the bartender herself was at our table. She asked what was wrong with the drink and that if we wanted them stronger we should've ordered a double! After telling her to change the drink she seemed very disgusted, her tone and body language was not appropriate as we were the customers and she was the employee. She was told to not worry about making another drink but the drink was still added to the bill. We asked for a manager and she came out "pretending" to be the manager stating that, "this is as good as it gets for manager!" She said she could only take off a few dollars because the drink was not full when it was returned. She, herself knew that he drinks were good and because the other person wasn't complaining then everything should be ok. Not sure how smart she is but everyone has different palates and prefer different strengths of alcohol. She, then proceeded to say, you can just pay the bill and be gone!! Thankfully, another waitress came over and removed the drink from the bill. She has ruined it for many other's because I will definitely tell this story. No one wants tonbe treated this way when they are spending their hard...