Calle Latin Cuisine — Restaurant in Fayetteville

There are several major problems with this place that won't have me coming back unless there are some serious changes. First thing, I don't agree with people saying that the service is bad. Our server was a young college student and that's kind of what you're working with when you live or are dining in a college town. You're going to have college servers. Sometimes this is their first job! Secondly, when you have one bartender and they only hand you a cocktail menu, typically those cocktails are going to take a long time. That's to be understood to get a decent drink there needs to be some attention put into it. The major issue for me was the fact that my meal was over $120 and was terrible. This is happening to so many restaurants in Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas in general where they hire someone to design and restore a beautiful building, buy hip plates and cutlery, and most importantly - make a menu. Everything on the menu seemed delicious and artisanally crafted by a chef. However, when I received my food it had no level of seasoning and it whatsoever. It's like the person making my food didn't taste the food. My husband got the duck, which was tough didn't taste like duck. Also came with a mole sauce that tasted like bitter chalk. Overall the food was so bad we couldn't eat it and we spent $38 for each dish. I expect to have a chef prepare my food if I'm going to spend that much money on a dish. Understand that college kids might be servers, but lin cooks who don't have any experience don't need to be cooking fine dining level food (or they at least need to be trained on how to make food). Just because you buy all the right things doesn't mean the food is going to taste good and that is the most important part. I almost wanted to go back there and offer to make this plate of food myself because I know as a home cook I could have done a better job. Don't go here unless they hire a chef and Make the effort to make sure their food is quality and not just a money ploy for a...

It is always exciting when a new restaurant comes to the Fayetteville Square. The current restaurant scene has set a very high bar in both quality and service. Calle falls short of this in EVERY aspect. To begin, there is a beautiful patio, which they immediately filled with as many tables as possible, I could hear every conversation going on around us. The service was very slow, granted they were busy, but through the course of dinner I ordered a drink 5 times, I received 1 drink. The wait for the food was 2+ hours and we saw our server maybe 4 times. The wait would have been much shorter if they weren't packed, and they wouldn't be packed and understaffed if they didn't cram as many possible tables into this place as possible. Cut and dry money grab to corral as many people in and overcharge them. Food was way overpriced and they didn't bring out 2 of the meals. What personally drove me up a wall was the over pronunciation of the food and the fake accents when pronouncing something like "jalapenos". Who is that for? What does that add?

I would be more than willing to look past the bad service and the 2 hour wait if the food was good. I get it is a very new restaurant, but you have recipes and a menu down MONTHS before you even think about opening. The food I received was nothing short of something you would find at a middle school basketball team fundraiser. Bland food, bland mashed potatoes (how??), and untouchable beans. They even managed to burn corn. This restaurant will not last, riding the high of being new and having good outdoor seating will last a month, after that people will see it for what it is bad food that is overpriced with a side of a 2 hour wait. But hey, at least they pronounce "jalapenos" the right way. Save yourself the...

Update 9/2024 - we dined on the patio for dinner. The outdoor space is lovely. We liked the short rib arepas and salsa trio the best out of what we ordered, the portions seemed better. However, our waiter didn't mention happy hour and we had to ask about their sign - no drink deals besides beer and he was hesitant to tell us (and 100% wouldn't have if we didn't ask). The apps all taste good, but portion sizes are on the smaller side and difficult to share with more than a party of 2. The duck empanadas were so small we were shocked. We didn't order an entree because of the price. Some of the food also seemed cold for the start of their dinner service. Calle is good for a nicer restaurant, but it is probably too fancy for me to visit frequently.

We joined for their first ever lunch time opening (typically it was just evenings before), and we're so glad we did! The staff were all incredibly nice, the atmosphere in their outdoor seating area is lovely, and the food is top tier. Some of the best, finest food I've had in Fayetteville by far and genuinely felt like the prices were fine considering it is a higher end cuisine. We could actually taste liquor in the drinks (which is always a plus since you know they're not skimping on the alcohol!). My mom and I shared appetizers/tapas plates, rather than getting a full meal. The esquites and quinoa salad were both amazing. Outdoor seating is a truly nice vibe, and I'd fully recommend coming here if you'd like an elevated...