Salsa Brava — Restaurant in Flagstaff

What an interesting and underwhelming experience eating at this restaurant. I was excited to come here when I read all the rave reviews on Google. But sometimes you have people that don't understand food. Obviously the people that are local here don't have much choice in this small town and they don't know a good Mexican food is.

The outside atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice and inside I enjoyed the decor.

The service was very cold. The waiter who I'm not sure if was a boy or a girl was completely unaware of the menu. He/ She had no ability or desire to answer my question about the food.

The food arrived very quickly which surprised me. The presentation was very nice. I have to commend the restaurant for that. It definitely was pleasing to look at. However the flavors were bland.

I ordered the peach jalapeno carnita tacos and let's just say they were extremely bland. I think there was one little piece of jalapeno on the plate but I couldn't find jalapeno in the actual tacos. Maybe the cook forgot to put them in. Keyword is cook as there is definitely not a chef here.

I think the owner may be very clever but unfortunately he's not here and the food is very substandard.

I was presented with three salsas and they were all very underwhelming. I've had better salsa at Chili's. And that's pretty bad.

The rice was stale and it had hard crunchy pieces in it that would break your teeth. It sat around way too long.

Would I ever come back to this place? Knowing yes. If I was going out with some friends who honestly had no clue what good Mexican food was and they wanted to come here I'd be happy to come here but I would know not to expect very much. The only really good thing is the presentation of the food. So in the photos it looks very nice but you don't have to put the food down your throat.

Look closely at the tomatoes in the salsa. They shouldn't even be serving these they were so unripe and they were so bland and pulpey that they were literally inedible. If you can't provide a proper right tomato then don't serve that salsa for the evening. Enough said.

If you are craving Mexican food and you're in town for the night and you want something a step above del Taco or Taco Bell and you don't have high expectations then this place might...

As a Flagstaff native who has supported this local business for over 35 years, I am deeply disappointed by my recent experience. After how my family and I were treated, I will no longer support this restaurant.

For my father's birthday, he chose this restaurant because it's one of my mother's favorites. We quickly finished the small basket of chips and the three tiny bowls of salsa. When my father asked for more salsa, we were informed there would be an additional charge. The same applied to extra chips. I recall that this restaurant for many years used to have a salsa bar and offered unlimited chips, it's what it was known for. I noticed that other tables received the same portions regardless of the number of people at the table.

When our food arrived, my father found his meal was not hot. My mother recounted that during her 2 previous visits, she had found chicken bones in her chicken quesadilla both times, and neither the waitress nor the management addressed the issue. My own food was bland, chewy, and not hot despite the plate being warm. I was hesitant to ask for additional salsa due to the extra charge.

The bill included a 4% fee before taxes, which meant I was also paying taxes on this fee. When we questioned this, the waitress mentioned it was due to an arrangement between the owner and the city. The manager, who was sent to address our concerns, approached us with a dismissive attitude. She explained that the fee was implemented to keep menu prices lower and claimed that the owner was doing us a favor. Regarding the portion sizes, she was also dismissive when I pointed out that we received the same portions as smaller tables. When my father and I mentioned that we would no longer be returning, she sarcastically responded, "I'm sorry to hear that. Have a nice day."

The situation continued to deteriorate. As we were leaving, my elderly mother, who has difficulty moving quickly due to her bad knees, was almost pushed aside by the busboy as he rushed to clear our table. This lack of consideration and respect was shocking.

Between the nickel-and-diming, the manager's unprofessional behavior, the subpar food quality, and the hasty attempt to push us out, I will not be returning to this restaurant or recommending...

Supposedly the food is great so after driving 12 hours and across several states we were ready for a good margarita and some decent Mexican food. 1st off, the 2 young gals sat us in between two large tables with groups of young children... I then requested to be sat at a tae in the main dining area. They were reluctant because those do me tables seat 6+. So they sat us at a booth, unfortunately those 3 booths are all crammed together for skinny Minnie's, not for a 6'4" large guy so I requested they seat us at a big table. The gal had to ask the other girl. Finally seated. We ordered 2 standard frozen mango margaritas(great)and the cheese tortilla crisp could have had a little more cheese on it but ok. I ordered the Carnitas combo platter. My friend, the chicken mole enchiladas. Both plates were $18.99. He ate one enchilada and that's it because everything was bland. The black bean juice was overtaking the mole sauce. I made one small taco with some of the Carnitas and left the rest on the plate because they were so bland it was as if it were just a pork roast with no seasoning or spice. I ate the cheese enchilada, some of the rice and the veggie tostada since I had them leave the chicken off because I don't care for chicken. I asked for ground beef but they don't have any. The 3 salsas, pineapple/habanero was not spicy or hot at all. Too sweet. The Pico de Gallo was very bland and tasted like just tomatoes. The red sauce, fantastic! Great spice and flavor. Our tick was $83.32. Way too much for the lack of quality and on top of that, the charged $1.75 for a second bowl of the red sauce but that was not mentioned when I asked for it and the other 2 salsas went uneaten. Then on top of all of that they charge a"Flagstaff 4% service charge" and then explain it as "helping to keep their menu prices as low as possible". That's a major contradiction there. One would think that the server, seeing that the majority of our meal not having been eaten and not wanting to take it to go would clue her into think "hmmm maybe something was wrong". The 4% fee and the $1.75 salsa refill fee came out of her tip. The picture attached is of the food that was left...