Los Dos Potrillos Mexican Restaurant - Littleton — Restaurant in Four Corners States

First time visiting in many years, as a nearby Mexican restaurant has been our go-to but is mid-sale and nearly all of the long-time staff have resigned.

We've been eating out 1-2x per week for quite a while and Mexican food is one of my favorites and our old stand-by. A hobby is searching out the best Mexican restaurants and food trucks in the Denver metro area.

We were looking forward to a new favorite local place as we live 15 minutes away! Stopped by today 7/11 just after lunch, they seemed very busy which was a good sign. Couple hiccups off the top, we got the ceviche which I thought was reasonably good, my wife found soggy and mass (bulk rather than recently made specific to this restaurant) produced as it was nearly 100% fish-based rather than shrimp-based as we're used to. Photo is nearby, aboult half of the sliced avocado served with it was past it's expiration date/not prepared properly, for those who eat avocado regularly, that means black streaks throughout and some skin left on it. The appearance that would cause you to disgard at least that part of the avocado if eating it at home. The other avocado portions served with the ceviche were good flavor/quality/freshness.

The tableside guac is something we order every time at our other favorite Mexican restaurant. Per the menu, "prepared at your table". But, it wasn't. It was served pre-done, dropped off at our table with the ceviche. On the plus side, jalepenos were removed as we'd requested and the quality was excellent, clearltly recently made. But, it was not tableside guac. ??

The other picture is of steak fajita, lots of kudos for following our request that it be cooked medium rare and with only red peppers. Initially our request that it be served medium rare or at least not overdone was met by the waiter's feedback of 'they cook it how they cook it'. But, at our request, they got it just right. So, prepare to ask for how you request it be cooked and be insistent.

Just not flavorful, though. The meat could have used a couple hour brine prior to cooking. Wife added salt and pepper to make it palatable which I do not ever recall her ever doing at a Mexican restaurant. On the plus side, not too salty!

My carnitas were good to very good, very large serving size, flavorful and served with spicy green peppers on top. The flour tortillas served with it were excellent, appeared to be made in house.

Fine for me, too spicy for many people. I prefer heat level 6 at Indian restaurants (out of 5 heat levels), Thai hot at Thai restaurants etc. So, this would have been too spicy for many, this was not indicated on the menu and other reviewers have commented on food being too spicy for them to enjoy.

If you drink wine, do not go to this restaurant. They had about 4 wine options on the menu, 2 whites 2 reds, all Carboy which is a local winery attached to Angelo's restaurant on Santa Fe north of Aspen Creek. Not high end. My beer was perfect, seemed they focus on beer and Margaritas.

We were there nearly two hours, our waiter was running hard, very busy. We were not in a hurry, just be prepared for a long visit.

All charges on the bill were exactly correct which we appreciated! Often we find mistakes and have learned we need to check, unfortunately.

No dessert was offered after we finished our meal, although the tray showing dessert options when you walk in the door was quite attractive. Had we been in the mood, we would have requested a dessert menu, so just an observation.

Would we go back, the defining question?

I'd lean toward yes based on the carnitas quality, ceviche, and guac quality.

Wife would say no (overriding vote here as any married guys are well aware) due to ceviche soggy, flavorless fajita steak, and very limited wine...

I have managed prestigious restaurants. I was absolutely appalled by the cleanliness and hospitality of the staff of this establishment.

The waitress did NOT care about a single thing. We did bring our issues and concerns of cleanliness to the manager , who then did not apologize and was very defensive. They did not care to make the experience right for us as a party of ten. Almost all sets of silverware had dried eggs, meat , handprints and a hair (on one) wrapped around the silverware. That was strike one, we did let the staff know, they did not seem bothered and did not apologize. They did accommodate us with new silverware however. This is something that should never happen, that is cross contamination and a health code hazard.

Most of us did not like the food, it was bland, sloppy and just overall not good. The food was extremely overpriced for what it was. This restaurant has a fantastic reputation so we expected it to be at least decent.

My friend pulled out a long black hair out from the green chili on her plate. That was strike 3, we were all disgusted and did not continue to eat. We told the waitress about the hair in the food. We were met with attitude, no apology, no sympathy. She asked us to hand us the plate of food. Did not offer anything else she could eat or something else she could order. Right then and there, with that hospitality ,that waitress would have been let go of. That is not okay, waitresses should know basic hospitality, any tough situation could also be handed off to the manager. A manager was not sent over to address anything. When we did approach the manager we were met with defensiveness and he down played the situation. I can’t believe they would treat paying customers that way, I have never seen anything like it. We didnt want anything out of it, we wanted to share what was going on and obviously get clean utensils. Some of us did walk away still feeling hungry, we were to upset and grossed out by what we saw/experienced. This establishment will not go very far with this level of quality, cleanliness and hospitality.

I absolutely do not recommend this place at all. There are FAR better small businesses that will actually serve quality food, experience and...

How do you give a restaurant that you loved only 2 stars? First, the food has always been great. As was the dine-in service. I absolutely love the carnitas too! We've done the buffet on weekend, margaritas with friends...yum. when we want Mexican food and dine in, this is where we go. Haven't been in a while tho. But recently, a take-out order was less than great in that the food was cold in the middle (sounds common these days) and the side of guac ordered with no sour cream had sour cream. Things happen right? So I called the restaurant to let them know both things and the manager on the phone was instantly defensive and rude. She abhorrently insisted that our side is guac did not have sour cream as she watched them make it for our order as if I was lying to her. I stared at the guac in front of me and well yep...there it is...a huge dollop of sour cream under the guac. I told her this and that I'd gladly send her a photo. She then angrily told me she'd give me a refund and while that wasn't my intention for the full refund, I thanked her because now, I'm mad. Told her we are long time patrons and love their food but was surprised for the cold food. She seemed less than thankful and ended the conversation. They say most people don't "complain", they simply just don't go back. I believe you can't fix what you dont know is broke/wrong so I'll share. My goal is never to get a refund for something I'm going to consume but share a negative experience to be acknowledged and addressed for the next time. I also considered maybe others have been less than truthful to get a refund or whatever hense her defensiveness. Reading the reviews and this seems like the new norm. Heck, I didn't even check to see if I got a refund. But this I know....after that interaction, they have lost a long time customer. I've already found another delicious Mexican restaurant nearby. I don't know if the new place has the delicious Carnitas that I used to love here, but to be made out to be a liar and the rudeness was beyond acceptable. We want to support local. This place used to be great. I hope they can get it together and be great...