Agave Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Gastonia

My family has been going here for a couple years now, and we always have a fantastic meal and experience. Agave is an authentic, family-owned operation and it feels that way. The owner/operator always says hello if he's in at the time, and unlike many restaurants, the waitresses are always the same. The same women are always there and they are super friendly, attentive, and make sure our glasses never run dry. Agave truly provides service with a smile! The food is incredibly fresh and tasty, the portions are excellent, and there are a million options on the menu. Their pre-meal chips are always warm and fresh, and the salsa is outstanding. I highly recommend their fish dishes, their stuffed avocados, and my daughter raves about their 1 1/2 pound California Burrito. It is gigantic and offers plenty of leftovers for a meal the next day. They have a wonderful array of hot sauces to accompany your meal, from mildly spicy to melt-your-face spicy. Their magaritas are also excellent, with lots of yummy flavors, nice portion, and there's plenty of alcohol in them (unlike the watered-down junk you get in many places these days). My youngest daughter always said she didn't like Mexican food, until we started going to Agave on a regular basis. Now she says it's her favorite restaurant and she always wants to go! The decor is very simple, and the atmosphere doesn't feel like fine dining. That said, it has always been clean and tidy, and they have plenty of staff on-hand to keep things spiffed up. The ONLY real downside is the location. The motel next door looks a little shady, but we've never had any safety issues or problems. The parking lot on the right side when facing the restaurant is well lit, and we've never had anyone approach us, say anything to us, or mess with our car. My family has always felt safe there.

In summary, we adore Agave and it is one of our favorite restaurants anywhere on the west side of Charlotte. The food and service are a real treat, and an outstanding value. IMO, Webb Custom Kitchen is the only other restaurant in the area that offers food and service that is so consistently excellent. Thank you to the owners and staff for always making our family...

I have eaten here at Agave three times. The weight staff were always cheerful, helpful, and simply delightful. The food was good and hence I returned. The ISSUE I had was my last visit.. I hate cilantro. May as well eat a bar of Irish Spring soap. I ordered the Texan Burrito and I was clear that I could not eat anything that had it as an ingredient. (If it is even on the same table with my food, I will taste it somehow). The food came out and after two bites I hit the cilantro. Now what you need to understand is I wasn’t hungry. I was RAVENOUS. My companion’s food has come well in advance of mine and it seems that everybody else in the restaurant has gotten their food. By the time my food came I was beside myself with hunger. When I got that bite of cilantro, I was so sad because I knew I couldn’t eat it. I told the waitress that there was cilantro in my food, she apologized, and took it away, promising to come back with one that did not have cilantro. Instead of food coming out, the owner/cook? came out and challenged me stating I was wrong and that my good did NOT have cilantro. This infuriated him. He insisted that there was no cilantro in it. I insisted that there was cilantro in it. There was no percentage in me lying. I had only taken 2 bites. Nonetheless he adamantly insisted that there was no cilantro in my food. I asked him if he thought I was lying. His response was “there was no cilantro”. One of us was wrong and neither of us were budging from our staked positions. In frustration and because it was becoming a spectacle, I told him to just leave it, that I would pay for it, and would never come back. He took the food away. I knew he was not done with me and I told my friend that I would bet her five dollars that he was going to come out with the burrito cut wide open for inspection. Instead, the man came out with a bowl of lettuce and challenged me to find cilantro in it. By this time everyone in the restaurant stopped eating to watch. I did not answer him nor did I search through his lettuce. I let my friend finish her meal and we left. I will NEVER EVER EVER go back. Not because of the cilantro but...

We absolutely LOVE Agave! Agave provides amazing and authentic Mexican food. Any dish we have ordered has far exceeded our expectations. Our favorite dishes are the carnitas de puerco, traditional nachos with shredded chicken and all the toppings (the shredded chicken is the most flavorful and best we've ever had), and the birria tacos and quesadillas (these blew our minds!)

Their salsa is freshly made every day and they make all their specialty sauces in house as well - the cilantro sauce is my favorite and my significant other loves all the hot sauces! They're so good and truly HOT and authentic!

Ambi is the owner and we really enjoy going there and chatting with him when he has time! Lupita is our favorite server, she provides exceptional and quick service. But we really love all the hardworking staff at Agave. They have become like family to us. We can count on them to have our favorite table available and remember our favorite dishes and special requests! They go above and beyond and listen to their customers to better accommodate in the future. Honestly, never seen another establishment go above and beyond as much as Agave does. They're simply the best 👌🏻

There is no reason not to go to Agave, I highly recommend to anyone and we truly hope you expand your palate and try new things here - you...