Encantada Cocina+Cantina — Restaurant in Georgetown

Review for El Monumento: (4 stars)I’ve written this review before but somehow it’s not showing up. “El Mon”, as it’s lovingly called by the locals, is a staple for Georgetown. It’s the only restaurant/bar in town that has the true Austin vibe. El Bar is my favorite place to sit but you’ll have to get there for early happy hour if you actually want to get a seat. Versions of the best chips and salsa are varied. If you like the thick chips made from fresh corn tortillas, you’ll be happy here. Their tomatillo salsa is excellent as well. I’m generally satisfied with my selection from the menu. Their carnitas are a favorite. The spicy cucumber margarita is a must try and if you want to get fancy, order the French Press Coffee with all the fixins. It comes with a shot of tequila, fresh whipped cream and simple syrup. I forgot to take a picture the last time I had it. Updated Review: This long time GTown establishment has changed ownership. Encantada is its new name. I’ve gone twice and been pretty disappointed both times. The chips at the bar were stale and the carnitas were extremely oily. I’ve always loved the ambiance and they use to have my favorite chips and salsa. But, it seems they’ve struggled to get it right in the past few years (even before changing owners tbh). New owners please take note: the bar always smells like cleaning fluid (I think it’s because of the steam that comes out of the washer that is used for the glasses), there are a few bartenders that are pleasant and at least one that has never, ever been cordial (I always wonder if it’s just me & maybe it is), please check your chips in the bar area periodically. Nothing worse than stale chips especially when you have to pay for them). I don’t know what to say about the food. It just needs monitoring by a good chef who won’t stand for mediocre to leave...

My husband and I ate an early dinner there. It was pretty empty. Our server did a great job, but no service would excuse the horrible food and drinks. We had a Mexican martini and a skinny margarita. At $18 and $12, I had high expectations. The MM was okay, nothing special. The SM was awful; we had to order a beer to put in it to try to make it better. We thought maybe it was a fluke, so my husband ordered another, and it was the same. We ended up just drinking beer. The food was awful. Appetizers were the street corn and nachos. Street corn was hard to eat; they didn't remove the corncob. The nachos were decent. They do not give you chips or salsa; you have to pay for it if you want it. We tried, and it was bland and had no flavor. Its entrees were Chicken changa and carnitas tacos. If you want rice and beans with it, you have to pay extra. Chicken chaga was a bland green sauce with Pico on top and copious amounts inside. The carnitas tacos are supposed to have pineapple, onion, cilantro, and a lime creme sauce. The tacos had no noticeable pineapple, and the lime creme was sour cream. My husband could not eat his entree and exchanged it for the street salad. It was okay; the corn tasted like they had pulled it out of the freezer and into the salad. To top it off, they pass their MB tax (mixed beverage tax) to the consumer. I also did not like the tip set at 25%. We tipped 20% because she tried, and I felt bad. Needless to say, we will never...

Update: Immediately after I left this review; management responded. I did as instructed and emailed them regarding the incident. Cherie was very sweet and is refunding the overage for the expensive drinks. I'm a small business owner and understand things happen and really appreciate their efforts. They are good people and I will go back and try again.

My husband I dined at Encantada on a Friday evening. It was busy, but we were seated right away. Our server was friendly, but I thinked overwhelmed because service was a bit sluggish. The food was ok, but not great. My husband really loved the salsa. At the end of the evening we decided to do a shot and asked if they could make a B-52. Our server wasn't sure. I told her it was a layered shot with Baileys, Kahlua and Grand Marnier. She said she thought they could make it. We were surprised when she came back with these huge glasses of the layered shot. (we weren't looking to have anything more than one shot, but drank it anyway, LOL). It was very good. When the check arrived we were surprised that it seemed much higher than we expected. When we examined the breakdown, we had been charged for 3 shots each for a whopping total of around $26 per drink! I wish we would have been told it would have been served as a triple shot and would cost that much because we truly only wanted one shot each. In any case, we won't be returning to this...