Azul Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Haverhill

Waitstaff - Nothing bad to say here. Very friendly and attentive.

Appetizers - Very good. All appetizers came out very promptly. Free tortilla chips (they came out hot), and, a pretty standard but delicious, salsa roja. We also ordered guacamole, which was among the best I've had in a restaurant. It was a thick guacamole with red onion and tomato, and very well seasoned with plenty of brightness from lime juice. We also ordered calamari which was topped with fried jalapenos, chipotle mayo, and pickled red onion. I quite liked it like this, but you might want to ask for these on the side if you're sharing with anyone who has a more selective palette.

The wait for our entrees was a bit long. We were informed (well ahead of the majority of our wait) that there were only two employees working in the kitchen. I don't want to be too presumptive, but from my perspective as a customer it seemed as if the ratio of waitstaff to kitchen workers was a bit out of whack.

Entrees - I got the Enchiladas Mole Poblano, as well as the Tamales to share with my brother. I noticed on the first bite that, although my plate was very hot, the filling in my enchiladas was just a tad cold. These were overall just okay. Not the best mole poblano I've had. They were topped with pickled red onion and queso fresco which I liked. The side of refried beans, served in a tostada bowl, and topped with queso fresco, were some of the best refried beans I've ever had. I think it's a great way to serve them, too. For the tamales, I would say they were just okay as well. They come as a pair, one chicken, and one poblano and cheese, topped with lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, and queso fresco. The chicken one was fairly flavorful, however, the poblano and cheese one was bland. I really couldn't taste anything other than corn when I tried it sans toppings.

Overall Experience - I believe Azul has a lot of potential. I think some small tweaks to some of the food, and having a full kitchen staff to expedite orders could make it really great. I would recommend...

Visited Azul for weekend mid-day takeout and it was super! The varied menu had so many delicious options it was touch to decide what to ultimately order (not complaining!). Here's our order run down:

Super gorgeous place & friendly staff. Placed an online order and it was ready & waiting (well packaged).

Complimentary chips & salsa - great! Homemade tortilla chips, super flavorful & salsa was also great. We got a side of guacamole which was fantastically fresh and yummy (one could taste & see the diced onion & tomato, which I love!)

Chose Taquitos to share (HUGE! stuffed with a shredded chicken & corn mixture and served with a verde sauce on top & queso style sauce for dipping). Very good and would have been crispy had we eaten in house but as they were prepared 30-40 mins before we ultimately ate them they were pretty soggy when we ate them at home - flavors were still good, though.

My husband is a big fan of al pastor style pork & carnitas but we saw the menu included a port option for tacos called "PIBIL", which a search told us was a peppery citrusy marinated pork. It was FANTASTIC. Favorite item from this order.

I had the Enchiladas Maya, which were enchiladas stuffed with a queso fresco / cojita style cheese filling & topped with carne asada (steak). The steak was excellent - tender, lean & well seasoned. The enchiladas were also tasty but being used to Americanized Mexican food, I was expecting the cheese enchilada filling to be a melted cheese / Jack / cheddar style topped with steak. So be aware if you order these and are likewise expecting gooey cheese enchiladas, hee hee!

We'll definitely be back to work our way through more of the vast menu! Check...

This place has good food but they mess up the take out. First time they forgot our drinks, second time they gave us the wrong order. Make sure you check your bag before you leave. UPDATE: So we went again tonight 10/16 for my husband's birthday. I will still rate the food as 4 star, but their service I give a big fat ZERO. The people taking the orders need to LISTEN to what is being ordered. I don't know how ANYONE can screw up an order of salsa and chips, queso and chips and an order of chicken taquitos. We received the chicken taquitos and a big bag of chips and had to go back in the restaurant to correct our order.. I also want to mention that last time we went, I told them how we were missing our drinks in the last pickup order and was told they would make it up next time. Well we were told the manager wasn't in. Sorry can't replace drinks..Manager isn't here.. Sooo they screwed us out of 2 high prices margaritas. Word of warning..DO NOT leave restaurant with a pickup order without...