Otilia's Brunch and Dinner — Restaurant in Laredo

Seating Online reservation at 8pm, seated at 8:01. We arrived about 5 minutes prior.

Dress Code Dress code is what you would wear to República or San Telmo. Definitely upscale and catered to the higher earning area it’s located on. This place's dress code suggests it encourages a more refined and upscale atmosphere, not welcoming of anything under casual attire or inappropriate behavior. The AC and tinted windows handled the 95° weather well. Chill EDM played the entire time. Don’t forget your Botox and lip filler as it’s very welcomed here.

Ambiance The place is trendy and likely an Instagrammer’s playground. Maybe it’s because it’s just opening, but we had a phone with a content creator light shoved in our face without asking. My wife and I don’t care, but the dude bringing his side piece might not like this.

Table Setup The table setup was a gold-colored stainless steel (probably) plate, linen napkins, and gold-colored silverware with black handles.

Complimentary Bread Complimentary bread was fresh-baked, seemed like sourdough with sesame seeds, with garlic and regular butter on the side. This bread has an acquired taste unlike what we’re used to in Laredo. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to monitor how people respond to this bread, as we’re very reluctant to change. It’s just the reality of our city.

Drinks and Appetizers I ordered a Mezcalito Jamaica drink which was $18. It was good. We ordered a tuna tiradito. It’s unlike the flooded sauce plate we’re used to. This one had what tasted like a Filipino mayo-based sauce, different but nonetheless delicious 10/10.

Main Course Prime beef seems to be the only option here. My ribeye set me back $50+, and for an extra $30, you can have it covered in gold, which I skipped. I wasn’t given a steak knife, but the initial silverware set butter knife had a slight serration, so it was dual-purpose for me. I don’t know if this was intentional or not.

Service My server was simultaneously serving a table of 20 at the same time as my wife and I. He still tried to be as attentive as possible and apologized after realizing he hadn’t been by in a long time. We rarely ask for anything and usually are a one-drink type of table. I could see how this probably wouldn’t work out if I were a “needy” table.

Food Quality My steak was cooked a perfect medium rare. My side of mashed potatoes was lukewarm at best but still tasty. My wife ordered vodka fettuccine, which seemed to be homemade pasta with chicken. The sauce was slightly under salted to my wife’s taste.

Overall Experience Our tab was $124 before tip. If you’re going to drink expect to spend at least $50 per person on the low end. Aside from new opening flaws that all other new restaurants face and the usual issues that all upscale places face, like dudes blocking servers' pathways to have a conversation, the overall experience was positive. The atmosphere is good and looks like a great place to hang out. We are very...

Plenty of parking available. Drink menu prices are good. When we first walked in I felt like I was in Vegas, decor of the restaurant is top notch. My wife and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary here.

Our server, Tobias, provided excellent customer service, very professional and friendly and honest. We really liked him.

We got a table bread (free) and it came with two different types of butter. The bread was really really good.

We ordered the trio of chicharones for appetizer (steak, salmon, and pork), all meat was on a bed of guacamole served with 3 purple corn tortillas. Very good appetizer, $35. Up to this point, everything has been amazing.

Entrees, my wife ordered the braised beef short rib, 12 hour braise, $34. I ordered the 14 Oz Ribeye steak, with two sides ( I chose asparagus and truffle fries), $53.

The “beef short rib” had good flavor, great vegetables, and mash potatoes were perfectly cooked. One thing my wife and I noticed is that the cut of meat used was not short rib but a chuck roast. It Was not as tender and has the texture of the chuck, because it is chuck. We asked our server to ask the chef what kind of cut of beef it was and they’re sticking to their guns saying it’s beef short rib.

My ribeye steak was cooked medium rare nicely. Truffle fries had the perfect texture, same with the asparagus. However, they failed to season the steak. Not one bit of salt broke through the meat flavor. Only black pepper which was probably spinkled on at the end. How do you not pre season a steak before grilling? Texas Roadhouse’s ribeye is better for half the price.

Overall, this place has a ton of potential to be the best restaurant here in Laredo. The wife and I will come back to give this place another try at a later date. Quality of meat has to be better, and seasoned better as far as my steak went. I’ll give this place 3.5 stars out of 5. Like I said, tons of potential, good service, great atmosphere, appetizers and sides, all 5 stars.

Entree, false advertising with beef short rib with a cut of chuck, patrons can spot the flaw in that. Just don’t call it beef short rib, or actually use beef short rib. Please, season the steak before grilling. Thankfully I got chimmichurri sauce...

I was excited about having dinner at the most talked about place in my hometown and I was disappointed.

FOOD AND DRINKS: I arrived earlier than the birthday dinner party of 8 reservation and went to the bar for an old fashioned. I sent it back and asked for a beer as the drink didn’t meet the mark. Someone in the party ordered the fried rice and lobster tail, the waiter comes back about 20 minutes later to say they ran out of fried rice. I ordered the tenderloin medium rare and potatoes au gratin and chimichurri. The tenderloin was perfectly cooked but lacked flavor. The server mentioned they had ran out of chimichurri and when I asked for the house salsa that can be made at the table, he stated they ran out of tomatoes and had no more salsa. The au gratin potatoes were subpar. Others at the table ordered shrimp, pork belly tacos and were given the same response regarding no salsas being available.

SERVICE: We asked the male server for appetizer recommendations and had zero feedback for us. He could’ve pretended like he knew what he was talking about and we would’ve accepted it but he didn’t even try. The server refilled our drinks a total of 2 times after sitting at the table for two hours, and when we asked for a refill, the server rolled his eyes and still took a good while before returning with water and ice tea. Atmosphere: The place overall has a nice ambiance until you need to go to the restroom and dodge waiters coming out the same hallway with your food or preparing themselves for a celebratory light show at your table. The saxophone player is a nice touch which I considered when rating the atmosphere 2 stars.

OVERALL: I might give this place another shot in a few months once they can nail down tasty drinks, server etiquette and having enough food to last throughout the operating hours. I generally take pictures of my meal but I was that disappointed and no longer excited to capture...