Desperados Cantina — Restaurant in Lexington

Went for the first time tonight, brought a few friends, looking forward to the next time we go!

Ordered:

Food: Salsa Flight (choice of 3) (7$) Salsa Negra Fresh Verde Roasted Red Pepper Guacamole (9$) Chamoy Shrimp Taco (7$) Vegan Jackfruit Taco (8$)

Drink(s): House Margarita (Spicy) (8$) Oaxaca Old Fashioned (8$)

First things first, the food and drink, top to bottom:

Salsa Flight: The salsas were all spectacularly fresh, flavorful, and robust. The Negra was probably my favorite; very smoky, very smooth, not too hot. Paired great with the spicy margarita. The Verde and roasted red pepper as well, solid, A+. I will say, I was told the red pepper was "the spiciest we have tonight", and I was expecting hotter :b But, that's no complaint to the taste, would, and will, order again. The chips. They give you more than enough chips, haha. And they're so well seasoned. I don't know what with, but, chef's kiss. Good crunch, not too salty, drop a touch of lime on there and go to town.

Guacamole: Probably the freshest guac I've had in town. That stuff came out of the avocado minutes before plating and you can test it. I'm predominantly vegetarian, I eat a lot of avocado, that was darn good guac. (Also comes with it's own order of additional chips)

Chamoy Shrimp Taco: The green apple slaw raised an eyebrow for sure, but paired with the rather spicy leaning appetizers and drinks we'd warmed up with, it was a sweet and savory cleanser. A very refreshing composition that I'll order again. (I got it with a flour tortilla).

Vegan Jackfruit Taco: Okay, some opinions on this one. It wasn't bad, hell, it was great! I've had a lot of jackfruit in my time, and I know it's really hard to cook well. I think maybe it could have been seasoned a little bit more, or an extra dab of their sauce-age of choice, but I'd still gladly order again. That said, we had a lot of extra salsa, and pouring a little bit of the Verde or the Negra on there? oh yes.

House Margarita (Spicy) Okay, so, the house margaritas come in a few different varieties. Original, spicy, strawberry, and Guava. I was feeling a bit chilly tonight, with it being nearly 20° outside, so I went ahead and got the spicy! Forewarning, it'll give you a bit of a kick in the pants! Hahaha. It was absolutely delicious. I highly recommend getting it with the Tajin rim, it sends it over the edge, just a fantastic flavor dynamic.

Oaxaca Old Fashioned As we got later on with our meal, I got their specialty old fashioned. Take your traditional old fashioned but base it in mezcal and agave. It was certainly interesting, and the smell did worry me a little bit because I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of mezcal, But after the first sip, I was sold. It was smooth, and very tasty. A bit heavy though, just fyi ;b

Other Notes (service, ambiance, etc)

Food Service Jesus H. Christ the food came out fast. Like, godd**m. We're talking... at most 3 minutes from order to table. It honestly shocked my girlfriend and I, haha. And huge props to their service system with RFID enabled table tags, super innovative and a fantastic use of the technology. Takes all of the worry from the patron, and seems to make things quite easy for the staff.

Drink Service The bar staff were quite knowledgeable in their craft, and were well efficient. No complaints about any of the drinks I received, or anyone from my party. Thumbs up all around! They know what they're doing.

Ambiance Much like everything else in the distillery district, very kitchy aesthetic, very cozy, might sit out on the patio towards the ladder end of winter as things start to warm up, enjoy some space by the fireplace put there. It was a little bit tight (My group were sat on the left side at a four top, by the bar) but it was entirely manageable.

All in all, the staff were kind, communicative, answered any questions and helped newcomers (myself and others alike) with everything. Very white glove, haha. The food was fast, hot, inexpensive, and...

Save your money & disappointment… The tacos here are TERRIBLE. There are so many better Mexican food options We tried the hot chicken tacos, the carne asada, the pastor & a gringo. Their menu says the Gringo taco is a deep fried tortilla (we assumed this meant like an American-style taco - thus the name… Gringo), but it was served exactly like all the other tacos - limp. When we asked why it wasn’t fried, we were told it was our fault that we didn’t ask for a crunchy shell. Nowhere on the menu does it say a crunchy shell is even an option. And when we ordered, I specifically asked if it was fried & folded like a “normal” taco. (For our 7 yr old child) The guy taking our order said yes. When we explained this, they just kept saying we were supposed to ask for it. Annoying. We shouldn’t have to argue with kids with pink hair when the menu says Gringo - deep fried tortilla.

Anyway… they charge $7 for chips & salsa, which is obscene considering the cost to make both. None of the salsa offerings was hot - which we really love & prefer. The chips were plentiful, though. We hated wasting 2/3 of them…

As for the other tacos, the carne asada meat wasn’t seared, caramelized or grilled. It was gray & soft/mushy.. The pineapples on the pastor were also soft & mushy (NOT chargrilled as they should be). My husband said the hot chicken taco was one of the worst things he’s ever put in his mouth. That’s saying A LOT for him - he never complains! Their guacamole was pretty good, but not great for $9. We tried all of their hot sauces (in squeeze bottles). They were all imbalanced in some way. Too sweet. Too much like jam… too sour... Too much vinegar. Some had no flavor at all… Bland.. Something was just off on all of them! We found one ghost pepper sauce we usedon our tacos, but it was still a compromise. We love heat, so we needed ONE of them to work! I can’t imagine this place will last long, but the tourist traffic or alcohol sales might keep it open. We’ll probly go back to try a cocktail next time, but we’ll definitely eat...

Update 03/2025: after a not very pleasant first time here, we decided to give it another try, and did not regret it. Great improvement on food and service. This time we had champú shrimp, rajas, pork belly, pollo, and al pastor tacos, with a side of elote (corn)… and we went for a second round! This is why one should not make final decisions over a first impression. Glad we returned! First time here, not sure if returning. We feel is pricey for quantity and quality; an $7-9 taco should look and taste a bit better. Ambiance is nice and inviting, cool enough for decompressing with a drink after a long work day/week. Regarding the food, we ordered 4 tacos, 1 soda, and 1 side of elote, and received 3 tacos and 2 sides of elote. Had to ask to the cashier if the soda was included in the check because he never gave us a cup. My husband went back to register and asked for the missing taco, which was brought to us shortly after. Service was plain, not very friendly. We had the Steak & blue, Carnitas, Chamoy shrimp, and Huitlacoche tacos; steak, shrimp and carnitas were good, huitlacoche was VERY salty. The first 3 tacos were served in the same tray, which we didn’t understand, but we were explained by a manager that that is the way they serve them, which didn’t make sense to us, but this is just...