Red Agave — Restaurant in Monroe Township

Party of 2 no reservations

For the table: we were given a basket of chips and salsa gratis. It was delicious, far better than most places. I appreciated that the salsa tasted fresh and was made in house. The chips were also warm and were clearly freshly made.

Water for the table: Tap, Still or Sparkling can be confusing to some people. I knew exactly what that meant and went with still. It was very good, I like Saratoga water. However at $9 a bottle, it is actually a 200% Markup from $3 a bottle sticker. I would have appreciated being asked if I want ice.

Drinks: my wife got the house brewed Ice Tea, which she reported as a decent black tea, no complaints. I ordered a Long island iced tea. I normally don't report on the strength of the drink but it was notably weak and at $15 each, that's expensive for a mixed well drink. I don't like it strong, but at that price point I expect it to be made as per the recipe.

Appetizers: We ordered the guacamole & the street corn dip. I felt for the price the guacamole was a decent portion. It was clearly made to order, it was a little on the bland side for us. However guacamole is one of those things that can be subjective. Overall pretty solid.. the street corn dip however was pretty dry, we both felt it could have used more cheese to be classified as a dip. It was more like shoveling corn into tortilla chips. That said, it had a street corn flavor and it was beautifully presented as was the guacamole.

Mains: I ordered 2 carne asada tacos and 2 gulf shrimp tacos. My wife ordered 2 asada mushroom tacos with the jalapeño on the side. They both came with rice and beans as well as picked onions. I thought the carne asada tacos were decent, the filling ratio was good and all the tortillas were exceptionally fresh. I was disappointed in the shrimp tacos. The shrimp were luke warm, had no real char or color and almost felt water logged. You could taste that they were frozen. At $7 each, they weren't for me. My wife felt the asada mushroom tacos were ok, but didn't really have a strong flavor and were not warm. But a decent quantity of filling. We both felt the pickled onion tasted off, like on the other side of funky pickle and any crunch and texture that it was supposed to have was lost.

Overall: This place has potential, but it's expensive for what you get. There were no food or beverage specials or family style/whole table dining options that give value for money to draw you in the door. The bar sells weak drinks at venu prices, and the menu is extremely limited to the point it doesn't even include desserts. The restaurant is pretty and the waitstaff is accommodating but that only goes so far. If it's going to survive in a strip mall location non the less, it's going to have to become competitive with the established local...

I should’ve taken pictures of the food because it was fantastic! Chay was our server and she was wonderful. However two things that make me tempted to give it 3 instead of 4 stars. The first is our drinks took FOREVER when there were 3 bartenders and not many orders ahead of ours. Our server was actually getting annoyed that it was taking so long. Watching the bartenders, if they went any slower they would’ve been going backwards. Definitely need more training! The second complaint is two at our table ordered burritos, which were supposed to come with guacamole and pico de gallo to put on it. They came out with neither and our server had to ask the kitchen multiple times for it. This has the potential to be a really nice place because the food was amazing and the drinks were great when they finally arrived, but these few kinks need to be worked out to make it worth 5 stars. What we ordered that was all hot, fresh, and extremely flavorful: street corn dip (AMAZING), birria empanadas, birria burrito, carne asada burrito, al pastor tacos, watermelon margaritas, and ranch water. Again, fix the service and this place could be a regular stop and well...

Had an afternoon doctor's appointment in the area, so we stopped in randomly since it was on the way home. The menu seemed interesting enough for a tex mex place, and BOT are we glad we popped in! To start off, the margs, are AMAZING. Their house "Red agave" margarita is just dangerously delicious. The customary gratis chips and salsa tasted amazingly fresh and delicious as well. It really made me excited to see what the food was like. The birria poutine was an absolutely delightful starter. Fresh cut fries, cooked to near perfection, with the cheese and short ribs on top was as delicious as it was unconventional. I'd ordered the birria burrito, again something unconventional, but also very delicious. Not such a fan of the yellow rice in the burrito as opposed to white rice, as it doesn't really let the well cooked short rib sing along with the consumé. My wife ordered a trio of tacos, and each was better than the last. This place is going to be a regular haunt for us when we're craving some margs and Mexican. Do yourself a...