Ocotillo Restaurant — Restaurant in Phoenix

Ocotillo itself is a 5/5 experience; the 'Sidecar' concept, however, is at best a 2/5 experience that almost always leaves me extraordinarily frustrated and annoyed that Sidecar cannot seamlessly offer the same experience as the rest of Ocotillo.

The food, drinks, atmosphere, and relatively child-friendly environment make Ocotillo a regular destination for my family. Indeed, my toddler routinely requests to go here because she loves the french fries and trees. Because we can stop in during happy hour for a delicious and relatively inexpensive dinner, we frequently acquiesce to her requests. When we are lucky enough to snag a patio table in the Ocotillo portion that is close to the grass the experience could not be better. Great service, happy hour menu, delicious food, and a child playing in the lawn make an extraordinary end to the week.

When we must settle for Sidecar, however, the experience is, at best, an exercise in frustration and settling for an exceedingly inferior experience.

One would expect Sidecar to be THE happy hour focused portion of the restaurant, with its first-come, first-served outdoor bar, small outdoor cafe tables, and small indoor tables. By contrast, reservations are available and recommended for the rest of Ocotillo; and the tables at Sidecar cannot comfortably fit two entrees and drinks. Overall, Sidecar is a far more casual experience than the rest of Ocotillo. But, inexplicably, neither happy hour food nor drinks are available at Sidecar.

It shares a kitchen with Ocotillo proper, so there's no separate ordering destination or even food-running inconvenience. Indeed, the entree menu is shared throughout both portions of the restaurant and the entrees are prepared in the same kitchen. So why the limited happy hour food menu cannot be ordered from Sidecar is a total mystery.

Drinks are another fiasco too. Again, there's no happy hour pricing at Sidecar unless you take matters into your own hands and order from the Ocotillo bar. But also, Sidecar has it's own drink menu. You'll be provided this menu along with the regular Ocotillo menu, the back of which lists drinks offered at Ocotillo. BUT, be warned, despite being completely limited to the main menu to order food; NONE of the drinks listed on the main Ocotillo menu are available from Sidecar (aforementioned self-help from the Ocotillo bar excepted).

Instead, the only drinks available from Sidecar are from the Sidecar-specific menu. Unless you want beer, in which case the Sidecar menu must be disregarded because for months they have not stocked most of the beer menu. Why doesn't Sidecar update its beer list? Who knows. Why can't Sidecar stock the same beer as Ocotillo? Who knows...and this is especially baffling because one would think maintaining separate bar stocks would be particularly inefficient. Why can't the Sidecar staff offer you a Scrimshaw from the Ocotillo bar after you try to order the pilsner from their menu only to be informed that they no longer have that pilsner? Who knows.

While

In sum, Ocotillo is exceptional. Sidecar, however, routinely provides one of the worst dining/drinking experiences in Phoenix. If not for having told a child we were going to Ocotillo, I would never stay if Sidecar was my...

My mom and I came to Ocotillo last night for the first time . This place was recommended to us from a friend , that had an amazing time and food . Unfortunately, we can’t say the same . I made us a reservation for the patio and the host sat us outside right next to another couple , when I asked if we could maybe sit a table or two away so we didn’t feel so squished she said no because they had other reservations. Those tables didn’t get sat till we left the restaurant. Our server immediately came to our table after we got sat and it felt rushed to order a drink . We had our first cocktail and looked over the menu and decided to order off the restaurant week menu . Our first course was great , I got the ahi tuna and mom got the ribs . We cannot say the same for the second course . Our server let us know that second course would take a bit longer than normal since it was getting pretty busy inside . That was the last time we saw her till the bill. She was so busy focusing on her tables inside we felt forgotten outside . Our second course came and moms pasta was cold and VERY bland . Our server wasn’t to be found to try to fix the main course or even take our second drink order . Thankfully I ordered a dish off the normal menu that we wanted to try and she was able to eat that . Once she finally came to our table we asked for our third course to be packaged Togo and to just have the bill. She was prompt to do that . She took off our dish we ordered off the regular menu as an apology for our cold pasta dish .

Overall I spent over $200 and definitely didn’t get $200 service or food , which is really disappointing and sad . I am a server and have been for most of my life , and I had an expectation and was really let down by the whole experience. I could see our server was busy focusing on her inside tables , and neglected her only table outside , us . I’m really regretful making this reservation and spending money ( a lot of money ) at this restaurant and definitely won’t be coming back . The best thing of the night was Gibson, their friendly cat that ask...

Went here recently for a wedding and I feel that the venue just wasn't meant to have that many people. Mics weren't allowed in the outside area due to a noise ordinance (it was 5PM) so it was really hard to hear the ceremony & speeches.

The cocktail hour had us waiting in line for 45 minutes before we could even order, which meant we also missed all the hors d'oeuvres that were set up at the buffet, we did try the only thing left, which was the falafel, but it was hard as a rock and didn't want to break a tooth so I set it aside.

I've worked in bars and if you are going to offer specialty drinks that have more than 3 ingredients it's best to prepare them ahead of time so that it will not slow down service. The drinks were good, just took a while to make.

The food was served family style and was decent, the salads, salmon, and mashed potatoes were the best out of everything served. The chicken was dry, and the pasta was too peppery. I do believe that this restaurant is probably great normally, I just don't think they have the catering down, yet.

After we finished eating we went inside to dance and I was amazed at how small the dance floor was. They had to keep the doors closed because of the noise ordinance so it got HOT very quickly inside. The back patio was very nice to cool off at and chat with other guests.

Then they served the deserts... omg what a horrible experience. One dessert was Panna Cotta which was like eating melted milk-Jello soaked in strawberry soup 🤢 I'm sorry, I'm getting nauseous thinking about it. Also, the other dessert offered was some sort of Bread Pudding, that had the consistency of pre-chewed Graham crackers /Gingersnaps. Overall I would not recommend this restaurant for dessert (they don't even offer it on their menu) so they must also know it's bad.

The wedding was beautiful nonetheless and everyone had a good time, I just would not visit this...