El Agave Restaurant & Tequileria — Restaurant in San Diego

I booked a reservation to celebrate our Family's Fathers. When I walked into this restaurant I could imagine the whisper of an older era of uniqueness. I loved the promise of an experience. I arrived alone and about 10 minutes early for our 5pm reservation on Saturday, June 14th. I was seated at a table near the kitchen after declining an overly warm patio table. It proved to be an interesting opportunity to examine the wait staff briskly come and go to and from the kitchen. After 11 minutes of no chips, no salsa, no drink, nada! I got tired of being passed by, so I reached out to tackle, not literally, one of the passing men and asked to order a Paloma. He asked if I knew who my waiter was. I responded, "No Idea", since no one had stopped as they passed me to inquire about my drink or order preference or welcome me to the restaurant. He said he would find my waiter. Curious response? I rather thought he would just submit my drink order and work it out with the other waiter later. A quick note here, be prepared to wait for someone to deign to stop to take your order and be ready to wait for your drink. It wasn't horrible, but it definitely doused my earlier excitement about an experience dining at El Agave. Later it seemed there was a reoccurring them. Remember that Paloma? Well, it took a while to find me. It turns out the original fella I tackled, not literally, actually put in my order for the Paloma. I obviously misread what was going on. Any who, I was serious about being prepared to wait though. It arrived a little after my son and his wife and baby arrived about 20 minutes later than our 5pm reservation. I will say the lovely lady at the door worked to move our group of six to a larger table. The only requirement was we leave by 6:20 in order to accommodate another group who had already booked for 6:30. We really didn't have a problem with it since everyone in our group already had a full day and was tired, so leaving by 6:20 was ok with all of us. Especially since my grandson was the most vocal about being tired. :-) Any who, once the men of honor arrived it seemed our service definitely improved. Enrique was our waiter and took our order. Ceviche Trio is a must try. It was delish! Even my particular sister enjoyed it. It seems having to release the table by a specific time really lit a fire under some folks. The food seemed to arrive quickly. My family enjoyed the rib eye tacos, which they said was delicious. I tried the Tacos De Pulp Al Pastor. I was definitely sticking with the overall experience of trying something different. These octopus tacos were definitely outside of my usual selection of enchiladas. WOW! They were delicious! My goodness the chef really did an amazing job! My least favorite experience was being passed by so many waiters before I tackled one to place the order for the Paloma. Also, the same gentleman I tackled earlier kept using my right shoulder to reach in to clear the table. I will say having a time crunch definitely prompted them to keep clearing dishes from the table as soon as they were empty. The bummer for me was the frequent interruptions as I felt compelled to lean aside to make room for him to reach in to remove dishes. I have been to a different high-end restaurant where you really never even noticed dishes being removed because the staff was so well trained. That was an amazing experience. So maybe the wait staff at El Agave can attend similar training. It's just a suggestion. My favorite experience here was the uniqueness of the decor and the promise of an elegant experience. One out of two isn't bad. The service could definitely be improved. I imagine if the servers were as elegant and well composed as the gentlemen at Javier's in La Jolla then El Agave's would rock with reviews that would draw in even more customers like me who were looking for a truly unique experience to honor the Father's in our family for...

Walked in for a lunch after a long day of viewing houses with our realtor. Initially welcomed right away as soon as we sat down and told that chips and salsa will be on the way and was asked if we wanted to add guacamole. Because we were waiting for a bit, I went to the bathroom and still no salsa chips on the table. Another table was sat, and as soon as they were sat, chips and salsa were brought to them right away. Of note, every single table in the back patio had chips and salsa on the table. When we asked our server, Paulo, when the chips and salsa were coming, he mentioned that chips and salsa would only be given per request. I have been to this restaurant previously, and I never had to request it. My girlfriend on the other hand, has ever been to this restaurant so she would not have known that that was available unless it was explicitly told to us. This seems a bit odd because we were offered it right away but now we had to request it? I am extremely dissatisfied with the service and I felt like there was an underlying bias before we even started to order. As a previous bartender/server, there is implicit and explicit bias present in the community especially towards black patrons, with the presumption that we do not tip. I remember being told as a server not to give the black patrons any of the free chips and salsa/bread/etc because then that would lead to a lower bill and and lower tip. I absolutely felt like Paulo was engaging in that mindset.

I initially was excited that he would be our server because we are a lesbian couple and you can clearly tell he is gay. I guess not all skin folk are kin-folk. This restaurant also came highly recommended by one of my friends who is a tequila connoisseur. I have every intention of retuning, but it will be explicitly stated that Paulo will not serve us. I hope that the people reading this do not feel gaslit if it appears that someone like Paulo is delivering sub-optimal service.

With my history in the service industry, he would have gotten a 30% tip at baseline and he just let...

I didn’t think it was possible to be disappointed by Mexican food in San Diego, but unfortunately, El Agave proved me wrong.

The ambience is nice, with bottles of alcohol lining the walls and warm lighting that creates an inviting atmosphere. Even on a busy Saturday night, our party of five was seated right away, which I appreciated.

Chips and salsa came quickly, though the salsas and bean dip were under-seasoned despite looking pretty. Things took a turn when our water glasses went empty. We asked our waiter, who assured us more was coming, but about 20 minutes passed with nothing, even as he repeatedly walked past our table. We had to ask again before another staff member finally brought it. Apparently, servers don’t handle drinks or table setups here, which feels like a major service flaw for something as simple as water.

About 40 minutes later, our appetizer plates were cleared, but bizarrely, the staff member wiped down the table with my mom’s cloth napkin instead of a rag which was strange and unsanitary. Then came the entrées. My mom and I ordered the ribeye tacos, which looked great but were shockingly bland.

The ribeye itself had zero seasoning, not even salt or pepper, despite being cooked well. My brother’s shrimp tacos had some flavor, but the so-called “cream sauce” was literally just mayonnaise. My dad’s mole enchiladas had the same issue: chicken with no seasoning inside. The only way I could salvage my tacos was by adding the salsas from the chips earlier.

Never in my life have I been so confused by Mexican food so devoid of flavor. We were hungry, so we ate, but at $23 for three tacos smaller than street tacos, it felt like an overpriced tourist trap. El Agave clearly prioritizes presentation and atmosphere over the two things that matter most in a restaurant:...