Ometeo — Restaurant in Tysons

We were very excited to try this establishment based on recent editorials, the notoriety of the personalities, the concept, and the published menu in general. However, it missed in nearly every aspect for us, and we will not go back unless the operation matures considerably. It's out of this expectation and disappointment that I'm motivated to leave such a long review here.

To start with is the service. While our main server was informative and nice, she arrived after a long wait and was infrequently available. The hostess that gave water and each of several food runners all were strangely meek and so quietly spoken that things had to be repeated and were seemingly misunderstood. For example, when awkwardly asking where to put plates, and more importantly when giving instructions about what to do with a literally burning dessert. We think he said "blow it out when you like," which we did once smelling unappetising burnt marshmallow on the Campire item, but we were left with an unpalatable alcohol over the entire dish that didn't burn off. In another instance, a drink runner spilled a cocktail over the whole table and a child's plate. After looking at it a bit and mumbling something, he grabbed the plate and said he'd bring us another. The table never got cleaned, and another plate didn't materialize. Later, we asked for a replacement plate from a manager and got one. At a different point our appetizer plates were taken by the lead sever and said she'd bring replacements, but it wasn't until she checked back in with us staring at but not eating the mains to realize we had no plates. A busser who removed plates later was, however, confident and concise.

So, now about the cocktails, which were imbalanced and unsophisticated. In particular the elote old fashioned, which admittedly sounds like a promising concept, was unmixed and misportioned so that the first sip was straight tequila and the final sip hardly better with only a touch of something like a corn simple syrup and melted ice. The three other cocktails ordered were similarly disappointing.

On to the foods, and they also missed. From lack of compnents, to bad recipes, to bad execution, to bad ideas. When ordering we asked about spice levels due to concerns about the [unusual inclusion of] habanero, and while the kampachi was reasonably mild, the aguachile was far too spicy for anyone but our group member who eats very hot food. On top of the heat, the aguachile was a bit muddled and ugly, and both dishes lacked a crunchy component like a topping or much needed chips to eat with. Speaking of chips, the server really tried to sell the chip and dips starter, so maybe this was our punishment. We also ordered chicken tinga flautas, which was very dry inside and out, so that it crushed into broken chunks and flakes and was difficult to fork and chew. The meat was so dry and thickly seasoned that I questioned if it was actually chicken, and the minimal toppings didn't provide the necessary flavor and texture contrast. We also ordered the barbacoa, which had a decent flavor in the meat, but the minimal accoutrements and toppings were especially lacking, such as the strangely flavored pickles. Similarly, the corn side had a very sour flavor and was under cooked, the cilantro rice was inedible on its own even by a cilantro lover, and the carrots were also undercooked without any natural sweetness, with very dry, earthy North African style seasoning. And the already mentioned dessert was completely ruined by some lighter fluid.

Adding in the strange location, paid parking, small portions, and high prices, our experience leads us to avoiding this establishment and perhaps even future endeavors, despite the nice decor...

If you’re reading this because you saw the Instagram Reel and thought “Oh! That looks cute!” - Buckle up, amigos.

TL;DR - Visually pleasing, BUT packed, loud, no waiting room, food was awful, pre-mixed margs only, service is messy at best and doesn’t have their stuff together yet (but also didn’t seem to care?), maybe don’t bring a jacket if going to the bar. If you want good tex-mex, go to Rangos instead.

Wait Time: 1/5

At 5:30 PM on a Tuesday, the hostess quoted our party of 3 "30-40 minutes". Finally, after over an hour had passed with no update, I decided to go up and ask about our table, at which point they tried to seat our party of 3 at a 2 person booth. We then had to wait again while they figured that out.

The Ambiance: 4/5

The restaurant is visually appealing, I will give it that. They did a very good job with the design, aside from maybe concerning the use of well, space. If you want to try to get cute Instagram videos/pics, good luck. It’s too packed to get anything good. The coolest area in the whole restaurant, which is on the second floor, was booked for a private event when we went, so we couldn’t even enjoy it.

The Experience: 2/5

We got lucky and some seats opened up at the bar while we were waiting, because they have zero space for waiting otherwise. People were lining up in the walkways awkwardly if they couldn’t find space at the bar; which remained so packed that there were large groups hanging out behind the stools at the bar, reaching between the tightly squeezed seats occasionally for drinks. Felt like a club on Saturday night, but in a Capital One office party gone rogue-kind of way.

The Drinks: 2/5

Forget a hand-crafted margarita, these babies came pre-mixed and from a tap. If you don’t like what they’ve got on the menu, here are your options: swallow your disappointment or drown it in straight liquor, your call.

The Service: 2/5

Service was slow and needed reminders a few times. We didn’t see anyone for 15 minutes or so after being seated, until the manager found our server and asked him to come by. When he did come, he wasn’t unpleasant, but also wasn’t really pleasant, either. Seemed unsure of himself and just overall uncomfortable.

The Food: 1/5

Honestly Awful. Very Dry, Very Salty, and Very Small Portions. Worst fajitas I've ever had in my life. Think bar snacks posing as full meals, charging restaurant prices.

The noise level? Too loud for a restaurant, in my opinion. Couldn’t hear the person two seats down from me while at the bar.

Side Note - Don’t wear a big/nice jacket. There is not enough room. The under-bar hooks are minimal and if you can get one, your jacket will hang on the floor. People were using the limited bar seats to hold their jackets, which just added to the issues listed above.

Final Score: 2/5. (Points are exclusively for the visual appeal.)

The Verdict: Save your money and head to Rangos up the street. You'll get WAY better margaritas, service, and food, just without the Instagramable, modern ambiance.

Maybe these are just growing pains with a new restaurant. Who knows. I’d go back for the atmosphere, but definitely wouldn’t...

As we got up to leave Ometeo I saw the Assisstant General Manager Dante and I wanted to tell him about our experience. It went something along the lines of this was the best TexMex dining experience our table has ever had. We had pretty much given up on TexMex as the other restaurants in the area are just subpar. Ometeo is not subpar, this is such an elevated experience in every aspect. Starting with walking in, the atmosphere is perfect, design, colors, textures, and decor are spot on for an elevated TexMex restaurant. nothing in this place feels cheap or out of place.

The service this was spot on the entire time, angel was our server and he nailed it. We asked for recommendations and he knew the menu, ingredients, dishes and never skipped a beat. His food recommendations each complimented one another and did not fall short. The rest of the staff worked together as a team like a perfect well-oiled machine. Did tortillas take a little bit to come out when asked yes and could that be an area of improvement yes but was it enough to know off a star or even definitely not because they were perfect every time. The place is run so well because even the Assistant General Manager is working the floor, clearing cups and plates when servers were busy, coming around and taking additional order and fulfilling requests and most importantly caring about the dining experience. This place is so great because of the love and passion he has for it along with an awesome Team!

The food was just as good if not better than the service, everything had amazing flavor and was perfectly prepared. We had the queso, salsa, chips and calabacitas to start and these were all superb. We also had the Fajitas De Res con todo and man this made me fall in love with fajitas again. All of it was perfect from the meat to the rice and beans and all the toppings. The way that it is served and executed is perfect, The Tortillas are to die for here, the corn was our favorite and the flour were great too. The only feedback item here is they should definitely include the lime crema with the dish and possibly a salsa or two but when we asked for this they brought it no problem.

I can’t wait to come back and enjoy this place again and I highly recommend...