Tres Nopales — Restaurant in Urbana

I've been sort of aware of this restaurant for a while, but hadn't paid much attention until randomly happening to park on the upper deck of the Urbana parking garage a few weeks ago and catching some of the kitchen smells wafting up from behind the building. Went there tonight for the first time with the family (me, my wife, and 12- and 14-year-old kids) and it was everything those smells suggested it would be. The two young guys running the front of the house were charming and attentive, and the food was spectacular -- some of the best Mexican I've had in a while. The kids both had tamales (one red, one green sauce) and they loved them; flavorful, tender, light and fluffy. My wife had a fajita burrito that was absolutely perfect, and I devoured my enchiladas verdes (which was no small feat because the plate was enormous). Seriously one of the best meals I've had in town in a while. I can't...

We ate an early lunch at Tres Nopales not long after opening on Saturday. I greeted the server with an “hola” and was pleased he did not mind me speaking a bit of Spanish. This isn’t always true. More there was futbol on tv. I appreciated that, especially listening to the sports announcers.

My wife selected a fajita quesadilla plate and I had a vegetarian fajita taco salad and fresh coffee. The food was very fresh. Excellent taste. The coffee seemed unique. Quite flavorful.

Last, I really like that this space was made into the restaurant. It is an older building and everything was painted and fixed up.

Our server was the best. Very gentlemanly and treated me with some deference. This I appreciated, because as a white hair, it is rare.

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I saw this place had good reviews so I decided to try it out but I was very disappointed. Half the chips were stale, the chicken tacos lacked flavor, and the lunch burrito was soaked in sauce (which the menu did not indicate). The rice was also quite bland and the beans were kind of runny. The only two good things were the horchata and that the food came out fast, but I would've rather it had taken longer so it'd be better quality. The service itself was ok but at the beginning, all of the servers sat down for their lunch break and they just ignored us for like 10 minutes when we hadn't even ordered our food yet. It may have just been bad timing and we were the only table in there, but it just left a bad taste with me. Will not be...