Quote:
Originally Posted by Jefficator
I actually like the food: the Tilapia was great and the Cilantro chicken ain't bad. But the way I see it, Catina has three main problems:
1) It is too expensive. SaZa is more expensive than the Olive Garden, but you feel like you are having a qualitatively better experience at SaZa...worth the extra money. But SaZa is to Olive Garden as...well...el Rey is to Jalapeno's. The Catina experience does not justify the price.
2) No one wants to eat at a TexMex place that doesn't serve free chips the moment you sit down. That's the chief grievance I always hear with el Rey. This could easily be remedied. I can't tell you how many people I've heard walking out of there saying, "As much as it costs to eat here, the least they could do is give free chips."
3) The ordering system is an utter catastrophe. No one wants to fight and jostle around randomly placed cash registers. You've got forty teenagers running around that place already. Give them a notepad and have the orders taken at the table already!
But I'm afraid you're right. They can't last long past the initial "Hey, let's go try Catina" phase the way things are now...so when they do shut down, someone's going to get a honey of a deal on an already-decorated Mexican restaurant. It's a shame, too, as I was really looking forward to that place.
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Our food was terrible. The salsa (that I had to pay $3 for!!!!!), was inedible. Red water is the best I can describe it. I returned it, hoping, maybe, I'd just gotten a bad scoop. 2nd one was just as bad. Waitress asked if it was any better, I laughed and said no, it was horrible, and she gave me a blank look and walked away.
Taco's were undersized and underflavored and overpriced. I got the steak sandwich, basically a fancy hot pocket. Flavor was decent, cut of beef less so. Garlic fries were decent. Overpriced at $10.
My friend's 'roasted' corn was straight delmonte from the can, with no flavoring. Guac dip was edible.
And I'll agree, the 'stand around till you find an open register' is a stupid, stupid idea.
I don't know if they could ever afford it, but I'd love to see el Cantaro there (with a little more staff), because their food is great.