Ottawa Foodies

2

One of my favorite places to get Mexican.

Always pleasant and professional service with a smile. Atmosphere is quaint and romantic...somehow they've captured that comfy feeling you get when you go home. And the food? to die for. Flautas, enchiladas, margaritas, avocado, and fish have all been great. Will go back again and again.

ILRF, I know they're busy, I'm just wondering why. Perhaps it's the dearth of options.

Anyway, they missed a chance to comp something for the hassle. To be honest, I might have ordered something my colleagues were having if I had more time, but none of it looked good. In fact, besides myself, two of our group of five had half eaten plates. Finally, you've been only once. Give them another shot, you might also be disappointed.

Edit: there are few things I hate more than restos calling something grilled when it is anything but. This bird was not only uncooked, it was not grilled.

7

That sucks about your experience. There really is no excuse for uncooked chicken.

I think your blanket judgement of this place is a bit harsh though, since you didn't give them a second chance to fix the food.

I'll tell you how they stay in business, they are full almost everyday, they must be doing something right. I have only been to the Agave once, and I was happy with it.

I'd give it another shot man, just saying.

12

3

Sucks. Uncooked "grilled" chicken. I returned it, and ordered nothing to replace it cause I was running late and it would take another 15-20 minutes. The waitress apologized profusely. Either she was too stupid or the owner too much of a tightwad, but they didn't even comp my beer or the chips and salsa (something most places offer free anyway). I wonder how some places stay in business in this town.

If you are looking for great food and great company you have to try this place! Word is obviously already out because it is busy busy busy every night of the week. The chicken milanesa is fantastic, the Southwest burger is better than any burger I have had at The Works, and the Margs..well, there is nothing I can say but fantastic! It's like your local Cheers pub, everyone is friendly and talkative, serice is great...you can't go wrong if you are looking for a casual dining experience that wont break the budget.

sorry, this place was very disappointing. The margaritas touted to use fresh squeezed lime were sweet and had no pulp. The sangria was equally uninteresting and sweet. The table wasn't level, we propped a leg onto a folded napkin just to have a normal conversation. The quesadillas were no better than i make at home in a minute. I felt as awful in teh night as one does from drinking any old tequilla, which i didn't expect from aplace that's named for the good ingrenient.

My girlfriend and I had dinner at the Agave Grill on Monday night and it was fantastic. Let me say that it makes "Lone Star" look like a soup kitchen. The place was suprisingly packed for a Monday evening, however, we did not wait longer than 5 minutes for a table.

The service was impeccable. We were served promptly, in a friendly manner and made to feel as if we personally knew the server. The server checked back often (but wasn't annoying), gave us friendly pats on the back and filled our drinks without even asking.

Amanda ordered the Blackend Chicken and I had the Mexican Flag. I tried everything on her plate, and it was delicious. Not the best meal in the world, but the chicken was super moist, perfect spice rub, served with rice and sauteed broccoli and peppers, guac and some pico de gallo. Top Quality.

The Mexican flag (three tortillas, one each of beef, cheese and chicken, topped with sauce and cheese) was equally delicious. I would not order it again but only because I'm sure other things on the menu are more to my tastes. Having said that, I have no complaints with the "mexican flag" as it was everything I expected it to be and more - considering the sauces(chipotle, tomatillia, cilantro cream and Cheese) were full of flavor. The Mexican rice was standard yet very flavorful and the black beans were borderline amazing.

Since we had only ordered water, the total bill for two main dishes and a starter of nacho's was under 35 dollars. Since the food was great, the service impeccable, and the price extremely reasonable - I will definatly be eating at the Agave again in the near future.

HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!!

Rob.

I love this place...very filling and their sangria is outstanding.

Went to Agave for the first time yesterday for lunch. The experience was fine -- not outstanding, not bad.

I ordered the Mexican burger with side order of sweet potato fries and salad. There wasn't anything special about the burger, including the taste. I didn't touch the kaiser roll - it was way TOO big - so I just ate the burger with a knife and fork. The sweet potato fries were good, particularly with the side of jalapeno mayo (more mayo than any jalapeno kick though).

My friend got the enchilada plate (one beef, one cheese) with salad. She really enjoyed her meal.

Just came back from an evening out with a girlfriend at Agave Grill. Other than an close call with my gluten allergy for which they were extremely apologetic, this restaurant is consistently fantastic.

It was quite busy for a Tuesday evening.

The staff was friendly and helpful and the "Mexican Flag" was exceptionally good. Great margaritas...and they don't skimp on the tequila! I find the food a tad on the expensive side...but worth it.

Would recommend this restaurant and will go again - and love that it's in "the hood".

Since I'm arguably reviewing the Margaritas at Agave in answering Happy Mouth's question, I will put it this way: I eat lemons and limes whole. I live for tart foods. The margaritas at Agave are sweet to me, but not too sweet. They have a good, solid lime taste.

Are they sure they only put 2 shots of tequila in these? (hick), I'm feeling a little boozy...

For 10 bucks, I'd say it was worth it :)

The margaritas are superb! Icy, not slushy, limey, and thirst quenching. The strawberry ones are equally fresh, evidenced by the seeds at the bottom of your empty drink, and perfectly not too sweet.

The best part has to be how Les makes them magically reappear in the blink of an eye.

I can never remember to whip out the camera before half of it is downed.

Fresh squeeze limes, and a martini style, but icier--I wouldn't say "slushy" because that reminds me of mixes that you get from the LCBO (or Loblaws for that matter), but it has a thicker quality to it. And the tequila they use is smooth, not a great deal of afterburn.

Hope that helps. You may just have to try one to find out (pity I gave up alcohol until I lose twenty pounds)

Can you give us some more detail on what makes them the best? Do they use fresh squeezed limes or that green lifesaver syrup? Are they martini-style or slushy? I'm not putting my hand down unless I have more information! Thanks! ;-)

hands down, the best margaritas in town.

Back August 2006 when we went here, the beer selection listed on their website was pretty uninspired. But we went nonetheless only to find a completely different list on their physical menu, most of which they did not have. Fortunately they ended up having a very good selection, with Amsterdam Blonde, Headstrong Helles, and two types of Warsteiner on tap. In the bottle they had both Heritage Light and Dark, Seargent Major's IPA, and at least one other I do not recall.

Their website seems to have since been updated and now lists Headstrong (yum!), Amsterdam (yum!), Steam Whistle (yum!), Warsteiner and several others.

In short, not a bad place for beer.

Last Sunday morning after the snowstorm
this was one of the few places on Somerset/Wellington/Richmond that had parking spots (city did plow) & sidewalk was done also. So at 10:05am we were the first customers for brunch.
Coffee was hot and fresh and replenished nicely (after the server ran back from Herb&Spice across the street--fruit was very fresh!) Very reasonable prices. Vegetarian fritta platter was excellent, incredibly good homefries, oven baked veggie frittata, small side of fruit. Nice fruit cup with granola. French toast in triple sec with fruit and bacon or sausages was the most expensive item ($9),was huge and good. None of the 3 of us ordered benedict (there were 2 choices) but prices were about the best I've seen $8 or$9 and given how good the rest of the stuff was it seems like a great place for brunch. Friendly service, good food, hot coffee as needed. Love the friendly service here!