I absolutely love this place. It’s great to go have an appetizer and drinks here after getting your pedicure over at beauty nails! The drinks are nice and strong, the prices decent. I would go for the lunch menu, as dinner is pricier and the place gets crowded. They are so willing to adjust whatever item you order to suit your own tastes. They also have a rockin’ good salsa bar with smokey, hot and tequila infused varieties! I adore the sweet potato fritters as an appetizer. Nachos can definitely be a meal, not a starter.
Liliana G.
Place rating: 3 Portland, OR
from the folks who brought you red agave and el vaquero: asado bistro. alot of the food dishes here are very similar to those on the menu at red agave. this is a more casual joint which has an easy take-out option. i recommend sticking to lunches here, as the prices and crowd are much worse at dinner. brief reviews of dishes i’ve had here, in order of awesomeness: guacamole = awesome. as good as my homemade version. quesadilla = a great deal for $ 6! i got carne asada in mine. it’s big! burrito= yum! also a big portion(comes with chips) cocktails = tasty, and not anywhere near weak. tortilla soup = has a very different flavor from other tortilla soups i’ve had in the past. very smoky. also, had quite a bit of practically raw onion in it. sweet potato fritters = my friend swears by these, but i don’t think they’re anything special. nachos = if these were cheaper, i’d rate them higher. for $ 10 you do get a pretty big plate of nachos with your choice of protein, but it still seems a little spendy for nachos. also, we got the chicken. it was shredded, and subsequently not my fave.
Ian J.
Place rating: 2 Irvine, CA
Maybe because I’m an idiot, I can’t get ½ stars. Asado gets 2 and ½. Odd place, one part order at the counter take-out, one part sit-down restaurant, one part lounge. Because we ordered at the counter, we got no table service, unlike everyone else there. Food was surprisingly expensive, from $ 8 for two tacos(w/rice and beans) to $ 16 or so for the enchilada plate. We both had tacos, mine with carne asada, hers with fried fish. Tacos are big and well stuffed, and both the fish and the steak were cooked fresh for us. However, there were multiple problems. First, and simply, all four tacos had only one tortilla. This is fine for flour torts, but we both got corn. As a result, taco explosion. You need two corn tortillas for a taco people! Second, although the carne asada is nice in that it is flank or skirt cooked medium, it simply didn’t have much flavor at all. To me, although I’m no expert, the greatness of asada is the marinade and the charring. Asado’s signature dish lacked either in any discernible amount. Finally, the black beans were lukewarm to cold and pretty flavorless. I love black beans, and I think they can be the most tasty of all beans, but these were pretty pasty and dull. I like the concept, and I will try it once more, but this place is very uneven in many ways. They reach for too much, leaving the basic food they are supposed to be working with behind.