Tres Cantina & Grille

Stopped in on a progressive margarita tour in Norman, but left after one drink. Food was underwhelming as were the drinks. Liked Pink Elephant, but not so much this place.

Came here for what turned out to be a catastrophic lunch experience. When we walked in, there were only two other occupied tables. That being said, it took the single waiter on duty about 15 minutes to come take our drink order. There was evidence of previous diners at several (5) other tables – gross! When it came to ordering, the carbonation for their soda machine was down. He offered us free tea instead… okay, nice of him. For food? They were out of pork. With the already small menu selection, this severely limited the options. I settled for chicken Tres nachos. What came out looked like a 6 year old had tried his hand in the kitchen. A scant portion of shredded cheese, UNMELTED. Canned jalapeños…chicken was ok, but had it not been for the BBQ sauce (on NACHOS?!) it would have been quite bland. Charging $ 9 for a plate of this is atrocious. As we were leaving, the waiter was outside, sitting at a table, enjoying a cigarette! Won’t be visiting here again.

It’s hard to mess up Mexican food, but they did. I like the idea of twists on the norm and the menu options, but my husband’s chicken enchiladas were almost inedible. They tasted like you were licking a grill. The pinto beans were watery and in serious need of flavor. The nacho appetizer looked like it was out of a bag and cans but was the 2^nd best part of the meal… 1^st being the $ 3 Margarita. I may be back, but only for drinks. Our waitress wasn’t mean, but was definitely not friendly.

I so wanted to like this place. The interior is great. It was 3 O’clock on Wednesday, so the staff was bored out of there minds when I walked in. But that is no excuse for bland food and service. I go out of my way to try new places and support the local stores and products.
I may be mistaken, but I have never had bland south american food. The black rice was gorgeous, but had the taste of instant rice. The beans were bland too, there may have been a hint of salt, but it may have came for the Norman tap water.
The small dollop of corn relish was excellent.
The hallacas was nothing like it was described. I am pretty sure that with olives, capers and raisins, i would had tasted them, I could taste the bbq sauce from the pork so that saved this from being completely bland.
Very, Very disappointed.

Honestly some of the worst food I have ever had! I got a tamale with rice and beans that was absolutely flavorless. Well the pork in the tamale tasted like it had spent a week in a smoker but that was it. My girlfriend got a burger that was decent but I had to tell the waitress that I was morally opposed to paying for my dish because it was so bad. First time in my life I’ve asked someone to take anything off my check…

I stopped in for lunch and the place was empty which normally makes me think twice but I had wanted to come eat here for about 3 weeks so this was the perfect time. I was not displeased.
We started with the guacamole and chips & salsa. Very tasty! I wrote a tip here for that reason alone. Tangy and zesty and thick. I loved it… made my mouth water. Chips were thin but held up okay.
Main course: I had the empanadas with their yummy queso sauce. It was delicious! I thought it would be plain as most are and the sauce on the side but this was really good and I had no complaints whatsoever. I wanted roasted corn but they were out so I had the corn cakes. Not too bad but nothing to write home about.
My bf had their smokey meat tacos I believe. I am not a huge fan of smoked meats so for me I would pass but I had a bite and it wasn’t bad at all. Just not something I prefer.
Passed on the dessert which seemed limited to cheese cake.
After our meal was up the owner came by for some small talk and asked us how things were. I also will note that the very friendly staff escorted me to the bathroom (clean but the seat in the handicap bathroom was broken loose and posed a bit of a hazard) as they have two and it is behind the kitchen and it was a bit hard for me to find. Our waitress was very pleasant and thanks to Unilocal I even got a small discount (Thanks Unilocal!) so I was a happy camper. This place is very nice and the owner is super friendly, I will repeat for sure.

Sad. Inconsistent quality makes me sad. Was excited to have arepas. They ended up being very dry. Since these are relatively easy to make, it has me wonder how long the dough was waiting to be cooked. If the dough was out for long, I am now questioning how fresh the rest of the menu is. The food was just okay, but not good enough to get me to go back.

The first time trying this place and it has skyrocketed to the top of my list immediately! The waitstaff and owner were all friendly and overall this place had a great atmosphere. I will be back and you should definitely give it a try!

Not Tex-​Mex but New Mexico flavor. Great tasting food and a nice vibe. Great location downtown Norman.

Been 3 times. Lunch and dinner. Not impressed. Like beginner cooking, no attention to presentation and dishes were over cooked and over done with
dressing on salad. I can make better on an uninspired day of cooking at home.

Really not good tonight. Tilapia tacos dry and tasteless. Chicken Avacado salad the same. Service was not good even thought not busy at all. Only good thing was their Guacamole one the 3 dip combo (queso was ok but salsa not so much). We try to eat local when we can but won’t be returning!

I’m really conflicted about Tres Taqueria. For every plus, there was a glaring miss, and for every hiccup, something I really got excited about. We popped in on a recent visit knowing exactly what we were getting — something different from traditional Anglo-​Mexican fare, steering instead for South American (Venezuelan) cuisine. The décor was fun, if a little scattered; I must have missed the National Geographic special about the elephants of the Amazon Rainforest?
Service was similarly hit and miss. Our waiter was friendly and reasonably attentive, but I had trouble getting his attention more than once because he had some very important texting to keep up with. I understand you can get away with that as a server when you aren’t very busy, but why do it in plain sight? Please don’t rub it in my face that you’re doing me a huge favor by waiting on me.
The owners, on the other hand, were exceptionally friendly and took time to chat with everyone in the place.
All right, preliminaries out of the way. Appetizer and dessert were exceptional. Nachos with beef had a couple types of cheese, an interesting salsa, and a mix of potatoes and other goodies folded in that made it a really neat experience, and different from the usual grub. Flan for dessert was VERY well made, with some fresh strawberries on top that made for a nice little finish to our meal.
But I cannot figure out what to say about the entrees. Feel free to discard my opinion, because the hallaca I tasted there increased my total lifetime hallaca exposure from zero to one. From what I can tell, I think it was well made … capers, olives and such, steamed in banana leaves. My wife simply did not care for it, eating only a tiny bit. I ordered an empanada (with the hallaca filling), and maybe my American palate simply demands a crunch, because I thought it tasted just fine. But I tried and confirmed that hers wasn’t nearly as good, so maybe the filling proportions were thrown off in hers. I did notice much larger slices of olive than I’d received? Someone with greater culinary sophistication can probably figure out what went wrong. Sides were your traditional rice and beans, and once again I’m torn; crunchy black rice was awesome, but they also proved that refried beans don’t magically become good just because you don’t turn them into a purée.
So I still can’t decide if this was different-​good, or different-​bad. Most of the time, three stars means I won’t be back, but I’ll give this one another shot. If nothing else, those nachos were good.

Great service!
I’ve only been once and tried the chicken/​avocado salad as a take-​out. It was a bit dry but I would have simply added dressing if I’d been in the restaurant. Regardless, it was fresh and this is something I’ve had a hard time finding in Norman. Freshness. Personally, I like the ambiance and found it very comfortable. I will definitely go back.

A elephant never forgets how awesome the food is.

I love this place. Their new location (right next door to the old) is darling and I love the new menu! I was able to go with my mom for a late lunch and both of our meals were delicious! I was sad at first that they changed so much of their classic menu, but the new options are just as yummy, if not better! I would for sure check this place out. Always fresh and unique. PLUS their Mexican food won’t leave you feeling like you just gained a million pounds, so that’s a huge bonus!

I Love this place. I’ve been there a few times. I’m not going to get into the details too much because I don’t want to beat a dead horse (I already wrote a review for them for Boyd Street Magazine– might find it at
) But let me just say, the food has flavor. The drinks are strong and great. It is different from any restaurant I’ve eaten at, but they pull it off. I heard it has The Diner’s old chef… if this is true, the guy has found his calling. It’s pretty new, I hope they keep up the good work :) Will be going back soon!

First I thought the review about this place being too hippie was going to be so wrong, but now after going.. . well as a lover of the boheme done well, it kind of looked like a pink teacup threw up over everything. And I mean that in not a mean way. But it was very.. . intense. The waiter was really nice. My friend and I shared the chicken over rice special, tomato basil soup (not really warm enough), and there was a delightful lemon cake at the end. The bread and apple butter was pretty delicious. But the place had a weird smell, and I didn’t like the clear plastic table coverings. It was hippie but in a «grandma» sort of way. The food was okay and there were pretty good, healthy options. But I don’t think I’ll go back. Cat was right in 2009.. . the décor was kind of annoying. Sorry!

I have been to Pink Elephant Café several times and have enjoyed each time. They change up their menu daily and always have fresh ingredients. I get the quiche each time, which is always wonderful. They also have great salads and sandwiches.
There is not a wide variety of drinks, but the food will make up for that!
As an added bonus, they have amazing desserts!

Such a cute place!
I love places that change up their menus daily, and Pink Elephant is one of those places. They also have a couple of staples, like the veggie sandwich which I got today (since it can be vegan). My sis had a Greek salad & loved it; And my grandmother got some kind of Asian chicken salad and seemed to like hers. They gave us complementary desserts, which was nice! All in all, pretty darn good. :)
Four stars, I’d come back someday on another visit to Norman!

Today we had the daily special entry and quiche. I had the chipotle shrimp on a waffle with guacamole and cheddar broccoli soup and Nicole got the salmon dill quiche with tomato basil soup. The dessert was lemon Cranberry cake. The cake was perfect. Everything was great! The service is always friendly and helpful.
I think I’m going to keep going with the daily special. Delicious!