Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill

Restaurant: Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill

Cuisine: Mexican
Last visited: December 15, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)
1223 Pacific Blvd
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (based on the burrito I had)
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Located in Yaletown
• Seats 20
• Made fresh upon order
• Family owned and operated
• Very homestyle Mexican on top of big stove pot and electric stove
• Very popular
• Homemade salsa/guacamole/avocado sauce
• Nothing really spicy, and a bit bland
• Not homemade tortillas
• Busy at lunch
• Eat in/Take-out
• Accepts MC/Debit/Visa
• Tuesday- Sunday 11am-9:30pm
• Closed Monday

**Recommendation: Burritos

I’ve only tried one thing on the menu: The Ahogado Burrito. Apparently it’s one of the best things they serve. The owner highly recommended me to order a burrito and claims that they’re different than any burrito I’ve ever tried. For the most part, he was right. However the best burrito for me is still Chipotle's in the States. I know it's a chain, but I think it's pretty awesome.

I have heard nothing about this restaurant before so I had no expectations for it…which is I think better because I might have been disappointed. This place is apparently a favourite. I liked it enough to give it a 4/6, but I think most people would rate it higher.

Salsa& Agave Mexican Grill has just introduced their new burritos. They’re basically the burritos on the original menu but a bit reinvented. They’re actually customer-inspired burritos. The owner found that a lot of people were customizing their burritos with extras so he decided to just make their creations permanent members of the family. It’s $8, the same price as the burritos on the original menu, so it’s not a bad deal considering you get all the extras…they’re really big too.

As you read my review you're going to notice that I’m complaining a lot about it. It was very good, but just overrated. I think it's popular and people like it because of the portion size and price. Not many places like this in Yaletown. Also becuase it tastes like 'bad for you but sooo good' hangover food

On the table:

Ahogado Burrito 4/6

• Soft pork, rice, beans, cheese, simmered in mild red tomato sauce & drizzle of sour cream on top $8
• The owner warned me that I was ordering a saucy knife and fork burrito, so I was prepared to be pretty sleepy after lunch. It was a pretty big and hearty burrito, it filled up an entire take-out container. It was pretty heavy and loaded with ingredients - but all a little bland.
• I didn’t really like how my burrito was swimming in a pool of sauce though. The sauce is usualyl the best part, but this one was bland. Rather than “simmering in mild tomato sauce” like the menu says it was more like sauce poured into a container and my burrito placed in it. It was a pre-cooked tomato sauce that wasn’t good itself, but good with the burrito. It was very watery and tasted like very watered down canned pureed stewed tomatoes.
• The burrito is very saucey which is great. However it was a bit too mushy, watery and soupy for me. Everything was just really soft and cooked to the point where you could possibly eat it without teeth. I mean it was really good, but about 3/4 of the way through I got tired of eating it because it got so repetitive.
• The best part of the burrito was hands down the pork. They were generous with it and it was very juicy and tender, just like pulled pork. It didn't have many spices; it was just really soft and cooked well so that it had that slow-cooked flavour.

  

• The beans and rice were layered on top of each other and that made it mushy too. The rice was definitely cooked to the point of baby food or Mexican style congee.
• The beans were refried beans with very few seasonings if any.
• I wish there was some fresh lettuce or black beans in it. Refried beans are just such an easy way out to me because it comes from a can and maybe add some seasonings in so it's "homemade".
  
• There was some frozen peas and corn kernels in there as well, but there was so little of them I thought maybe it was an accident.
• The tortilla shells aren’t homemade, which is super disappointing. I think they can afford to do that. A lot of authentic Mexican places will make their own. The tortilla shell also got a bit soggy because it was soaked in the sauce. Then on the ends the tortilla shells got a bit thick because it was so huge and had to hold so many ingredients.

  

• It could have used a little more sour cream as well because they only drizzled a bit over the top.
• It had some fresh salsa made with onions tomatoes and cilantro – it was quite bland again though. They made the burrito and sauces extra mild (not spicy at all, I really don't think they used any spices) for the general population. It was literally figuratively watered down Mexican food.
• It came with a side of hot sauce which was good. It was very smoky and hickory flavoured and really really spicy..