Love the atmosphere

Abuelos has an atmosphere of a very upscale restaurant, but with a very reasonably priced menu. The main dining room has a high ceiling with a sky painting throughout. The wait-staff is friendly and the bartenders are great. Get the guacamole PLEASE!

Pushy bar staff - decent food

We ate in the dining area near the bar - the bartenders were our servers. The sevice was lacking. They were really wanting us to eat quickly, on the pluss side because of the frequent visits refills weren't a problem.

The food wasnt great but was good.

Abuelos tries to be like Carmel - looks swanky on the outside but unimpressive, abrasive and lame on the inside.

Nothing Memorable

While Abuelo's looks very nice and impressive. The food is not. They seemed to have generic unappetizing versions of even the most simplest dishes. The one thing I did enjoy were their Dessert Nachos. Man are those things tasty.

Abuelo's - meh!

I went into Abuelo's with high expectations. I mean this place is billed as the "Mexican Food Embassy!", right?

Things started off all right. The chips and salsa were very good. The salsa had a little heat, not too much and it tasted great with the chips and a cold beer. The chips were just right! Most place seem to rely on pre-made, thick chips like you get from a bag at the grocery store. Not these! They were light, thin and crispy. Just the way they should be.

I ordered the Juarez plate. "Crispy beef taco, tamale, chicken enchilada and cheese enchilada." Not the most adventurous thing on the menu, but should be tasty enough. It was supposed to look like this: http://www.abuelos.com/Menu/MenuJune08/Fajitas%20&%20Combinations4%20Low%20DPI.pdf

It didn't. Apparently, the way they plate their food affects the final presentation. In short, they take pre-made bulk ingredients and slap them on a plate then push the whole thing under a salamander to raost up to temperature before they bring it out to the table. In theory, this might work. In practice, it causes the food to lose whatever presentation appeal it may have had by making all the sauces crust over and the refried beans to dry and crack on the plate.

In the end, the food was tasty, but it was certainly not visually appealing. Nitpicking? I don't think so. Like any consumer, I expect to get what I am offered. NOT a less than reasonable facsimile. Take a look at the picture. That is what I was buying when I placed my order. It was NOT what I received.

Anyway, if you like Mexican food, you can do worse than Abuelo's. Just be forewarned, you aren't going to get that nicely plated, beautifully presented masterpiece from the picture in the menu.