Mexican Cafe Cantina on Greystone

I am shocked at the crowds El Arroyo bring. I have found a 4 inch bone (no kidding) in my bbq chicken burrito before. I found a smaller one another time.
 
I ate there with my wife last night. Food was solid - the orignal is one of our favorite restaurants in town. However, you may want to hold off a bit longer, til they work out the kinks with the staff. I am extremely patient when eating out, but the service was ATROCIOUS. We waited about 20 minutes before anyone brought water and chips, even after asking twice, and lots of others were having the same problems. However, i think they are in the process of getting their liquor license, so the 7 free drinks eased the pain of the service. Again, the food (queso flamiado, cheese enchiladas, and shrimp tacos) was delicious - we will defintely be back, but not for a few weeks.
 
Agreed. Went for lunch today. Food was great. Drinks were free. Service was...let's just say I heard several apologies. It wasn't terrible, but if you would rather have good service than free drinks, you might want to wait. If you don't care about service and want free drinks, now is the time to go.
 
I took my family of 6 there tonight, and honestly, I had no complaints. There might have been a couple of short lulls in service, but it's hardly a fine-dining establishment, and it was filling up fast.

The food was very good, if a bit overpriced, and the free drinks were, well, free. Our waiter was very professional, and he told me that most of the waitstaff had come from the original location.

I think it will fit in well in the neighborhood, but at those prices, it's basically a more convenient version of the Jollyville Manuel's. (This isn't a bad thing.)
 
At $12 - $15 a plate, it definitely isn't cheap. The "large" rajas con queso was particularly a joke. It would have barely qualified for a cup at most restaurants.

But, what we ate was good. Not quite Fonda San Miguel good, but good nonetheless.
 
The trick is to pay your bill in pesos! What's that, my bill is 56? Okay, 56 pesos. Gracias, adios.
 
Just as an fyi, I went there tonight and they cut us off the free drinks at two a piece. I wouldn't have minded had they told us that up front.

My food was again good, and my friends again did not enjoy their meal. Service tonight was not as good as before despite the week of time to iron out the kinks, though the different waitress and lack of drunkeness might be the reason.
 
Our waiter told us about the 2 drink max when we ordered, and said that the amount of abuse the night before (Thursday) caused them to put in the cap.
 
At lunch, the prices were considerably cheaper (they have a different lunch menu with many of the same items, but cheaper) and there was no 2 drink max. At least on Friday.
 
Well, I went last night... and they still were handing out free Margaritas.

Our waiter was good, but you could tell he was stressed out. We started talking and he mentioned they were way under-staffed... and having a hard time getting new waiters.
 
A friend of mine works there and agrees about the understaffed thing. Apparently the kitchen/kitchen staff is pretty small as well so they can get "in the weeds" pretty often (although no one on here has complained about waiting for food so it looks like they handle it well).

I've been twice and enjoyed the food both times. I also love the location because I can just walk there from my apartment.
 
Dear Lord did this place suck. We ate there last week and aside from two free margaritas, the meal was terrible. As some else said, the portions are a joke - hell, even the chip bowl was Dixie cup size.

Taco Bell quality for near Fonda San Miguel prices.
 
while the queso portion size was indeed lacking (but very tasty), in no way shape or form is the entree portion size a joke. It's comparable to any other restaurant in Austin.

FYI, 2 free drinks are still in effect

went last night with the in-laws and everyone loved it. Sat down with no wait at 7:30, which is not a good sign though. However it was probably due to holiday weekend.

IMO, the enfrijoladas are the best "enchiladas" in town. My god these things are heavenly. I've had them at the Manor location and they were equally as good at the new one. Another favorite of the group was the enchiladas verdes.

Service was solid, however, as mentioned there wasn't really a crowd so there were no reasons to be slow.

I'm more of a fan of the Manor location, however that one does get pretty loud, so last night up north with the in-laws was perfect.
 
Alright, OK, OK. I was a little too harsh comparing them to Taco Bell but it was one of the least satisfying meals I've had in Austin, especially considering the cost. My initial issue is comparing El Chile with Fonda San Miguel, which isn't a large disparity in price between the two but world's apart in atmosphere and overall quality.

I guess I set my expectations too high. If I'm in the mood for interior Mexican, I'll stick with Sazon, which in my opinion is far superior to El Chile and has been consistently good. If I really want to indulge, I'll hit Fonda San Miguel.
 
Went there again the other night, so that makes it four times including opening night.

I'm sad to say that I don't think they are getting better. The fajitas, which I've bragged about twice on this thread so far, were just wretched. The service was prompt, but super pouty. The waitress did say that they expect to get licensed this week, so maybe that will inject some fun into the staff (and patrons).

Finally, they need to get some bigger bowls for the chips. I hate asking the waitress to bring a new bowl every time she comes to the table (of course, she could just bring two to begin with).

Overall I'm nearing the point where I'll eat at the manor location or another restaurant altogether, as I'll forgive them service issues as long as the food is good. That said, every time my guests have been non-plussed or worse by the food and disappointed by the service.
 
Went last night (4th time since they opened). Food was solid as usual but the service still sucks balls, they completely forgot about our order - but the drinks are STILL free so I didn't care too much.
 
I find it ridiculous that they can't get their service straight

we didn't have a particularly bad server experience a couple weeks ago, but damn, it's really not difficult to wait tables at a small restaurant
 
One other thing I forgot - on Tuesday night, they ran out of beer!!! How is this possible at a Mexican restaurant? Again, the ritas were free, so not too much of an issue, but still.
 
How can they not have a liquor license? If you already have a license in place all you have to do is get a catering license added to your existing license (Manor location) and then sell the drinks at the Greystone location under the catering license.

Its perfectly legal and done all the time.
 
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