PURE taqueria

Disappointing meal! Food fairly bland. Best things were tortillas and skinny margarita. Glad I had coupon and saved some money! Would not go there again!

Usually when someone is visiting or when I am in the vicinity of Matthews and someone is craving some Mexican, this place always comes to mind. Yes, it is non-​traditional Mexican… more tex-​mex than anything… but it is unique and they make some proper margaritas.
Recently I was able to try their Brunch offerings and it was delicious… on top of my brunch I was able to have a margarita before 12pm on a Saturday. Made me super happy.
The other thing that I always love about PURE is their location, and the building itself. With large industrial garage doors flanking the sides, the space can really open up and be a great hang out in the spring/​summer months. The funky décor inside… elementary style metal school chairs and a clean modern look definitely makes this place memorable.
It has a special place in my heart and I will continue to frequent it to support this really unique Matthew’s gem.

Too bad that the food here is delicious, because they didn’t honor my Open Table reservation, nor did they cancel it. I received an email confirmation from Open Table but when I got there was told by the hostess that she ‘didn’t take the reservation’ — whatever that means, since I have an email that says she did. Unfortunately, the manager didn’t apologize either. I’ll go somewhere else next time.

Went with a few friends here. Crowded. Loved the interior, the ceilings, the attention to detail, the bar, the open kitchen.
Hated the food.
Hated, hated the food.
I’m a bit of a tex-​mex snob. Having opened my own tex-​mex catering company overseas, I got excited about hearing this new hip place open in Matthews, PURE Taqueria.
We ordered:
Burritos Americana (w/​Chicken) -$ 12.99
3 Pescado Tacos (Fish & Steak) — $ 10.99
The main problem with their food is that it’s tasteless and dry, then there’s an overabundance of it on the plate.
The burritos were like an uninteresting mound slapped together. The fish was extremely dry — and with white fish, you need a lot of flavors. A wild guess — reheat from frozen. I repeatedly asked for more lime. The chipotle mayo was a disappointment (more like fatty orange mayo). The guac and tomatillo salsa were good, but I only got a smidge — nor did I see where the «poblanos» fit in the «poblano» coleslaw. Chips & salsa was probably the best thing of the whole night.
In fact, I hated seeing so much tasteless green on my taco. Travesty.
Boring Mexican rice, and alright black beans.
Too many places like PURE lure you in at first by the attractive, hipster vibe and over rambunctious menu wordings– but prove there’s absolutely no oomf or spark to back those words up.
Would probably go there again for nibbles and drinks, but never again, dinner.
Rankings
# of times dined here: 1^st
Cost of Bill incl. Tip: $ 45 for 3ppl
Food Rating: ⁴⁄₁₀
Service Rating: ⁸⁄₁₀

On Sundays they have tamales and the menu has no price and says ‘ask your server’ our server didnt know if they had tamales, found out they did, then she didnt know what type, came back with pork, then didnt know how much they cost, then came back with the price. I figure if you have a Sunday only special they would have it on the board up front or a piece of paper w/​the menu. I ordered a soda water and it only came in the bottle… I didnt eat, friend did, she said it was good but I think it was so-​so based on how little she ate. I wouldnt personally go back, just not a lot of appeal to the place and the staff seems less than happy to be there.

For some reason, I was expecting not to like PURE Taqueria once we walked in the door. Perhaps it was the big sign that said
coupons were no longer honored that peeved me. Perhaps it was the 5 minute wait to be seated on a Saturday afternoon because the front of house station was completely abandoned. I don’t know, something just set me off.
But at the end of the meal I had to admit, nothing was tremendously WRONG with the place. I might have just been in a grouchy mood. The service was good, and the salsa and chips were tasty. I enjoyed the $ 2 Tecate beer special. That put me in a better mood.
I ordered the pork tacos. My husband ordered the fish tacos because they were hailed as the best fish tacos in Charlotte. I liked my tacos, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the rice, which seems bland at best. I took a bite of my husband’s fish tacos. They were good, but I’ve had better fish tacos elsewhere in Charlotte, so I wouldn’t put them on a «best» list. They needed more spice and flavor.
Overall, we found PURE Taqueria to be a neat place. We’d go back, definitely. I just feel bad for those folks who might have bought
vouchers.

I’m holding back a full review just yet. I popped in here based on outside looks of the place. It looked intriguing and sucked me in.
Once in, I found there to be some major dissapointments. First, the beer, no draft beer specifically. Big thumbs down for that. Secondly, the menu. All spanish titles and english descriptions below the title. My ADD will not allow this. I’m sorry. And third, the lack of salads on the menu. All the plates and entrees seemed very large and I think it would do some good to lighten it up a bit.

We drove to Matthews Station looking for a place to have lunch outdoors. I liked the terrace, the garage doors raised etc and we decided to give this joint a try.
I NEVER drink at lunch but since my companion wanted a Margarita I too had one. The plain Margarita was very good (not sweet or weird) strong and cheap. Then I had a second one (siesta time!) Considering that it was already about 2:30 pm and the food took forever to arrive the salsa came in very handy. The special of the the day was ceviche tostada and we also ordered another tostada with pollo, purée of refried beans and guacamole — forgot the name. Forget the food, in fact. It’s not even worth mentioning it. In the future we may stop by for a drink, then walk down the street for dinner.
That’s all folks

First Impressions for me were: I’m here for an early middle of the week lunch and they have people in both rooms, it is not crowded at 11:30am yet there are several people already here. They let me sit where ever I want instead of just taking me to a table, nice though it does not effect my rating.
I’m seated and I notice the «Garage Doors» Urban Architecture and simple Décor so I like this! It’s got Potential! Plenty of Outdoor seating too, Great designs, this place is cool!
Chips and Salsa: I LOVE great Salsa! This one is better than A-​OK and I guess I can say I’m a fan, though barely! Even so, this Salsa is better than many I have tasted in the Charlotte area. Hot Chips (no not the strippers, I mean dancers and not the Potato Chips) these are Excellent Corn Flour (I guess) Tortilla Chips 5 Unilocal stars.
The REAL Food. I’m telling my waitress what I’m thinking and she makes suggestions: I could get Two Tacos instead of three (on the menu they are listed as three) I could get one of each instead of choosing just one flavor and I could get a different wrapper instead of Corn Flour! So I’m IMPRESSED! I order two of one and one of the other! I’m glad I ordered two of the Steak with White Onions it was very good! I want to forget the other one! If I had only ordered it I would probably not be writing this review. So the Steak with White Onions (see my photo I don’t know what it is called) was very good 4.10 Unilocal stars. The different Salsa or Sauce they served on the side (thankfully) was awful and I ate more of it than I should, just to be sure it was terrible (I hope they get rid of it and invent a new one)! Not to worry, my server consistently made sure I had plenty of the other Salsa they serve with the chips.
Here is a place I had not heard anything good about yet wanted to see for myself (it has been a while and they could have improved if there ever was a problem). My taste is different from some others, some of the time.

We just got home from our 2^nd visit to Pure Taqueria in Matthews, NC. So nice to have a good Tex Mex restaurant close to home. Mexican food is one of my favorites and we normally get our best tex-​mex food when we visit family in Houston, San Antonio and Austin. This comes closest to what we can get in TX.
The chips are thin and just the right amount of salt with a fresh tasting, simple salsa. Just the right amount of spice.
I started off with a very good margarita — the Skinny Margarita — just simple tequila with lime juice — an entire lime! and some Agave nectar; so not too sour — it was very good!
The server was great, very friendly, helpful and quick! Once we ordered, the food came very quick, which was a nice touch. During our dinner, he checked back several times as well as another staff member stopped to be sure we were satisfied.
Fish tacos are one of my favorite so ordered the grilled mahi mahi which came with some sliced fresh avocado, charred salsa, corn tortillas, tomatillo sauce, rice and charros beans. It came with plenty of fish; enough to make 3 good size tacos. I ate 2 at the restaurant and brought the leftovers home for lunch tomorrow.
My husband ordered the Pork Tacos (al Pastor) which were also excellent; a nice amount of spice countered by the fresh pineapple; he also had plenty — 3 good size tacos. Ate 2 and one brought home to enjoy tomorrow.
Charros beans are not offered everywhere at Mexican restaurants but are always a staple on the menus we see in TX. And so a pleasant surprise to have the option at Pure. They were quite tasty with some bacon (I think) and a nice tasting sauce with the beans.
All in all, it was a great meal; felt like it was a fairly healthy meal. Not sure about the other reviews; maybe they are used to the tex mex that we generally get here in NC. This is a more authentic, fresh and wholesome type of meal that it’s refreshing to get here in NC.

To say this was the worst Mexican meal I have ever eaten would be far too kind! It qualifies as one of the two or three worst meals I have ever eaten in my life!
Jen and I were in Matthews running a few errands, and decided to have lunch there. I knew from the moment the waitress arrived with the salsa and chips that his was not going to be fun. I just didn’t imagine that it would be so horrible.
The salsa was like a bad tomato purée with a jalapeño, a bit of onion, and a few spices tossed in and blended to death. It tasted equally mediocre as it looked.
Jen ordered the Camarones a la parilla ($ 13.69). The waitress immediately asked, «Do you like real spicy food?». I can’t imagine why! It had a bit of flavor, but would not qualify as spicy anywhere in this part of the known universe. The guacamole had to be the worst guacomole that ever came out of a can! By the way, this was the better of the two items we ordered, and Jen actually seemed to like it.
I couldn’t decide between the Carne a la parilla ($ 14.69) and the Fajitas de Camarón, Pollo o Carne Asada (Daily $), so I asked the waitress for her suggestion. She said, «The fajitas are great, and you can still have the beef.» Okay, fajitas it is. If that was the better choice, this place needs to be burned to the ground tomorrow!
The menu describes the dish as, «Shrimp, chicken or steak fajitas with onion, mushroom, zucchini, tomato, poblano peppers & tortillas». If you like your beef completely flavorless and chewy, you will love this. I did see a single piece of mushroom on the plate. The zucchini was cooked to absolute mush. There were no poblano peppers on my plate. There might have been some pieces of green bell pepper in there. This was bland, chewy, garbage!
It’s rare that I don’t clean my plate, even with a bad meal. I had to stop eating after the second bite! I actually had to leave the place to keep from embarassing myself!
The check for this disaster was $ 36.00+ Do yourself a favor. Walk over to Beantown or Thai Taste, have a good lunch, tip the server well, and still save a few dollars!!!

I popped in for a quick lunch this afternoon to check out Pure Taqueria because I had business to do in the neighborhood and needed a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately, the quality of the food and service don’t match the shiny new storefront. I will certainly not be a regular, even if it is just up the road from my house…
Upon arriving, I was seated quickly and ordered a sweet tea as soon as I was seated while I perused the menu. By the time I had ordered and my enchiladas were brought to the table, I still had yet to receive my sweet tea. Although I was pretty parched, I ate a few bites and waited for my server to come check on me… and waited… and waited, until I finally gave up, flagged down a different server and asked yet again. Although my server brought my tea right away, I was still more than halfway through my meal before I even saw it.
As for the food, I ordered the enchiladas of the day, which were the enchiladas suizas. Although the food was presented well and served very quickly, the enchiladas were relatively flavorless, even with the pico de gallo served on top. The salsa served with their chips — which were oversalted — was actually pretty decent but that’s really all I can say for the place. Overall, I was certainly underwhelmed.

Party of Five please… two kids and three hungry adults. The salsa was good and fresh. The chips had just the right amount of saltiness. The cheese dip my friend ordered was a large bowl of blah. We ate it, but it didn’t even begin to wake-​up these taste buds. I had the pork burrito. It was tender, tasty and flavorful. The best part of the experience was asking for a spicy jalapeño margarita and they made a delightful concoction that became the featured drink of the day «the firecracker».
All in all, a nice experience. The place is designed and decorated nicely with large garage doors letting in Fresh air but no bugs because of the screens. We did comment on the dance/​techno music blaring at Noon that didn’t seem to fit the lunch holiday family crowd.

I should know better by now to expect authentic mexican in North Carolina, but I love it so I gotta keep trying. I tried the tacos (1 carne asada, 1 pastor and one something else) and then asked for the albondigas on the side. Having lived with a Mexican family during high school I know Mexican food, so when they plopped a big plate of meatballs in front of me without the broth I of course wondered «what the heck is this?» Albondigas is soup, not a plate of meatballs. Long story short I ended up with 2 meals and now my stomach hurts and it wasn’t that good.
Its probably not that bad for the area, but I have high expectations of Mexican food.
On a positive note, the restaraunt is in a nice area and is very clean and the staff is extremely nice.

Ok, I really want to love this place. One downside to living in Matthews is that aside from barbeque, there’s no great places to eat. There are a host of chain restaurants, a few gawd-​awful haunts, and then a host of mediocrity. I had hoped Pure Taqueria was going to change that and maybe start a food revolution in Matthews.
To start off, this place is definitely cool. Normally, you’d have to go to Dilworth, Midwood, or NoDa for a cool restaurantIt’s designed to look like a taco stand inside of a former Pure gas station. The building is new but they did a great job in the details to make it seem like it had always been there. They also have garage door bays (like former repair bays) that can be opened for semi-​outdoor seating.
The bar is fairly upscale and modern and to their name, they serve tequila (i.e. margaritas) which were pretty good. It would be sad if a place like this served bad drinks but many places like this serve lousy, overpriced drinks.
The food wasn’t bad either — but it wasn’t knock your socks off. I will go back again as I hope that the chefs were still learning the menu. I had the fish tacos which I hoped would be amazing and they weren’t. Tilapia is a great fish but its lack of its own flavor means that you need to have either a rockin’ batter or sauce to add flavor. It had neither so it was just so-​so. I as debating on the tuna taco instead hoping it would have fared better and will try that the next time… at some point.
I went on a Sunday evening and was seated promptly and the service was great. If the tacos were better, I probably would have given it 5 stars as it has a lot of potential and I really do want to see this place do well as Matthews is really lacking great dining.

When you hear about salt these days, it’s usually presented as a villain. A lot of people don’t understand that when applied reasonably, it is the most important tool in your kitchen. The cooks at Pure seem to fall into this category, and the mediocre food is quite overpriced for what it is.
Pure was a disappointment. We went because a coupon mailed out when the restaurant opened was still languishing beneath a magnet on the fridge, but I don’t think we’ll be going back. The place has the unfortunate characteristic of placing trendiness over taste. The décor was cool and the music was loud, but the food was unfortunately bland. The rice and beans on the side were ok, but the fish tacos and tostadas that were our main courses were forgettable, especially considering that they were not cheap! Both of our meals required a significant amount of at-​table salting-​and-​peppering to have any hint of taste at all. It’s too bad we didn’t have the entire spice drawer at our table. We could have put it to good use.
Now, I’m not the sort of (home) cook who takes offense when people salt or pepper my food after I serve it. Everyone has different tastes. However, a diner should never need to pour on as much as we did.
There are better Mexican-​ish options in the area, such as Azteca, or heck, even Chipotle. Skip this one. I give Pure a point for the service; otherwise, this would be a single-​star review.

I can’ t figure this place out… It’s authentic Mexican but with Eminem playing in the background, and a gas station décor. Nothing meshes with one another.
My sister and I came in last week for our first visit and they were pretty slow at around 1:30 not typical for this area during the week we had anticipated a wait… we were wrong! Sat right away but when walking in you can hear the servers «arguing» over who was going to take our table because they wanted to go home… Not an all that welcome feel and not a great impression of how our meal was going to go.
We ordered the Guacamole to start along with the chips and salsa they already give you (which were really good) the Guacamole wasn’t my favorite (not made to order) i kept adding salt to mine because my sister liked it the way it was I found it extremely weird that we were never given plates to share these things so i kept making a mess everywhere Oopsy! I had the Shrimp Taco’s grilled not fried and I liked everything inside but could’ve done without the Corn Tortillas they had a very rubbery feel and taste to them. the rice and Re-​fried beans were tasty also. My sister had the Salad with some white fish on it I was thinking Mahi not sure though she said it was ok.
Our server wasn’t one for the small details like the lack of plates and the lack of refills of our water and tea. He did however knock out a bunch of his side work so he could get out of there! While eating our lunch the 2 servers working insisted on having a conversation about they’re dislike for someone they work with and were even dropping the F-​Bomb right behind our table and next to us at one point. I did see a gentleman at the bar eating that I do believe was the manager so obviously with that type of leadership the rest of staff will do what they want. I get it you all want to go home/​eat your lunch but when you still have customers aren’t you suppose to put all of that on hold or even just do it out of plain sight so we don’t feel rushed…

Stopped in here for lunch just today, having put this spot on my radar thanks to other Unilocalers. The best way to put this place is just to say that if Fuel Pizza died tomorrow and was reborn Mexican-​style it would look a lot like Pure, only with a higher price tag.
Basically the inside has the same (if not modernized) feel of a Fuel. An old Pure Oil sign adorns the back wall, while empty cans of old-​school oil are intermixed along the bar wall with the (impressive) selection of tequilas available. Lots of windows and slide-​down garage door walls make for an open-​feeling environment. The bar has the ubiquitous plasma big screens showing sports and is lined with a number of stools. The kitchen area is also open to the dining room, bringing the cooks right out to the people.
Chips and salsa arrived with the drinks. These were good– salsa had just a hint of smokiness to it without being overboard on anything. Chips were properly salted with some exercise of restraint.
The menu is basically a number of taco plates and entrees. Taco varieties include, fish, shrimp, short rib, carne asada, and pork. All plates come with 3 tacos and mexican rice with a choice between black beans, refried beans and charros. The fish and shrimp come fried normally, but my server said we could have either grilled, despite the fact this was not on the menu. Entrees range the gamut from salads to enchiladas to a grilled hanger steak with jalapeño mac n cheese.
I opted for the fish tacos. The meal arrived swiftly and was fairly good. I found my tilapia to be a slightly over-​fried and the amount of slaw placed on top of each taco was a bit overwhelming. I did appreciate the soft taco shells which I believe are made in house– they were just thick enough to hold everything together and absorb the sauces, include the verde sauce that came with my plate. In a rare pleasure, I also enjoyed the mexican rice and the charros. The rice had a bit of flavor from what looked to be a little bit of sausage thrown in.
So here’s the query for Pure– what kind of restaurant does it want to be? Meals range from about $ 9 — $ 13 and there was no lunch menu. The only menu is a single double-​sided laminated card that, while sufficient, feels inconsistent with a sit down restaurant at these prices. Paper napkins and t-​shirts for sale in the windows scream more of a casual restaurant where you can drop in or take out– like a Moe’s or other tacqueria on Central Ave. The idea of a hostess station at the front end further seems out of place.
Tip for those who go after me: It was only I ate that the server told me I could have ordered single tacos of the different varieties in an a-​la-​carte fashion. This is not on the menu and the pricing in nowhere to be found. I likely would have done this had it been obvious as the full plate of three tacos was a bit much for lunch.
To me, either Pure needs to go all in and become a sit down restaurant with the normal amenities (including look and feel) that come with their current price tags, or they need to break the menu down and go more casual so that folks can order bits and pieces as they see fit.
I see a lot of promise here as there are obvious efforts to get beyond your regular mexican fare and try to put some interesting flavors together. Even their margarita menu held some promise with a prickly pear offering, among many others. I’m likely to return the next time my travels take me out to Matthews, but I’ll hope to see some different options for informal dining that don’t include their more formal pricing.

Ok this place is way too cool for sleepy Matthews but welcome none the less. My fist Time was very good ordered a margarita an carne asada tacos. If you like traditional tacos with cilantro and onions this place is great. I eat traditional tacos from this taco trucks around Charlotte and love the traditional simplicity. No cheese no tomatoes just meat, onion, and cilantro. I say this feels and tastes like a fine dining taco truck. A step up from the street corner packaged in a trendy fun environment.
Next time I will try the fish tacos and save room for desert!

So I have gone a couple of more times to this restaurant and I am really impressed. Their service is consistent; they are quick, knowledgeable and supper friendly. I’ve tried their fish tacos and ordered their specials and every dish that I’ve had was delicious. Next time you go try their Queso Gringo (cheese dip) with jalapenos and Tortilla soup. Ohh and by the way they still have great drinks!