Agave Grill

So we bought groupon to this restaurant several months ago with the intent of going with friends. We finally made it there a few nights ago and were totally underwhelmed by our experience.
The restaurant wasn’t very busy so we thought that would lead to great service, which it didn’t. The menu is limited for what you would come to expect from a good Mexican restaurant. Having said that, if what they served was amazing, you would be quite pleased with the few offerings. I’m sad to report that amazing was not in our experience.
The margaritas were from a mix and that’s never good. The salads were decent but over-​sized for an appetizer serving, over saturated with dressing. They were decent but that’s it. The poblano cream soup with corn was the one stand out of the meal. The guacamole lacked depth or interest, I added some salt, and lime from my margarita, it helped but still flat. The seafood platter was bland and the dipping sauce very salty. The spicy salsa was starting to ferment, :(The enchiladas had a sauce piped on to them that tasted like chili spiced BBQ sauce, which seemed out of place with the dish. The «Mexican Pizza’ was not very Mexican nor very good.
All in all, a very sad meal, lacking in spice or complexity (except the soup), and I was very grateful that we had the groupon or I would have been upset to have spent $ 117 for this sad dinner for 4.

I really like the high backed booths and convenient location across from the movie theater. This place is a great place to bring a date and enjoy a couple of drinks and some food before or after a flick. I don’t really know why so many people complain about the prices, especially when most are patrons of the imax across the street where a bottle of water costs $ 6.50 — the same price as a cadillac margarita at Agave. The staff is hard working attentive and genuinely friendly.
Not to mention, this is one of the only businesses in Bridgeport Village that’s not a chain!

I am kinda shocked at all the bad reviews. There are several reasons why I like this place.
Easy to eat gluten free here.
I have only been here for lunch, and its reasonably priced.
Black beans are the bomb. Alone, or the the black bean soup. It will most likely cause you to drop bombs later, but that’s one of the sexy side effects of beans
I get the chicken tacos, sans the tortilla it comes with. With the tortilla chips, it tastes great.
The only lacking component in my mind, is the service. Its kind of a toss up. I have had a great female server most times, but a few times, I have had one of male servers, who just looks like he would rather be in bed on a Monday and doesn’t really want to be here but has to be because Mom and Dad are refusing to pay his rent because they want to teach him about responsibility, when he is about 27 years old.
I think the food tastes good. I have definitely had worse, and I certainly would rather come here then go to Taco Hell. Besides, I can go shopping immediately after stuffing my face.

When we went to go here while in the mall I looked at the 2 star rating and thought there are many reviews on this place why the 2 star?
I would give it at least a 3. It was good, quick service and the food was tasty. Nothing to really write home about but this place I could see as my go to for a chips and salsa, margarita place. I wouldn’t mind trying a plate of nachos here either judging from some of the photos people have posted.
I had a plate of tacos (three of them-​think small) and spicy black beans and rice. They definitely like their spice around here so be aware of that. I like that sort of thing so it was A-​OK with me.
It was all very tasty and probably the best thing was the margarita they put some sort of orange in their. It’s really an unusual margarita so give it a try.
I’ll probably be back to try a few more items. I’m always up for some Mexican food.

This place sent me a gift certificate for my bday awhile back. How thoughtful considering I had never heard of them and I was left wondering who sold them my info. I checked Unilocal and was a little nervous. Seriously no one has ever given them 5 stars??? To hell with it, I’m a sucker for a bday present and figured I’d give it a shot. If it went poorly I’d probably at least get a good story out of the experience.
Well no good stories. No birthday food poisoning. No dead puppies strewn across the floor (seriously those reviews had me a little worried). The only thing that happened was that I enjoyed the hell out of a mango margarita during their HH. The service was great, the staff was very gracious and attentive. My enchiladas were fine, though I will say for all their claims of homemade tortillas I was expecting a little more. Good sized portions, I even had enough for leftovers the next day, and I do adore leftovers.
Luckily our food wasn’t oversalted as the other reviewers experienced. Food was average, really nothing too memorable except my margarita. I thought the prices were a bit high for the fare they were offering, but then realized I was in Bridgeport, if you’re looking for a deal here, you’re in the wrong place.
I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to come back, but if I’m in the area during happy hour and the margarita craving strikes (as it often does after spending five seconds at Bridgeport) I’ll stop in and have a drink and a bite.

Lunch
Décor: Café style with some booth seating. Worn out and not very clean at all.
Service: Not good.
Food: I had the pork nachos. They forgot my pork and had to send it back. The pork was OK, but the chipotle sauce was sweet and did not belong on the nachos. Also they did not layer the dish, so once the top was gone there was just chips! Lame.

It’s a bad omen when I go to check-​in to a place and Unilocal’s app suddenly informs me that it has an average rating of 2 stars with ~40 reviews. I walked into this place because it seemed nice and it was conveniently across the street from the theater. I was already here though, so I just hoped for the best.
Prepare to open your wallet: the food and drinks here aren’t cheap. If you’re not here at Happy Hour (HH), margaritas start at $ 8 ($ 6.50 HH). I ordered the barbarcoa enchiladas and was very disappointed by the quality of the food from a $ 15.50 dish. I get more flavorful food from Chevy’s or Taco Del Mar.
My dining companion ordered the Sopa De Poblano and it was so salty she couldn’t stomach more than a few spoonfuls before sending it back.
On a positive note, the complimentary chips and salsa were actually quite tasty.
I didn’t have any issues with the service. The server was prompt, friendly and very accommodating and took the bad soup off the bill.
Food: 2
Service: 4
Ambiance: 4
Value: 1
TL;DR: Good service of expensively bad food

OVERPRICED. AWFUL. SALTY.
That about sums up the experience I had at Agave Grill. I signed up for their emails and got a free $ 10 Gift Certificate. It came in handy when somehow our «happy hour» bill came out to be well over $ 30. $ 6.50 for a HH margarita?! Umm… isn’t that nearly the normal price anywhere else? I had the prickly pear and it was way too sweet. My bad on that one I suppose.
Next was the HH menu. Not many items to choose from, whatever, can’t win em’ all. Chips. Overly salty. Salsa was so-​so. Ordered the gaucamole. It was OK, but nothing I couldn’t have made at home. The Caesar salad was awful. Salty. The quesadillas were sloppily made and nothing special what-​so-​ever. $ 5 for each of these items. Figured we should have ordered an acual meal and just shelled out the extra money in hopes that it would have at least tasted slightly better. Probably will not return. I left there with the taste of salt in my mouth and unsatisfied.

I see a lot of Unilocalers had bad experiences there. Perhaps I got lucky. The couple times that I’ve been there are kind of slow that it’s pretty empty so I had fairly fast service.
One time was weekend brunch and it’s really nice to have Mexican style breakfast for a change. One time was dinner and I ordered combo fajitas. The portions were always quite large. There were a huge amount of chicken steak and shrimps on the sizzling pan that’s enough to feed for two.

I went to Agave Grill today and found it to be very good.
I had the Tacos off of the lunch menu with camarones (LOVE the stuff!). I thought it was real nice that they offered a half portion, so instead of 2 tacos, they gave you 1 along with the beans of your choice and green rice. I didn’t feel over stuffed.
The service was very friendly and it was relatively quick to get the food as well.

Ever since this place opened, it’s gotten horrible reviews from Unilocalers. But since the owners are supposedly restauranteurs and foodies, I figured they would make some drastic changes in the past few months to improve their/​food service. So after passing by one night after dinner, I decided to stop in for a drink and some chips, salsa and guacamole.
Boy, was I wrong in assuming that the owners put some effort into improving this place. We were seated right away by the hostess, but it took about 10 minutes for someone to come over and acknowledge our presence. At one point the water boy came by, plopped the water down on the table, but didn’t bother saying anything like, «Hi guys, your server will be with you shortly.»
The hands-​off service continued that way for the rest of the night, as we had to ask for everything, from water refills, to more salsa, or even another cocktail. There was no popping by and asking, «Are you guys doing ok? May I get you another drink or more chips?» I mean granted we weren’t ordering entrees, but between my husband and I, we ordered enough in drinks to total as much as it would have cost for entrees. So, it wasn’t like we were just squatting the waitress’ table and not ordering things. Also, we went on a Wednesday night when there was plenty of staff, and hardly any patrons.
The chips were seasoned, which was weird. The salsa was ok, but not great. We also ordered the spicy salsa, which was gross and the guacamole which was probably comparable to something you could get at Chevy’s.
My first cocktail, the raspberry mojito, wasn’t sweet at all, and the muddled raspberries in it just made the whole drink very bitter. Next, I ordered a Tom Collins. After 5 – 10 minutes of waiting for the drink the waitress came back and asked, «Would you like that made with gin or vodka?» I order this drink when I go out ALL THE TIME and have never been asked if I wanted it made with vodka. If it’s made with vodka, it’s not a Tom Collins. That’d be like asking if I wanted rum or tequila in my margarita. Margaritas are made with tequila. Period. When the drink finally came out it just tasted like lemonade. They made the drink in a tall glass, but only put one shot of gin in it, when there really should be two shots in a tall glass. Gah. Why have a full bar if you don’t know how to make drinks?
So, no. This place is still really bad and under no circumstances should you go here.

I recvd a $ 15 gift card from Bridgeport for my birthday, so I figured that I might as well give it a try. The restaurant is small… more staffs than customers. I have a staff at my face every 2 minutes & asking how i everything. Hint. hint… customer w/​a mouthful of drink or food isn’t the best time to ask!
Margarita’s was $ 8, garnished w/​a slice of orange (hm. interesting), tasted funky. not to mention the EXTREMELY large ice that was floating in my glass. All that aside, the real reason that they recvd a 1-​star rating is… as a mexican restaurant. they can’t even do fajita right. It was SUPER oily… burnt/​uncooked onion w/​few strip of green/​red pepper, and my beef was tougher than shoe leather! I am Asian and I don’t mind sinking my teeth into something. but when I can’t even bit the beef apart? Then WE have a problem! The «home made» corn tortilla? it was «glued» together & mushy. And this all happened while I saw the «chef/​wheeler/​sous chef» walked around in the small kitchen acting to supervise… and eating around the grill… yeah… health code violation! don’t ever count on me to return!

Each time I come here the dining experience is a little more underwhelming, the foodless tasty and the service less prompt.
For my birthday, Bridgeport Rewards sent an email with various treats. One of them was for a free dessert at Agave Grill. I decided to redeem it and, as I wasn’t too hungry, ordered a $ 5 guacamole appetizer to go with it.
First, it was disappointing that they were somehow out of the dessert I selected, a fruit empanada. (I noticed my server said they were out of the dessert rather than ingredients to make the dessert.) It was only around 1pm and since it’s supposed to be made from scratch, how could they be out of the dessert within three hours of opening?
The guacamole was brown and tasteless. Next time I’ll just go across the street to Whole Foods where there’s better guacamole for the same price.
When they first opened, they gave a basket of chips and three different salsas. That dwindled to two salsas, and yesterday we only received one.
The previous few times the flautas were more greasy than they once were and other entrees weren’t as flavorful. It’s really unfortunate because I like the premise of a healthier Mexican restaurant. With the gigantic confection of mediocre ingredients I received as my birthday dessert, I think they’ve derailed from their initial intention.
The other thing that really bothers me is that the last three times I went there, it takes forever to flag someone down for a check. We’ve sat there as long as half an hour after finishing our meal, patiently waiting for a check. Once, we had to stand up and walk to the front in order to pay. This is really annoying if you’re wanting to see a certain movie showing.

I have only been to Agave grill for business lunch. The food is fresh and not too complicated. I don’t like the texture of the chips, but the salsa is pretty good. Overall, I wouldn’t come here if it weren’t for office lunches.
I will say that the staff is always friendly and fast. I like to park in the parking lot next to Sinju; much faster with getting in and out of the hell that is Bridgeport parking.

This place was absolutely rediculous! My husband and I went in here, because it was brand new and we LOVE mexican food. We went inside, and not only was it a long wait for hardly anyone there, but when we were handed the thick ass menus, we realized there was only like, 6 items on the menu and 2 on the desert menu. What a waste. Why were reluctant to try it, but did it anyways, hoping the food would taste good. And to no suprise, it didnt. It had no flavor. There was nothing appetizing about the food when you looked at it. Crappy portion sizes, and not anywhere near cheap hardly.
The service was rediculous, but I do have to say that the only thing that was pleasing and worth going back for was the one desert with the fresh berries on it. That was really good. Not sure if it was worth the $ 7 or so. I saw it as being more like a $ 4 to $ 5 range at the absolute most. But that desert wasnt even mexican. Its sad that it is in such an upscale area and looks really swanky, but dont let any of that fool you.
Not worth even looking at while walking by let alone going into.

No Art-​cy Fart-​cy Mexicain Food Here…
Such a big joke when you are served the same food as other Mexican Food places. Where is the artisan, eh?
We went there because it was Saturday noon oClockish and it was new to us. The place looks high class and new. Tables are nice with cloth napkins and water glasses, etc.
What are your expectations when they say Artisan Mexican Cuisine? Nope, you got your tacos, burritos, and all the regular stuff. Nothing fancy at all. The menu is what you would expect at Azteca. With luck the price was not expensive.
When in Bridgeport by the theater, go to the Japanese restaurant.

This review will definitely stand out among all the 1 and 2 star reviews because I actually had a pleasant experience here.
I didn’t have any food, just a drink.
We had a drink’s worth time to kill before seeing a movie at the theaters across the street and since it was a nice sunny day, I thought cocktails would be ideal. Our server was friendly and the drinks weren’t bad either. we had the watermelon mojito (it tasted like fresh blended watermelon juice) and the ginger-​rita. The server told me that the ginger-​rita wasn’t super gingery but customers still enjoyed it – she was right, it wasn’t a ginger-​y cocktail at all but still a drinkable one nonetheless.
The chips and salsa provided while we drank our summery drinks were actually quite good.
Our server even wished us a good time at the movies!
So there, good experience.
(PS: this used to be the location of Pudding On The Rice – the rice pudding shop that was oh so wonderful. Sucks they didn’t make it)

Great service! Very friendly staff. Really cool open kitchen.
I was really looking forward to this place opening and do hope they work things out. They obviously spent a lot of money!
Table-​side drinks are not my thing (just bring me a drink, thank you) but I came ready to drop $ 150 on dinner for my anniversary so I went with the $ 12 dollar margarita. Bland, nothing special but good Tequila and fresh juice. Meh…
The food seamed very fresh and good quality, but from the salsa to the prawn cocktail to the pork tacos to the chicken enchiladas — bland, bland, bland. Flavorless. I can’t believe you could make Mexican food so tasteless and boring. Even the beans tasted like flavorless paste. Second grade, improvised snack-​time, Elmer’s Paste. The rice? Nothing, nada, no taste.
We asked for hot sauce. They brought out the only hot sauce they had: Tabasco. Really? What year is this? High-​end Mexican what??? Tabasco…
My wife and I got our food boxed up so we could take it home and fix it. Then we went across the street and had sushi. I spent $ 59 and felt bad for my poor little credit card. It was sooooo excited to go rack up a big tab.
I wish these guys luck. If they start tasting their food while they cook they might make it. Chevy’s has nothing to worry about here.

To say that Agave Grill has horrible service would be like saying that Hurricane Katrina was a nasty rain storm. Never in my life have I experienced such unapologetic carelessness and indifference from a «wait staff.» Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to like the place. I really did. I love the idea: Mexican food for people who actually like good food and know the difference between authentic cuisine and a greasy chimichanga. I get it.
Where it all goes terribly wrong is not only with the execution of this but the perceived notion that they really couldn’t be bothered to even show even the slightest inclination to do what they claim they are wanting to do.
After an afternoon movie, my group had decided to go for an early dinner after discovering that Agave Grill had opened. It was maybe 5 pm and the place was still empty. The hostess was friendly but chose to seat us at a cramped table instead on one of many empty booths. Okay, I could have said something but was pacified with a view of the open kitchen with about 20 employees scurrying around.
Our waitress finally came for drink orders after she was done whispering and giggling with her coworkers. I doubt it was the management’s intent for the restaurant to have a feel of. .. a middle school home room. But sadly, it did.
Oh, the food. It was pretty good (hence the two stars). However, I didn’t get what I ordered (hence the two stars). For an appetizer, I decided to try the watermelon gazpacho which sat in front of me for ten minutes because I HAD NO SPOON which the waitress would have noticed had she bothered to look in our general direction while placing the food on the table rather than grinning at her BFF/​coworker who was similarly torturing another party at an adjacent table. The Layuda I ordered as an entrée looked and tasted surprisingly good. Never mind the fact that it was not the one that I ordered, it was good nonetheless. Part of the problem must have something to do with everyone at the table had to POINT OUT OUR ORDER on the menu for the waitress. She had no clue what any of the food was.
I’m not sure how this sort of thing even happens, but it’s baffling and jolting. At one point, I gave a quick glance around for hidden cameras as if we were in some sick practical joke TV show or something, but no.. .this is the cold reality of Agave Grill. Maybe it’s because the business has recently opened and needs to find its footing. Maybe it’s the location. Have you been to Bridgeport Village? If you’re not rolling your eyes at the thought, then there’s not much more that can be said.
It wasn’t all bad. The Tijuana Taxi was a good drink.

its only been less then a week since opening so the place needs to work out a few kinks. My food came cold and the order was wrong.
The chips and salsa were great, my food (tacos) which the waiter put back in to be redone after it came out cold were great. The place has potential with a unique menu and flavors different from your normal Mexican spot.