Siete Mares

THIS PLACE IS CLOSED !! as of May 20^th 2011
All excited about eating there (love it) and pulled up and it’s turned into a bakery. Asked a girl who was walking in and she said «Siete Mares» was closedf… but that it will reopen at some future date.
How depressing — all the excellent restaurants in Waco are biting the dust. Green Room and now Seite Mares.
Waco is so DEVOID of fine dining

I drove from Fort Worth to have lunch with a friend at the restaurant Saturday. I had checked their website and it stated that they had lunch so we were good to go. That is till I pulled up in front at 11:45 to find that they do NOT SERVE LUNCH and did not open till 5. I’ll change my rating once I get to try the food. I was really looking forward to trying this place. They really need to update the website!!!

I happened to find myself in Waco yesterday so I searched for restaurants using the Unilocal app on my Android phone. I found Siete Mares had 4.5 stars, so I navigated myself over there. The concept of a whole restaurant with a Mexican seafood theme sounded interesting. I have been to Mexican places that served seafood before but not a Mexican restaurant that dedicated itself entirely to seafood.
The place can be described as a «hole in the wall» definitely. From the side, the building is made out of corrugated metal and looks like it used to be someone’s machine shop. The neighborhood looked slightly dicey but then again I live on the East Side of Austin and I wasn’t intimidated in the least.
Upon entering, we were promptly greeted and showed to a table. We were brought chips and some yellow looking salsa in a cup. The chips were excellent, great tasting and salted just right. I wasn’t really a fan of the yellow salsa though. I asked our waiter if there was a chunky salsa available but alas he said no.
I ordered a grilled Mahi fillet with salsa vericruzana. The food arrived with a side of white rice and some mixed vegetables that included squash, cucumber, bell pepper and celery. The vegetables were very tasty. The rice was, well, rice. The mahi was excellent and was cooked just right, and the salsa vericruzana was wonderful.
We skipped on desert, as we were filled. We did have to ask the for the check which I thought was unusual but maybe just the difference between Austin and Waco.
Overall, I give 4* and I would definitely come back again next time I am in Waco. I would recommend it to my friends, if they are in to seafood.

Wow… Really good food! Not a lot for the kids, though… If you’re not a seafood fan, it’s not for you.
The staff was friendly and we had timely refills and things.
The only problem was the fear that I had. There are bars on the windows and doors and the area was a bit frightening.
Bathrooms are gross and there’s a bullet hole in the front door. But, you don’t go out to eat for clean bathrooms and safety, right?
I would come here again for lunch, but if it’s dark… It’s not for me.

The less experienced think that Red Lobster is the only place for seafood in Waco. They don’t know what they are missing. I have never had a bad meal here and have tried many of the menu items over the years. The folks are friendly and remember their customers. The fish dishes are great. The chips are a little bit of a let down but the rest of the meal more than make up for it. Try the Pescado Empapelado. LOVE IT!
BYOB

I recently moved from Austin to my fiancée’s place near Waco and always gripe about the severe lack of *good* food in the area. In fact, it seems as though every time we go out, we end up comparing the food to a place in Austin and we’re always disappointed.
Not this time.
I told the fiancée earlier I wanted to go out to a previously tried Mexican food place but I did some searching while she was getting ready and saw the menu for Siete and revised our plans. I’m SO glad I did.
While the location apparently isn’t in the best part of town from what I hear, it didn’t matter when we took our first bites of the food.
Now for the good stuff…
The place looks like a hole in the wall, with a sign barely visible from the street thanks to some trees. Pulling in to the lot, we were met by an attendant who directed us where to park and we strolled on in. As we finished looking at the «daily specials» board, we looked at the dining area and were surprised at how upscale the place seemed. I mean, it doesn’t look like a five star restaurant but it definitely doesn’t look like a cheap restaurant either. I believe «cute» was the word used by my other half.
Anyway, we get our table and waited just a bit to get our drinks ordered. Normally, I may have said something about the wait but I was too interested in all of the combinations of insanely good sounding food listed on their menu.
The waitress dropped off some chips and an orangeish looking salsa. I’m going to say that I normally base any Mexican-​type of restaurant on it’s initial serving of chips and their salsa. If they have pretty good chips and a killer salsa, I seem to think the rest of the meal will be killer as well. Well, I’m still not sure what the salsa was, as it seemed tomatillo based but it didn’t have quite the kick as other tomatillo salsas I’ve had. Pretty good, though. The chips definitely tasted homemade, and were just about the right thickness (I prefer thin chips). Be careful though, as additional orders of chips & salsa cost extra; not much extra, but extra nonetheless.
The fish-​based ceviche cocktail I ordered was defintely good, although I still prefer another Houston-​area restaurant’s shrimp-​based take on it. In fact, I made it a point to finish every last bit of it, scooping all I could from the Margarita glass it was served in.
On to the main event though, the main course. Personally, after looking and looking, I decided on the «Alvarado’s Combination de Mariscos» and the fiancée ordered the «Pecan Crusted Rainbow Trout», which they were out of. Instead, the waitress suggested a simple replacement, «Pecan Crusted Tilapia». Done.
We waited a bit and finally the plates came. Her fish was placed down first and looked *great*. A pretty decently sized portion of Tilapia with Pecan slices all over it, some steamed vegetables and white rice. My plate looked even better as I saw a large mixture of seafood goodness with everything from oysters to frog legs. The steamed veges and rice also appeared on my plate but I was immediately drawn to the delicious looking seafood explosion and took a bite. Wow. I was *GREATLY* surprised by how fresh the seafood tasted and how properly everything was cooked. For those that may not know, squid and octopus tend to get very rubbery when overcooked but are just perfect when done right, which was the case here. The crab meat appeared to be imitation, as it was rolled up and had that «imitation» color to it but with the ingenious mix of meats and garlic spices, I was *not* complaining one bit.
One word from the (now) wise, watch out for those frog legs. I forgot they were on the plate and bit down on one without thinking, assuming it was a large chunk of meat. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on but when I did I realized just how good those legs were. ;)
The fiancée, who likes fish but doesn’t like it when it’s too overpowering loved her dish. Yes, Tilapia is a very mild fish but even I’ve had some *bad* Tilapia dishes. She made the comment that even the steamed vegetables were good, and I agreed, even though I normally don’t care of them at all.
Overall, the food was *great* and I was *very* surprised this type of quality was in the Waco area. We will DEFINITELY go back, and hopefully soon, as there are many more delicious sounding plates that I have to try.
As far as costs, coming in at just over $ 47 for two (including a medium Ceviche cocktail «app», two large diners, two drinks with many «on-​time» refills) I’m not going to complain a bit due to how good it was. While we couldn’t afford to eat there everyday, we will make it a point to figure out some kind of workable schedule for this place.
One more thing, it is BYOB, which I didn’t see on their website. While we were there, i think there were three fairly large tables there with wine they had brought and one table with some liqour and beer. I wish I had known that previously but that may have been my fault, as I may have missed it.

This place is amazing! Absolutely one of the best seafood, no I’m sorry overall restaurants in the Waco area. They serve some of the best talapia that I’ve ever had. Also their siete mares is one of the best restaurant served ones that I’ve ever had. If you have the chance try it, I miss it.

When I find myself in Waco, I always time my meetings or business there around a meal and not on a Monday because I have to go to this restaurant every time I am in town.
Siete Mares was recommended to me when I taught a course at Baylor a few summers ago, and I ended up there every night (except Mondays).
I had this stuffed avocado that was to die for — crab meat and all kinds of stuff in it. Also, they have amazing fresh catches like amber jack, snapper, and other cool gulf bites. The shrimp are huge.
If your party likes fish, this is a good place for large groups because the place is austere and ready to move tables around easily. However, weekend nights are tough, as it is so busy. They sometimes have a man outside who helps you find parking, but that only works to a certain degree. It may not be their style, but this family may want to hire a valet for the weekend nights.

The best place to get coastal Mexican food in town. The ceviche is wonderful as are the crab enchiladas. But make sure you go on an off night, i.e. not Fri or Sat night, otherwise the parking is nonexistant. They should really think about moving somewhere else and expanding.