garysanta's Profile
Baja Cafe - Finally Some Good Mexican in North Asheville!
Actually, Santa Fe Mexican (actually Northern New Mexican) food is not really Tex-Mex. It is its own distinctive style. And you're quite right that expecting Santa Fe food anywhere is not realistic.
It is also true that I have been profoundly disappointed by the restaurants in Asheville. I lived in New York City for many years which, arguably, has the best restaurants in the country, so, of course, I did have high (apparently unrealistically high) expectations for Asheville.
I do have one restaurant that I very much like in Asheville: Curate.
-----
Santa Fe Restaurant
707 Turner McCall Blvd NE, Rome, GA 30165
Baja Cafe - Finally Some Good Mexican in North Asheville!
I grew up in Santa Fe. Baja is, at best mediocre. Indeed, I would argue that it is not even mediocre.
I will never go back to that restaurant.
However, if you like it (and the restaurant survives), I think it's great that you've found what you consider to be a good Mexican restaurant.
Keep in mind, though, that Asheville doesn't have a genuine Mexican restaurant. It has a number of adequate Tex/Mex restaurants. Unfortunately, from my perspective, Baja is not even an adequate Tex/Mex restaurant.
Apparently, one criterion you have for good food is that it be "BIG." And they can do that. Indeed, "The home of the seven pound burrito" is not a very compelling argument for quality food.
-----
Bajas
385 Highway 29 N, Newnan, GA 30263
Santa Fe Restaurant
707 Turner McCall Blvd NE, Rome, GA 30165
Baja Cafe - Finally Some Good Mexican in North Asheville!
Yes, they cAme with cheese. Lots and lots and lots of cheese. And they came with, at best, a tablespoon of sauce. I typically don't really enjoy a plate of melted cheese. Perhaps you do. If so, then you've found the right place.
Baja Cafe - Finally Some Good Mexican in North Asheville!
Another mediocre Mexican restaurant.
I ordered the enchiladas senesce (or something like that). As well, I requested a spicy sauce.
What I received was two enchiladas with so much cheese that I had to scrape most of it off the top or the enchiladas just to experience the cheese-stuffed tortillas. I was treated to, at best, a few tablespoons of sauce.
This was quite awful and I'm surprised that they can survive.
Neo Cantina, Asheville
I had lunch there. I ordered something that is really hard to screw up: cheese enchiladas.
Neo Cantina screwed it up. Indeed, they were the worst cheese enchiladas I have ever had, and they were truly inedible.
The plate was nothing but a gelatinous mass of greasy, melted cheese. I couldn't even find a piece of tortilla.
I will never return. I am even surprised they are still open.
Twisted Crepe? - Asheville
I had lunch at Twisted Crepe today with two other people. Most of the crepe fillings are similar (apart from the make-your-own option).
The texture of the crepes was such that they were way too thick and really were much more like a flour tortilla than a French crepe.
The atmosphere is not great.
We all agreed that we would not return and really don't recommend the restaurant.
Blue Ridge Dining Room, Grove Park Inn, Asheville
This restaurant has a "farm to table" buffet. I can say, unequivocally, that almost everything that was available was truly awful. Even the Italian deli meat was awful.
How is that possible? One doesn't have high expectations for a buffet, and, of course, some thing are bound to be better than others. But it is quite a feat to have countless options consistently barely edible.
Anyone tried Posana in Asheville yet?
Yes, I tried it, and it was quite awful. They have decided to be gluten-free, and, of course, that means that their bread is dry and without substance. That is, it doesn't hold up for the few sandwiches on their menu.
They don't appear to know how to fry french fries (twice) such that their fries are just dry.
And they serve a salad dressing that could only appeal to a vegan.
The meal was quite awful, and it's rather sad given that their space is quite attractive and comfortable. Nonetheless, their space cannot compensate for their truly awful food.
-----
Posana Cafe
1 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
Red Stag Grill, Asheville
I took a party of six to the Red Stag Grill on a busy Saturday night (August 28 2009). The entire experience was profoundly disappointing.
The room is a little too much focussed on antlers to the point of being ludicrous.
That aside, the service was very slow and the waiter was not even remotely knowledgeable about wine.
Most importantly, the food was quite awful. Their allegedly great calamari, while not overcooked, was not at all crisp and the sauce was overpowering. The duck was very fatty and the skin had no crisp at all. The tuna was grossly overcooked and dry and had no sauce.
I would never return to this restaurant, and I was embarrassed to have exposed five other people to incompetent service and cooking.
Finally, the manager was relatively unresponsive to the complaints about the food. This restaurant should really not be in business unless the owner gets a new chef and hires and trains people such that they are capable of delivering appropriate information and service.
Do yourself a favor: go elsewhere.
Curras Dom -Woodfin/Asheville - slipping?
I've been to the restaurant three times for dinner. Time 1 was quite good as was time 2. Unfortunately, time 3 was NOT good. The lamb was of poor quality and overcooked. The manager came over after our complaints and asked if we would like something else. He should have simply sent over a glass of wine or offered dessert.
In fact, the entire meal was quite awful for four people who ordered different first courses and entrees (duck, a melted cheese option with tortillas, red snapper). Everything was quite awful.
We would never go back there again, and we do not recommend the restaurant to others.
Cucina 24 - Asheville
There were four of us on a very uncrowded night (02.19.2009). Despite that, the service was quite slow and they were not even able to deliver the main courses at the same time.
But that really turned out to be irrelevant given that two of the main courses were quite awful.
One was trout with a pancetta vinaigrette. There was no pancetta that I could discern, not to mention even a vinaigrette. As well, the trout was served on a bed of mashed potatoes.
I have no idea what this has to do with Italian cooking.
Then, another person at our party ordered the duck. The duck was okay, but the accompaniment to the duck was such that we could barely determine what it was. Again, one can ask what this has to do with Italian food.
I conclude by saying that the service was slow (too often the case in Asheville) and, in addition, they were not even able to serve the entrees at the same time. More importantly, the food was not particularly good and had absolutely nothing to do with Italian food.
Our party would never go back to this restaurant. Indeed, it really should go out of business. Were that to happen, it would not be a great loss.
Asheville - Fall '08 updates/ Q&A?
I have to agree about Savoy. I went there Tuesday night and ordered stuffed Pequillo (sp?) peppers as a first course. The stuffing--some sort of anchovy mix, was exceedingly strong and overpowered the subtle peppers.
For the entree, I ordered the duck breast with a sweet sauce. It came with fries that were, in fact, fried in duck fat. The sauce was so cloyingly sweet that anything it touched was inedible. As well, the fries were, at best, mediocre given that they lacked crispness, and I was hard-pressed to determine the benefit of the duck fat.
I'm beginning to think that Savoy is vastly overrated. I think that the only things they really do well are items from their "chop house" menu such as the lamb porterhouse.
Asheville's Best Restaurants
I think Gabrielle's is grossly overrated and over priced. My meal there was horrendous. Having heirloom tomatoes as one of the courses on the tasting menu is not exactly inspired given that we can all easily obtain heirloom tomatoes and make a basic vinaigrette. As well, they didn't even know how to make a decent Martini.
I would never go back there.
Potenza (Hendersonville,NC) anyone?
Four of us had dinner last night at La Riserva. Indeed, had I known it had anything to do with Caterina in Asheville, I would never have agreed to go.
Anyway, the restaurant, by 8:30 was, at best, 1/4 full. And it appears that is for good reason.
The food was quite awful. I ordered to begin frito misto, expecting calamari, various fish, etc. It came with french fries, fried cheese, fried artichoke and fried calamari. The batter was overpowered by parmesan cheese, and the calamari had so much batter that there didn't appear to be any calamari underneath. As well, the presentation was in a huge vertical napkin in a glass, and no easy way of eating it.
Everyone else had a cesar salad that was amazingly bland.
For an entree, I had ziti with fennel sausage and provolone cheese. What I received was a gelatinous mass of cooked red peppers and slices of fennel sausage topped by tasteless melted cheese. There appeared to be about 12 pieces of overcooked ziti. I ate practically none of it, it was so bad. One person had risotto that wasn't too bad.
The manager should have comped the ziti since, when he came out to inquire about the meal, I freely told him about the horrific ziti and it was clear that I had hardly eaten any of it.
I would never go back there.
It is unfortunate that the Asheville area just doesn't appear to have any good Italian restaurants. Admittedly, I have been spoiled by having lived most of my adult life in New York. Nonetheless, these Italian restaurants are inferior no matter what the frame of reference.
