Agave Mexican Bistro
| Address: | 111 State Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USA |
| Phone: | +1 603-427-5300 |
| Site: | agavedos.com |
| Rating: | 3.8 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–9:30PM 11:30AM–10PM 11:30AM–10PM 10AM–8:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 10
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Ted King
When you know where to look, Portsmouth can be an amazing culinary experience. When you go with the masses however, you end up at Agave. Pros: Agave has potential. Well decorated and very good location in Portsmouth. Very large on the inside with two floors of seating. Great bar upstairs and down. Potential - now its a matter of seeing what theyll do with it. Menu looks spectacular... but it sadly falls well short when it comes to execution. So again menu falls under the Pros because of the potential. Cons: Portions are excessively large. Look, I LOVE a lot of good food... but when its a lot of mediocre food, Im left with a bland feeling of mediocrity in my mouth. Inauthentic. I feel like all three of our meals were cooked by Joe High Schooler down the road. When I order Mexican, I want it cooked authentically and deliciously by Jorge who knows this food from their childhood. Prices are excessive for what you get. Im more than happy to pay $20 or more for an entree, but this was a glorified Taco Bell. It was like eating at an Americanized chain restaurant with its massive portions and inauthentic flair. Waitstaff. Very friendly, but overly friendly. I dont enjoy being asked how everything is three times per course. And I feel badly saying that its just okay. So I mostly just pretended my mouth was full. Plus she doesnt know a lick of Spanish. Sure its freakin New England, but learn a word or two.
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A Private User
My girlfriend and I go out to eat often and have sampled some of the best restaurants in the Dover, Portsmouth, Southern Maine area. This is definitely one of our favorites for food. We have been to Agave twice. The first time we went, we enjoyed the food immeensely. I smiled the entire time and my girlfriend said it was one of the best places shes ever eaten. Our only complaint with this restaurant is the seating. It is a bit overcrowded in the main bar area on the lower level. The second time we went, we asked to sit in the nicer, dining-room area part of the downstairs because we wanted to look out the windows while eating, but the host told us "no, actually, you have to sit upstairs because we have to be fair to the servers." I was a bit put off by this because, well, thats ridiculous. I understand fairness to the servers and can appreciate "spreading the wealth," but were the ones paying. If youre going to this place, bring your appetite because the portions are huge, and the prices are reasonable. The Emilios pasta is fantastic, as are the medium shell tacos. The servers are friendly.... it was hopefully the hosts first day. We will definitely be back and demand to sit where we want.
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Eddie Webb
We tried Agave knowing it was a bit expensive, but went anyway since we were using a gift card. Overpriced food is one thing, but usually you get a much stronger or unique dining experience.(We like The Library, Radicis, etc) Not at Agave..... The rice looked and tasted like it came from a box (rice-a-roni), The taco meet was unseasoned, and the tamale sauce was downright awful. My girlfriends salad was more dandelion leaves than substance. Best of all? their "cup" of soup is a large shot glass - not worth $7 !! Oh, and then the waiter went and had a cigarette break and left us waiting for our credit card for 20 minutes! Summary: Worse use of $62, I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone. Portsmouth and Newington have MUCH better Mexican to offer.
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A Private User
Watch out on their specials - they dont seem to know about the "early pairing" special - I ordered a margarita and flauntas which should have been $12 total. I didnt realize until we got home when I asked my husband something about the "special" that we didnt get it. So we ended up paying more for these two combined "special" items. We had the bartender as our waiter (I think Tom) - he had a smile on his face alot - now I know it was because he was going to screw us to get a bigger tip. There is no way he didnt know about their "early pairing" special since it has been offered for a good long time and it still is. I like their food but this really ticked me off and we havent been back since. No excuse for that.
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Brian Winter
I have been coming to Agave since we moved to the area in 2015. It is AMAZING! It is higher-end Mexican-American food, but man is it good. They make an amazing ceviche, and their mole sauce is superb. There is an insane amount of different kinds of tequila, and I was surprised that there was such a variety and depth of tequilas. I am a scotch drinker, so I talked with the bartender for probably an hour about different tequilas and how they are made and how they get their different flavor profiles. Amazing place! Great for a dinner date, or sitting at the bar. The upstairs has a bar as well, and a waterfall!
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Angela Lamonday
Love love love! Ive been here twice with my husband. I got the chicken tinga tacos and my hubs got the carnitas. I make chicken tinga tacos at home but havent seen this particular dish in mexican restaurants before so I was excited to try it and it was super delicious! My husband looooved the carnitas as well. So yummy. Highly recommend these dishes and we will absolutely be coming back if we end up having a night without the kiddos sometime as it doesnt seem like a place a family would go for dinner.
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Louise Janelle
Ive eaten there before, but last nights experience was very disappointing. Our initial drink order (wine) took 10 minutes to arrive on the table, and our meal took an hour. The beef in my husbands tacos was like shoe leather, rice was cold and refried beans were watery mush. My order of Street Tacos was acceptable, but overpriced for what I got. Not sure if the time issue was kitchen or server related, but its Portsmouth during a busy time and adequate staffing should be maintained.
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A Private User
What do you dislike about it? Share a tip.This place is somehow still in business even though yelp says closes. Food was overpriced and not very good. The second to worst service Ive ever had, period. The waiter, Tom, was not only terrible at his job but was also a complete jerk. Do not take any business clients there what so-ever unless you want them to have a poor meal and an insult. I also joined yelp so I could write this is was that bad.
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Tim Pond
The food was good, but service was slow. Particularly bar service. Not sure if they were short on staff for a Wednesday night or what. We sat at a table and it took forever to get drinks ordered from the bar. Also, could have done without the play-by-play for the table side Guacamole. I know whats in Guac and that service has kind of lost its allure. It seems its just be for the purpose of getting an extra tip.
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Trevor Knott
Ive been here approximately five or six times and the last few experiences have been subpar. Slow service, expensive menu, standard tex-mex food. The prices call for great service and good quality but its no longer there. The last time we were seated near the kitchen/bathroom and it smelled funny too. We used to enjoy the restaurant and recommend but I can no longer recommended this restaurant.
