Xochitl Restaurant

Reviews 4

PE

Penn Appétit

I have been planning to eat at Xochtil on 2nd and Pine with my parents for some time now. We missed our opportunity during restaurant week due to reservation issues, but along came the message that they would be featuring a similar sort of four courses tasting menu during the week before Halloween. I had a rabbit pozole for my soup: one of the reasons for which I chose the tasting menu and Xochitl in the first place. The rabbit was so tender, and the pozole floating in the broth were very good. Unfortunately, there was neither enough lime nor cilantro to make it ring true to its Latin American nature. This was not too much of a disappointment, since the broth was a bit spicy and very rich. Next, I sampled a swordfish ceviche with mezcal-infused blood orange juice for an appetizer. I really enjoyed the tender, buttery texture of the cured fish. The juice was very sweet, enhancing the flavors of the tomatoes and cilantro already accenting the fish. It was beautiful presented as well, with the juice poured on table-side by our waiter. Our main courses were rather interesting and certainly rang of the Yucatan. I had a nicely seared, very flaky halibut on top of a bed of pumpkin seed mole. This was new to me, since I have only had authentic mole negro before. This adaptation was a bit too salty on its own, but when paired with the fish, it became much more tolerable and rather tasty. There was also a standard mole negro on the side, but it was a bit too bitter to accompany the fish well on its own. The dish lacked the cumin-coriander kick I am used to from Mexican cooking back home, but was still very good. Dessert, which should always be a no-brainer was not. We each tried something different, knowing full well that we would not be hungry after the other courses. Our least favorite was a pumpkin clafouti, which was neither creamy nor sweet enough to be labeled a desert. It lacked the sophistication that such a name should inspire. Needless to say, we were not impressed. However, we did like an almond layer cake in a raspberry soup. We though it was a rather tasty take on cake. All in all, Xochitl was a fantastic dining experience, and the tasting menu always provides excellent insight regarding a restaurants specialties. We will probably go there again after trying other places. Though tamed for the standard American pallet, the dishes did ring rather true to their concept of nouveau Mexican fusion-style cuisine, and we enjoyed every course. --Ian

RO

Rob Lyter

Food poisoning Xs 5 people: Saturday, March 15th, 2014. Out of a group of 10 of us, 5 ate the fish tacos and all 5 became violently ill: vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, sweats, chills. One person became sick after dinner that evening, the other 4 within 24 hours. All had to miss work at the beginning of the week. When I called the restaurant to report our illnesses (partly for the restaurants own sake thinking they would be grateful) they claimed we probably just caught a stomach bug and couldnt provide us with an apology or even a partial refund. Keep in mind it was a group of 10 people whose only interaction all month was at THIS restaurant. They stated they needed our doctors names, symptoms, and timelines of sickness. After informing them that requesting my doctors name and medical records was inappropriate and/or illegal they said they "were just playing devils advocate with us"-family friendly environment!! The managers of this restaurant stated that it couldnt be food poisoning because no one else had called (besides the other 4 sick people from my group who did call). So, if youre reading this and you ate at the restaurant on or around March 15th (or ever) and became violently ill, you might want to know it was probably food poisoning from this restaurant. I explained to the manager the reason we were probably the first to call is due to our large sample size: a group of 10 patrons in which 5 get sick after eating the same dish is a much easier tell for food poisoning than a group of 2 patrons eating separate dishes in which only 1 gets sick and may chalk it up to a stomach bug. After being belittled on the telephone by multiple managers (via the owner who was too sheepish to speak himself) I was ensured Id have the fish tacos ($69) refunded onto my credit card. Well, multiple days have passed and they havent been refunded and so here I am telling our story which I promised I wouldnt if we were given a refund. I gave them a chance to make things right and they didnt take it. They argued on the phone for 2 hours over a $69 refund on a bill that was close to $500! As I explained to the managers, I approached them first to make this right and if they didnt make an attempt I would open it up to the reviews as is fair practice for any restaurant. My recommendation is dont eat here and if you did eat here and became ill at any point, consider food poisoning to be the culprit.

MI

Minh Chau

It was after 10PM by the time we arrived at Xochitl. Upon entry, we waited for a couple minutes, but we didnt see the hostess. I flagged down a waiter who was busily moving about with dishes bound for a table downstairs. He informed us that they didnt have a hostess at that hour, but would get us seated shortly. And indeed he did. Weve been to Xochitl a couple times before. We had previously returned because it had the best chicken torta in the city, but then that item fell off the menu, no where to be found. The revamped menu was OK, but not good enough to go all the way out east just for it. Since we were nearby that night and hungry, we dropped by to give it another chance. Im glad we did. We had the make-your-own guac with Spanish onions, roasted tomatoes, cojito, truffle oil, and a pepper whose name I cant remember. I thought this was so-so and was missing a little bit of something. But, this wasnt the restaurants fault since it was us who picked the ingredients. Shame on us. We split the Pollo Frito - a half chicken that was brined for 24 hours, steamed, fried, and drizzled with sweet chile sauce. It was paired with corn bread and spinach in a chile cream. The chicken was fried perfectly, with the sweet chile sauce serving as a good contrast to the spicier chile cream of the spinach. Definitely a repeat to be had. We also had the fish tacos - achiote lime marinated walu fish layered with mexican slaw and wrapped in house made tortillas. Im not normally a fan of fish tacos as the flavors are often more bland. The flavors of these tacos werent bland, but just more subtle. Another repeat to be had. The only big service miss was that our guac came out late because there was confusion in the kitchen regarding whether we already got it or not (we didnt). Overall, a nice comeback Xochitl.

G

G Jimerson

Coming from AZ Ive got pretty high standards for Mexican food and this place didnt disappoint. I got the chicken tacos. They were spicy but not incendiary which is a nice touch. While they were good, they werent knock your socks off special. With that said, the made to order customized guacamole was out-freakin-standing. Id highly recommend the garlic, cilantro, fish combo. We ended up getting 2 orders of this since it was so good. Even a slight variation with truffle oil can change the taste drastically and for the better. We need this in AZ now! The service was great. Our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable. Ill warn you guys ahead of time, this is some seriously pricey Mexican food. With that said, youve got to come here for the guacamole and chips at least once.