Otro Cafe

Don’t come here for the Mexican food. Come for the booze, burgers and amazing service!!!

Very great food at this location. Tried out this place with my family and my mother who happened to be In Town this weekend and it was fantastic. Our server made the recommendation for the chicken chilaquiles with the green salsa. They also have great breakfast burritos. We will definitely be back.

What a WONDERFUL place to dine. Not just eat– but DINE. THE ATMOSPHERE had a urban charm to it and was cheery and inviting. Very clean and comfortable. We had friends recommend it and we are so thankful. We had chips and salsa to start off until our meal came. Our server’s name was Austen and he was wonderful. Very attentive yet not overly friendly or fake. Sincerely and genuinely a very good server. My husband had the pork burrito which was so flavorful and I had the shrimp and grits. It will be very hard not to order something different it was that incredibly good!!! We will be back !!! (probably tomorrow and the next day and the day after that…).

I have been a follower of chef Doug Robson all the way back to his days at La Grande Orange. Gallo Blanco was a favorite and when he opened Otro, I was ecstatic. The food is always fantastic, the service quite good and the atmosphere, tough to top, especially with the recent upgrades. The flapjacks are simply the best restaurant pancakes in town, bar none. The tacos are a delight and the guacamole? Heaven. One of my favorite eateries anywhere.

Chiliquilles were very tasty. Fried corn tortillas moist chicken with 2 fried eggs on top. Coffee from Lux. Quick service, a good mix of people.

My wife and I met some friends at Otro Café for dinner. It was their choice of venues and they were hoping that we would like the place since they have enjoyed some of our past picks. The tables in the restaurant were nicely separated from one another so you couldn’t eavesdrop on other table conversations and the lighting was just right. There was a diverse mixture of people such as dating couples and good friends meeting to share a meal with some conversation.
We got there early since traffic was much lighter than anticipated so I decided to order a beer. About 20 minutes later my beer appeared. So already I was feeling this Southern Spain vibe of a long drawn out meal. Our friends arrived about the time I received my beer so after about a half hour of chit chatting we order some bottomless chips along with the Gaucamole. That was seriously the best Gauc I have ever had, including how I make it. Wow!
I ordered the Chicken Paella for $ 13. It had a subdued kick to it and it was really tasty. There was a lot of spanish rice with a fair amount of chicken and vegetables and it came out pipping hot. I can’t wait to go back otra vez!

Oh, Otro. We used to love your food. The service was never stellar but that seems to be the trend in so many new restaurants.
I have a business within walking distance of Otro and we frequently order lunch to go. The Inca salad was my favorite with an amazing blend of flavors and textures — quinoa, pepitas, yulu seeda, a bit of the elote corn, cranberries and surprising tastes of mint and basil. The dressing with the accompanying half lime was a perfect complement.
2 weeks ago, a friend and I ordered the Inca salad with chicken (on my recommendation). The chicken was half raw and I called to complain. Whoever answered the phone asked us to bring the salads back for an exchange. When I explained that my lunch break was over I was offered a gift certificate for $ 25 to be emailed to my phone.
3 days later I called because I hadn’t received the certificate. They apologized and asked again for my email address. I called 4 times over the course of 2 weeks. I never got a certificate from Otro, so I decided to walk over and see what the problem was. After much blame passing, I finally got the certificate.
Several days later, we ordered lunch with the certificate. The Inca salad was missing several key ingredients and when we called to complain, Otro asked us to carry the salad back for inspection. They explained that there was a miscommunication with the chef, who failed to notify them that certain ingredients had run out. They offered me extra chicken and blueberries, which aren’t even part of the salad.
I used to love this restaurant but after this poor treatment, (and for the sake of brevity, I’m not including several other mishaps, including a shrimp ceviche without a drop of shrimp) I won’t return.

We came here tonight for dinner. Excellent Mexican restaurant, but not your typical Mexican place. I had the chicken burrito and my wife had the chicken Apple salad. We both loved the food.
Good service too.

Ok, as we all know, it takes A LOT to get me to write a bad review. It normally takes things like bad food, bad service, and an overall bad experience. Well DING DING DING, we have a winner.
I went here for breakfast with my normal group of «Dining Friends». We go to restaurants all over the valley just to try something new. The service can best be described as untrained monkeys aimlessly running around. There was no organization, no method to the madness. Our orders were messed up not once, not twice, but 3 times! As a matter of fact, I am the only person that received the correct meal.
Tim received the wrong thing. He ordered oatmeal and got a parfait. Then when his oatmeal came out, it was piled high with parfait items that he didn’t want or order. We got this fixed.
Jessica’s meal was super spicy. Nothing abnormal here except she specifically asked if it was spicy because she has issues with too much heat in a meal and was told no. At this point she ate part of my meal because we were so disgusted by this time, no one wanted to order anything else.
James’s meal came out wrong. He ordered the meat version and got the veggie. Not the biggest deal, but with strike 3 we asked for the manager. Here comes the best part… Our waitress is the «Head Waitress» and the one in charge. No other managers. So we explain to her all of the issues and she walks away to get James his meal. She comes right back to explain that it wasn’t her fault, the runner grabbed the wrong meal. She spent SEVERAL minutes blaming everyone except the cable repair man for everything that went wrong.
Now again, mistakes happens and can be forgiven. What can NOT be forgiven is the way we were treated. The waitress went through great lengths to blame shift all of the issues on other people. Never once did she apologize or try to really make the situation better. It was all about her being in the right. I guess I feel a little better knowing we were not the only ones treated that way based on one of our neighbors hearing our plight, striking up a conversation with us about a similar experience. We could also hear random conversations from other tables. NOT a happy day. Perhaps a dedicated front of house manager could solve some of these issues.
I have made several jokes since then about trying this place again. I just find it hard to believe that EVERYTHING could go so bad in one sitting. However, I refuse to spend my money at a place that obviously does not respect the people who show patronage.

Nice little, unpretentious: YES I said unpretentious place with GREAT food and a laid back vibe.
Mostly devoid of hipsters. Whew!

Service with a smile. From LA visiting a friend for the Phoenix symphony and looking to grab food to go and to lay pool side. The atmosphere is great for brunch, lunch and possibly dinner. The menu is contemporary Mexican, however the taste is authentic Mexican.
I got the grilled chicken burrito with extra guacamole. Great place to try out.

So I frequent the health food store next door to this place and when the lot in front of the health food store was full, I parked in front of Otro Café. I was a bit hungry so I popped in for a bite.
I had the grass-​fed beef grilled steak salad and it was fantastic. The beef was perfectly cooked to med rare and was seasoned to perfection. The salad was made with fresh mixed greens, apples and gorgonzola. Needless to say I scarfed I’d down like a wild monkey. I will return.

It’s good to know that the cuisine of the now defunct Gallo Blanco can still be experienced in this café. It’s also a great place for happy hour. The atmosphere is casual and relaxed and the staff is friendly and efficient. I think my main grouse is that the tacos are made only with (wheat) flour tortillas — which is a shame because a lot of people, myself included, prefer street tacos with the traditional corn tortillas.

My roommate frequents this spot often so I was curious. When we got there around 8pm we were told the wait was 15 – 20 min which it was but did notice lots of empty tables. Seemed fine because service was speedy once sat.
let’s start w/​the positives;
Ron y piña as a cocktail… so tasty fresh pineapple, rum, lime and chili y salted rim which I love and you can also taste a light pineapple pulp.
For dinner I ordered the rice which was super interesting & had bits of veggies like mushrooms mmmmm. I bet it’s their paella rice, it’s a lil crispy and chewy and has some nice flavoring. I really could jus come and eat a million bowls of rice.
taco chinos are pretty bomb, so hearty and unique. They have this Vietnamese style thing going on. I know this is jus wrong to say but I would use less meat and add maybe carrots or a little bean sprt to give it an ump. But really that is minor.
my hang ups;
I tried to order pork belly tacos but they were out and no chips and salsa which for me is blasphemy.
cochitia taco. was totally thrown off by the flour taco and I feel some sort of way for paying $ 4 for 1 taco, it was good but not impactful.
overall I wanted to love this place but I luv the taco truck la frontera more#€#%#^*+==

I have pretty fond memories of Gallo Blanco, a modern Mexican food concept restaurant that adorned the trendy Clarendon Hotel in central Phoenix for many years. It was a fun eclectic take on the usual Mexican fare, but affordable enough to attract a diehard loyal following. I’d gone there a number of times for dinner and happy hour with groups of all different kinds. So it was obviously quite a shock to find out the Clarendon effectively gave Gallo Blanco the boot despite the restaurant’s runaway success. Otro Café was basically Gallo Blanco’s 2^nd location serving many of the same items in a similarly modern restaurant setup over on 7^th Street just north of Bethany Home. Now, Otro is chef Doug Robson’s one and only. I’d actually never ventured here before but my date loves this place. So a little Tuesday night dinner get together it was.
The one thing my date loves more than anything else about Otro is their guacamole. I don’t remember Gallo Blanco’s guacamole being that distinctive, but I will admit Otro’s was quite delicious. I’m not ready to say it was better than Barrio Café’s guacamole, but as traditional guacamoles go Otro’s can more than hold its own. I think it’s the Cotija cheese that really sets it apart.
For our main dishes, she went with a pair of Carne Asada tacos while I ventured into the unknown with a Paella Mexicana. Paellas are more of a Spanish concoction than a Mexican one, but I’ve had really good paellas at Tapas Papa Frita in Scottsdale as well as a couple of places in Las Vegas so I was curious to see how this one stacked up. Otro’s version includes chicken, pork, chorizo, rice, and a garden of different veggies all mixed in. It’s also served with tortillas on the side if you want to make soft tacos out of it. The paella came out very hot (scalding hot even), though not too spicy. The flavor profile was quite impressive though I have to admit this paella was mostly rice and veggies moreso than the meats. The portion size is more than big enough to feed two and I get that paellas are almost always dominated by the rice, but I guess I would’ve liked the meat and veggie proportions to be a little more equal. My date gave me a sample of her Carne Asada taco and it was excellent. She especially loves dousing her tacos with (what I believe was) the green tomatillo and lime sauce mix that they provide at the table. You could pretty much put that sauce on anything. Its that good.
No dessert this time as we were more than satisfied with the food we had. The place was busy pretty much throughout the dinner hour (despite being a Tuesday in the middle of summer). Our server was fast and friendly and environment was nice and relaxed. Based on first impressions I would say Otro doesn’t have quite the charm of Gallo Blanco, though the overall setup and menu are fairly similar. There’s no shortage of Mexican food choices (even in CenPho), but Otro has certainly earned its place as a neighborhood joint. Otro has plenty of unique and unusual dishes to choose from, but I’d recommend sticking with Otro’s traditional Mexican fare. That’s what Otro does best.

I’d like to give them five stars, but the service the last time made me go down to 4. The waiter seemed in a hurry and rarely checked up on us.
Other than that, their food is really good. I love their tortillas. Very much similar to Gallo Blanco. Gallo Blanco’s guacamole is just much better. Last time I went, their michelada was watered down and warm. :(I love my micheladas and was very dissatisfied.
Would go back! Please keep your glasses cold for the micheladas. And the chips! Please keep them warm. No one likes a warm beer and cold chips.

Came here with friends for a Saturday lunch. I ordered one chicken and one shrimp taco, and we ordered guacamole for the table to share. The guacamole was some of the best I ever had, and the chips were really good by themselves. They looked freshly made. Both my tacos were also good, clearly made with fresh ingredients. The shrimp itself was probably the freshest-​tasting I have ever had. I really liked the hot sauces on the tables, especially the green, more spicy, one.
The atmosphere was very nice. There was some very interesting artwork inside. There were a decent amount of people there when we were, but it did not feel cramped. Our waitress was very nice and attentive.
A very good choice for Mexican in Phoenix!

We’ve specifically hit up Otro Café for breakfast/​brunch on a few occasions simply because the wait was non-​existent versus 40+ minutes elsewhere (even when we were driving to Otro, the line at Denny’s was out the door! — Come on, people!). Each time our visit has been a success. The chiliquiles are one of their more popular breakfast items and definitely worth a try, for my two cents.
Also big ups to the service at Otro. They’re always on the ball and right on time with everything from drink orders, to refills, to clearing the table. All in all, I just highly recommend this place if you are looking for a good breakfast experience but don’t require the place to be on Diners, Drive-​Ins, and Dives — because Otro seems to be a little too good for that nonsense.

Have you been to lunch where your 3 year old dumps the salt and proceeds to walk her doll through the «snow.?» I have one available if you would like to try it out. This may or may not have happened while dining here.
When you enter a nice (and super cute might I add oh wait scratch that I am married and he is probably 21 years old) host greets you. The place wasn’t very busy and we got seated right away on the patio. The décor and ambience to me were boring and might I add it is in a strip mall meh meh meh.
We started out with the chips and salsa. I am a stereotypical white girl who wants free chips and salsa, so that I can fill up on these before the meal comes. Not here. You have to pay and our chips were gone fairly quick. (they were only $ 1, but still $ 1 is a $ 1). The saving grace is the chips were good and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t make them there. They bring you a red salsa and a green salsa. The salsas are made fresh every day. My favorite was mixing the 2 salsas together for a nice surprise.
I ordered the shrimp taco and the carne asada taco. They were both very flavorful, but unfortunately both were dry and slightly overcooked. The tortillas are made there and you can tell because they were tasty, but flour so not traditional. My daughter had the beans and the chicken taco, which to our surprise were the ripe olé price of FREE. Next time my daughter is going to be super hungry and order everything off the menu or maybe I will treat her preschool class to lunch one day. (M-​F 2pm-​6pm only) The beans were super tasty and I’m pretty sure my daughter kept asking me to stop eating them. The chicken on the other hand was dry but flavorful. I highly recommend the guacamole. It came on the taco and I considered ordering an entire serving of it.
Service was a mixed bag. They seemed on top of things at first and then we never saw them. We had to ask for our check 2 – 3 times.
I really love the fact they are family owned and a neighborhood restaurant. I want to go back and try a few other things. Next time will be Brunch.
*****Came back a second time and service was slooooooow. Food was mediocre. I liked it much better the first time. Honestly don’t think we will be back very soon.

I’m glad that fellow Unilocalers look out for each other because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have ever found out about this awesome place. Appearently Otro Café is owned by the same person as the Gallio Blanco and for some reason (not complaining at all) this place serves their delicious tacos in home made flour tortillas. Big win for me as I so much loved the ingredients in the tacos at GB but absolutely cannot stand corn tortillas. I was so excited to find out about this place that I had to go almost right away and I’m glad I did.
Love their carne sada tacos, they are officially my favorite tacos ever! Bonus, our waiter was super friendly and they had cool rooster art on the walls. I now have a new food to crave while I’m sitting at home. Cannot wait to go back!