Agave Viejo

Welcome to another «Dear Archie G.» review.
Dear Archie G.,
I bookmarked Agave Viejo a few months ago and I was shocked to see that it was closed for business. A tequila bar in the middle of downtown San Jose should have been a success. Why did it fail? Was it the recession or the female fascination with drinking rubbing alcohol (aka vodka) with cranberry, orange, or olive juice?
–Tequila Lover in Los Gatos
Dear Tequila Lover,
Technically, drinking vodka with orange juice is the best way to get drunk and help your immune system simultaneously. And drinking vodka with cranberry juice is the best way to to get drunk and fight a urinary tract infection at the time. And of course, drinking a dirty (vodka) martini with olive juice is the best way to get drunk and train yourself on how to handle the taste of a man’s…
Okay. Moving along now. Multitasking suggestions aside, Agave Viejo opened and closed in about the span of a year. I am not surprised. It was essentially a flavorless Chevy’s with a variety of tequila options. But no amount of tequila could have made the crappy food here taste any better.
The place was a monumental failure. Here’s why:
Bad Marketing: Their logo and sign was really stupid. For those that passed by their sign and did not know elementary Spanish, they would see that this was a «Mexican Cantina & Tequila Lounge.»
This description makes no sense to me (and apparently everyone else). You are a Mexican bar and a tequila lounge? Really? Why don’t you list yourself as a «Mexican Restaurant & Cantina,» or a «Tequila Lounge & Mexican Grill,» or something that would have allowed people to realize that you served both food and alcohol. When you are starving, tequila doesn’t always sound like a great idea. But Mexican food does, right?
Confusing Theme, Layout, and Cuisine: If you were opening up a Korean restaurant, would you have a Vietnamese flag on the door? Of course not. So why would this place claim to be a Mexican joint, but have an Italian flag on the door? Huh?
Inside the restaurant itself, there is a Mexican menu. And an Italian menu. And there is some Asian and American food. It’s really confusing for the consumer and it really hinders you from ever gaining any sort of identity.
Bad Food: As much as the menu was confusing, your food was borderline disgusting. Nothing was fresh. All of the food was awful. And it was not authentic Mexican cuisine at all. If I am going to eat fake Mexican good, I’d rather spend my money at Chevy’s. I have a lot of foodie pride and it just hurt to type that last sentence out.
Clearly, the food was mediocre and the reviews showed it. What was Agave Viejo’s solution to the bad reviews regarding the food? They opted to offer free meals in hopes that Unilocalers would change their negative reviews. How about you listen to the feedback and maybe use better ingredients or change a recipe or two or eight?
Terrible Service: Your staff was friendly. But they were inattentive and downright clueless when it came to serving food efficiently. In any company, you need a good support staff. Somehow, Agave Viejo found some old Chuck E. Cheese hostesses to serve the food. Big mistake. They should have aimed higher. Maybe someone with some restaurant experience from Red Lobster.
In the end, bad marketing, a confusing restaurant theme, bad food, and terrible service lead to Agave Viejo’s quick demise.
Normally, I would give out only one star to a joint like this, but they did try to host a karaōke night. I appreciated the effort. Even though it sucked. At least Agave Viejo was consistent with all of their efforts. And by consistent, I mean consistently bad.
I hope this answer helps you. Keep the questions coming. Thanks.

Stopped here before the Ricardo Arjona concert
I had enchiladas suiza and man they were the best I have ever had :)
They had such a large and unique collection of tequilas bartender gave me a sample of something he mixed up it was tasty.
a bit pricey.

Was worried when the place was empty but we were happily surprised with great food. 3.75 stars
Highlights:
— Guacamole: fresh avocados
— Enchilada trio: looked super small at first (about size of a quesadilla wedge) but ended up being plenty filling with excellent variety of flavors (mole, tomatillo, red sauce)
— Margaritas: hornitos pitcher was on special with nice tart and sweet balance
Lowlights:
— Weird Italian and Mexican combo: asked what menu we wanted at the door since it used to be solely an Italian restaurant
— Odd lack of energy with the place so unpopulated
I’d go back for another meal and margarita if I was in the area.

Tried this restaurant on Saturday night before heading over to see The Tabard Theatre’s production of Taffeta Wedding. Hubby and I had heard there was a new Mexican restaurant where the old Spiedos used to be so decided to check it out.
No one was in the bar and we were the third customers in the entire restaurant.
I wanted a margarita but at $ 14.00 each, we both decided to have a Dos Equis instead. I ordered the molcajete de mariscos dish and hubby had the enchiladas. Both dishes came out room temperature, and my dish had more red sauce than seafood. It was almost soup-​like and very spicy. Now, I’m all about the spicier-​the-​better however, there was so much sauce, I had to «fish» around the plate to find the seafood.
The corn tortillas were cleary store bought, dry and cold. The tortilla container should have heat emanating from it once you lift the lid… nothing. The tortillas should be easily pliable and hot to the touch… nothing. These tortillas tasted like cardboard.
It’s such a disappointment to spend good money on bad food. Equally disappointing is how another new restaurant in San Jose bites the dust on my Unilocal list. I’ll stick with Tlaquepaque and their chavelas.

I was looking for some good margaritas, so a friend and I decided to go to this Tequila bar.
I kinda challenged the bartender to make a strong margarita and it seemed she was up for the challenge. There were plenty of fruit margaritas to choose from, but I usually just get straight to the point and just get an original margarita. I ordered the original margarita with Jose Cuervo Gold on the rocks, while my friend ordered a Guava Margarita.
The margarita didn’t really meet my challenge. After two originals, I barely felt a slight buzz. For a tequila bar, I figure they would specialize with their margaritas. They didn’t even have them on margarita glasses.
During the slow Friday night crowd that we visited, it happened to be Karaōke nIght as well. The song selection was very limited to the oldies, the speakers were blaring several times when ever the mic was too close, and the crowd didn’t sing along to my Justin Timberlake Rock Your Body rendition. It was a little awkward at times.
Still deciding to try their Happy hour specials, but it may take a while.

I did not experience the food here but I did drop in for some karaōke and cocktails! My friends and I had a great time, the bartender, Richard, was very nice to our group. When I mentioned to Richard that this restaurant has not gotten good reviews on Unilocal,he offered to make us appetizers so we could see for ourselves, we declined as we had already had dinner but still a very nice offer.
There were not many people in the restaurant so we dominated the karaōke (maybe that’s why no one was in there?). I had fun and would return… it was a fun, mellow bar with a good vibe.

After my first review, the manager of Agave Viejo invited me and a guest in for two complimentary dinner entrees. We were pleasantly surprised with the experience. The service was good, the starters and entrees that we ordered were delicious and well presented. We left here feeling good about coming back.
A week later, my co-​workers and I decided to return for lunch… The food ended up being pretty good, although two of us requested minor modifications to our orders, neither of which were fulfilled. Due to our previous experiences here, we decided just to let it be and accept the fact that maybe lunch service here is not up to par compared to dinner service. I’ve yet to see this place busy but hopefully over time things will become more consistent because the food is pretty good!

Those white velvets keep driving me back in here.
Last Wednesday my friend and I wanted to see the Honduras vs. Mexico game… and I suggested we go to Agave Viejo.
We came in around 4:30ish and the happy hour had already started, they have great prices on their appetizers. We didn’t have any appetizers since we had just has lunch only drinks. I was so excited to introduce my friend to the white velvets (Don Julio, Kahlua, cinnamon & vanilla)! The bar tender was really cool Roger.
I later on met a friend here for dinner on a different day. Again… I was so excited to go have a white Velvet… this time I did order food.
Price wise it’s the usual for down town SJ $ 8 – 15. There is a variety of food. In this case I opted for Enchiladas Suizas and my friend ordered the Mole… on my end, I must say the portion were very generous… hands down. Now I have never been a fan of beans and rice at restaurants, and this place was not the exception… I was not impressed with their rice and beans but the enchiladas were pretty good. They the sauce was a but spice and it didn’t taste like it had been taken out of the can.
The service was great! Again Roger was our waiter and was constantly checking up and making sure we were fine. As we were heading out Roger said that next time we came in desert was on him… we were so excited and I have to say I am definitely looking forward for the deserts =)
All in all great place, mellow, I would say this is a good place to have a party the space is pretty big.

I can believe the reviews saying this place has bad service, but my experience wasn’t like that.
First, I went there on Labor Day, so there were no customers around. The bartender was very helpful and made us chevelas (beer, tequila, lime and salt) even though the drink wasn’t on the menu. He even told us to order the picadilla chicken appetizer, which was amazingly good (I can’t find this on the menu … so I’m not sure what it was). The guy was very laid back; at some point he told us that they’re supposed to be closing but he has to wait for the owner to close, so we’re welcome to stay. As we proceeded to drink 3 chevelas each, he even joined our conversation instead of telling us we were being loud and obnoxious.
I’m definitely going there again, and he’s even talking about doing a late night happy hour with chevelas.

We’re at work, we’re hungry and one of our co-​workers is from NY so we dash out the door looking for a ‘good’ lunch. These days, that’s getting harder and harder to find in DTSJ.
A few months ago this was Spiedos. Now the owner changes the name, barely touches the décor, and boom!!! it’s a Mexican restaurant/​tequila lounge. No tequila for us because we had to be coherent all afternoon. But, the iced tea was ok. I had one of the specials which was a selection of 3 enchilada suisas. Very tasty but the chicken was a little bit over-​cooked & dried out.
Both companions had the fish tacos and thought the fish was particularly good. All our choices came with decent refried beans and rice. Fish taco plates also included french fries.
The place was busy, but not jammed. The service was attentive but not particularly speedy — which folks dashing in for lunch care about.
For the price, we had plenty to eat and it was simply a pleasant lunch.

Came here on a Wed night and to my surprise, a near empty restaurant. Uh Oh… but I reserved judgement until later. Saw the huge list of tequilias and such but not being a fan, I ordered a pint of beer and looked over the modest single page menu. This surprised me as most Mexican formal restaurants usually have menus that are at least 3 pages long… guess this place breaks some ground.
I ordered the chili verde with pork. I didn’t get a huge boost of flavor from the dish because the sauce was very light tasting. I tried the enchiladas that my friend ordered and those were surprisingly good.
One bonus point I need to give them is for service. The waiters were very attentive with refills on water and although we casually mentioned that my friend’s birthday was that night, they brought us a free birthday bread pudding dessert without warning. I was pleasantly surprised and after tasting that dessert, I liked it a lot more than my pork chili verde and if I do come back again, will likely include that bread pudding dessert.

The manager BriAnne was very nice to offer a friend and I a free meal after my first experience here. Unfortunatly I will not be up’ing my Rating. I honest believe this place deserves 3 stars. 1 for the awesome service, 1 for the prices and 1 for BriAnnes efforts.
We arrived at the restuarant around 7pm. The place was a ghost town. Strange for 7pm on a Thrusday evening. We decided to sit in the bar lounge. Chips and salsa was delicious. The drinks are awesome. Our food came out, I ordered the same as before. fajitas and my boyfriend had the combination Enchaladas. I was very impressed by the appearance of both dishes until I saw the Guac on my plate. It was dark green and brown. (very easy to prevent… add lemon juice). My boyfriend said his meal was «ok».

I cannot remember the food. I just remember the drink. It’s called ‘Come Back M. F.’. That could be Monday and Friday, it could be obscene. But the drink is superb. It’s like a snappy Long Island Ice Tea with cream soda. It’s got Red Bull in it but it’s not Red Bully. It’s sheer perfection, and it looks good too.
I’ve tried to invent highballs and I can tell you, it’s not easy. This concoction is superb. Go there just for this.

Tres Agaves this place is not.
My cousin coerced me to watch the American Idol Live concert with her last night and she promised we could grab a few drinks before the show (because I had a feeling I would need it).
When we arrived in San Jose, we walked through the bare streets of SJ and stumbled upon Agave Viejo. I had high hopes because they called themselves a «Tequila Lounge.» I was thinking, or perhaps, hoping, «Tres Agaves.»
For a city that has been crying about being badly affected by the current economic situation, you would think this restaurant would have prepped themselves for the onslaught of concert goers last night, but they were ill prepared. There were only three of us in my party and instead of waiting 15 minutes for a table, we thought opting to sit at the bar would speed up the service. Boy, was I mistaken!
After taking our order, it took 20 minutes for our margaritas to arrive. The margaritas were horrible — not enough salt on the glass and way too much sweet & sour, so we asked the bartender to make us a new one. That took another 20 minutes.
Believe it or not, it took a lot more time for our chips and salsa to arrive.
We also ordered a side of guacamole, thinking the guac would be made fresh, that it would arrive in a huge bowl. Again: WRONG. It came on a small plate with a sheet of wax paper on top and about 15 crisps with some guac splattered on top. Ladies and gents, all this for a whopping $ 8. It wasn’t worth it. At all.
The only redeeming quality about this place was the fact that one of the bartenders was apologetic, but here’s a quick breakdown:
Food — Nope
Service — Nope
Cost — Nope
Stay away if you can manage. I realize that the restaurant business is hurting right now… If they keep this up, they may have to close their doors too.

I had very high hopes for this place! Even though I read the reviews prior to going I still thought, that it was going to be good.
I made reservations, and was seated promptly, I think that is where the good things end.
We sat at our table for about five or so minutes before being anyone came up to us. At that point we were asked if we wanted drinks, we asked for a drink menu, and the waitress told us that they have margaritas, like house ones. Who does not provide a drink list at a tequila lounge? So we on our own decided for a Patron margarita, and ice teas and guacamole. Our ice teas never showed up, after about five minutes I waved someone down to get them for us. Still no margaritas. Fifteen minutes into our time at the table until our margaritas showed up, and still no guacamole.
About 25 minutes in we got our guacamole. Okay, fine we ordered dinner about fifteen minutes earlier. An hour goes by and we still hadn’t gotten our food.
At that point we asked for a manager, we told the manager that we wanted our food taken off our bill and did not want it because we had a concert to get to. She looked at me and was like, OK, and walks away. We ended up having to pay for the guacamole and the margaritas, and ate no dinner prior to going to our concert.
The food itself was not good either, the guacamole had no flavor and the margaritas were horrible.
I would not recommend this place to anyone. The reviews are true, even though I tried to think they were not. Any other location would have given us the whole bill free considering we had something taken off the bill that we NEVER received.
Truly a disappointment, and being a restaurant downtown, you can not blame it on the rush because of the concert, you know when there are concerts or events downtown, and that is who you cater to. Truly a huge disappointment.

I received a response to my review from the Manager of Agave Viejo with an invitation to return. I will add an extra star because the fact that the Manager took the time to respond to feedback is a-​ok. :)

To sum it it up, a more upscale Chevys that gives you free red and free chips and salsa instead.
I came here when it first opened and it seems to be a hot spot for the white collar workers of Downtown San Jose. I guess La Vics doesn’t cut it anymore, but juding by all the bad reviews I don’t think Agave Viejo poses a threat to competitors.
I ordered the Pollo Asado, boneless tender juicy chicken breast that proved to be flavorful. I also decided to try the Watermelon Fresca that I definitely recommend on passing up, it was just way too sweet even more my sweet tooth.
Service here is decent, but I kept hearing servers or the host tell other parties around us that the enchiladas plate they ordered sold out. I really didn’t understand how they could sell out of enchiladas. One of the food runners seemed really confused too, he kept bringing over enchiladas we didn’t order, I did managed to break a laugh the second time, poor guy.
I haven’t had the urge to come back ever since the last couple months or so. I guess Agave Viejo didn’t leave a lasting impression…

My co-​worker and I decided to give this place a try since it is brand new and the prices are reasonable for DTSJ. It’s not going to last unless they do a complete over haul.
Menu/​Taste: 1 Star
My enchiladas suizas were flavorless and cold.
Service: 1 Star
The female manager seated us. We waited 5 mins for service and watched the waitress attend to another table that was seated after us. In the mean time, no water no chips and salsa. Finally the waitress came after she saw that we were giving her the stink eyes. Took our whole order. The food came before our drinks… still no food and salsa the whole time! Both our entries were bland and tastless. The suiza sauce was barely there.
We spoke to the manager and she asked what can she do to make it better for us… We told her that we are not looking to have our lunch comped. We just want to give her some feedback, but her attitude was on the «ask me if i cared» side so we just gave up.
Atomosphere: 3 Stars
Since it use to be a high end restaurant «Spiedos». The décor was the same as before. I just found out the same company that owned Spiedos also owns «Agave Viejos». So they just changed the theme of the restaurant.
Cost: 3 Stars
Price is reasonable kind of like a Chevy’s, but the food is no where Chevy’s.
Final Thought: 1 Star
Not worth the wait, not worth the fraustration, and not worth the money. I will not be going back.

Worst fajita’s I’ve had in a while. Chile’s is better unfortunately.
The fajitas, which on the menu are a ‘house favorite’ seemed to be sauteed in the most tasteless pan & oil & stovetop ever. No flavor, no spice, and grocery store quality tortillas. No cheese & sour cream with fajitas = ???. Salsa was okay, overly cilantro-​ey. Chips were from costco or something. No tequila menu on the table or in the lunch menu! And fairly indifferent service
Only reason this is two stars, is that the costs are relatively reasonable, at 8 – 12 per lunch meal.

I was excited to see that there was a new high end Mexican joint in the area. From the Spiedo people; not sure why they flipped this locale, from the Italian place it used to be. Never went to Spiedo but it always seemed crowded during the Sharks game rushes so hwo bad could it have been? Well unfortunately the new venture wasn’t great. So disappointing…
The staff is really new and didn’t really have their acts together so seating and getting drinks caused some confusion and took a while. Had the following:
— Lamb shank
— Mole verde
— Tilapia
— Guacamole
— Caesar salad
— Tamarind chicken wings
Besides the wings I think everything was either really bland or overly salted. No happy mediums. For this type of money in San Jose, there’s tons of other Mexican places that will give you dynamite food. Unless they get their act together quickly, I don’t see this place surviving very long.