Hurrah for tasty corn fungus!
April 2nd, 2008 by Cliff Bostock in Restaurants
Here’s a pleasant surprise. I checked out Cantina el Tesoro (129 Church St., 404-377-9797) in Decatur a few nights ago and had a great meal. One of the partners in the new venture operates Cantina la Casita in East Atlanta Village and Tesoro’s menu includes some of the same items.
But, generally, the food is more authentic, more sophisticated and a lot tastier. I sampled four tacos, including an especially delicious one made with brisket and another made with braised duck. We also ordered a plate of succulent carnitas (right).
I was most pleased to encounter queso fundido with tres hongos (mushrooms) and huitlacoche, the savory fungus that grows on corn and is sometimes referred to as “Mexico’s truffle.
The new restaurant is a large, rambling space that has been festively decorated. It’s also inexpensive. Look for more in next week’s “Grazing” column.
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I ate at Tesoro right after it first opened and I’ll have to agree with you on the food: surprisingly good (& cheap). And as a vegetarian, I especially liked the face that all the veg & vegan items were clearly marked to thwart any confusion. However, I did receive some of the worst service I’ve ever had. Our waitress was a vastly overweight lumbering fool, completely incompetent and unskilled. I work as a server myself, so perhaps the girl’s mistakes were more apparent to me than other guests but still. Regardless, the food was great, just avoid the server we had (she won’t be hard to miss, you can hear her stomping from across the restaurant).
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 am
I went last night after reading this “review tease”. I thought the food was excellent; I am also a vegetarian and really appreciated the breakdown of the menu. The chipotle tofu tacos were delicious. I love it set up of the whole place, especially the lawn chairs out front that you can sit and have a drink at. We, had that same waitress, and I didn’t think she was bad at all. She was sweet, attentive and offered a lot of suggestions.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:16 am
is it in that big house that Jake’s used to occupy? love that space. any other good tacquerias or mexican places in the decatur area?
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
Yes, Darryl, it’s in the former Jake’s building. Taqueria del Sol is also in Decatur. It’s more Southwestern/Tex-Mex than interior Mexican food.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:33 am
i meant to say, any other good tacquerias beside the obvious one, tacqueria del sol. hehe. i usually go there or my personal fave (although it won’t win any “best of” awards), los loros. they have really hearty sopa de pollo and some pretty decent tacos de carne asada, if you’re into that.
April 5th, 2008 at 3:39 am
I just ate at el tesoro last night and had a lot of problems. Our salsa trio was messed up two different times, and the chipotle one tasted horrible. It was more of a paste, and had an odd dirt flavor. The pork enchiladas were very salty, almost inedible. The duck taco was the only thing that was satisfying, though neither dish came with the jicama and radish salad the menu said they would. A shot of tequila came out in a shot glass that had obviously been used as an ashtray and not properly cleaned. I will go back once more because I think most of the problems will be fixed over time, and because I love la casita so much.
Oh, and Darryl, Taqueria is always my first choice, but I have also had good experiences at Raging Burrito.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Do not EVER try going to El Tesoro on a Friday night around 7. The place was overrun with whining, screaming kids. Literally like monkeys in a zoo. The atmosphere was so god-awful that I couldn’t enjoy my meal, and the food wasn’t anything to rave over. I’ll stick to La Casita from now on. Keep the kids away!
April 9th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Yeah I didn’t mention it above but there were kids running all over the patio when I went during the week. I fully respect Stella’s right to add the Kid disclaimer on their menu.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I guess I was lucky–the hostess asked if we minded kids. I thought it was an odd question, especially since there was a twenty minute wait on a Thursday, but I told her I would rather not be around kids, and we were sat in the back room. After reading the full review of the place, I feel like maybe there actually was just something wrong with the chipotle salsa, and maybe they were out of the radish and jicama.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Yes!! We must do everything in our power to ensure that children are not allowed to eat anywhere other than Chuck E Cheese!! I don’t care if it is a cheap taqueria where one should expect families to flock to, or that might provide a family with a reasonably priced meal away from home. All that matters is that diners with no children are never bothered in the least by peasants who have infected the Earth with their demon spawn.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
jonnymack, though obviously sarcastic, you’re also reaching. I don’t think children should be banned from restaurants, but I also don’t think that you have ever been to el tesoro. It is a house. It echoes, walking on the floor sounds like stomping, so to have a child be semi-loud, or run, is very distracting, much more so than a normal restaurant. I felt as if I had to whisper my conversation just to not disturb the people around me. The layout of this place lends itself for the separation of children from the oppposed, but in most cases, it is really just up to parents to know if their children can be respectful in an environment full of adults, or if they should order to-go until their children are older (or wait until they can have a baby-sitter.) I should also say that I expect to see children in droves at taqueria del sol, but when a child is allowed to roam the line, lay in the doorway, and stand unattended on the bench by the door, I think there is a problem. (All of that was only my most recent visit.) I know you are probably a parent that wants to be able to go out with your children without the dirty stares, but we want to be able to eat in peace. I propose that the former divisions of smoking/non-smoking should now be children/no children.
April 9th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Actually, I’m a parent-to-be so I can respect both sides of the equation. And it always falls to the parent to get their kids in line so as not to be too disruptive to those around them. That being said, I just found it laughable to have people proclaim “keep the kids away” at a restaurant that will very clearly draw families. If this were happening at Trois or Rathbun’s I’d have more sympathy but when it’s a taqueria, well you get what you pay for. I have no problem if the restaurant wants to segregate the rooms, it probably should, but nobody can possibly expect a cheaper restaurant to not have kids there.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
We have a few key restaurants we know we can go to with our toddler without having disturb-other-customers anxiety. These places are pretty noisy and usually have other kids: IKEA, Eats, Tin Drum, and so on. We try to stick to places where you order at the counter so we can make a hasty exit if necessary without worrying about waiting on a check.
Likewise, my wife and I know how to pick a place to go when we have a babysitter and we want to have a night out without a noisy child nearby. There are plenty of great spots around town where you won’t find a stack of high chairs near the door such as Dynamic Dish, Righteous Room, Fritti – and most sushi places.
Anyway, I’m not sure a Mexican place in EAV is a great target if you’re looking for a quiet place to have dinner.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
It really is a hard thing for restaurants to handle. It’s funny that you bring up Fritti as a great place to go to avoid kids Darin. I went there once with my child and could feel the staff giving us the evil eye as soon as we walked in. It was just me and him – sometimes I like to take him out for a special “us” meal – so I was kind of offended that we were so obviously unwelcome. That said, he’s not the norm. He’s literally grown up in restaurants and pretty much always behaves, and if I get even an inkling that he’s about to devolve into something less than pleasant, we go outside and discuss the repercussions.
I recently read “Service Included” the memoir about waiting tables at Per Se. I loved the small passage about children, where she said that kids whop came to Per Se often put the adults at other tables to shame. Like a family would save up to bring their food-loving kid to this amazing restaurant, and across the dining room some trophy wife would be turning up her nose at all the “weird” food. It was just nice to see a waiter acknowledge that some kids love restaurants and food and should be encouraged to be there. But being a former waiter myself I can say that sadly that is not the norm.
Now I’m scared to bring my kid to El Tesoro – I don’t want him to pick up bad habits!
April 9th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I actually have been to Fritti before when a well-behaved kid was there, so I wouldn’t write that off as a no-kids restaurant. But if I’m looking for a break from toddler time, I’ve got a better chance of not sitting next to one there than at, say, Figo.
I look forward to a day when our little boy grows up to appreciate fine dining too. He’s actually done OK at Pura Vida a couple of times and even enjoyed the food, so I have high hopes.
On another note, I regret my previous comment’s statement about “a Mexican place in EAV.” That was pretty rude. I could totally see a nice, quiet, upscale Mexican restaurant existing in that or any other neighborhood. Actually, that sounds pretty good right now. Maybe I’ll look for a babysitter :)
April 11th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Rebecca says \\
April 11th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Rebecca says “Our waitress was a vastly overweight lumbering fool, completely incompetent and unskilled.”
Feel better? That was mean.
How about “Our waitress was completely incompetent and unskilled”.
Seriously…
April 11th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
We had a terrible experience even trying to get seated at this restaurant. Even though there were about about six tables sitting empty, we were left waiting a half an hour. When I went to ask about what was going on, the hostess got very defensive and jerky. We ended up leaving at that point. It’s a shame because we love La Casita, and El Tesoro is a whole lot more convenient to our house. Maybe we’ll try again in a few months when they (one hopes) get the service kinks worked out.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
We decided to try this place based on Cliff’s review and some word of mouth. It was one of the worse dining experiences I’ve had in years. While the confused staff was bottle necked around the bar, we were told there was a 20 minute wait. It was 6pm on a Saturday, so fair enough. But a quick walk around the place revealed 6 empty tables.
Once our table of four was seated we waited another 5 minutes for our server. 10 minutes later we had drinks. Our first order was 4 salsas and chips. In came the chips, 10 minutes later the salsa. Then another 10 minute wait wait for refreshed drinks and chips before we could taste the salsa.
Our waitress couldn’t identify our salsa except for the mango salsa of the day. Which was the freshest tasting item of the night. The rest were pathetic. An alvocado salsa had the texture of pea soup with a strange chemical aftertaste.
For an entre I ordered tacos, 2 hard and 2 soft. I received all soft tacos as did my friend who ordered all hard tacos. The duck tacos were fairly interesting but the rest of my selections were disgusting. The taste and texture of the chicken and pork tacos were an identical stringy glop of wet goo flavored with cilantro and onion. They were only distinguishable by the color of the meat. Wet, greasy and vile. No one at our table could figure out which was chicken and which was pork. The spicy mexican sausage and potato taco just tasted like one of the spices in the sausage and nothing else. My friends really hated heavy taste of mayo in their mushroom tacos.
It’s been 24 hours and everyone I had diner with still feels quesy. I’m stunned. This was just a simple quick meal before an art show that became a 2 hour nightmare.
I’m really glad I didn’t choose a house special. Very upset about the experience and I’m not sure I’ll go back. I don’t like to talk negative about anyone but this placed ruined my weekend.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I roll to disbelieve.
April 14th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
The next time you go to Tesoro check out how many times chipotle is spelled right and wrong on the menu. It’s a fun game to play while you wait… and wait…and wait….
April 18th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I noticed the “Chipolte” on the menu as well.
I asked the owners.
It’s apparentely a special blend of chipotle and something called Essence of Nick Nolte.
It tastes better than it is sounds.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Geez, sorry to hear your meal was so bad, James. I hope they get things under control. This was something of the same experience I had at Cantina la Casita: it started out good and quickly took a dive.
My review was a first look; it had been open briefly when I visited.
Maybe Ms. Rodell will review it soon.