Eating Omaha...Cantina Laredo

Well, it's not really Eating Omaha since this is a chain down in the trendiest part of town that seems to be having issues holding on to good places to eat.

Part 1, the ladies from NOH decided to stop there for drinks and munchies after work last week on Thursday before we were scheduled to have dinner with some dear old friends on Friday.  Thursday is "Ladies Night" and happy hour so all sorts of specials abound.  First the Happy Hour Margarita got a thumbs down. Just watery lime juice and sparing use of Tequila made this a disappointment for those who tried it. The Mango Margarita was much better.  The bartender acknowledged the flaws in the recipe but pretty much stated that's what you get for Happy Hour. He stated he could make them much better but that's what the company serves. They still paid for them though which disappointed me personally. Don't pay for a poor job and stuff you don't like.

Next a queso platter with a sprinkling of burger meat atop served on a cast iron fajita pan that kept cooking the dish all the way to...burnt. Again they complained to which the waitress said "well, that's not our best appetizer" and yet they still paid for it.

So our dinner on Friday I was a bit anxious about the food and the place in general. Nice enough establishment on this warmish night the windows were rolled back and the great outdoors exposed. We sat on the patio until we were politely reseated inside. No signs would have indicated to us not to seat yourself so a small ding in my mood. We got to table that was suitable and asked about the Happy Hour specials of which the waitress seemed clueless.  I finally had a Pacifico Beer and Brenda had a white wine as we waited for our friends to arrive. A bowl of chips and salsa accompanied the table and the salsa was a dark reddish brown affair with lots of flavor. I guess they are know for their Guacamole but we did not sample any that night except for that which came with the dinner as a garnish.

I had a Chicken Mole Enchilada dish, Brenda sampled the Enchiladas Vera Cruz. Our guests had the Ahi Tuna Tacos and Fajitas. The food was pretty good but certainly not the best Mexican in Omaha compared to Rivera's and Nettie's. All in all it was just OK. Not the caliber of food that would tempt me to drive from my West Omaha home to Mid Town. I know that Nicholas (my son) has been there and liked it but he also lives in the neighborhood (trendy kids!)