Tequila Mockingbird

My girlfriend and I stopped here for dinner to wait out some traffic while on our way to New Jersey. She thought the name was cute and we eat quite a lot of Mexican food in/​around Boston. It was very busy and the hostess threw out a half-​hour wait time, but we were actually seated within minutes. The chips and salsa already on the table were fantastic. The lady ordered a house margarita which I tasted; we agreed that it was quite bland. I had the tequila burritos special which wasn’t great. The sauce reminded me of Spaghetti-​Os and I believe there was supposed to be sausage inside but I wasn’t really finding it. And I had to balk a bit at $ 18 for the dish but I guess that’s a normal price for the area. She ordered a vegetarian quesadilla which was nothing special; she wished the menu had specified what exactly was inside. The $ 18 seemed even more unfitting for such a simple thing. The server (I think his name was Roberto?) was very good considering how busy the restaurant was. Overall it was really a 2.5-star experience and we will look elsewhere for dinner when we take a similar trip again.

Very poor service, sat at a table near the bar so the bartender so calls waits on you, he barly spoke, was rude never asked if you wanted a second drink. Very typical New Canaan dining. High prices with poor service, stay away not worth your time or money. Small high priced drinks, food not very good, mushy nachos

Great service, solid food and the hostess did a stellar job in finding a table on a crowded evening. Had the Baja Tacos and Swordfish Tacos. Only downside is the margaritas are small. Be aware that parking can be challenging.

I went with a group for dinner last night for the first time in about a decade.
We had a 7:15 reservation for six people. An extra person joined our party, so we became seven. We didn’t think this would be a problem, but they made it into one. They gave us grief over it and said they didn’t know if they could do it. Really??? Ultimately, they added a chair to the table.
The place is obviously very popular. It was packed, and I did hear them telling people without a reservation that the wait was an hour and a half.
The margaritas were pretty decent, and surprisingly strong. I had three of them and am suffering today.
The guacamole is rather good, as is the salsa.
For dinner, I ordered the pollo mole poblano. It was a huge disappointment. It just wasn’t at all authentic and the sauce was over-​the-​top with flavor – just too intense to make it enjoyable. The chicken was a breast filet that was served sliced with this very thick, overly-​poweful sauce laden all over it. I was hungry and needed to keep the margaritas in-​check, so I did finish it all, but really didn’t care for it.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is quite interesting. The place is very well decorated, and when you walk in the door, you surely don’t feel like you’re in New Canaan anymore. It’s actually as if you just dropped in to a lively bar/​restaurant on a Caribbean Island.
However, most of the clientele last night was families with lots of young children running amuck. So, it was extremely loud, with kids shouting and screaming.
The prices are reflective of downtown New Canaan… insanely over-​priced mediocre Mexican food.
Now I remember why I haven’t been here in about a decade…

Great place to drink and drunks enjoy the bar food. The quality of the meal is poor and the cost is offensive. There are many better local choices if you want a decent meal. Again great place to drink not to eat.

The quesadilla & guacamole was pretty good– not the best I’ve ever had. I also had a few frozen margaritas that were a little weak. Maybe the waiter thought I was underage?
The experience itself was great. Its a neat space that’s well decorated.

Food was over priced. Waiter not as attentive as he should of been for the price of the dishes. Margaritas were oddly served in cheap plastic diner milkshake glasses. Chicken flautas tasted and smelled rotten, chicken was so dry we couldnt even swallow. Table chips were saltless, table salsas were too spicy, burrito (18 $ r u joking?! And it had nothing in it but chicken, huh??) and chimichanga were dry. Shocking they dont serve dishes with sour cream. Rice was cold and bland, corn was over cooked, beans were tastless.

Huge thumbs up for the very strong margaritas. The food is just ok — it’s some relatively down scale mexican food, but they get all the basics right.
Great spot to bring the little kids, as it’s so loud that no one really notices if your kids are also loud. It tends to be packed with families between 5 and 7pm.
Very popular after sports stop (ie: after the kids soccer games).
Definitely worth the trip.

My family and I stopped in after intending to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Gates (next door, only to find out that they were sold and closed). I was originally excited because I have always wanted to try this place but my family never wanted to. Our waiter was super friendly, and we we very excited to try our food once he took our order. Everything after that went down hill. We waited a long time for our food, while watching people seated after us get theirs. When the food finally came, it was all wrong and turned out be another table’s order. After waiting longer, 3 out of 5 meals came out and 1 out of the 3 was the wrong order. We waited 15 more minutes for the other 2 meals (one of these meals included my 2 year old son’s meal). The servers were very friendly and cordial but they didn’t have it together. Food was average. I don’t think I will be back.

This is one of my favorite restaurants. The staff are super friendly, the food (order from the specials menu) is intensely flavorful, and the margaritas are great.
My favorite dishes here are generally the stew type dishes (the «Olla», «Chili Colorado», etc…) the chef cooks many of these slowly and the result is excellent, deeply flavorful food.
Fun atmosphere, one of a kind in the area. Order off the specials menu and you can’t go wrong.

I am very surprised that people have such different experience when they came here dining, I suppose I am very lucky, my experience is certainly a 5 stars.
Food, drink and service were all excellent. I love both their Margaritas, both frozen and regular, they are very strong and you certainly feel it. Extensive menu with lots of specials and EXCELLENT salsa!
The ambiance and décor are so lively, it’s very casual and cozy, good for groups, too!
Will come back here for sure!

Loooove the décor! We started off with the guacamole which was just ok. It was clearly from a refrigerated batch, not fresh. I had the Baja fish tacos. They were a bit greasy and bland. I added some leftover Pico de gallo from the guac plate and some of their house salsa and these tasted quite good after doing so. Perhaps they need to revise how they serve these. The sangria was weak and not worth a second try. Overall it’s a great little place with fast friendly service. Next time I’ll try something different.

Best margaritas, period. Order the Original, not house.

Busy and boner reducing. Try to avoid this type of mediocre food. Your toilet will thank me.

What a weird place. It’s like stepping into a bar in the Caribbean in downtown New Canaan. We ended up here for a drink with some time to pass until our train home.
I am glad we did not eat here — the bartender was eating his own fajitas, with his hands, basically licking his fingers, then sticking a lime into our corona. Vom.

Not sure why all the raves. Perhaps just Connecticut Yankees who don’t know good Tex-​Mex food. The food is absolutely over-​priced and very average quality. The redeeming factor is the atmosphere and excellent service. But me and my 3 dining companions — all who lived out West and know the difference, all agreed that the food was mediocre at best. And with entre prices at $ 20+ was waaaay too much for average Tex-​Mex. For the 4 of us it was $ 188!!! Whoa. Maybe b/​c they price it for the rich folks in New Canaan. The margaritas were just OK. The restaurant décor and ambiance was the redeeming factor there. We did also have excellent service. We will not be going back for the food. Probably stop in for a beer and chips. But skip the food. Being the only Tex-​Mex around, that’s not likely going to dissuade anybody from going there but just be warned. Just my opinion of course.

Best Mexican around, several authentic dishes, wait staff is great, our local favorite restaurant.

Best margarita’s around. If you like some heat, get a spicy margarita. They soak habanero peppers in Don Julio for a little while which gives it a real nice kick.
The chips and salsa are delicious. A little on the garlicky side and it has some spice to it. The salsa verde is also very good.
The fajitas are delicious, and they actually give you a very good portion of meat. It’s not greasy either, like you get at most restaurants.
If you like your tequila, talk to the owner. He will be bombing around BSing with everyone (mostly in the bar area). He went to culinary school in Mexico and has a vast knowledge of tequila.

This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. When we entered the restaurant, me and my wife had to push our way through 20 or so frat boys who were screaming at the soccer game on tv. The restaurant is not a sports bar and it’s ridiculous that this type of behavior is allowed to happen completely unchecked. We should have left right then, but we unfortunately decided to give it a chance.
When we finally found the hostess, she refused to seat us outside, even though they had free tables because we were only two people.
After we were seated, we were greeted by three different waiters, the last of which took our order after 15 minutes of waiting.
After, (and this is not an exaggeration), 40 minutes of waiting I asked our waiter to check on our food. He did just that and came back to tell us that not only did he not put a ticket in for our order, but also that they were out of one of our dishes. He did offer to replace that meal for free — the only redeeming factor of the entire experience.
After another 20 minutes of waiting I had him change our order to go and asked for the check.
The food was mediocre Mexican and the margarita I had was a disgusting glass of triple sec.
I will never eat at this restaurant again and would deter any other person from going here.

Strange vibe. Bartender was curt w a dry humor. Decent tequila selection & homogenized margaritas. Typical background music
Very colorful Mexican décor.
Loved their tomatillo green salsa. Food is average.