In the recent surge of trendy restaurant openings throughout El Paso, basico bistro + café may have had the quietest entry into the market. Their advertising is scant at best, their website does not function (all dead links) and their inconspicuous placement at the base of the Coronado Tower on North Mesa make it easy to miss, but basico's surprisingly sleek interior and bright, airy layout make it highly appealing, at least at first sight. basico suffers first and foremost with its less than ideal location tucked into the first floor of a tall building, difficult to notice when driving by and providing a less than desirable view of North Mesa's passing traffic and strip malls from its otherwise ideal outdoor patio. While the always open large glass doors out to restaurant's outdoor space allows a flow of refreshing air during an evening meal, they allow the unrelenting El Paso heat to turn lunch or as we experienced, brunch, into a sweat fest - pardon the crudity.
Even sans air conditioning, basico could redeem itself with an offering of well prepared, modern dishes to match its chic interior, but the kitchen's mediocre output is an added bullet to basico's list of shortcomings. The menu, strangely affixed to a ragged piece of cardboard and a crusty plastic sheath, is promising, albeit all over the map, offering a range of selections from mini corn dogs to burgers, pizzas, and a $26 Ahi Tuna steak. Unfortunately, I do not believe the kitchen has the knowledge or experience to turn out the quality dishes that the upscale interior and modern atmosphere suggest. The omelettes were bland, the pancakes forgettable and lacking the ricotta as promised by the description, and the overcooked shrimp and mushroom risotto enjoyable, but a far cry from the authentic creamy Arborio rice I love so dearly. I must admit, however, that our Sunday brunch could not be marred by the lackluster meal, for the muddled-at-your-table fruit sangria and delicious "Champagne Pick Me Up" saved the day. basico has the potential to be an upscale contemporary go to in El Paso's ever growing dining scene, but the quality and preparation of their output needs to match their impressive interior and enjoyable bar selections (and maybe throw in some AC!). basico, I really want to like you, I do, but let's just face it, as your name suggests, you are just too...basic.
FOR THE FULL REVIEW VISIT OUR BLOG POST AT:
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodbaduglyeats.com%2Fbasico-bistro-cafe-el-paso-texas%2F&s=a5b4b21ba721e6ea2108171c58d25b317170c241198e31a0de1dc506fd0c200b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.goodbaduglyea…</a>
- Caroline
Good/Bad/Ugly Eats
Three Words: Bacon. Brie. Burger. That monster burger was phenomenal. Flavor mixture rocked my socks off. Physically the burger is huge (like your mouth struggles to fit around it) so maybe share that baby and enjoy the tastiness with another. Oh and another plus to sharing will be ordering the Tres Leches afterwards. Ya it's homemade and ya you're gonna love it. Live a little and have a completely unhealthy meal that will have you smiling afterwords. Your welcome.
Review Source:My fiance and I went to Basico for the first and last time last night. Sadly, it was a birthday celebration gone bad. Let's break it down:
The good...
1. Our bottle of wine was good.
2. The spinach crab dip was delicious.
3. The server was friendly.
The bad...
1. They had a live jazz band which was great. But. they left the doors to the patio open on a nearly 100 degree day and didn't crank the ac. To say it was hot and extremely uncomfortable in the restaurant would be an understatement.
2. I ordered chicken paillard. What I received was a fraction of a chicken breast a top mixed greens.
3. My fiance ordered the ribeye, cooked medium rare. His steak came nearly raw. Strike 1. Worse yet, there was a bone chip in the steak that he bit in to. Strike 2. When moving the mushrooms from the top of the steak, he found that the kitchen had cut in to the steak to check it's temp. Rookie move. And the steak was still delivered grossly under cooked. Strike 3. He promptly had his food removed from the table.
The ugly...
My fiance requested a small bowl of the mushroom risotto after the steak debacle, hoping for the best. Since it's an open kitchen, you can see everything. The "cook" in the back proceeded to open a pouch of Uncle Ben's 90 second rice and cook the "risotto". By adding a little cream and much too much salt, somehow, a nasty package of rice you can purchase at the grocery store for $1 became risotto that was worthy of a bistro dish at $15. It was absolutely disgusting.
Do yourself a favor and save your time and money for a better experience. I feel as though McDonald's would have been a better choice...
Two stars only because food was great manager Adrian was horrible...He like other reviews doesn't care about tables, is too busy worrying about the radio, and the computer screen must be soooo important since he spent majority of his time staring at it instead of worrying about his servers or the restaurant....
Review Source:This restaurant was just "ok". After hearing about it from several friends, I really wanted to like the place, but I found it to be overpriced with lots of bells and whistles and not quite delivering the level of food expected. I went in for brunch on Saturday and although they only had 3 other tables, the waitress took about 20 minutes to get our drink order. She seemed a bit overwhelmed with the tables she had. My friend and I ordered the goat cheese, asparagus and smoked salmon omelette, which was tasty but way too overpriced for the amount of smoked salmon. The menu indicates you can get a side with the omelette and advertises butter hash browns, but when I ordered those the waitress told me they were skillet potatoes. When we received our food it turned out they were NOT skillet potatoes. They were simply white potatoes cut into cubes and deep fried. They were well seasoned with salt, but lacked other seasonings and therefore left much to be desired. The asparagus on the omelet was well cooked, and the omelette was tasty but definitely not worth the price with the amount of smoked salmon in it. I may give this place another try, but so far the food or service did not impress me. If I end up there again we'll have to see if I can change my mind...
Review Source:I wanted to like this place but was VERY disappointed. Â I went here for the first time last week and waited over 45 minutes to receive any food. Â As they admitted their kitchen is much too small for the size of the restaurant (shocking because the restaurant is not that large). Â It is clear that the place is more about looks than function. Â Upon entering I was excited because the place LOOKS great! Â However, that excitement quickly faded to frustration. Â I will not return.
1) The menu: I had a hard time deciding. Â Not because everything looked so good but because everything looked so HEAVY! Â Lots of comically oversized burgers and side orders of fries. Â They had some other dishes like risotto but even that was heavy when I received it and its texture very uniformly mushy. Â In an effort to point out the positive, my co-diner did enjoy his steak sandwich. Â Drinks were also great - they served as a good distraction for the 45 minute wait between ordering and receiving food.
2) The service: Ugh, I agree with the other reviews that English is a problem here. Â As someone who is bilingual it was navigated but that was NOT the only problem. Â The waitress did not know anything! Â Soup of the day...no idea...and apparently they only had one soup left. Â Prior to our arrival there was a group of 20-25 from Mexico that rolled in. Â This is where the system at Basico broke down. Â They CANNOT handle a full restaurant. Rather than insert an order of two in that mix, the two small couples sitting at the bar got screwed and had to wait for every single person in the large party to get their food (at very different times). Â The manager and waiters do not know how to run a kitchen or expedite service to normalize wait times. Â It was awful and the (questionable) manager was much more concern with his makeshift DJ set-up than the customers. Â
3) Location: Good location on west side but poor accessibility. If you have to park in the back for dinner the building they are in is locked so you must walk all the way around. Â Not a huge problem but if you are in a wheelchair or with limited mobility this means you have to go up lots of stairs. Again, the management doesn't appear to be very detail oriented.
The fact that the management makes waiters wear awkward skinny suspenders WITH their belts is a great representation of how this place is more concerned with fake appearances than actual function and service. Â
Plain and simple: Go somewhere else.
Pleasantly surprised by this new addition to El Paso. Great location in the heart of Mesa Street, on the first floor of the Coronado Tower. The first thing you see is the huge outdoor patio that will be perfect for summer lunches and evening cocktails :) Inside is modern and sleek styling, but still very comfortable. The menu is one the best I've seen for a bistro in El Paso, as far as variety and straying from the beaten path. I have been twice now, and tried the artichoke hummus, shrimp skewers, fish burger w/sweet potato fries, and some cinnamon scones. Â Every item has been good, some better than others. Service is friendly, and pricing is a bit higher, as would be expected for a nicer place like this. This place will provide consistently decent food in a nice atmosphere, in a great location. It's a welcome addition to the West Side.
Review Source:Today was my second visit to Basico, a Sunday Bruch at 12:15. Â Same wait staff that helped us during our fist visit, a dinner about two weeks ago was very nice. The service problems we heard so much about were non-existent on either visit, as our server was attentive and the food was served hot. Language is a barrier here, as it seems the servers all hail from Mexico and learned English as a second language. Â For example, one member of our party ordered an omelett served "soft" and it was served hard.
I am going to even go out on a limb and say the burger (actually two small burgers stacked together to make a large one (1/3 to 1/2 lb total) on a brioche bun, was one of the finest burgers I have enjoyed anywhere. Â I ordered green chiles on mine and they were fiery as Hell. The fries were darned good, too.
As a business, it will be interesting to see if Basico can make it. They had nine employees that I counted (probably more) serving 7 tables. The night I was there for dinner, it was slightly more crowded, but similar proportion of wait staff to customers. It's a very small space with a limited number of tables (indoors). Â I hope they make it, because Basico is one of the few restaurants operated by Juarenses that really appeals to both Gringo and Mexican sensibilities.
-Decor was very nice and modern
-Concept was pretty interesting.
-A friend order a mojito from the bar, horribly mixed. They made another one and it was much better.
-Good service just didn't seem to confident in what they were doing.
-When the food came out it had an awesome presentation!
-A little disappointed with the food though. Ordered a burger it tasted burnt, the regular fried were good but the sweet potato fries were soggy.
-Overall good place to try, I'll be going back just ordering something different.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
