Nieto's

Mother's Day dinner was a bummer. Our slight wait for a table, despite a reservation, was no big deal on a busy night but was a harbinger of a bad dining experience. We were seated in a corner of an upstairs room filled with families (again not surprising on Mother's Day). Unfortunately, no one knows how to behave in public anymore. One table had screaming (literally screaming) small children and the other was populated with diners loudly discussing the lurid details of the Jody Arias murder trial (fun for mom). I have three children ages 8 - 15, so I know dining out is a challenge sometimes. I also know a complete abdication of parenting when I see it.

The restaurant was ceratinly not to blame for the utter lack of decorum from our neighboring diners. The establishment was, however, responsible for the extremely poor service and uneven food quality. Our server took 15 minutes to acknowledge us after being seated. Drink orders were rushed in. He politely and profusely apologized and promised to make it up to us. How it was to be made up to us, we never discovered. The whole griiled artichokes were not trimmed properly and the remoulade sauce was awful. The entrees were a mixed bag. The grilled Salmon was good as was the burger, but the chicken was served room-temperature and was DRY. The wait for desert was another exercise in patience. It was served without spoons (problematic when its a sundae). We were told they were cleaning the spoons and they would be out shortly. Really? No clean spoons? The dinner was so long, we joked that we would be celebrating Mother's Day 2014 there by the time we got the check. No complimentary glass of wine or coffee or desert to "make up" for the long waits. Poorly execcuted and poorly handled.

This is an established restaurant run by seasoned owners. News Flash: Mother's Day is a busy night in the restaurant Biz. Try staffing appropriately and treating guests like they matter. These gaffes were ridiculous. That was the second and last time we eat at Nieto's.

Highland Park Restaurant Week 2013 experience:
As we walk into the restaurant, 20 minutes late, the hostess, who I believe is Mrs. Nieto herself, exclaims, "Oh! You came after all! I was getting worried....you are Sofia, right? Come right this way". The rest of our experience was just as personal, from the waiter to Mrs. Nieto's farewell.

Pre-fixe menu was good - we enjoyed our salad (beet/pear/brie w/pomegranate vinaigrette salad and soup combo. Halibut and lamb chops were both delicious and come with intriguing sides (the halibut had a garnish of swirly wonton sticks layered with nori). For dessert, they ran out of one of the pre-fixe options, so we got to try a few delicious sweets - tres leches cake, cappuccino chip ice cream, and chocolate molten cake. At $30 per 3-course menu, a great value!

Finally, tasty drinks - blood orange margh-tini and the berry fiz drink on the rocks. Cheers!

P.S. For a more private experience, ask for the booths tucked into the side of the restaurant.

For transparency sake, I must declare that my husband I tried Nieto's for the first time the other during restaurant week.  The restaurant week special was a three course tasting menu for $30 - a great deal!

We were very warmly greeted at the door by Debbie, the owner.  Then, the staff was so friendly and even enjoyed a small toast with us.  I already liked it so much better than the stuffiness of the former Carlos' restaurant.

I began my meal with a blood orange margh - tini.  Highly recommended!  So yummy.
The three course tasting menu began with a soup and salad combo.  The soup was a corn and shrimp bisque.  It was creamy, warm and delicious and on top of that it was really pretty.  The salad was a beet and brie salad.  This too was extremely tasty.  For our entrees we had the choice of lamb chops, fish or duck.  I had the lamb chops and I am only slightly ashamed to say that they were so good that I had to pick them up and make sure that I got every delicious morsel off the bone.  The chops were accompanied by spinach, a crispy polenta and a piece of  vegetable terrine.  The crispy polenta was only okay but the other sides were outstanding.  My husband had the fish and it was being touted through out the restaurant as the outstanding item of the night.  (I don't know because I didn't even taste it because mine was so good)  For dessert I think it was tiramisu but they didn't say for sure - anyway it tasted good!

We learned that when it's not restaurant week they offer a four course tasting menu for $48.  We will certainly be back for that!