Ocho 8 Taqueria

Never trust an EMPTY Mexican Restaurant!! Our waiter was really young and made the experience awkward. Low Energy environment, Food taste like Carboard hahahah! Mexican food tasting like card board!?! If this place wants to last.. they need to step their customer service and FOOD game up big time!! I gave two stars because I did get a good buzz off the Margarita : )

We had a groupon and decided to check it out to avoid cooking on a warm Friday night.   I'm wavering between 3-4 stars.  I decided on 3 because of the wait time.

Word to the wise - if you decide to go and want quick service, make sure to show up AFTER happy hour.  We got there about 10 til 7pm for dinner and the main room was near empty.  We were seated immediately and a waiter came by and took our drink orders (house margarita and a glass of wine) right after we sat down.  And then we waited.  And waited.  And waited.  

They have a cart with choices for salsa, and the lady manning the cart was very friendly/helpful.  We got our chips and opted for the medium and mild salsas.  The medium had a good kick - unfortunately, we still hadn't received our drinks to help quench the heat.  We flagged down a busboy and finally got some water at the table.  About 15 minutes after ordering the drinks arrived.   I have to say, the house margarita was worth the wait, very smooth, not acidic at all - yummy enough to be dangerous.

By then happy hour was over and suddenly, service improved dramatically.

We ordered the shrimp empanadas for appetizers.  It said they came with guacamole, but what we got was more of an avocado sauce. They say they have table-side guac service, made me wonder if they bring a blender to the table :).   The empanada itself was pretty tasty, just a mite disappointed in the sauces.

I had the fish tacos and hubby opted for the lamb tacos.  They come in threes - they are small, street tacos and are served with refried beans and rice. The lamb was fantastic.  The fish tacos were good, breading was light and not at all greasy, but they served it with the same empanada orange sauce.  Personally, I think it would have been better with a white (sour cream/mayo) sauce instead.

There was one downside during dinner.  At one point 3-4 elementary school kids entered the restaurant and began going table to table soliciting donations during people's dinners.  The greeter just ignored them.  The waitstaff caught on and they were ushered out, but you would have thought the greeter would have been more on top of that.

Overall, we liked the place.  It definitely has potential.  The food was good, the prices reasonable, the portions filling (who needs to be stuffed?) and the servers were friendly.   We'll be back and look forward to trying more of the menu options.

This place is horrible! If you want to wait 20 minutes in a half full restaurant for a margarita, then this is the place. Our waitress came to help us after 15 minutes to take our order. Then another 20 min for two drinks to come? She never refilled our chips and salsa...which were stale. Food was average and definitely not worth it. By the time our drinks came, I wasn't even hungry anymore.