Decent
Service was iffy but it was a busy Saturday night. Margs are decent and pretty strong. Our table got 3 molcajetes which is like a fajita stew. It's pretty good, a little spicy, but very flavorful. Comes with meats, shrimp, and cactus. Chicken dishes were good also. Really cute restaurant. Decent prices.
Stay Away!
Service was terrible. Â We sat for 45 minutes, asking 3 times for salsa, water, and drinks. Â
When the food came, it came out in random bits so that some of us were eating and others were waiting to be served. Â When they finally served our bar drinks (it took about 20minutes from the time we ordered them), they brought the bottle of wine and the glasses. Â We had to ask 3 times for someone to open the wine bottle.
The Ceviche appitizer was great! Â Unfortunately, that was the only high point in food quality. Â 2 of our party of 6 took a bite of their entree and didn't want any more. Â The menu description for the food is outstanding. Â Unfortunately the food that is served is not even close to their description.
No one ever asked how we liked the food and there were no comments when they cleared the plates of food that had hardly been touched.
They were busy when we arrived but half way through, the place was only about 1/4 occupied. Â There was no excuse for their lack of service or concern for how we were doing. Â
We picked this place because of the great reviews we saw on Yelp. Â We usually agree with Yelp ratings. Â This time was a huge exception.
There is but one way to to fully express how much I enjoyed my steak at Paxia, "Oh F*cking GOD YES!" If it was much better I'd need a cigarette, it made me happy in so many ways and easily reaches the top couple of my best steak list. I ordered the ribeye with garlic mashed and grilled zucchini and it made for a most excellent birth day dinner.
I also sampled the tamales which were too spicy for my taste but damn tasty none the less before my tongue forgot how to feel.
The guacamole, which is hand made at the table, is very good as well.
On to the rest, the service was good minus a couple forgotten extras. Their wine list is limited but they have a decent selection of Tequila and mixed drinks.
The meal started off great with three different salsas and some tortilla chips. The waiter was very helpful, and super friendly.
When we got our food, it was in super large portions and had great presentation value. But most importantly, it tasted great!
The corn tortillas are the best I've ever had; HIGHLY Recommend those :)
Just a little off the beaten path.
My friend and I popped in here by accident one night after every other Mexican restaurant was closed on Sunday. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. It is so fancy upon entering, with its fire place and fancy tables and chairs. We had great service, they kept the water flowing and checked on us multiple times. Most of their food is gluten free or can be made that way. I had the green chicken enchiladas and yummy, they were delish. I wish I would have had beans come with my rice; she seemed lonely without them. Next time I will skip the cheese and sour cream because I am not huge fans.
The margarita was tasty albeit a little sweet for my liking. Best of all, it was reasonably priced. The salsas were good, especially the plain tomato; it is flavorful without too much garlic.
Can't wait to go back and try more dishes.
We were visiting from Los Angeles and our friends in Denver wanted to take us to Paxia. Â They had tried and loved the owners other restaurants but wanted to try the more upscale Paxia. Â The experience was fantastic. Â We are critical about Mexican food from states that don't border Mexico and I must say Paxia did not disappoint. Â The carne Mojaceletes was so full of flavor and with all the accompanying trimmings we had enough left over for a midnight snack. Â Highly recommended!!!!!
Review Source:Yes! Finally an authentic Mexican restaurant in Denver. Â
Take a glance at the menu and you'd think you we're sitting in a restaurant in the middle of Mexico City. Â Molcajetes, chiles en nogada, salsas and poblano crema...
And my favorite thing about this place? Â No sign of green chile anywhere on the menu!
We made reservations and were promptly seated. Service was super friendly but they were pretty busy on a Friday night. Â
Started with queso Fundido with fresh house made tortillas. Â
Drink menu had some interesting combos. Jalapeño, mango monitors.  Mexican beers as well.
Dinner was awesome. Bold Mexican flavs with authentic ingredients. Â
Chile rellenos were excellent. Â
Despite pigging out we still tried dessert.
Coffee flan? Â Yes please. Â
Going back again? Indeed.
Came in for lunch today and fell head over heels for the chile relleno! Seriously I didn't even wanna talk it was so good I "ummmmmmed" with every bite! My hub loved his trio fajitas too! Â I love their rice so much I took some to go!
My son devoured his steak enchiladas so fast I had to make him slooooooow doooown! But he said he couldn't help himself.
Our server was awesome as always and so was the rest of the staff. They even made a little virgin margarita drink for my daughter.
Thanks again Paxia! We will be back
It was a Friday mini-date night (had to pick the kids up at 8:00) and we wanted to try something new. After making several attempts at last minute reservations, we found an opening at Paxia (I went through my trusty bookmarks on Yelp to find something we wanted to try).
I'm glad we ended up at Paxia! At first we were a tad disappointed that we were sat at the kitchen table, the one right next to the kitchen, in the way of the servers flow. (It was to be expected though with last minute reservations). Turns out the table was fine. Our service was friendly and we lacked nothing. I loved the atmosphere - the lively colors, the artwork, the layout.
The food was excellent as well. We started off with table side guacamole and chips. The guac could have been mixed better, I guess. Some bites lacked punch, and others were fiery; overall it was good. I ordered the Chile en Nogada - a dish I've wanted to try forever. A chile stuffed with spiced ground meat, raisins, pine nuts and cashews topped with a walnut cream sauce. Heaven!! Hubby had the special which was a leg of lamb braised in a banana leaf (leaving the meat so moist and tender) served with drunken beans. OH the beans - I still don't know what was in them but they were amazingly delicious, with little tiny yummy sausages and a depth of flavor that was outstanding. We also ordered a side of homemade corn tortillas and they were absolutely the best I've ever had.
A solid four stars, on the first visit. The quality of the food was high, but the prices were moderate. Well done, Paxia! I cannot wait to come back!
This is my favorite Mexican restaurant!
They serve the real stuff: no Tex-Mex here: no cheddar cheese or green chile; fresh guacamole that is three steps above the average table-side preparation -- they use fire roasted peppers to adjust the heat; homemade tortillas; chile rellenos using poblano peppers (not Anaheim peppers) that knock the rest out of competition.
One of my most favorite items on the menu: the happy hour shrimp empanadas. They are made to order, so the filling doesn't sit around in dough until ordered. The result is crispy, fresh and delicious.
Margaritas made with "the real stuff," no mix used here. The results are delicious, tart and addictive.
As most of my reviews "show" I am very picky about Mexican food and not very forgiving. Â This place hits the "TRIFECTA". Â Food, Cocktails & Service. Â I went with a large group and we consumed the bar area. Â We were loud and high maintenance and wanted for nothing service wise. Â I never waited for "another" drink as the staff was "on it". Â You have to try the Jalapeno & Cilantro Margarita! Â Kickass! Â The taco's and the tamales were muy athentico and frankly I have paid more for tamales at the farmer's market so I don't agree with the review written by Vivian about pricing. Â Plenty of parking, plenty of seating, an outside patio and a great staff serving great food. Â YES, the chips and salsa is made on the premises (so many don't). Â I highly recommend! Â Why did I give it a "5 Star" after one visit? Â Because I could not find one thing wrong. Â Great spot!
Review Source:Paxia's become one of our go-to neighborhood dining places over the last year or so. Their dishes are rooted in traditional Mexican recipes, and all are prepared with a creative twist and served at reasonable prices along with excellent service.
Far away from Tex-Mex food, Paxia echoes the cuisine you find in the better restaurants of non-tourist central and southern Mexican cities.
Also, this is one of the better places in town for an honest coin margarita. $6 for a 14 oz serving of the house version is about as fair a price as you'll find in Denver. While it's a tad too sweet for me, that can be fixed by telling them to go lightly on the agave, if you share my preference.
All in all, a legitimate 4 1/2 star restaurant, and since they are rated at 4 stars and need to be bumped up a notch, I'm playing the "manipulate Yelp ratings" game and rating them at a full 5 stars to help them get a fair result. (Oops. Maybe I wasn't supposed to tell you that).
:-David
We stopped here last Saturday for a late lunch, unplanned but we were nearby and I remembered that they were celebrating their first anniversary. Half off food and drinks - sold! At 2pm, the place was not packed at all, in fact there were only two other tables seated on the patio other than us. What left a bad taste in my mouth was the amount of time it took us to be approached by a server, and I am not normally someone who gets ruffled by imperfect or slightly slow service at all. We sat for more than 20 minutes, and had our water glasses filled twice by a busboy (who went inside to request a server for us), before my husband went inside and asked if we could have someone come to our table so we could order. He came back outside and another five minutes or more passed, which shocked me. Then I had to get up and walk inside (which was empty of patrons but crawling with multiple hostesses, waiters, waitresses, etc...) and make the same request. It was still a few minutes after that before our server arrived, and not all that apologetically either. While it clearly must have been a misunderstanding that someone was already assigned to us, two different servers were helping the tables on either side of us, and each server probably walked by our empty table five or six times (one table had a problem with their incorrect bill, and another with an incorrectly made drink, just more grist for the mill) without even so much as making eye contact in spite of being close enough to touch our table. It was pretty bizarre and the only reason we didn't leave is because I was totally salivating over the menu. So, we stuck it out.
And the food was amazing! We had multiple bowls of salsa (one was full of smoke and spice and we fought over the tiny cup) with perfect freshly fried chips (no salt on the table though), a queso fundido trio ($12 and divided between chorizo, mushrooms and chiles) and fajitas for two with shrimp, chicken and steak ($22). The fresh tortillas were out of this world, both corn and flour. The queso was over the top delicious and I was stuffed after gorging on melted cheese. Probably too much for just two people to share. I could only eat one tiny fajita but we had fabulous leftovers the next day. I had a yummy house marg ($6) and was ready for another one but our server didn't come back to our table to ask if I was ready for another until we had finished eating. I still ordered another one, and made my poor husband wait even longer for me to finish it, and I appreciated that she brought it out with an extra salty rim after noticing I licked all my salt off, but it was poor timing. Not to mention, I didn't even have the slightest buzz after drinking two coin style margs. No mix = strong, right? Highly unusual.
I really enjoyed the decor and patio (though our table was directly under a huge hanging potted plant, which my husband hit his head on when he got up, causing the busboy to share that he does that all the time too...why not move the table?) and menu (many things I'd love to come back for like the tamales, rellenos, enchiladas...I was drooling over everything) and creative cocktail list, and would love to try their happy hour. The food was five stars for me, we talked about it all weekend, but the service was not so great, and four stars is quite a stretch due to that. Out of curiousity, I checked the Yelp reviews when I got home to see if others had similar experiences, and it sounds like many had. Bummer. The food was so great!
I had high hopes for this place based on the reviews and decided to go for my birthday....I was sadly disappointed!
Let me start by saying its waaaay over priced  (3 drinks, 1 app, 1 soup, 1 molcajete bowl plus tip = $80) and for those prices I expect the service to be up to par.....It wasn't even close. The drinks and chips and salsa were the highlight however, the food was mediocre at best.The Mini Tostada app was very good although a very small portion (4 bites for $8), the Pablano soup was flavorful but thin in texture and ingredients, and the Molcajete bowl just had a weird taste to it.
As for the service....we were fist greeted and offered drinks by a waitress that was struggling to carry about 8 dirty dishes she picked up from another table and stopped by on her way back to the kitchen. Note to management/stafff....i don't want to stare at someone Else's dirty dishes ever, and especially when I first sit down. This is your opportunity to welcome me and  set my expectations of whats to come! This only tells me you are rushed and don't have time to greet me with your undivided attention! Rookie move. And then 2 minutes after the waitress brings our check the slutty looking hostess comes over to ask if we are finished because she needed the table! In what world does she think this is EVER OK. When I mentioned this to management, she gave the excuse that English was her second language and perhaps I miss understood her...WTF!
Needless to say I wont be going back!
I have a mixed review for Paxia:
We found the atmosphere quite nice inside, a step up from much of the Mexican dining in the area as far as character and ambiance. Our drinks (prickly pear mojitos) were delicious as was the table-side guacamole--some of the best guac I've ever had.
As for the rest of the food, we weren't impressed. The meat in our dishes was dry and we nibbled at our entrees, wishing they were a suitable follow up to our appetizer. By the end of the meal, after struggling to get our server's attention during the duration of our visit, we were eager to go and leave our leftovers behind.
My rec: go for happy hour to enjoy the place, the drinks, and the guac. Move somewhere else for dinner.
I love Los Carboncitos, I needed to figure out a place for dinner for myself and my parents (I don't prefer chains and Dad doesn't prefer anything with a Denver zip code), and there was a Rockies game downtown. Â Also, Los Carboncitos doesn't serve alcohol and we all needed a dinnertime drink. Â Paxia seemed to be a perfect middle ground. Â In Denver but not where all the "weirdoes" hang out, but close enough for Mom and Dad.
It proved to be a pretty good spot for everyone. Â This is the kind of Mexican food I truly dig: loaded with fresh ingredients and an inventive cocktail list but not too kitschy or trendy.
Chips and salsa are similar to Los Carboncitos but toned down a bit for the gringo palate (but still more heat than your typical Americanized Mexican restaurant). Â Cocktails were delicious! Â I had a prickly mojito. Â I generally shy away from flavored mojitos as mojitios are pretty sweet to begin with and adding fruit can put them over the top. Â This one was just right.
We all shared the tableside guacamole and it was probably my favorite. Â Lots of lime and properly mixed so the huge chunks don't break the chips.
Mom and I shared the tamale plate (three varieties with one veggie) and the two chile rellanos plate (the whole pepper fried with queso fresco and served with black beans and Spanish rice). Â The meal came with a stack of foil wrapped, housemade corn tortillas. Â I'd never seen Dad get so excited about something served in a restaurant. Â He kept repeating "I bet you they just made these. Â These are really nice." Â They also served one of the only three beers he will drink (Pacifico) so we were in luck.
The menu certainly requires some additional perusing. Â There's a creamy poblano soup I'd like to try and I'm curious about their ceviche. Â Also, the cocktail list could use some additional exploration.
My only gripe was with where we were seated. Â Right by the kitchen. Â While it wasn't too noisy, every time a server would walk out of the kitchen, it felt like they were grabbing on to my chair (maybe a reflex when people are not normally sitting there?). Â They didn't seem hard up for space (it's a pretty big restaurant) so I'm not sure if the table is particularly needed.
Prices are fair for the quantity and quality of food but a bit higher than your typical Mexican with most dishes over $10 (and all the way up to the twenties) and tableside guacamole at $8.
The restaurant itself was bustling for a Wednesday as it seems north Denverites have caught on to this great neighborhood spot.
I love this place for happy hour! Â 3-6 and 9-close everyday! Â We usually go friday late nights and I get a house margarita. Â We usually split the queso which is so cheesy filled with either chiles or mushrooms, both are good. Â The beef tacos are okay, maybe needs more marination time but the chicken tacos are fantastic, chicken breast chopped up small with some spicy pico and limes. Â The shrimp empandas are good, quite large, they would go well with pico, but didn't come with them. Â The tamales are huge and for $4 that can be dinner.
The house marg, a few beers and a fruity cocktail are on the happy hour menu. Â The prickly pear mojito is not on the happy hour menu but I get one anyways but it tastes so great after a day of work. Â Very sweet and not as strong as the margaritas. Â The staff knows us now, the service is always good.
Before continuing, I need to say; I have friends who LOVE this place. No, really love it. The only reason I have been to Paxia on more than one occasion is because they consider this one of the best happy hour spots in the Highlands. That said, I find Paxia to be a massive disappointment in the food department.
The food is bland, boring and poorly executed. This surprises me because the owners also own Los Carboncitos a few blocks away and that place serves some of the best and most flavorful tacos in the city. To be fair, the tortillas are great at both locations. Comparing the two restaurants is inevitable: Paxia is much more beautiful on the inside, has a full bar and much more attention is paid to how the appearance of the dishes. But why the lack of flavor? The flavors are way toned down and Americanized. Want some spice? Yeah, well that's not going to be happening. Â I could go to any taco joint in the Highlands and get better tasting food for half the price. Â
Ok, rant over about the food. The drinks are actually pretty good. The margaritas appear to be the real thing and real attention has been paid to inventive flavors that actually work. The Jalapeno/Cilantro marg is a work of art and far better than other margs served in most Denver restaurants for the same price. I tacked on an extra star just for this.
Great local Mexican joint. Â First impression was really positive--interior is beautiful and modern, nice patio on the side, and overall very upscale environment. Â
Next was service: mine was prompt and friendly.
Next was my drink: Â my margarita (30/30) was refreshing and fresh. Â No lame "mixer" taste or bad sugars. Good flavor (albeit a bit expensive $8)
Last was my food: overall, the fajitas were tasty. As I took it to go, the ingredients were all separated so I could build my own (definitely my preference). Â My friend had the Rellenos which were also very good. Â Salsa had a nice bite, tortillas were hot and fresh and overall food was excellent.
Overall, I would recommend this place to anyone looking for good mexican with a more upscale environment. I will definitely return.
My husband surprised me with dinner here last night. We've been wanting to come here for a while and it was WELL worth the wait. The ambiance is lovely and they have a great patio. Friendly and attentive wait staff and some great cocktails. (Must try the pomegranate martini.)
The food was excellent! I was sooo happy to find tlacoyos on the menu. One of my favs from Mexico that I haven't seen here since I moved back. So good. My husband loved the cream of poblano soup as well. Everything we ordered was excellent.
This place is definitely on my A list. We'll be back, soon.
Took the family here last night for Father's Day. I have to say that our table of 8 were all impressed and very full. We ordered several molcajetes mariscos and that was definitely the highlight of the food. The bowls had great, steaming portions of seafood including scallops and some of the tenderest octopus I've ever eaten. My sister had a steak and it was pretty good, but rather greasy due to the queso on top. In fact the queso we ordered for the table was the least appealing of the dishes- I would skip this one in the future. The tamale was decent too, but different than any other tamale I've ever eaten. I would say that the only issues keeping the 5th star away from them is their spotty food timing. The guac guy was at the table the same time the waiter took orders and there seemed to be a confusion. The chips were not timed with the queso, so we only had chip dust left. The waiter was very quick with drinks and very aimable, but the every dish was nearly half eaten before my dad got his Sea Bass special. Hopefully this place sticks around longer and fine tunes the dub flow.
The tab was higher than average for mexican food, but this isn't a hole in the wall. This is an ideal place for people who get freaked out by heads on their foods, or spots on their silverware. Very refined and comfortable dining room.
Verdict: All in all, very pleased with the experience and will take fancy pants family members here.
This was our first time at Paxia. Â We sat on the deck, which was great. Â The menu was wonderful, and the food creative and above average. Â What detracted heavily from the evening was the sloppy service. Â Our waitress disappeared for long periods of time. Â Our guacamole was made tableside, and then he asked if we wanted chips! Â We said yes, then asked two consecutive servers for chips. Â Ten minutes later, they arrived. Â Our friend ordered her margarita with salt, it arrived without, she mentioned she wanted salt, our server did not care and did not correct.
We were presented with a check before being asked if we wanted coffee or dessert, which we did. Â It was the weekend, so perhaps they were overwhelmed. Â We will not hurry back.
We stumbled on this place based on other Yelp reviews and we were NOT disappointed. Â It was a special night out visiting with an old friend. Â Service was way above average and so was the food. Â Good margaritas and only $5! Â The table-side guacamole was outstanding. Â We shared the chicken molcojetes on the recommendation from the folks at the next table -- spectacular favors! Â Look forward to visiting Denver again so we can go back. Â Lots of love and heart in this delightful family-run business. Â A+
Review Source:Given the other reviews, we clearly came on a bad day for Paxia. The service was mediocre (3 stars) and the food was bland. Really. Latino food without real flavor. We also felt that the prices were too high for the food and felt that we were paying for the nice decor. We will stick with Los Carboncitos owned by the same people.
Review Source:My family needed a place for a large party in a couple of hours, and my cousins are from the east coast so we wanted Mexican. Paxia was in a convenient location for everyone and had availability so we gave it a shot. It turned out wonderfully. We were seated in a semi-private room, which was fantastic since we had 4 small children with us. Our waitress was wonderful and took our somewhat scattered party in stride.
As for the food: The blackberry mojito and margaritas got rave reviews, and everyone told me how much they enjoyed our food. My enchiladas were so much better than the normal "pile of cheese and sauce" you get at most places (not that I don't love cheese and sauce). They just tasted very fresh. The restaurant was also very good about accommodating the several vegetarian requests we had and our waitress was able to suggest good substitutions. She clearly knew her stuff.
I got lots of compliments on my mad Open Table skills, which is now apparently a skill you can have. I'll take it. And then I'll use it to make another reservation for Paxia, because I hear their mole is great.
My mom had been reading up on this restaurant for awhile now and we figured what better time to try it out than Mother's Day! We had reservations for 6:30 and to say the least we didn't get even acknowledged until at least 7:00. Â Our sever was Heriberto and was by far one of the rudest waiters I have had in my entire life. I will never return due to his bad attitude and lack of customer service. The food was decent but the service was so bad that it's not worth it to return. We even had to ask another server to bring us our chips and dip, not to mention we had to remind Heriberto five times to bring out our ice tea. he ruined our experience and I don't think that serving is in his best interest. He seemed put out that we were there. I gave it two stars one for the food and one for the unique atmosphere. It was decorated really neat minus the red cloth filthy chairs in the back room.
Review Source:Knockout chips and salsa, and guacamole that is tons better than I've had at other restaurants, a healthy serving (fills a cereal bowl with no lettuce), made tableside as spicy as you want using fire-roasted serrano chiles to adjust the heat.
I had the rellenos, which were fantastic, green with fresh chile flavor and creamy (not stretchy) cheese filling.
My table-mates had the house-specialty Molcajete, which is the name of a 3-legged stone bowl usually used to grind maize and grains, but it's heated to stay HOT through an entire meal and filled with nopales, meats and/or seafood. Feeds two (with food to take home) for around $20. Comes with a plate of rice, beans, pico de gallo and guacamole (seriously, order a second plate of these sides). They hand-make their own tortillas in a display kitchen.
Friendly service, prompt attention, delicious Margaritas, happy hour every day.
Dinner for four, two appetizers, three Margaritas and two beers for $80+.
UH-MAZING!
Don't be expecting cheesy burritos here.
This restaurant serves authentic homemade Mexican food. Everything we had was absolutely delicious.
Must try: Guacamole, Chicken Mole, Rib-eye, Flour-less Chocolate Cake ^^
The service was amazing as well, our server was great at keeping our waters full, our tortilla chips and salsa plate full and made us feel very comfortable.
Please please give this place a try, you won't regret it!
My husband and I are a bit of mexican food snobs. Growing up in San Diego then living in Chicgao for 10 years; where we reagulary ate at all 3 of Rick Bayless's resturants, we became very spoiled. We had dinner here tonight on a whim.
The staff was extremely nice and very accommodating. (we have a 2 yr old...he was a bit of a handful tonight). The chips and salsa was awesome. Usually the "Tell" of a Mexican place. Normally we order the guac, but we opted for civche as it's hard to come by here in Denver.
The civche is why I am only giving 3 stars...The civche was very ketchup-y, sweet and the shrimp were not de-veined. I can not eat shrimp with veins. I know- snob, but hey at least I admit it. Traditional civche is made with lots of lime, cilantro, and fresh tomatoes...I don't think there was any lime or cilantro in the dish, no spice either.
I had steak fajitas and my husband the Chili rellenos. Both were excellent. They homemade corn tortilla's were to die for as well as their marinade on the steak. The steak was cooked to perfection-pink in the middle-which is hard to accomplish w/ "sizzling fajitas". The Chili rellenos were done perfectly too. not too crisp but not at all soggy. Great house Margs...
Loved the interior. Very well done. At first I didn't like the funky red chairs...but by the time we were done and the hostess gave us a tour, they grew on me.
We will be back often!
Our last few weeks in Denver were spent packing, reminiscing and trying out restaurants that we would otherwise not get a chance to.
A yelper with impeccable taste, David T. had reviewed this place, and I wanted to try it.
A tiny gentleman (the little boy of the owner, I presume), ran to open the doors for us. It was late, but he was smiling and so enthusiastic - it warmed me.
The place is absolutely stunning. Red and yellows mixed with giant iron crosses make for an intriguing ambiance. I wasn't expecting the round tables with comfortable, almost clubby red chairs. It curiously made me happy to see them.
The waiter promptly seated us - chips and delicious salsas followed. The salsas were perfection. We had to go with the house margaritas - mouthwateringly delicious. Perhaps the best? Prickly pear mojito was strong. Yum!
We shared plates - Chicken Quesadilla and Beef Fajita, and fish May I just say that there were really, really good?
The service was friendly, prompt, and with the right amount of attention.
They have sliding doors that close off sections for private parties.
The free parking was an added bonus.
So I judge a Mexican place by it's salsa and if I had to judge Paxia, they would be five stars all the way! I went here the other night for a VIP tasting event due to their new lamb dinner they're rolling out. Â I walked in and was overtaken by all the colors, they had just about every color that could make you happy. Plus they had chairs with funky patterns, I was tempted to take one and make a break for it!
After going through baskets of chips and their salsa which was some of the spiciest I've ever had, it was time to try their lamb tacos. I think the servers forgot about us after awhile because it seemed like a majority of people had a plate but we didn't. After flagging down someone, we finally got ours and I was looking forward to it since A) It was free B) As much as I love chips and salsa, that's not going to fill me out--mama needs protein! and C) Everyone was ooh-ing and aah-ing over them.
Sadly they were a bit of a disappointment. They lamb was tender and absolutely succulent but it lacked flavor. As much as I love red onions and cilantro it can't carry all the flavor of a tacoso that was a let down. I'm happy I got to try it out though before going there and trying the lamb tacos because that is something I would definitely order if I saw it on a menu. I flipped through their regular menu and they have awesome happy hour specials so I'm willing to give them another chance.
Top notch. Â Try the Poblano soup. Â
 Lots of Promise here.  Modern Mexican made fresh.  Everything seems to be home made.  We had lunch for 4 and everyone was pleasantly surprised...right down to the Margaritas made with homemade lime-juice.  Puts them way above the standard Mexican joint.  You know the ones....brown meat wrapped in a flour tortilla, smothered with sauce & cheese, and served with rice & beans.  Choose the color of your meat, the color of your sauce, and preparation of the torilla (fried, grilled, baked, etc)....
 I posted a pic of a homemade dessert.  Difficult to describe the energy that went into that.  3 types of sorbet (coconut, mango, strawberry) sitting on a mango & strawberry base, with three types of sauce on the bottom & topped with a sugar halo swirl.  Fantastic!
OK- so, basically, I feel like I'm a "culinary" Mexican. Â I live there much of the year and have since I was a kid. Â I can appreciate Tex/Mex and Colo/Mex but neither compare to the "real deal". Â I thought Chili Verde and Tarasco might be close to what I love about Mexican cooking but was pretty disappointed.
So, I say to you mis hermanos y hermanas - PAXIA es El Dorado when it comes to la alta cocina mexicana in Denver. Â The best Mexican cooking I have ever experienced in El Norte.
Lunch today was amazing. Â Place is gorgeous - like our adorable server Salvador from Guadalajara (so sweet and helpful). Â Just had the "house" margaritas (no need to upgrade) because they were the best margaritas I've ever had in Denver. Â Perfect chips and 4 terrific salsas showed up in minutes after our arrival - all delicioso. Â A couple are picante - so cuidate.
She had today's combo plate (chicken tamale, enchilada, burrito in a variety of green sauces - not one red sauce and not one covered in gloppy yellow cheese - $9ish). Â I had the chicken mole which is my litmus test for real Mexican cooking - sublime (also $9) Â I thought the portion looked small but it was so rich and flavorful I couldn't finish it. Â We literally swooned over how delicious everything was. Â Lunch rang in around $50 (but we both had dos margaritas.)
You simply must go. Â A little off the beaten track at 40th and Tejon but parking was not an issue, at least at lunch.
A very special place indeed.
So I think Paxia has a special piece of my heart...like a little puppy I want to see grow :) I think I might be yelping more to the owners than fellow yelpers here, but... (we really want to see them make it!)
The food is great!! Presentation isn't much to speak of in some instances, but the flavors are fantastic..we have been twice in one week, and also saw a person we noticed at lunch the other day was there tonight too. To me that speaks quite a bit...
Drinks are good and reasonably priced..the micheladas are FANTASTIC!! Â And happy to see all of their margs are coin style.
We had fantastic service for lunch the other day, and pretty good service tonight...
My only criticism is they seem to be in that sort of in between a "regular" mexican restaurant, and a "nice" mexican restaurant. When we went for lunch we walked into a very cute, hip and thoughtfully decorated restaurant (could live without the flip flop wall) but at night it is a bit too bright, and the nice decor seems to take on more of a Tres Maragaritas type atmosphere. I think if they dimmed the lights, but some candles on the tables and had the great fireplace actually turned on it would become a cozy intimate place you want to hang out. (more booths would be good too)
And once again, the food tastes fantastic, but I think a little less "regular" presentation (not saying go off the wall) but a bit more thoughtful presentation on the plate would elevate it from the "in between" kind of spot.
Once again...we will be back many times based purely on the food...I get the hipster crowd they are going for given the neighborhood...but I think they will reach a point when they will have to decide to go with a more homey feel,or pay attention to a few more details to become the more authentic version of Lola..
Regardless, the friendly people, and great flavors will keep us coming back!! Definitely worth a try
We were walking down to Gaetanos for dinner and happened across this place. WTH, why not? Nice bar, not huge but who wants to sit on a barstool when you're drinking tequila. Bartender was crazy nice. The place was quiet on a Monday. Patio was packed, restaurant deserted.
Had several margaritas and dinner. Â I will say the chicken was dry, but that happens alot of places. There's this awesome sliced poblano 'casserole' like stuff that comes with the skirt steak..highlight of the cuisine. The menu is pretty big with alot of seafood. Need to try it again on another slow night.
Delicious food, good wine prices and wonky opening day service.
Should you go? YES!
OK, let's get the negatives out there first. All of these can be easily fixed.
1. No website. At least I could not find one. (Fixed: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpaxiadenver.com&s=ab9ab39f4645543e3fbfb58ce83c6dea734d4a966849aabe22d4bdf3769ad4a3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://paxiadenver.com</a>)
2. No Wi-Fi. I was told: "Linksys", but there was nothing.
3. No Happy Hour. So sad. (fixed)
4. Misspelled jalapeño on both the food and drink menus.
5. No lunch menu. If you go for lunch, be prepared to be shocked at the prices.
6. Caribbean music; not Mexican music. (fixed)
Ambiance:
The decor is beautiful and welcoming. Someone put a lot of thought into it. Think hipster meets Mexico. The room we sat in had mid-century modern bright red chairs while the wall was covered in Christian crosses. The 105 inside seats are separated into 4 dining areas. It is noisy due to the hard floors and hard walls. The patio looks perfect.
Food:
Chips and Salsa - ordinary. Store-bought chips.
Cream of Poblano soup - picante, smokey, rich. Huge poblano flavor.
Ostiones - fresh and perfect on the half shell. I love oysters and will order these again.
Flautas - picture perfect on the plate. Three large flautas wiith queso fresco and a tiny amount of sour cream. The chunky guacamole was very tasty. $11 sounds expensive, but is not for these.
Lamb Chops - OMG. Bursting with flavor and delicious (even though they were medium to medium-well and not medium rare as ordered). A good char and a small amount of poblano cream sauce. The potatoes had just the right amount of seasoning. Worth every penny of the $21.
Wine:
A very small selection of 10 bottles at really low [for a restaurant] prices. For example, Aria Brut Cava for $18. An excellent (at least when paired with lamb) Montgras Carmenere for $20. These prices made me very happy.
Service:
Wonky is the only way to describe it. Friendly, well-meaning staffers acting like a flock of chickens. My wonderful lamb chops arrived 20 minutes after my wife's flautas because "we know we have lamb in the kitchen, but we could not find lamb in the computer". Just one of many minor glitches that I am sure will disappear with time.
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