Sunset Bar and Grill

This place has certainly made a 180 from when they first opened.  Portions are large, you definitely get your moneys worth and the food is NOW........as good as any of the other Mexican restaurants in the midlands.   And the $1 draft is pretty hard to beat!

been a few times since it opened and havent had anything good here.

Sunset has been open for several months now, and I keep finding reasons not to go back.  It's a shame, really, as the new owner seems friendly and personable, and he has clearly put a lot of money into renovating the place.  It's one of the few "proper" bars in town, and generally has pretty decent beer and drink deals.  Generally the food that I have tried is alright, but it seems inconsistent.  Every table gets a chips and salsa as with most Mexican restaurants (though this place isn't just Mexican -- they do much more including burgers, steaks, and other normal "grill" food), but unfortunately the salsa is little more than water.  I'm also a very big queso fan, and was disappointed to see that the queso was also far more viscous than it should be... too much milk, maybe, but it was pretty gross.

A little more quality control and you might have a pretty decent place here.  The atmosphere is generally good, and the bar itself doesn't feel sketchy like the one at primary competitor Mi Rancho down the street, and there are a number of karaoke nights throughout the week to mix things up.

Service is hit or miss.  One waitress walks around wearing a Bluetooth headset all day long, which is distracting and not what I'd expect in the service industry.  Another server explained the slowness of service because she was "in the weeds" -- which I totally understand, having worked waitstaff previously.  However, I do not understand being behind when there were a total of six tables with three servers bumbling around.  All checks are handwritten and tallied (oftentimes incorrectly) when you ask for it, meaning your wait for the bill can be upwards of 15 minutes.  After paying or providing a card, all payments go through a single cashier and cash register at the bar which can take another 5-15 minutes, even if you're one of only a handful of tables there.  I imagine that a proper computerized point-of-sale system could expedite this dramatically, though I also understand resisting that additional cost in such a small town.

Parking is oftentimes full due to staff members parking in the very limited lot around the building.  This forces customers to park on Main Street which is not a huge deal, but if I were the owner I'd prefer to make a handful of staff cross the busy highway twice per shift rather than half my customers and the children that they tow along all through the evening.

Sitting on the covered patio can be alright, but looking at abandoned buildings across the street and whatever clunker is parked right in front of the wall leaves a lot to be desired.  I'd recommend that the owner put some trees or shrubbery on or immediately in front of the wall so that while it does not completely block sight lines, it will provide a comfortable visual buffer.

In short, I'd love to see this place prosper, because it really has some potential... unfortunately, it goes largely unrealized at the moment.  Here's hoping that the owner can continue to fund improvements.