I had heard many things on Twitter about this place and was really looking forward to going. I have to say I was disappointed. It's a beautiful restaurant visually but the food and service need some serious help. The one positive I will offer is the chips and salsa are very good and they do keep you supplied with fresh chips.
Our first round of cocktails came a little slow but not too bad. They all tasted good but I could not tell if there was tequila in my Paloma. After not getting any sort of buzz after 3 of them I assume there was not much to speak of.
We ordered a queso and a ceviche for appetizers. These were both ok flavor wise. The queso was made using Asadero cheese which really stiffens up when it cools so a little more milk or cream or even another cheese added in would have helped. You basically needed a fork to eat it once it cooled down. The scallop ceviche had a nice flavor but the portion was very small. I can think of 3 other places where the ceviche is better and with twice the portion for the same or less than the price of here. It did need some heat and some additional lime juice though.
For our entrees our group ordered the Mar Y Tierra (steak and shrimp), Enchiladas de barbacoa (brisket enchiladas), Ahi Tacos and a chicken dish that was cooked in a banana leaf. The waiter had a hard time understanding what we were ordering. Even as we would repeat what we wanted a couple of us had to point on the menu to show him then he would repeat back exactly the same words we had just repeatedly told him.
The steak and shrimp were boring at best. The shrimp were dry and bland. The steak was cooked correctly but also very dry. The whole dish could have used a sauce or even some sort of compound butter on top. The plating was generic, steak sat on top of mashed potatoes which were on top of a chile pepper then the shrimp were intertwined on top of the steak. I didn't order this myself and am glad I didn't.
The Ahi Tacos looked promising at first. Good sized pieces of tuna on seemingly house made tortillas. But looks can be deceiving as we soon discovered. The tuna wasn't cooked well and had a fishy taste to it. I've not had Ahi that had that fishy of a flavor before. It needed a better sear on it and maybe some citrus to bring out the flavor (or mask the fishy taste). We asked for additional lime for this dish but it came well after that dish was finished (and desert had been ordered).
The enchiladas... Since I cook Tex-Mex quite often I tend to be a bit critical when it comes to my enchiladas. To me its about the filling, the sauce and the portion. These failed on all three points. When the plate came I was surprised by the portion. Three, half sized at best, enchiladas topped sparingly with sauce served over white rice. Ok, is this it? I was hoping that the flavor would make up for the visual but I was wrong. While the sauce was not bad there wasn't enough of it and it lacked enough heat to make it interesting. The brisket inside was bland. It tasted like unseasoned brisket that was braised and chopped. It was tender so I'll give them that but that's it. The rice was really just for filler. It had no flavor and disappeared against the white plate. When you order enchiladas and you get more plate than food you know it's not going to be a good meal. The menu also stated that their tortillas were made with blue corn. These were definitely NOT blue corn. More like a yellow/white corn mix. I really felt like something was missing in this dish. It wasn't the lack of beans or anything like that. It was a flavor or a texture that was missing. Or maybe it was just so small a portion that I was still hungry.
The chicken breast dish was probably the largest portion dish we saw and also the had the best flavor. I don't have much to say either way on it so take that however you like.
For dessert we ordered a Tres Leches cake and a Chocolate Mousse cake. Both were actually very good. The Tres Leches was a three layer cake and the texture was very nice. Not overly sweet like it can sometimes be and not soggy either. I actually enjoyed it. The same can be said for the Chocolate Mousse cake.
With dessert we ordered a bottle of champagne. The waiter brought over 4 glasses and of these 2 still had lipstick on them and one was chipped along the rim. We sent them back and he came back with another lipstick stained glass and another chipped glass. The third time we finally got clean, safe glasses to use.
As far as the service goes, it was hard to order, the food came out slow and things we asked for either didn't make it to the table in time or were not usable (the glasses). We all commented that we might come back and sit at the bar for happy hour drinks and appetizers but would not come back for dinner. With several other similar restaurants in the immediate area Hacienda San Miguel really needs to up their game. In our opinion they did not equal the experience or food at Glorias, Chuys or any other similar place around W. 7th. When we spend as much as we did here we usually have a good time, a good meal and good drinks. Not so on this trip. I rate this place a 2.5 out of 5 overall. I just can't recommend it to anyone at this time.
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