Encore Bistro

I have been to Encore a few times – even after running the SouthPark Half-Marathon banking on some good food and drinks.

We went to Encore last week while finishing last second gift shopping and looking at lights (a great house is nearby that has lights timed with music…. Anyways back to the food). The restaurant was fairly crowded for a holiday week. Note that on Wednesdays, martinis are half-off. That’s a good deal considering their martinis start at $10/drink. The best appetizer on the menu is the Feta Dip. It comes out with a nice portion and the cheese is melted and mixed with sun-dried tomatoes – served with parmesan covered flat bread. For this visit, I ordered the Chicken Napoleon (chicken breast with prosciutto, roasted red bell pepper, and provolone over vegetable orzo with marsala sauce). The spouse ordered the special, which was lollipop lamb chops with mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and a chimichurri sauce. The food that night was served rather quickly and very hot. I had to wait to start to seriously eat my meal. The chicken breast was sliced in half and stuffed with the prosciutto, bell peppers and cheese. The prosciutto added a super salty flavor to the chicken and the cheese could have been more melted – but the chicken itself was tender and pretty good. The orzo was good nicely with some large mushrooms (a plus) but the marsala was also over-salted. The spouse’s lamb was good nicely (medium) and tender and nicely flavored. The item not that rememberable was the chimichurri sauce. My favorite dish on the menu is the Asian Salad (noodles, broccoli, mushrooms, green onion, red bell peppers, wonton crackers, and soy sweet chili). I add-on the ahi tuna with the salad.

The service overall is good… if you sit in Nick’s section – it is excellent. Overall, I give Encore 3 ghosts. For this visit, my meal (chicken napoleon) was too salty and the cheese was not melted even though the food was piping hot. The food is also simple – I can copy cat these meals and make them at home. The reason why I ordered the chicken and not the Asian salad was that I actually made it at home the night before. It’s a good place to go if you want a simple meal and cheap drinks (again – go on a Wednesday) and don’t mind paying a little more than you would at Chili’s. Our meal was about $80 with tax and tip. Give it a try.

A side note for you charities – they participate in ‘celebrity bartending’ and all cash tips are donated to you. Info is on their website.

9824 Rea Road
Charlotte, NC 28277
Phone: 704-341-3651
Fax: 704-341-7956

www.encorebistro.com

Senor Tequila Cantina Grill

I am a sucker for Mexican food - I will admit. I have actually been there before but wanted to write unbiased and not have my previous experiences effect my experience.

I decided to go at a non-peak time (2PM) for lunch and was able to seat myself right away. The waiter came by and brought my menu and fulfilled my drink order. During that time, another waiter brought some chips and salsa. The chips were cold and seemed that they have been sitting out for a while and had no flavor (i.e. salt, crispness). The appearance of the chips also seemed to be store-bought chips and not homemade chips that most Mexican restaurants make. The salsa was pretty good but not as flavorful as I have tried at other restaurants. 10 minutes must have passed until the server came to take my order (and I was one table out of three). I ordered the Senor Tequila Lunch Special from the lunch menu and it consisted of a burrito, taco, chicken flauta and cheese quesadilla. I asked for beef for the burrito and taco. At this time, I had finished my drink and it took about 5 more minutes for the server to come and refill my drink. 15 minutes later - the food arrived.

At first glance, the food seemed like it was worth waiting for... however, the food was at a 'room temperature' and my chicken flauta was actually shredded beef and the cheese quesadilla was beef... I guess a beef burrito and taco means to make everything beef. Since I have already spent more time there waiting than eating, I decided just to dig in. The burrito was simple - stuffed with beef and topped with cheese and red sauce. I will say that the beef was pretty flavorful and tasty - however, it could have been warmer than the room temperature. Next, was the taco - topped with lettuce and cheese. The taco was as expected and the bottom of the shell was greasy - which is common with the 'beef taco.' I dove into the 'chicken' flauta next... this was served with a red sauce. The red sauce was definitely needed as the shredded beef was dried out and again - not warm at all. I choked those down only to start on the 'cheese' quesadilla. The flour tortilla was cooked nicely with the right amount of cheese. I was on beef overload at this point so I basically ate the around it. Again - the server lacked the drink refills and dining follow-up.

Overall, the service was sub-par and the food was adequate - but not great. Especially being one of three tables, I would have expected better - including hot food. I was disappointed that I ended up with Beef everything instead of my original order (and what was described in the menu). Like I said, I am trying to let previous visits not sway my review - but I will note that service before was terrible. On this visit - service gets 1 ghost. Food has been a little better previously but on this visit - I give it 2.5 ghosts. Overall - an average of 1.75 ghosts and I will round up to 2 ghosts... It should not be too difficult to deliver what the customer asked for. Again, I could have asked them to correct it but after waiting already - I was hungry and ready to eat (and the 'store-like' tortilla chips did not satisfy my wait). I will also mention that the menu/meal is overpriced for what you get.

If you want some great Mexican - try El Valle (see previous review). They're spot on.

Senor Tequila Cantina Grill
6414 Rea Rd
Charlotte, NC 28277-2528