As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I recently went to Margarita’s - a new Mexican restaurant in Uptown Waterloo. I was really excited, because firstly I love Mexican food, and secondly Mexican food is for the most part very good for Celiacs. Many traditional Mexican dishes are made with corn (not wheat), so Mexican food is often a good choice for Celiacs.
Unfortunately Margarita’s was disappointing all around – whether you’re a Celiac or not.
So firstly, the food is expensive here. Lunch was around $15 a person, which I’m glad to spend if it’s good food, or a good portion, yet neither was true. The food didn’t taste like anything really, and my colleagues got only 2 tacos for around $14. After tax and tip you’re at $20, easy. The environment is nice though, with white table clothes and wine glasses…which is probably what you’re paying for. Too bad the food just isn’t that good.
But as a Celiac, things get worse. Not one thing on the menu is gluten free. I asked the waitress about the menu – in fact, I’m glad I did. It’s easy to get lazy about Celiac disease, especially when you think you know what’s safe. And at a Mexican restaurant I usually feel pretty safe, but this just illustrates that you should always ask. The tacos had gluten, the enchiladas had gluten, everything had gluten. These are all dishes that are made from corn tortillas, yet the waitress double checked with the chef and indeed there was gluten in everything.
Ironically, I ended up having the chicken ‘Torta’, which is a Mexican sandwich – but of course I had it without the bun. Unfortunately it was just terrible. The shredded chicken had bones – yes I’m not kidding – small bones, that I didn’t notice at first but luckily picked them out and didn’t swallow them. It also had knuckles and parts of the chicken you just don’t want to eat. I’d hate to think what would have happened if I had ordered this on a bun (if I were a non-Celiac) with all those bones and knuckles. Yikes. Anyway, even if the chicken was good, it was basically shredded chicken in a bowl, with a slice of cheese and tomato on the side. Not great.
I won’t dwell on the other fact that they were incredibly slow and in the end only accepted cash – I assume this is all because this was the first week of opening. (and I’ve watched enough “Opening Soon” TV episodes to know what restauranteurs have to go through!)
On a positive note, the margaritas were excellent.