Let 'er cook a little longer - Indio Mexican Cuisine

After much anticipation for Indio - the new Mexican place in Uptown, I failed to follow my own rules of avoiding new restaurants in their first week of being opened. The smells wafting out as I walked past and seeing the warmly candle-lit space that had been empty for months enticed me to give it a try about a week ago. J the BF and I walked over to check it out for a late Friday dinner.

The menu is a mix of usual suspects for appetizers with a Yucatan-inspired upscale portfolio for the main courses. They offer a decent happy hour menu and the cocktail list looks promising. The wine lists is limited, but acceptable. In terms of execution on all this . . . well?

We started with their Huasteco (guacamole) which was very chunky, fresh and flavorful, but served with a scant amount of freshly fried tortilla chips. J had the Flauto de Pato (Duck Flautas) while I veered toward the adobo marinated seared ahi tuna served over roasted mashed potatoes with tequila lime butter and pineapple relish. I found my dish very good, though basic with a slightly messy presentation, while J was not as impressed with his.

While we were relatively pleased with the food, we were victimized by the usual new restaurant blues. J's Diet Coke arrived as a flat metallic syrup over ice, while my cocktail, a Mojito A La Diabla (basically a mojito with chile de arbol) arrived flat and flavorless as well. Clearly, their fountain was not calibrated or working properly. The service was painfully slow, due in part to them having to hand-write and process orders, and our server was awkward, nervous and at one point locked herself out of the back door. Some patron sitting near the back took pity on her and let her back in.

All in all, Indio has promise and the makings of a good neighborhood place (if you don't mind dropping about $50 - $70 for dinner for 2), but we're going to let her simmer for a few weeks to work out the bugs before we go back.